Cockatrice

Cockatrice is a bipedal vaguely reptilian creature with wings and a roosters head. It is not especially combat able but it has feared ability to turn other monsters to stone by gazing at them, touching, hissing or breathing. Any combination of mentioned attacks may be present at time. Stoning may happen instantaneously or be longer process but happening only in few turns. Note to unwary adventurers: stoning property may not wane after the creature's death. Do not touch its corpse!

Rubber chicken

Dead cockatrices are often referred to as rubber chickens by NetHack players. It is (another!) Monty Python reference. At odd intervals during the program sketches would end with a knight in full armor walking on and hitting someone over the head with a dead chicken. It was later replaced with a large, yellow, rubber chicken. Thus: the rubber chicken whack-attack.

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