Last month of winter in Ancardia.
Symbolism[]
Death, Messengers, Companion, Tricks
Bonus[]
Harder to trick by deceptions, messengers will reach you faster, you are faster (+10 to speed), companions are more powerful, +2 to initial Perception.
Bonus evaluation[]
Harder to trick by deceptions[]
This refers to a partial resistance to Doppelganger Confusion attacks. About ⅓ to ¼ of "doppelganger suddenly looks like you" attacks are resisted. Whether it has any effect on other attacks (like stun from the Arena master) is unknown.
This is a rather weak effect, except for characters heavily relying on missiles or when running in tension rooms of doppelgangers early on.
Messengers will reach you faster[]
Delivery of the Rune-covered trident occurs sooner, at level 16 rather than 36. This is one of its best effects, as the Trident deals good damage and is an Undead and Demon slayer, while also being a returning missile with very good damage. Unless the PC was lucky at pre-crowning or crowning this will almost certainly represent a significant upgrade for the melee or the missile weapon.
As the Ancient Chaos Wyrm happens to be a demon, this means Raven born characters get a guaranteed way to kill him, just in time before the tower.
This is rather strong for any character being it melee, or relying at least to some extent on missile weapons.
+2 Perception[]
While Perception probably has some minor effect in trap avoidance and hearing some sounds, for line of sight considerations breakpoints in the early game (each adding a tile of line of sight) are 5, 10 and 20.
While it might be useful for something like an orcish archer, most characters won't notice a significant difference (with or without it, most characters are between 10 and 20 points anyway).
You are faster (+10 to speed)[]
The best known effect of the month is better than all of the three speed talents combined. Speed is hard to beat and undoubtedly useful for all characters. The only downside is the experience penalty, on average the character will earn 9% less experience.
Overall, this is a very strong effect for melee and missile oriented characters, but the value for spellcasters depends on play style.
Companions are more powerful[]
While this may seem to be a bonus to Bards, the text is misleading.
This sign does not influence the strength of starting companions, slaves generated by Necromancy, stats your pet gains from leveling, or tamed animals.
The Sign does influence strength of companions gained by reading scrolls of familiar summoning, probably by increasing the current DL.
As most characters have easy access to high-DL levels, such as the surface level of the Bug Temple or the Dwarven Halls, this bonus is of minimal utility.
Conclusion[]
It is a very good sign for any melee or missile oriented character. It is less impressive for spellcasters. Despite popular belief, it does not give any particular bonus to Bards.
This sign is considered by many to be the best at the moment, since rune-covered trident is a returning missile, making it one of the most powerful and desirable missile weapon and getting it at level 16 has a tremendous effect on gameplay. Besides that, the +10 to speed greatly increases chances of survival in the early game.