| In-game description | "You are surrounded by an unholy aura." |
| Message when acquired | "You are suddenly emitting an unholy aura!" |
| Message when removed | "The unholy aura surrounding you suddenly disappears." |
| Attribute changes | -10 Charisma, +6 DV |
| Other effects | Occasionally causes monsters to panic. |
Unholy aura is one of the 35 possible corruptions that can be inflicted on the PC. It periodically causes monsters to flee in panic, and can also turn shopkeepers hostile.
General[]
This corruption mostly acts like armor of hate. At random times, nearby monsters will panic and flee from the PC, which would be rated between useful and annoying if not for the problem with shopkeepers: instead of being afraid of the PC, shopkeepers become afraid of losing their business (because the PC is scaring away their clients). This results in a hostile shopkeeper, a lost shop (although all items are now free for collection) and lots of thugs. If the PC has any unpaid items when this is triggered then it is classified as a shop robbery, with associated alignment drop and possible cursing or dooming. If this happens with Munxip or Waldenbrook, the entire town becomes hostile and the PC loses access to local quests.
Shopkeepers do not become hostile instantly, so it is usually possible to make purchases with controlled teleportation, especially if invisibility is applied (which helps until the "stares at your position with great intensity" message appears). There have been some reports of shopkeepers not becoming angry if the PC is not in their line of sight.
Unholy aura is next to deadly for the PC early on, and very annoying midgame (before the Darkforge shortcut is opened). On the final dive when you do not plan on chatting with any NPCs or using shops, this might be rather decent as long as you do not rely too much on pets. Early on, it should probably be removed as soon as possible; later on it depends on the situation.