The wrath of the RNG
Intelligent monsters can make use of attack wands; this includes both very weak monsters, and very powerful wands. In the extreme case, Random Number God will dispatch a gnome that came across a wand of death – a proverbial unfair way to die. In the webcomic Dudley's dungeon, this gnome is formally named the Gnome With The Wand Of Death, or GWTWOD.
Such well-armed creatures sometimes appear very early in the game when the player has no means of defense, especially in the Gnomish Mines.
Tip: Whenever you find an unknown wand on the floor, take it and add it to your inventory. Do not make the mistake of allowing some kobold to later grab that wand and zap you with lightning.
Origin[]
The idea of a gnome with a wand of death has been about for some considerable time; first use of the meme in rgrn appears to have been by Torsten Edelmann in 1996, and it is described as proverbial by 2002.