Game #46 - My First Rune!

33193  Bill the Mountain Dwarf Berserker (level 13, -7/168 HPs)
       Mangled by a five-headed hydra on Level 9 of the Lair of Beasts.

SUCCESS!!!! Sweet, glorious success. It hasn't even been two months since I started this journey and I have finally obtained my first rune - a decaying rune of Zot - taken from the fifth level of the Swamp.

Message History

Trog accepts your collateral kill.
Your two-headed ogre looks more experienced.
You enter the shallow water.
Moving in this stuff is going to be slow.
There is some shallow water here.
You see here a decaying rune of Zot.
O - a decaying rune of Zot

.#.##.####{..#{## 
.#.##    ##.#####      . 
.#.#   ###{.{{{.###  .{{ 
.#.#  ##{{..#{{{.%##.{{{ 
.#.# ##...{{.{.{..#{# 
...# #..{{{#{{{..{.{# 
...# ##.#{##{.#{{.{## 
...#  ####O{.{{..{## 
####   ###@.#{..### 
         ######## 


You can see a friendly two-headed ogre.

At first, there wasn't anything super special about this game. I made it down to the 10th level of the Dungeon, where I found the entrance to the Lair. The entrance to the Swamp was on the second level of the Lair, and after I explored the Lair a bit, I headed down. I had received an artifact flaming axe from Trog, which I was planning on using on any hydras, while I had a staff of poison to give me poison resistance. My plan was to wield the staff and use summoned creatures to help me get to the rune. Surprisingly enough, it worked. My summoned creatures took down a number of hydras and swamp dragons, while I stood around and watched. I finally discovered the room with the rune and managed to pick it up and make my way out of the Swamp.

With my first rune obtained, I decided to finish exploring the Lair. Unfortunately, I did not manage to survive my first forays into the 9th level of the Lair. I still need to realize that when the stairs descend into an open area with a lot of monsters visible, it is not safe to keep going down the stairs, as eventually you will be surrounded. I thought I was doing the right thing by popping down the stairs and then dragging a couple of enemies up the stairs, but eventually the enemies surrounded the stairs and by simply arriving, I lost almost all my hitpoints, putting me in an unescapable situation.

Lessons Learned
1. I am able to obtain a rune.
2. Avoid situations where you can become surrounded.