Christ almighty.
Okay, forget what I said about poison resistance. Enter the Lair and start cleaving skulls, RIGHT NOW!
Do get poison resistance before you enter the Swamp or the Snake Pit, though.[EDIT: Oh noes! I wrote this post when you had just made your +5 +8 super edit. Sorry for your loss, and congratulations on a good run!]
Speaking of the Swamp, I broke my promise to only play Mountain Dwarf Fighters, just this once, and started another Minotaur Berserker.
Moocow swiftly raided the upper levels of the Dungeon, dove into the Lair wearing a gourmand amulet, chopped every single quadruped into bite size chunks, snapped rows and rows of orc necks until nothing but silence remained in the Orcish Mines, bought himself a shiny ring of poison resistance, and headed for the Swamp.
I hate the Swamp. The muck is dreadfully slow to trudge around in, and it makes you fumble half your attacks. Each and every cowardly bastard flees, or dives underwater, as soon as it's in the least bit of trouble. And that's not even the worst thing about the Swamp. It isn't the smell, or the dragons. It isn't the mosquitos, or the insubstantial wisps. It's the swamp worms. They burst from the water, take a 20HP bite, dive underwater just before you can finish them, lurk there until they're back at full health, then re-emerge to take ANOTHER bite, and repeat. There's nothing you can do about it except get lucky enough to take them out with a single 30HP punch.
When Moocow had finally cleared, or at least fully explored, all Swamp levels but the last, he braced himself for the Rune level. Poison resistance, check. Teleport control, check. Tank armour, check. Maces & flails skill 16, check. +4 +6 great mace of pwnage, check. So he entered, carefully moved toward the center of the map, read a magic mapping scroll, and saw... nothing. No circular cave near the center of the map. No roaring dragons, no pissed-off hydras, nothing. But no down stairs, either.
In the opposite corner of the level, however, was a foreboding diagonal cave entrance, filled with ghastly fumes. When Moocow entered the cave, slowed down by the fumes, he was immediately greeted by a triple acidic spit attack of an Oklob plant, and overwhelmed by an army of snake zombies, spectral hydras, and skeletal dragons. I don't know what's become of this place, but it's surely gone downhill since my last visit.
Luckily, Trog granted his numerous requests for berserk rage, regeneration, and assistance. At dangerously low health he teleported out, rested, teleported back in, cleared the cave of its remaining spectres, and lifted the Decaying Rune of Zot from the sickening puddle of muck it had been left to rot in. He is now an L14 Bludgeoner and Rampant Minotaur of Trog, still breathing, and enjoying a good night's sleep near his stash at Lair:2.
