Drakelings slow down from cold. D:49 is freezing cold and you enter D:50 at a crawling speed of 10. This is one of the most dangerous moments in the game for a drakeling. Getting a killer bug to spawn near the stairs was aweful luck. One of my drakes nearly died at that point because of a nearby ghost lord spawn, but a killer bug is worse.
If you survive descending the stairs, you can speed yourself back up with a wand of fire (aim it at yourself) or failed alchemy. Just waiting works too, although it will corrupt you.
You steal a scroll labelled HITME. The orc hits you.