I got too attached (and cocky)

[auricbond]

Nothing too special about this characters' accomplishments. Slimer the candle-born dark elven potion merchant started with 4 talents unusually high perception, surpassing 20 after only a couple of potions of carrot juice. Survived my usual self-imposed gauntlet of mapping out smc and pregenerating puppy all before level 5, and killing kranach.

Anyway, this char got lucky in generating a potion shop in the puppy cave that within 1 restock gave me 15 water potions. Also got an altar in the big room in a position perfect for crowd control. Also picked up a long spear of devestation somewhere, and some +6 pv gloves. Grabbed 2 precrownings (ironfist, silver key).

Now it was on my agenda to descend back down the smc at level 12. I could either be more conservative and wait until I had teleportation, or just risk the dive as is. Despite the fact that the stairs were on exact opposite ends of the map. With a winding route with no shortcuts effectively meaning I had to tread the whole level's length twice. I had a pv of 12, btw. I decided to risk it, because I don't know, boredom perhaps? I find myself taking a lot more risks lately instead of playing to win. I figured any newly generated monsters would easily overwhelm my defenses if I used defensive tactics so I wielded the devestation spear and went berserk, deciding to count on my very close piety and candle-born-ness to heal. First enemy up was a troll berserker. I actually killed it in 3 hits, praying after the second one. Then it was a load of monsters that were generated earlier at lower level. Had a bit of difficulty with some necromancer summoning a few skeletons, I think I prayed at least once more.

I was a room away from the down stairs and met an ankheg. WIth my high speed and long stride I know I could have outran it, although it could have breathed on me. I decided to take it on and got breathed on twice in an attack round. Goodbye.

This is the first death that actually hurt in a long time, and it's just because the amount of things that went my way were highly irregular and I probably won't see a playthrough like that in quite a while. Can't help but wonder if I had chosen to dash past the ankheg instead of engage it, whether I would still have the character.

[sweetnothing]

After reading all such posts I do it extra-safe: mapping + invisibility + teleportation; and as early as possible.