Part 59: Mr. Ed, CeHu - Two

Welcome back, after a much too long break we return to the annals of Mr. Ed, Centaur Hunter.



We quickly find another highlevel book, and eventually identify both, though neither will be of any use to us.



I can't deal with that... moving on. I actually paralyze the front one and walk away, bees are a tiny bit faster than us, and so we don't want to be getting stung by 4-5 of them at once.



Exclusions are made for this. Use them.



Crocs are more difficult than they look. In their tree, they're tougher than iguanas and weaker than alligators, but don't underestimate them.



I find a staff of poison on the ground, then this. I decide to go in, but I'm very fearful of catching something for which there is no antidote.



I then leave the spiders nest. I was a bit overly cautious, but with no real melee choices and no rPois, I decided against risking it. Also, I believe this layout has been shown before, so it's not a real loss.



We hit XL10 and start to be able to cast swiftness without much worry. Soon, we'll swap out of the robes I'm wearing. (+2 robes of +int, -acc)



And then something beautiful happens. With these spells, we're a bona-fide hybrid. I learn repel missile and ponder whether I should give my bow a brand. It's not a big deal because most of the ammo we'll be getting from Oki is branded, but it's nice to have the option.



I leave the lair and decided to delve deeper into the dungeon, finding the orcish mines in the process.



Okawaru is granting us gifts decently often now, and I'm swimming in ammo types, which is good. It always pays to be cautious though, so I cast RMsl when I see the centaur here, he doesn't have a sweet bow or anything, but his dozen arrows will soon be put to good use.



I use this as an opportunity to gauge how I'm progressing as a character, the bees turn out to be tough, but I can handle anything less than 6 in fine form, more than that and I'd pop heroism. I can't stress how important it is to know how good at fighting your guy is, it directly tells you whether you can take on something.



Ah, wonderful! I've got the snake pit. I make sure to kite the Naga that guard the entrance and take them down. I do fight one in melee once I pop heroism, he does maybe 20 damage before I kill him, very good to know.



The entrance proper. I like this, it makes it feel like the Nagas dug out their pit as a proper off-shoot from the lair, and it's not just some hole in the ground.



I also have the shoals, as you can tell from the vault in the upper right. Oh, and the first Centaur barding I've seen. It works just like Naga barding. I slap it on and, combined with the +2 leather armour I'm now toting about, I've got an almost respectable defence. I can't use shields to good effect with bows, so I'm going to be wearing light armour and relying on my Centaur HP to help me survive.



As foretold, the vault to the shoals. I take out the sheep, but the snapping turtle hurts, I eventually kill him, but it takes some time.



A bit of light reading, I probably won't be memorizing any of these spells(excepting blink, in a bit), but it's nice to know that if I need them, they're there.



Scrolls of vorpalize weapon are rare enough that I didn't expect to see a second one for some time. I grab this one and head back up to my stash.



On the cusp of XL 12, with 240 +0 arrows and the enchant weapon scrolls to get them up, I am nearly ready to prepare for the end-game. Oh, but I'm so low level. In 4-5 levels, I'll be wrecking everything in the dungeon as soon as it pops its head out.