ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

I was cruising along with a Dwarven Rogue - level 21, but opted to chance the temporal rift. Upon spawning I was surrounded by 7 enemies and the teleportation started as soon as I took my first sling shot.

No way out... death (five of them) eliminated my character from further adventure... and I had some really nice gear.

Is there any good advice for the temporal rift or is it best to just NOT go there as a rogue?

You may consider keeping torques of psychoportation or teleport runes when it comes to this kind of situation.
Can't fight? Phase away! The first level has exit regardless of killing all telugoroths or not.

Yep. This is why you should always have an escape button.