ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

I had to check the source to figure out that the unidentified wand I picked up without thinking about it is my ticket out of here. Perhaps it could start identified? Or some clue be provided?

Well in beta14 players should have auto id from the orb Elisa gives them so it'll be much more obvious

My preferred solution would be to give artifact rods a unique unidentified description, like 'shiny rod' or whatever, instead of 'wand'.

yeahd that too

Warning: Do not attempt to return to level 1 once you enter the mountain.

You will appear in the middle of the peaks instead of the stairs. Cue YASD by drowning (no phase door, no conveyance, recall rod too slow, final destination). That was probably my most successful character to date, too.

By this point of the game, you should be carrying both phase door and teleport scrolls, as well as healing potions (and, if applicable, potions of mana). Sorry about your character, but it really does sound like you were seriously underprepared for this quest.

I did bring a couple dozen with me, though. I should've carried more on principle, but it wasn't being unprepared for the dungeon that killed me. Being unprepared for a surprise bug did me in.