For those unaware, each altar on the Astral Plane is behind three sets of doors, and there's no way to tell which altar is MINE (the Chaotic one, as opposed to Lawful or Neutral) until I'm actually THERE. If I'm lucky, I go past Death and win. If I'm unlucky, I'll have to back out, then face off against Pestilence and/or Famine in the other altar areas.
So, going right, I head for Door1, ignoring the green dragon loitering outside; Airy can handle him. Reach door. Unlock... oops - take key out of bag. (C'mon, Hayate, focus.) Unlock door. Step into doorway. Start battling the Angel in my way. Ack! Death is now to the right of the door, in reach of me. Don't like that, and Angels take a while to kill! Zap teleport at the Angel. But someone summoned insects, which are now in the way instead. Death's hitting me! *whimper*
Zap some Misteltein around, including at Death. Insects die. Walk in; Death's still hitting me. I dodge around an ant, out of his reach, but my 513 HP max is already down to 446 HP. (I do not like Death's special attack.) Blow magic whistle; Airy and GAngel appear near me. Use them to continue to dodge Death as I head for Door2. Fight my way in... renegade priest of Anhur is menacing me. Then he casts a spell - lightning zaps down! It disintegrates my rings of slow digestion AND free action! I'm also blind!
Thump, thump, thump. I stand there, my heart in my throat.
This is, like, my worst case scenario. Without free action, I am going to be paralyzed sooner or later (likely sooner). Too many things can do that up here. And without slow digestion, I can't spellcast effectively, plus I didn't bring spare food (thank goodness I ate earlier). However... this dungeon HAS made me excessively paranoid. Remember, I HAVE BACKUP RINGS. But it will take time to get those out of bag, and there's actually free walking spots now.
Carefully take a couple steps. Then apply unicorn horn so I can see. Magic missiles and sleep rays are whizzing around. My GAngel has followed me in here; Airy is still back at Door2. I think he got hit by sleep. Fish the new rings out of my bag. Hopefully GAngel can deal with Anhur's renegade priest. Oh no, Jonathan the Seignieur (a knight) zaps a wand of lightning at me from inside the altar room! Perfect, more lightning. Jonathan must die.
I manage to push my way one step into the altar area. Neither Jonathan, nor Stephen the Rover (a caveman) are fleeing; so this probably isn't the right place. But I don't immediately turn around. With Airy asleep just outside Door2, it looks like the creatures in the atrium are blocked from entering - including Death! So I have some time, and Jonathan-who-must-die is standing in my way; there, now he's dead. Oh, he had a greased Fire Brand! It's my artifact now, along with that dangerous wand. *smug look*
Missiles are continuing to fly around, and "the high priestess of Ptah" casts healing and looks better. Ptah, eh? Fine - this is most definitely the lawful altar, I won't even check. On the way out though, I can't resist taking down Stephen and looting his gear too; this proves a bit more difficult, partly because he's standing just above the inside of the door, but at least it's mostly insects around me. I'm losing HP, but not time to panic yet.
Stephen wanders away... no, comes back. Got him! Cool - he had Mjollnir AND a bunch of gems! (amber, amethyst, 3 turquoise, citrine, 4 emeralds, diamond, agate, jacinth, jasper, obsidian) Mine now. This is definitely going to be a gem ascension for me! He also has a tiger's eye ring... apparently, I never saw one in the dungeon to ID?? Eh, grab that too, I'm still only Burdened.
Head back out. More things are zapped - oh, look, my GAngel has an amulet of reflection! Maybe she'll last longer than I thought. Continue on my way, now a bit hampered by Airy in the doorway; I can't fire off any spells in that direction or I'll hit him. Manage to get back to Door2. Death is staring right at me across from Airy. Hm... I stall; finally put on my backup rings, and chuck my new loot into my bag of holding. Death wanders to the north. Stethoscope Airy... uhoh, HP 3(176), and can't move. Healing ain't gonna help him, really.
Sorry, Airy! Zap teleportation at him. Dodge Death by moving south, towards the door. Manage to get out even as more insects get summoned. Head now for the middle set of doors, slipping around that green dragon from earlier. Reach the middle atrium, new Door1. There's a black pudding just past it! Is that thing lost?!
Ignore the pudding; open the door, and head in. Hm, there's a few baddies succeptible to "finger of death", including Pestilence all lined up...! But there's also a peaceful Angel loitering in the back. Zapping a peaceful is how Miaka nearly got screwed. I quaff my first full healing potion instead. More artful dodging. But I have to step next to Pestilence to be lined up with the door again. He MISSED *TWICE*! ZOT left, he's dead. *whew!* *proud smile* That wasn't so bad. Keep walking in, Door2, Door3... some things try to paralyze me, but I have free action.
I'm at the altar! Figures... Thoth's neutral altar. I have to go all the way back, and left.
*sigh*