Wilderness is neat but scary.

[Whelk]

I was having fun with mirkwood spiders, dark elf druids and forest wights out in the wilderness forest. Then this master lich comes along ... I tried shooting it instead of reading my teleport scroll. Whoops.

Apparently this master lich has something against half-orc rogues in the mid-20 level range: http://www.mangband.org/Main/Info?m=a%20Master%20lich

[nubnub]

Whoa, a master lich? How far out were you? I assume you probably went up north to the dark forest, right?

Anyway, don't let this put you off wilderness exploration. Normally, the wilderness is sort of safe. We even have a sort of forward exploration base at -29850ft.

[Whelk]

Yeah, it was the northern forest. I don't recall how far out I was. The last number I recall bothering to remember was -1196, but I went quite a ways beyond that. The dark elven druids took a lot of arrows but I was able to take them out without taking much (if any) damage. The Master Lich was quite a surprise. I found and took out Wormtongue while I was out there, but he didn't drop anything (I'm assuming this is because I was in the wilderness instead of the dungeon).

It was simultaneously neat/creepy to find piles of gear and gold on the ground that was obviously left behind by slain adventurers. It was fun to find that junk item in a cabin inscribed with "so-and-so was here." I actually think it was one of your characters, Nubnub.

What does this "exploration base" consist of?

[nubnub]

It's just a big granite house full of stuff. A lot of food, about 20 picks, a few shovels, some crossbows, about 60 spears, some cloaks, some armor, some shoes, a few wands of stone to mud, one or two Life scrolls, etc.

Basically, it has rudimentary exploration supplies. It's one square up from town and 16 squares to the west. To the west beyond it is a large desert.

If you want to go way out to the edges of the world (it does have edges, in this game) try and hug the borders between zones, so if something bad shows up you can just go to another zone. Try and bring a missile weapon with a big damage bonus.

Good luck out there, if you decide to keep exploring.