the eighth level turns out to be a "ghost town" level: a big open space with a bunch of small rooms. these levels are dangerous because it's easy for monsters to gang up on me in open spaces, and hard for me to get away.

as in any town, there's shops to be found. shops throughout the dungeon sell (but won't buy) a variety of goods to players who carry gold. shop entrances work like up staircases, so i'll enter by using the < key.

i'm presented with a menu of items i can buy, or could if i had enough gold. the orcish mines, a small branch of the upper dungeon, is a good place to find coins, though it's also filled with mobs of orcs. i can't afford anything here, so i leave by pressing ESC.

this ghost town isn't without ghosts, either. this is the ghost of a character i've played before (a naga assassin) who died in the dungeons. ghosts tend to be dangerous and hard to kill, since they're as powerful as the characters i played. usually the best strategy is to run: while most monsters can follow me up a flight of stairs, a ghost is tied to the floor on which it appears. i can leave without worrying it will follow.