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Part 6 - Surface Tension
I've done it! I've retrieved the Amulet of Yendor! This is the first time I've ever managed to do this since I've started playing Rogue (which was around 1999)!
The Amulet of Yendor gives you a whole bunch of effects when you pick it up (this is copied from a game guide, I thought the Amulet was just a McGuffin at first until I looked it up):
-It lets you go back UP staircases (since you are trying to escape with the amulet after all). You can still take staircases down if you want to, but all that's down there is death and gold.
-It is worth 1000 gold pieces (added after you escape with it)
-It removes your need for food (with the exception of any hunger brought about by rings)
-Picks a random good ring effect (stealth, armor, damage, etc) and applies it for no food cost/ring slot
There are downsides to this power, however:
-More wandering monsters (monsters that start awake) spawn
-More traps of all varieties spawn
-In addition to the previous point, more trapdoors spawn between Levels 23-26
Finally, if the Amulet is ever 'lost', these effects stay with you.
Now, all I need to do is climb back up! Thankfully, the game will still base monster spawns on the dungeon level (whether or not you have the Amulet), so it gets easier as I ascend. I have a wand of teleport away, which might be able to buy me a ticket out of these death levels if I get lucky enough.
I start my search for staircases up as fast as I can. I manage to get another teleport scroll, as well as an unidentified potion.
In another room, I stumble upon another ring of stealth along with another unidentified potion. I drop a spare piece of armor I was carrying around, swap out my ring of slow digestion for the second ring of stealth (I'm not sure if they stack, but I don't need slow digestion with the amulet and all my food anyway), and pick up the potion after dropping the slow digestion ring.
I run into a dead end, and find a vampire on the way back out. He manages to drain two of my max HP, unfortunately.
Instead of fighting it or zapping my wand, I read my scroll of teleportation. This is on the logic that I still haven't found the staircase up yet, and teleport could have taken me to it.
There it is!
Every time you ascend a staircase with the Amulet, it wrenches at you to remind you that it is doing bad things to stop you from taking it.
I stumble into a teleport trap while trying to search for the staircase, but still no luck in the new room I am in.
Up up up!
Perfect! Just keep spawning them right next to me, game!
Darn, can't get that lucky.
I hit a maze while searching, which is unfortunate.
I fully map it out, but still no staircase, so I start backtracking and searching for a secret door.
No, not now!
I try to back up and use a healing potion just in case the zap of teleport away puts him next to me, but he quickly shaves off everything I got from healing.
Poof
No, I said poof!
Where's the staircase, game?
I rush rapidly towards the starting room to search for a secret door there, with a jabberwock hot on my tail. I plan on teleporting it after I've reached my destination to prevent teleport other from screwing me.
I poof my problems away yet again and find the secret door.
AGH STOP IT, GO AWAY
NO, I SAID GO AWAY
It's right there! The staircase is just right there! Unfortunately, that jabberwock looks awake.
And that griffin! I've used my teleport away wand a lot of times, and I'm thinking I might be running short on zaps. If it chooses this turn to be out, I'm screwed. Likewise, I can't spend a turn drinking my extra healing potion or I'll be cornered. I'm going to have to take a risk and move to the left, then diagonally down-left. I'll only take one attack, and I have to hope that it rolls lower than 26 damage.
It isn't looking good, since the jabberwock is going to be the one to make it. Here goes nothing!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 
So close, I was so close!
I head to the score screen, and thankfully the game recognizes my efforts with a partial victory: if you die at any time after picking up the amulet, you will be forever honored by the guild who gave you the mission to get it. This is because of players who may die while diving for more gold and treasures below Level 26; all that getting out the door at Level 1 technically does is sell off all of the items in your inventory for a gold value based on their relative worth (for example, food is worth 2 gold per piece) and remove the penalty to score you receive for dying (a 10% penalty based off your gold).
This has been the farthest I've gotten in Rogue, and (even though I've died) I'm proud to have done so. If anyone else wants to give it a shot, feel free, but I think that's the best I've got.