1. I still don't get why people make such a big deal of the danger level. That aside, I've never noticed an increase for merely carrying items (though that might be due to me not bothering to carry much excess weaponry or armor). AFAIK, rings and amulets don't affect it at all or only by a minute amount.

2. Polypiling is not affected by depth.

The swords are an rare spawn easter egg, basically. They typically despawn before you can find them, but occasionally you might luck out and find one.

The mirror would be whatever form you're currently in. Same goes for clones. Furthermore, the clone/mirror image stays in the form permanently, as the polymorphed state does not carry over.

They're handy to have one or two sitting around in your box for those rare cases you might need them. I can't recall being saved by an acid rain yet, but I like being prepared for any situation. The damage they do is quite minor and often just a wasted charge unless you can keep your targets in the rain somehow.

That armor you're wearing is just asking for trouble, arcanite plate +1 and unenchanted levitation belt just isn't enough for your danger level down in GC7.

An easier way to do it is to lure him out with a string of bananas (he sees them from 4 squares away) and vomit 5-6 times on the spot he usually stands. His legs will eventually dissolve and cause him to panic, at which point the fight is practically impossible to lose. Just make sure you start the fight before he dies in the pool.

Sure, vomiting might cause a small hit to your strength, but one point of strength is nothing compared to getting the belt and skipping Jenny for later training.

The genie belt isn't all that great in my books, since it's quite easy to get that belt of levitation before even leaving UT3. Using normal belts is just a waste of a slot. Levitation will save you much more often than that additional 5 AV from the genie belt, since groin shots are really rare with the danger levels you usually have in GC1-4.

Yeah, zombies of <insertnastyhumanoidhere> are a whole different matter. Especially your own corpses-turned-to-zombies.

Nope, don't think I've ever noticed any connection between killing bears and nastier spawns.

What were you running for armor? Seeing as you're getting one-shotted by mobs that should normally be very weak, your AV might have been a tad too low for your other gear and stats. I don't think I've ever gotten one-shotted by skeletons, imps and the likes after like GC2 myself.

Dual-wielding Turoxi(sp?) isn't going to win the game, as any wands/scrolls you keep in your inventory outside a box is very likely to break/burn at some point. Effectively this means that you either burn through teleportation sources very rapidly, or using a teleport takes one additional turn for retrieving them from the box. Potions might also be in danger from the explosions, though I'm not completely sure whether Turox was capable of breaking those.

GC4 isn't too far down to change weapon skill yet, so both Mjolak and the staff are both possible choices. Mjolak is easier to play with, but forces you to the chaotic side of things. It's also more effective as a weapon off the bat.

However, the staff can arguably be a better weapon in the long run as with careful play it effectively conveys the same buffs as Justifier does. The clouds are quite tough to manage properly and require you to think out your fights very carefully to keep hostiles out of the blue clouds. 1-wide tunnels will become nasty places to fight in, as chasing mobs will force you to move through the red clouds and backing up lets them get to the blue clouds. With patience, planning and a good lot of enchants, you might find more success with it than Mjolak.

maybe

If you've got enchants and intend to continue past Elpuri, I'd go with Mjolak. Otherwise, keep the Turox and maybe possibly even dual wield them for maximum explosive entertainment value. Because more explosions > less explosions.

Regarding Astr, Mjolak trains it much faster than Turox does due to Turox only requiring 13 Astr to wield with one hand. For Mjolak it's much higher, though I can't recall how high.