I'm actually in the SE Wilderness area now. Fighting groups of monsters five levels higher than myself. It's not so much difficult (so far) as LONG.

I have three casters capable of setting and returning to portals now. I have one set to the current area, and one set back to Arnika. I've gotten to the point where I just teleport back to Arnika to camp, and then teleport back to resume progress. It's bizarre, but it works.

As to Ultima VII - I did a follow-up today - but mostly of interest to developer-types The Exult toolset and some design document excerpts for Serpent Isle.