One fun way to deal with the speed issue is the "boots of blinding speed."

They're easy to get, and they let your character run extremely quickly. But they also completely blind you - the screen goes black when you put them on.

You can get them by escorting or killing a traveler on a road near near Caldera. They promise you a great treasure if you walk them to a nearby town, but the boots are pretty useless if you don't have a way to resist magic.

Personally, I liked the game's sense of humor.