With the Bloodstone in your inventory, click on the Pedestal in the room where you found it. That will open up another room nearby that contains another Bloodstone. Keep doing this and you'll find the answer to your second question.
As for level 12 and on, you need armor with good AC (defense) and items that provide decent hit recovery. A high-block shield is nice but tends to get you stuck in blocking animation with some creatures. Another tactic is to use doors and gates as choke points so you don't get surrounded so much. Other than that, use caution and proceed slowly; don't go wading into big rooms that you haven't already cleared out. That's just asking for trouble.
If you still can't seem to survive level 12, start a new game and work your way down from level 1 again. There's nothing wrong with that and the next time you reach level 12, you'll be even tougher and will likely have better items. I did that more times than I can count with my sorcerer the first time I played him.
Hope this helps. I'm no expert player but I manage to survive well enough.
(Edit: wrong terminology, got rid of spoiler)
As for level 12 and on, you need armor with good AC (defense) and items that provide decent hit recovery. A high-block shield is nice but tends to get you stuck in blocking animation with some creatures. Another tactic is to use doors and gates as choke points so you don't get surrounded so much. Other than that, use caution and proceed slowly; don't go wading into big rooms that you haven't already cleared out. That's just asking for trouble.
If you still can't seem to survive level 12, start a new game and work your way down from level 1 again. There's nothing wrong with that and the next time you reach level 12, you'll be even tougher and will likely have better items. I did that more times than I can count with my sorcerer the first time I played him.
Hope this helps. I'm no expert player but I manage to survive well enough.
(Edit: wrong terminology, got rid of spoiler)