I tried it with a brand-new party, level 1, no experience except for The Letter. We got the Fly scroll, saved the game, then flew to the Shrine of the Gods. We managed to get everybody's stats raised on the obelisk, and escape into NWC Headquarters without being killed. (This took nearly an hour, real-time, since dragon population and placement is highly random.) Whee! Free money! (But only up to 10,000 gold.) Free armor! Well, some anyway. Lots of potion bottles, some potions after we got some of the money. We killed both Trip and Jon, for some added experience, got some free food (until we were poisoned, which we had to cure with a purple potion, since nobody had much skill beyond First Aid and Bless.) So-o-o-o, how do we get back? At level 1, we of course have never even heard of either Town Portal or Lloyd's Beacon. Is there some magic spot that returns you to New Sorpigal when you touch it? (I finally forfeited the 10,000 gold pieces, got killed by the dragons, and resurrected back in New Sorpigal. Since we were dead(?) broke, we made use of the "money well" outside the Inn. The 100 gold it produced was just enough to let us level up at the training center. After that, we'll have to kill some goblins for some ready cash.)
