Rumphy is rather like a spirit (Humphrey, I believe) in the early Wizardry games. The point was never to be able to save either but to give players a fairly good way to increase experience and $ within the early stages of the game. Rumphy is meant to reappear over and over. When you first encounter these spirits they are a good challenge. While I didn't bother to "work with Rumphy", I regularly visited and dispatched Humphrey. I could make my way to his space on the first level blindfolded!
Certainly an interesting project but I think you will find that there is no way to truly get rid of him.
Wyv