The cliff, gate, and sock are dead ends that are either going to be expanded in the future as entries to other maps (cliff gate probablY), or just weird things that exist to make you ask questions in this alien world (sock).
The giant serpent will reappear on the beach in random encounters when you chase it from the cave, if you have a rope and 10 strength you can lasso it (after you fight it again) and haul it onto the beach. From there you can fuck it (this scene is great) and there is a little follow up to that as well that you get if you encounter it a few more times on the beach but I won't spoil it.
After that follow up it leaves the game forever (in the current patch).
I'm really really hoping that future patches don't just introduce new characters but have us get more interactions with the current ones in act 2 or whatever. I'd love to go to a new city and see the little gambling goblin thing and have a new interaction with her depending on how you dealt with her in act 1.
IRGT leveling:
The 3.0 version of the game is coming out next and it's going to feature a revamped skill system. However the dev has said there still won't be any leveling or ways to gain stats in game because he doesn't want anybody to have maxed out stats in everything. He wants each character to have a somewhat different experience because of the limitations the stat system places on them.
