Peek: Berdol's Notes on the Yard

Inspector Tarl has asked me to practice my notes by focusing on each section of Thedeim and being as thorough as I can about what I see.  In essence, that's what an inspector's job is, so practice is good, I suppose.

I'm starting with The Yard, as it's generally the first section delvers enter.  While there is the cemetary entrance, that's generally more used for mourners or by the church.  A fresh adventurer's first look at Thedeim will usually be the yard around the main manor house.

Much of the yard is open grass, with occasional pathways of stone or brick, which gives plenty of space for delvers to have encounters.  Denizens in the yard mostly include rats, snakes, weak vipers, small spider swarms, occasional crows or ravens, and rarely the new arcane hands.  While Thedeim's other denizens may pass through the area, I've not seen them stop to engage the low-level adventurers.

Some of the above may also be lightning enchanted, but the area is safe for all but the most reckless of new adventurers.  Antidotes and lightning resist potions are a good idea to bring, though it would not be a bad idea to be prepared to face at least some magic of the various common affinities, thanks to the hands.

Scions are often spotted on the yard, with Poe providing constant watch from his nest atop the manor.  Jello makes occasional appearances to hunt moles, as does Fluffles, the Conduit.  Teemo is also a common sight around the yard, and the Voice will chat with delvers who may have questions.

While the scions can be engaged in discussion or questions, they should not be engaged in combat.  Thedeim's scions are all extremely powerful, though they don't often act it.  Poe, for example, may look like an overgrown bird, just sitting in his nest.  But if moved to take action, one can expect every single crow and raven under Thedeim's influence to answer his command.  Attempting to fight him is to learn why groups of ravens and crows are called unkindnesses and murders.

Herbalism nodes abound in the yard, and so alchemists are very common to see.  They will need to have at least some combat ability, as Thediem doesn't give his nodes away without effort.  Herbalists aren't expected to be masters of combat, but they should still know how to use their harvesting knives and other tools to defend themselves.

The Yard also acts as a bit of a hub, with three major areas of interest: The Manor, the Cave Entrance, and the Hedge Maze.

The Manor is it's own section that I'll certainly need to make notes on eventually.  A basic over view is that it tends to have more combat and more generalized looting options, as well as leading to other sections of Thedeim.

The Cave Entrance is likewise simply a way to get to The Tunnels, a shallow system of small caves and passages beneath Thedeim's manor.  This, too, leads to other sections, and also has its own points of interest, which are outside of the scope of my notes on The Yard.

The Hedge Maze is perhaps the primary location of interest in The Yard.  It is a large maze of thorny hedges, full of chests and nodes.  Recently, Thedeim has remodelled the maze a bit to allow access to some of the lumber nodes for more general harvesting, though there are more rare and valuable nodes located inside the maze proper.  Thick webbing covers the top of the maze, ensuring nobody can try to cheat, at least not without Tiny knowing.

Tiny is Thedeim's spider scion, and is very large indeed, easily out-massing even the largest horse I've ever seen.  He prowls the maze, capturing delvers who take too long inside.  While the chests inside have very good loot, they are also very difficult to reach.  Even if you do manage to get to them, there are also dire rats that will dart from the thorny walls and snatch anything they can get ahold of, fleeing with their spoils rather than fighting.

There is also a chest in the heart of the maze, within the very lair of Tiny himself.  Expect to face the scion personally if you wish to obtain that particular chest.  As of right now, I'm only aware of one person who has successfully gotten to that chest and escaped with the valuables inside: Priest Torlon, of the Crystal Shield.