Rolling hills and upper-class twits

I feel like I should apologize for the last two posts. It's only now that I realize how utterly boring Holtburg was. Maybe it's the repetition. During both of my previous ventures to Dereth, I started characters in Holtburg, so maybe I'm tired of the content there. Or maybe it's the fact that the dungeon design, while competent, was so bland and unremarkable. I didn't realize this until I was able to contrast the experience with Lytelthorpe which, though less developed and less challenging, was quite a bit more inspired.

The definitive feature of Lytelthorpe is a castle. I forget the lore, but I believe this is an actual lord's castle, rather than a fortress. The lord himself, Aleval by name, seems to have fallen on hard times. He's working for the Explorer's Society to make ends meet, and I find him in the keep, decked out in that ridiculous green outfit of theirs. I must say, the view from his room is quite impressive:

In fact Lytelthorpe is, in general, very scenic. The rolling hills outside town have enough trees to look alive, but not enough to get in the way of good screenshots. (Note the tiny bunker in the background of this shot. Foreshadowing!)

The outposts are east and west. I go east first, and meet up with a guy named Ercel, an amatuer entomologist who wants me to do the same thing I did for that guy back in Nanto: fetch his lost book.

You know, I'm aware that inspiration strikes in odd places, but I think it would be a lot easier for the writers of Dereth if they would learn to use desks. Like the one over there by Ercel's bed, maybe?

Following his directions, I find the dungeon, which is apparently some abandoned Empyrean temple complex. It's also very, very green, a nice contrast to the brownish dungeons around Holtburg.

In terms of action, it's pretty much drudge city, with the occasional shreth or wasp thrown in. Nothing serious. With that in mind, I say phooey to Ercel's breadcrumb trail and explore the place myself. This turns out to be a good move, as I find several worthwhile chests off the beaten path. Unfortunately, I also find something I'd rather not see:

Yes, that is an altar with human remains on it, and yes that drudge was standing behind it when I walked in, facing some other drudges on the opposite side. I think I just bashed my way through an evil drudge cult.

In any case, I find Ercel's book in a storage area deep in the dungeon. The place isn't too confusing; Even ignoring the path entirely, I'm still able to keep properly oriented. The book babbles some inane nonsense about Pynthos Wasp wings and seems like generally dull reading. So, I bring it back to Ercel and... hey, wait a minute...

That is not the same guy that gave me the quest. WTF? Did he, like, put on a wig and fake beard after I left to screw with me? Step out for a smoke and leave Biff the Understudy in his place? Get abducted by Virindi and replaced by a robotic duplicate with bad hair?

Well, whatever it is, I'm done here and have no patience for this X-Files nonsense, so it's off to the west outpost. The quest here is to retrieve a shirt with sentimental value from a monster-infested ruin. I follow a line of apple trees to get there, then a line of candles through the ruin itself. Despite the fact that it's currently nighttime, the apple trees are not hard to spot:

Y'know, this is vaguely insulting. Okay, yes, I get pissed when an NPC gives me directions and they don't get me to the destination. But still, first quest: line of statues, then line of stones. Second quest: bleedingly-obvious line of apple trees, then line of candles. I don't need to be led by the hand, people.

As soon as I walk into the dungeon, I hear a huge clump of monster-spawning sounds, which worries me. My suspicion is soon confirmed: shreth dungeon in breeding season.

Fortunately these are just Gnawer Shreth, the grown versions of which have been newbie food since release. No big deal. I try to go off the beaten path, like before, but this dungeon is a lot more twisty, so I eventually find my way back to the candle trail and stick to it.

This quest, when you think about it, is a retread of the Holtburg Redoubt: abandoned underground settlement overrun by monsters, adventurers sent inside to recover left-behind objects. The difference is, while the redoubt looks like a place that was lived in, this dungeon looks like a generic cave. Or at least it does until I get down to the lower level. Then it proves to be a much bigger and fancier version of the redoubt, apparently built to hold many more people. Highlights include the spacious dormatories with working fireplaces:

Fully-stocked kitchen:

And private bedrooms, presumably for important officials:

Honestly, I like the redoubt better. That dungeon gives you an impression of people doing their best to get by in dangerous times. By contrast, this is rather cozy, which clashes with the "fight for survival" theme running through the backstory. And by the way, about the shirt which I'm here to find:

LIES AND SLANDER! That shirt is very clearly blue!

In addition to the experience reward, both Beltslora and Ercel gave me recommendation letters to take to Lord Aleval. From him I get the third quest: fetch him a drink. Not just any drink, mind you. He wants a rare spirit found only in a nearby Empyrean distillery. At this point I finally put it all together: Luxurious disaster shelter + Beautiful scenic surroundings + Big castle ruled by lord who pays adventurers to  fetch him obscure alcohols = Lytelthorpe is the gated community of Dereth. I've been running errands for a bunch of upper class twits.

But hey, exp is exp. Aleval doesn't have the directions (although now that I think of it, I could probably have picked it up at the local tavern), but fortunately I spotted the place earlier when looking for scenery shots. (Foreshadowing payoff!) I step inside and find one of the best representations of a natural cavern I've seen yet in Dereth.

Not too far inside the scenery changes to something that really does resemble a brewery, complete with industrial sounds from the big vats.

The quest itself is unremarkable. Stroll through the scenery along a mostly-linear path, beating up low-level drudges and shreths, negligible threats at this level. In an interesting twist, it tries to fake you out. You find the Distillery Nectar about halfway through, but that's not the end: you also need to find the Distillery Ambrosia, deeper inside. Most players won't be fooled, since you haven't yet used the key Aleval gave you by the time you find the nectar. Finding both with little trouble, I head back to Aleval for my reward:

What a cheapskate. I thought you were supposed to be rich, dude? But, on the other hand, the loot I've picked up in this town, added to the rest of my stash, is enough to get me an MMD.

Lytelthorpe was a pretty interesting town. The hand-holding on the outpost quests is annoying, but someone clearly put effort into the aesthetic design, and it pays off. Next up: Rithwic!