Viscount

The Viscount is the second boss fought in The Courtyard.

History
"The feasting and revelry would last for weeks at a time. Great stone tables were set with such an abundance of rare delicacies that we would stuff ourselves until the exotic became mundane. When the lavish spread began to spoil, a ravenous gourmand gleefully proposed that we sample from the fetid pile of composting refuse! The notion was dismissed as decidedly unhealthy, but days later he was found cackling madly atop a heap of rancid comestibles, licking his fingers in delight. Narration_cc_loading_02.wav."

- The Ancestor.

During his younger years, when the Ancestor frequently rubbed elbows with nobility, he would often set up lavish feasts that would last for weeks on end. At these feasts, all those present would stuff themselves full of rare and exotic delicacies from all over the world until they became par for the course. Eventually, the meals began to pile up faster than they could be consumed and so began to spoil and decompose. But even still, there was one particular gourmand who was completely undeterred, and even excited, by the rot and would continue to devour everything he could even as the once-fine feasts turned into putrid slurry. Neither the intervening years nor being infected by the Crimson Curse have weakened the Viscount's voracious appetite, instead they have only changed his tastes to something very much for the worse...

As the Corruption spread over the Estate, rumors about various new "delicacies" reached the Viscount's ears. In response, he sent out envoys to find and bring them to him for his tasting pleasure. Soon he began to dine on soups and broths made from the bone marrow of the Undead, roasted Swinefolk smothered with Necrotic Fungus sauce, and plates of seafood made from Pelagic creatures. These new "decadent" and "exotic" morsels have had a disturbing effect on his already twisted mind and body; now he is completely cannibalistic. Even the other members of the Court do not dare enter his residence out of fear that they might be his next meal...

Reaching the Boss
Equipment needed is typical for the courtyard. Bring torches to clear mist and use on nests, shovels to clear blockages and dig up potted plants, food to sustain your party, bandages aplenty both for bleed and bone piles, and a stack of The Blood to feed your Vampiric party.

As always you will be facing massive amounts of Bloodsuckers, roaming beasts and undead and the Crimson Curse for every hero you bring will become a Vampire, if they aren't already.

Unlike the previous area which was more of a gauntlet with three separate areas, this quest takes the form of a maze with a single, long winding route twisting and turning with many other side paths looping in back on themselves, and often disorienting the unwary or careless.

To begin with, move to the right to the first room. Once there, head straight up and keep following the path up through the many combat encounters as it curves to the right.

Continue moving forwards, not deviating from this path until you find the blue key. At this point, you techically have two options. heading back the way you came to unlock the blue gate is something the cautions might try, but in truth the massive stress build makes it unwise. The safest route (oddly enough) is to push onwards to the right, then heading down at the threeway junction.

Continue to head downwards until the path branches to the right and left. Going right is a waste of time without the yellow key, as you will need it to progress, so head left.

Moving left keep to the bottom, heading down whenever possible to eventually discover the yellow key. Once this is done, head back the way you came until you are back at the three way junction, this time heading right. This time keep heading up past the yellow gate and to another three way junction with paths heading to the right and left. Head right keeping to the left hand wall until you find the red key, once this is done, go back the way you came heading up whenever possible, to open the red key.

The room immediately after the red lock contains the Viscount.

A map of the area can be found here.

Fighting The Viscount
The fight consists of the Viscount himself plus three bodies which occupy the other ranks.

The Viscount as his first action will always eat one of the bodies, healing, buffing, and/or debuffing himself. Eating the biggest body will use 2 of his actions, and has a 3-turn cooldown.

Because of this, the player should focus on killing the bodies first, so that the Viscount, unable to buff himself, will be weaker.

Another strategy can be to burst the Viscount down and try to kill him quickly, doing to him more damage than he heals.

When the Viscount eats any of the bodies that have bleed or blight, it will transfer onto the Viscount, making killing two of the bodies and injecting the last with lots of bleed and blight damage another viable, though risky way of killing him.

With 3 attacks per turn and most attack targetting multiple positions, bleed and stress will be the biggest problem. Increase bleed resistance through trinkets and holy water. Bring heroes that can stress heal.

Trivia

 * In contrast to the Emaciated Body and Body, which appear to be normal humans, the Bloodstuffed Body appears to be one of the Viscount's fellow Bloodsuckers (a Manservant, judging by the wig and general placement of the limbs).
 * The Viscount is voiced by Youtuber/Streamer Baertaffy, whose longest and most popular series consist of Darkest Dungeon playthroughs, going well over 400 episodes and hundreds of hours of playtime. Baertaffy is also the voice of The Baron and The Fanatic.