TOPIC: Thank you Again

THEY DID IT AGAIN! JUST INCREDIBLE! WOW! What enjoyment was had. Cravenmoor: Mists of Madness did not let us down as the second episode of the 2026 VTD season. It had so many cool things and effects—Regenerating Mist Shamblers, Mire Wolves, Bats—more Bats—and even more Bats—Did I say Bats more and more and more, a Witch, and a Scarecrow. A bat flying across the screen to let you know when time was half gone was in theme. A Gargoyle in the bottom left. Lights going on and off at the bottom—like a countdown. The rooms were marked inside a diamond with an arrow pointing to move to the next room was well-done. The fact that our stats could be collected in training saved us so much time (had to be in the training room and do a melee attack to insure this). Another big shout out to the programmers for making this possible. This continues to be one of the most valuable changes that has been made from last year.
Each month I look forward to Virtual True Dungeon to see the new monsters, puzzles, set designs, and NPC’s. Once again, they knocked it out of the park. Thank you to Jeff and Lori, but a special thanks to CPN, Grunnel, Drake, and Troy. Additional thanks to all of the DM’s, Coaches, Innkeepers, Golems, NPC’s and anyone I have forgotten. The storyline is great Jeff. The twists and turns kept us on our guard. Special shout outs to the NPC’s—Isabella Moonborn delivered a masterful performance throughout the adventure and had a great costume. Her facial expressions and lines were fantastic. Dalen the nephew (Jake Sutherland)
was very convincing as a gypsy—proper accent, lines and expressions were right on cue. They both left us wanting to come back for more.
Often, we leave out the Innkeepers and Coaches so special thanks to Natasha and Yancey and those I am not familiar with. They are very good about answering questions and getting us what we need before the adventure begins. Kudos to our DM’s Matt and James—fantastic job in describing combats and monster hits (as I am sure the other DM’s did too). They also added in things and cued up effects with nice timing. A Great Big Shout Out to Drake for the continued video effects and overlays. What a great treasure to have in the family. Finally, a big thank you Andrew and Sage in Epilogue and providing the directions on how to select Condensed Treasure in TDEvents. The Condensed Treasure was a hit with our group in Tower of Blood. We are excited about getting this treasure option again.
The combats were daunting—our NM Room 4 with the waves of bats took 5 rounds with 8 adventurers (sadly our ghosts were ineffective). I guess I would be remiss if I did not concede the fact that we had our share of misses--NOT. Maybe a few here and there but a very steady bunch of hitters we had. Here is a run-down of one of our adventures.
Room 1—It was quite dark in the overgrown forest and the Mists made it impossible to see. Isabella kept us on course even with her mind being compromised at times. And then we ran into a couple Mist Shamblers. These mossy-covered creatures had vines and roots which if not severed first allowed them regeneration powers. We weren’t born yesterday and the lore told us so. The Shamblers groaned and growled a lot but were no match for our hard-hitting group of adventurers. With three crit hits and two rounds of combat, the Boogie Woogies died. After the battle, Isabella had visions of deviled-red eyes and woke up in sweats fearing them—very good job on the soliloquy delivery Isabella.
In Room 2 we progressed through the dark forboding forest led by Isabella. We came upon a burgling creek/river of magic. There were four rows of four-wide stepping stones with letters on each of them. Also, there was some shiny thing on the other side. The Rogue clue just let us know that the common alphabet had 26 letters. The scroll gave us instructions for our Listener (Isabella). “Make her blind and be her eyes, six steps she’ll take to make the path—one wrong step earns river’s wrath.” Luckily Isabella had a wrap that served as a blindfold. She put it on after removing her glasses and could instantly hear voices. Isabella relayed what the voices said to us: Clue 1) Path starts at the Path you cannot win.—we decided this was Catch 22—22nd Letter is V. V was the third stone in the first row. We directed Isabella to it and it held. Clue 2) Proceed upon the clouds to the one everyone wants to find—we came up with Cloud 9—9th letter I. Isabella moved diagonally left. Clue 3) Look to the step that can tell the future—we thought crystal ball and then eight ball—8th Letter is H—Isabella moved forward to the letter H. Clue 4) Slide to where the journey begins—1st letter—Letter A. Isabella slid to the right to the Letter A. Clue 5) Now find the time where the beard grows in—five o’clock shadow—5th Letter is E. Isabella moved to the right. Clue 6) Place next upon the number of eyes—We thought 2 eyes but no B, then remembered Isabella wore glasses so 4 eyes—4th letter D—forward to the last stone. We followed Isabella’s blind lead and made it across. We found a magnifying glass that we took with us. Then we came upon three mushrooms. Tan, Green and Purple—Tan gave the consumer a holy aura, Green made you irresistible to fuzzy creatures, and Purple could have several effects—rotten acorn and black ichor we encountered. As we moved forward the squirrels in the trees seemed fixated on the adventurer who ate the Green mushroom.
In Room 3 we moved through the forest and it got darker (however, squirrels were following fixated on the Ranger in first run and Bard in the second). Suddenly a Mire Wolf appears with red eyes and black ichor dripping from its fangs. Lore tells us it is sensitive to sounds other than its howl. Although combats lasted 2 or 3 rounds, the Mire Wolf dug in the ground and out flies a Zombie Squirrel that is attracted to the Ranger in one run and the Bard in the other. A team member threw the rotten acorn and distracted the squirrel from the Ranger, Also, of note were the realistic wolf howls and movements (good job on the animations Drake).
I read on Discord where jadziadax8’s group with some youngins tamed two wolves in January and brought them (named Sun and Moon) along on the adventure. The memories that we make and the shenanigans we pull when our imaginations are let loose.
Room 4—We proceeded through the forest mists led by Isabella. Next we hear a fluttering above us. THE BATS—at first 3 appeared—vanquished with a pop and poof (brought a smile and chuckle)—then 5 more appeared—pops and poofs brought smiles and chuckles again—and then 7 more appeared—more smiles/chuckles following the pops and poofs—next 10 more bats came upon us—more pops/poofs and smiles/chuckles—then another wave of 12 appeared fluttering—pops/poofs, smiles/chuckles—and then silence. We survived—but I will always smile and chuckle at the pops and poofs. A sidenote—the screeching bat effects were very well-received.
Room 5—We proceeded through the forest and came upon a clearing with a home and some tables—food on one, baubles on another, items on a third. The witch (NAGMARA hag) apparition appeared and had a pleasing, inviting voice. Although it seemed foreboding, we were given a scroll with clues. We realized that the magnifying glass from Room 2 amplified parts of the scroll. The amplified parts were: 1) Ate myths, 2) Did moan, 3) driP toe, 4) rEd meal, and 5) liverS. We deciphered NAGMARA into ANAGRAM and then the others into 1) Amethyst, 2) Diamond, 3) Peridot, 4) Emerald, and 5) Silver. Next we had to identify the Gems from the Baubles table and place them in the numbered platters. Upon findng the Amethyst (Purple) we took damage for taking things from a table that did not belong to us. Diamond was a clear gem, Peridot was a light green gem, Emerald was a dark green, and Silver was—well a coin. Our DM told us we needed to call out her name. We deciphered the capital letters to form SPADE. On a side note the witches voice was very pleasing even when she told us to “Get out of my home”.
Room 6—Three options—one for Friday (6F), Saturday (6S), and Sunday (6U). We did 6U. We came upon a clearing—a field of corn (I was home since I live in Iowa). Suddenly a Scarecrow comes alive and our Bard’s lore check told us this scarecrow made of straw should burn but did not. He lit himself on fire—looks like slashing is the only way. Combats were normal for us but the Scarecrow had some very neat effects. He carried shears and then a torch, the set darkened and he lit himself on fire—flames glowing inside. He attacked spitting out fire. When we vanquished him, he blew up in a mountain of flames. You might say he burned himself out. (Once again, great special effects Drake). (Note the Scarecrow had different effects on the different days.)
Room 7—Puzzle (we may have had a choice of combat or puzzle but we chose puzzle.) We entered into the home of Mother DeNosa expecting to find a woman. We were met by a Gypsy man—Dalen the nephew of Mother DeNosa (Jake Sutherland I believe). He did a masterful job of displaying the cards and even had a great gypsy accent as well as a fantastic costume. He proceeded to show us a bunch of Tarot Cards—Star, Tower, Magician, Moon, Hetrid, Astrid, Druid, Willen, Fool, Elfsheid, 7 Swords, Death, Prince, Craven, Devil, King. From these he selected six cards—Moon, Magician, Death, Tower, King, and Hermit. We were to place them in the correct spots on a 2 x 3 grid. Our Rogue clue was “That’s right, death is near”. Our six clues were as follows:
1) The Hermit looks and thinks about the moon so far away.
2) Shines above the tower, in its light the wolves do play.
3) Death is in proximity of everyone tonight.
4) The King looks down at his Magician, his eyes are full of fright.
5) The safehold crumbles lower, the Magician feels the floor.
6) The King takes a final breath for Death is right next door.
We failed this puzzle in our first run. We determined that we did not follow the right sequence. We determined the Tower, Hermit and Magician were in the lower row. First we placed the Hermit in the lower right, Next came the moon in the top left, Then we placed the Tower below the Moon in the lower left, Next Death is placed above the Hermit in the top right, The King is placed in the center top and finally the Magician is center bottom. We determined that we had to follow the Tarot cards as they came up in the clues.
We had a mini-puzzle at the end—Sun (1), Seas (2), Butterfly (3), Moon (4), Owl (5). Don’t remember the directions but we solved and received +3 HP for our next adventure Order of the Dawn.
There were some hints for next time too—a table with 10 Rings, Isabella cover her punctures and if she starts to turn drive a stake through her heart.
A very enjoyable time for all. Different solutions to puzzles on different days. Combats changed from day to day. Maybe I need to do more runs. Hmmm!
Salsa John