2020-10-25 - Halloween Event Begins!

[Pinch of StarDust]

TJ has fixed the "something went wrong" glitch

 

[daba555]

3 hours ago, purplehaze said:

Same happened to me with the one I was missing. I clicked on it, but when it took me to the T or T page the treat didn't show up there. I refreshed the page and it appeared.

 

But it finally did, right?  I am pleased that it headed straight for the year that was right before I had them all.  My friend had missed some in years that were complete for me, and she's getting those, too, working from most recent backwards.

 

Very wonderful, TJ!  I hope this feature comes back every year, so that everyone has a chance to get them all.

 

Edited October 27, 2020 by daba555
misplaced space

[Tigerkralle]

A great time to all of you!

 

New eggs soonish.  

I really enjoy the new Valkemarian Tales games and did not expect one for Halloween. For some puzzles i needed help and looked up the solution but all in all a nice short story.

 

And wow, the first year for me missing treats is really 2013. I do have a few from 2012 but i need to catch all from 2013 before i can finsih the collection from 2012 and i do remember that i did not collect a Cavern Lurker back then because all the same eggs in all the different spot could not be right... Oh past me with such bad English skills, not being able to really comprehend what was going on.
 

Pssst... I do hope we can collect the eggs from past events for Festival of Eggs! But i am glad that we can get all those cute little treats form the past. I never expected that.

[Cheystar]

I got through that, went right back into all the puzzles for a second time, and I quit. I didn't get to the King Lich battle, I was tossed back into every single puzzle for the 2nd time. I'm done. 

[Naruhina_94]

[daba555]

Naruhina_94, that's very cute! 

[infiniteviking]

23 hours ago, Kakaru_of_DOOM said:

I think Hugo is a pyrovar. That or yellow-crowned, I'm past that point in the story and can't go back to look more closely, and the two desert-dwelling breeds have similar blue-yellow colour schemes. (If you don't have the encyclopaedia: pyrovar | yellow-crowned).

 

Ooh, thanks! I'll take another look in my next playthrough and edit accordingly.

 

  

On 10/26/2020 at 4:18 PM, Odeen said:

 

While events aren't technically canon, bloodscales do canonically have 2 distinct brains with distinct personalities, so my personal headcanon as their mommy is that they have individual names to refer to themselves as distinct from one another, but in acknowledgement of their shared body and experience they adopt a portmanteau of their names to refer to themselves as a collective when interacting with others. That's not necessarily true for all two-heads; for breeds I've made myself, hooktalons do not have multiple consciousnesses, and baikalas basically have binocular thinking in that they have almost identical cognition, but it's slightly offset due to being separate, and they can use that computing power to basically look at and process information two times at once.

 

Well thought out -- I like this headcanon a lot!  

[Naruhina_94]

8 minutes ago, daba555 said:

Naruhina_94, that's very cute! 

 

Thanks. i had to find a way to wait for the right time to hunt. Just to missclick and catch a caligene instead of a koharki. noice.

I leave a meme for the fellow 9gag members aswell

 

Spoiler

 

Edited October 27, 2020 by Naruhina_94

[TerraAnne]

I feel like a derp I'm having such a hard time with the rhune puzzle.  Everything else has been enjoyable. I looove being able to get treats I missed. When I was younger I usually was with family for holidays or at friends so I often missed many treat finding in game.

[AroaraAngelwolf]

2 hours ago, Shokomon said:

Every time I complete the rune puzzle for the door, after I get the following text box, the screen goes to black and says "Something went wrong."

 

I can't progress...

 

Also, anyone have any guess for the new Halloween Dragon?

Hopefully it goes with the lycanthrope statue! Ugh I want a werewolf dragon sooooooo bad! Why would they have it there if it wasn't tied to the holoween things? We had all artifacts connected to the old holoween dragons, that was the only one that seems a little bit out of place in the museum.

 

 

I finished! And I realized that one treat in particular was a hint at the boss. I liked the museum artifacts and the fact Avery came back with Stella too and you included new dragons in the game (pseudo waiverns etc.) Thanks for creating this awesome game! 

 

Edited October 27, 2020 by AroaraAngelwolf

[purplehaze]

1 hour ago, daba555 said:

But it finally did, right? 

It did, but not until I refreshed the page. Strange thing was that the page loaded with the correct year showing, but the new treat wasn't anywhere to be seen. Then when I refreshed it popped into place.

[Emerald01]

On 10/25/2020 at 3:04 PM, Morphie said:

did you pick them up in that order?

I did. I left it alone for a day, and it finally worked. *shrug*

[infiniteviking]

  

On 10/26/2020 at 12:41 PM, infiniteviking said:

Ok, I think I found all the NPCs and interactable things in the city! Tell me if I missed anything so I can find it on replay!

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Upon arrival, you're chased by the yellow- and cyan-masked guards in a minigame where you have to move left and right to avoid obstacles. If captured, escape prison by interacting with the cell door and then the sewer grate at the bottom right of the cell; the only character in the sewers is a zombie dragon (and a boot you can optionally throw at it if you want to be mean!!). Escaping the sewer puts you on the first map you'd be on if you successfully fled.

 

Aside from the zombie, you can always return to an NPC and try a different dialog choice without affecting the story.

 

Map 1 (can't go south because of guards; exit north to Map 2):

• MAN in area on left, inexplicably: "Cake makes me explode."
• XY: found 2lb of wrapped beef on the ground, and has decided to just take it because it's still cold. Sanda is bemused.
• MERCHANT (white goatee): thinks it's a beautiful day for some shopping.
• MERCHANT (red hair): loves Sanda's outfit, thinks it "really brings out the color of your... eye."
• MERCHANT (green shirt): a cabbage merchant who describes cabbages as the best plant on the planet, won't sell you any, and gets angry if you "insult" them by not wanting them.
• CAMEL: makes a groaning sound.

Map 2 (exits south to Map 1, west to Map 2, east to Map 3): The Palace is on this map.

• OLD LADY: Tells you not to trust someone dressed in a parka, because she heard they got coal for the holidays "and we all know what that means."
• SINGER: Sings that this sand was made for you and me.
• The alleyway directly right of palace leads to a muffled conversation you can hear through a wall: two unknown people plan to sneak out of the city, taking the guards with them, and throw a birthday party in the desert.
• GUARD (right): hates their post in front of the palace, asking if you can cover for them for ten minutes before sheepishly changing their mind because it'd be a security risk.
• DOOMSAYER: grows increasingly eloquent, if you keep listening, about how all must repent because the great lord Amon Snipper-Snapper has been awakened from his long ocean-bed slumber now that the great horn is blown, and he will destroy all humans and their works with his mighty claws. Sanda thinks it's a hoax but is happy to not be near the ocean.
• GUARD (left): hates the heat, wants to be promoted to a post inside the palace.

Map 3 (exits east to Map 2 and north to Map 5):

• BOY: asks what's under Sanda's hood, apologizing for his rude curiosity if you don't unmask, screaming for the hood to go back on if they do -- and then apologizing again for the rudeness of this reaction: he just "didn't expect.... that."
• GIRL: confides that the orange-masked guard has a crush on the cyan-masked guard. Sanda responds with a pun.

Map 4 (exits west to Map 2 and north to Map 5):

• The Great Desert Museum is here. The CURATOR blocking the door greets you as their missing colleague and tells you to hurry up and join the archaeological expedition in the desert. After this encounter, Sanda can leave the city by exiting at the top of Map 5.
• RANDI: says magicians tell you honestly that they're about to fool you. Sanda prefers real magic over illusions; Randi approves.

Map 5 (northernmost map in city; exits west to Map 3, east to Map 4, and north to leave the city after visiting the Museum):

• GUARD (yellow mask): Asks if you've seen a hooded person who might be wielding powerful magic. Interacting with them starts the chase-scene minigame again, and one way or another you end up back at Map 1.
• MAN and WOMAN on some steps: tell you off for ruining their moment.
• GIRL: describes an explosion a few days ago, where someone wearing a hood tried to cast a spell and it went awry. Sanda nervously says it's lucky hoods are so fashionable that it could have been anyone.
• GUARD (a guardian dragon, left of the northern exit): has a rhyme based on a pun.
• WIZARD: tells you about his career and how he accidentally blew up his lab some years back, losing some fingers, but it he was already tired of his busy career and wanted to retire anyway. Mentions that the police consulted him on the recent explosion, which was an "ill-advised" teleportation spell that had either transported or vaporized the caster. Sanda pretends innocence.
• GUARD (a guardian dragon, right of the northern exit): has a request based on a pun.
• WOMAN: wonders if she's seen you before.
• A crater in an alcove resembles the one you woke up on in the desert, full of static, slag, and magical residue.
• GIRL: is SO EXCITED TO SEE SANDA'S NEW SHOES. Sanda poses smugly.

 

 

Looks like I'm in the desert now. Will try to find all the NPCs here too.

 

Continuing this: here are the encounters from the Desert and Cave areas (after the City, before all the puzzles)! There were way too many rocks, crystals, and cacti to check each one, so I hope I didn't miss any hidden things.

 

Spoiler

DESERT, after leaving the City:

 

Map 1 (can't go back south; exit north to Map 2):

• Can't get to the two Pseudowyvern Drakes on the leftwards plateau.
• Near the plateau, however, a parchment half hidden behind a cactus mentions a "Lost City" whose art, architecture, and magical advancements are still remembered in local lore -- along with its dangerously haunted nature. The writer doubts the city existed, despite a rival scholar's assertions. As with all other parchments found in the Desert, the rest is torn away.

Map 2 (exits south to Map 1, lower west to Map 3 and upper west to a closed cul-de-sac on Map 3, and lower and upper exits to Map 4): An arrow made of cacti points left toward Map 3. The cave to the north, on the highest plateau, can only be reached from Map 3. There is also a goat, which can be petted when you get there.

 

Map 3 (two exits east to Map 2):

• PSEUDOWYVERN DRAKE: hisses at you.
• GOAT: likes being pet one way but not the other, and will take a carrot if you offer one. Same for every goat in the desert.
• PSEUDOWYVERN FLOCK: they all hiss the same way.
• PERNI (a Magi): tells you to not to take their mana crystals. If you try, Perni teleports you back to the bottom of the map.

Map 4:
Main area is accessible from lower right of Map 2; exit west back to 2.

• HUGO (an Alcedyne Wyvern?) [edit: probably a Pyrovar or Yellow-Crowned -- thanks, @Kakaru_of_DOOM ]: says hello while deciding which nearby camel to have for dinner. Offers to share, but Sanda declines.
• Three CAMELS each make the same noise as the camel in the city.

Middle plateau path is accessible from upper right of Map 2; exit west back to 2.

• Another scrap of parchment is half hidden behind a cactus. Scoffing at archaeological naysayers, it reiterates the local tales and documents describing the highly advanced Lost City in the mountains, touting the knowledge that could be gained by an expedition to find its remains.

Highest plateau path is only reached through the mountain path starting on Map 3 and going left to right past the cave on Map 2. Exit left again to Map 2 to progress onward into the cave.

• HERMIT: brushes off Sanda's concerns about the "monster" nearby, saying that's only "ol' Rufus," their dog who never eats and sometimes goes as still as a statue but is still good company out here in the desert. Sanda doesn't think Rufus is a dog, but the hermit insists that he is and that the two of them are doing fine together.
• RUFUS: emits an apparently very unconvincing "Woof." Sanda is unconvinced.

 

CAVE!

 

Map 1 (exits south to Desert, north to Map 2)

• BOULDER (Green dragon): thinks humans are stinky and annoying, but becomes less hostile if given a large piece of ham (which Sanda has apparently been carrying around the whole time).
• A parchment half hidden behind a rock contains an eyewitness account of the beauty and magic of the Lost City.
• The wall on the far lower left of the map provides a view of an inaccessible Gold Dragon protecting a gold egg, a treasure eluding Sanda (and the rest of us) once again by being forever out of reach.

Map 2 (exits south to Map 1, north to join the expedition and do the puzzles!)

• PONKO (Magelight Pygmy): tiredly requests help with their sibling, who is hyper after finding some extra mana. 
• PUNKI (aforementioned sibling): makes hyper noises.
• RAILGORE (a Gilded Bloodscale, individually Raile and Goren, a fascinating insight into two-headed dragon names): thinks you look tasty, but is too busy to eat you (for now).

Exiting at the top of the cave brings you to the rest of your archaeological friends and the doors leading to all the logic puzzles!

 

A million thanks to those who documented the logic puzzles for the rest of us. And here's the solution to a minor mystery from the desert.....

Spoiler

Ol' Rufus is one of the Caligenes in the rune chamber after the stealth puzzle!

 

 

 

 

Next up: all interactions in the Lost City (after solving the sixteen-square rune puzzle)! It's mostly parchment fragments. I'll probably do a second playthrough to get trivia and character descriptions for the archaeological party, but I think there's just the Museum items left to detail and then this'll be done!

 

Spoiler

MAP 1 (north of campfire room; exit north to Map 2)

• A parchment half-hidden behind a statue left of the main path continues the eyewitness account of the Lost City. Although it was beautiful and prosperous, its inhabitants used magic for every little thing like a mundane tool; the witness considered this profane. Like all the parchments here, the rest is illegibly faded.
• To the right, a parchment half behind a brick pile says the king's new hobby, necromancy, is distracting him from his duties and discomfiting his council. The king has been mourning his dead brother and ignoring "incursions" from a desert settlement to the south, and his subjects are restless.
• On the path, a half-hidden parchment mentions servants going missing in the palace, including Eloa, whom the writer had told to keep quiet about blood seeping between the tiles of the king's walls. The city is full of unrest.
• Left of this parchment, up the stairs at the side of the path, is a statue of King Eodessus the Fourth of the House of ... Archmage, leader of the Kingdom of ... ascended the throne upon the death [of] his elder brother.
• To the right of the path, beyond Runa, a half-hidden parchment describes a burning city overrun by invaders who call the inhabitants monsters and users of dark magic, defenders pushed back against locked palace doors, and abandonment by a cowardly king.
• Moving far enough upwards shifts the screen briefly to show the palace, from which a beam of light pierces through the mountain peak above. The party observes it and then continues to wander freely until Sanda ventures into the palace. (Once inside, they can't return to this map.)

 

MAP 2, inside the palace, is just a smaller ominous chamber with a large seated statue. (Again, once the party goes through the northern door, they can't return here.)

 

MAP 3 is a maze of four sections, each of which must be finished before proceeding through the northern door. (Don't worry, you can't fall down the pits.)

Section 1 (lower left):

• A standing stone says that the path ahead is for the clever-minded.
• Follow the path off-map to the left and you're in the Potion room again for the second iteration of the cauldron puzzle. (See wiki.) The lights and flames are now orange instead of green. After completing the puzzle, the northern door leads to Section 2.

Section 2 (upper left):

• Most of the standing stones are too faintly engraved to read; one compliments your stealthiness.
• Follow the path off-map to the left and you're in the Caligene maze for another stealth run. Finishing the maze brings you to Section 3.

Section 3 (lower right):

• The only standing stone here praises the wisdom of innovation in overcoming obstacles.
• Follows the path off-map to the right and you're in the Orb room for the second iteration of the orb puzzle. (See wiki.) The room's colors have become much darker. After completing the puzzle, the northern door leads to Section 4.

Section 4 (upper right):

• Most of the standing stones are too faintly engraved to read; one advises willpower in the face of deception.
• Follow the path to the north exit and you'll confront the dreaded randomized-door puzzle once again. Finishing the puzzle brings you to the final battle of the game!

 

Last section: brief descriptions of all items in the Great Desert Museum!

 

Spoiler

LEFT WING:

• A section of wall from a ruined temple dedicated to Grave Dragons, with flecks of paint indicating its former vibrant colors.
• The rune tablet from the random-door puzzle, its glyph shimmering like an illusion.
• The rune tablet from the potion puzzle, with "mischievous energy" and a spice-rack smell.
• A sculptor's rendition of a transformed lycanthrope, which probably doesn't exist. Probably.

CENTER:

• A carefully-restored metal brazier found buried in sand in the remains of an Omen Wyrm temple, kept eternally lit with magical flame.
• A ritual altar which may have "played a vital role" in the origin of vampire dragons, found in the ruins of an ancient blood cult.
• A pearl-shaped artifact loaned to the museum by a private collection, entitled "Understanding is not empathy." Nulhora, chrome on bone, 2015.
• An unusually large adult male Black Marrow Dragon skull, possibly from a very old dragon. Remarkable condition, may have once belonged in a now-lost temple.
• A very realistic Witchlight Dragon sculpture with glowing eyes that seem to follow you.
• A painted Kohraki Dragon sculpture, artist and purpose unknown, found in a remote mountain temple near a village probably deserted due to Kohraki predation.

RIGHT WING:

• A display of deciduous trees in their fall foliage, with a detailed description for those who have never been to the temperate climates where such leaves occur.
• The rune tablet from the orb puzzle. Its faint but legible glyph has "an air of otherworldliness."
• The rune tablet from the Caligene maze puzzle, its glyph reminiscent of "an insect caught in amber."
• A diverse assortment of well-chewed bones from a Cavern Lurker's lair.

 

AND THERE WE HAVE IT: a (hopefully) complete list of all objects you can interact with throughout Valkemarian Tales: The Lost City! Let me know if I've missed anything and I'll edit accordingly. While I know the events of Valkemarian Tales aren't true D*C canon, it's fun to acknowledge the effort that went into adding all these fun details.

 

[Emerald01]

Does anyone have a solve for the second cauldron puzzle? I don't see it on the wiki.

Spoiler

Cinna Root

Jester Venom

Sacred leaf

Puffball

Azure scale

Sun Blossom

 

Clues:

First, the deadliest; last, the loveliest.

And the sun comes directly after its parents.

The dragon rests in the middle of the day.

The world tree's pieces are never odd.

 

I kind of thought...

Spoiler

Jester Venom, then Sacred leaf. Sun blossom last?  I can't figure out the others. I'm not evern sure what a puffball is supposed to be.

 

[infiniteviking]

5 minutes ago, Emerald01 said:

Does anyone have a solve for the second cauldron puzzle? I don't see it on the wiki.

  Hide contents

Cinna Root

Jester Venom

Sacred leaf

Puffball

Azure scale

Sun Blossom

 

Clues:

First, the deadliest; last, the loveliest.

And the sun comes directly after its parents.

The dragon rests in the middle of the day.

The world tree's pieces are never odd.

 

I kind of thought...

  Hide contents

Jester Venom, then Sacred leaf. Sun blossom last?  I can't figure out the others. I'm not evern sure what a puffball is supposed to be.

 

It is on the wiki, just below the first puzzle, in the same show/hide section. And a puffball is a type of mushroom! ^^

[Fly-by-Night]

Are the solutions anywhere? I can't do the runes, and frankly, they're not much fun. I just click everything randomly, as I don't see much of a system there and don't even know how exactly they're supposed to be aligned.

 

 

edit: Okay, found them...

 

Edited October 27, 2020 by Fly-by-Night

[Twinstar]

Well I'm stuck on the game. I did the second round of the cauldron puzzle and I followed the wiki solution, but it isn't letting me progress. It acts like I didn't do it right.

[saltywench]

How do you collect treats from years past? I got all of this years and then now what?

[Pilauli]

29 minutes ago, Twinstar said:

Well I'm stuck on the game. I did the second round of the cauldron puzzle and I followed the wiki solution, but it isn't letting me progress. It acts like I didn't do it right.

In my (limited) experience, refreshing the page should re-set that room's puzzle, so try doing that and then re-adding the ingredients.  There's also apparently a reset button, which resets the room or something, but I haven't tried that at all.

 

Just now, saltywench said:

How do you collect treats from years past? I got all of this years and then now what?

Past years' treats should just start showing up on the normal schedule.  When I started getting treats from past years, I almost didn't notice.

[saltywench]

6 minutes ago, Pilauli said:

 

 

Past years' treats should just start showing up on the normal schedule.  When I started getting treats from past years, I almost didn't notice.

No new treats are showing up at all and its been hours. Does that mean I've collected all of them already from every year?

[Pilauli]

Huh, maybe.  Let me poke through your treats basket and compare it to the list on the wiki...

 

Edit: yes, @saltywench, it looks like you have all of them.

 

For anyone else who wants to check, this page tells how many treats were in each year:

https://dragcave.fandom.com/wiki/Trick_or_Treat

Edited October 27, 2020 by Pilauli

[Glaciarie]

I see that tomorrow my efforts of putting AR eggs in hatch sites to help them not die will start

[Bigbite]

So, if I don't finish the puzzle I don't get a badge for this Halloween?

[saltywench]

14 minutes ago, Pilauli said:

Huh, maybe.  Let me poke through your treats basket and compare it to the list on the wiki...

 

Edit: yes, @saltywench, it looks like you have all of them.

 

For anyone else who wants to check, this page tells how many treats were in each year:

https://dragcave.fandom.com/wiki/Trick_or_Treat

Thank you so much for your help! As an old person, I find all of this deeply confusing. I can't play the games, I've never played games in my life and have NO IDEA what any of that is. I hope this carries over into easter, because I have missed so many of those!

 

[Lagie]

5 minutes ago, Bigbite said:

So, if I don't finish the puzzle I don't get a badge for this Halloween?

So it would seem.

This is the first time the badge has been linked to completion rather than participation.