Dark Secret Found in Isle of Dread

[Magnus_Arcanis]

Here are three observations, I'm not sure if they're new or not; but in case they help anyone make progress.

1. Giant rune above door at start of raid: I was just in part 1 for a long time, activated it at the start, and it didn't go off the entire time (whereas the four hidden runes at the start do time-out).
2. Vecna secret skulls: I hadn't really paid attention to this before; but when you successfully say a Vecna name anagram in part 1, the skull eyes light up. I'm pretty convinced that the skull eyes being lit/unlit in the final chamber are part of the puzzle.
3. Kopru symbols: perhaps we have our transliterated indexing wrong and the Kopru are 0-up rather than 1-up programmers (it's a rather boring hypothesis, that five of the symbols are just the Kopru numerals 1-5):
   
   • Our transliterated '1' (the skull/mushroom?): ? ('0'?);
   • Our transliterated '2' (the eye of Vecna?) is 1 shaded circle, so perhaps '1';
   • Our transliterated '3' (the eyes) is 2 circles/eyes next to each other, so perhaps '2';
   • Our transliterated '4' (the triple-tail Kopru / volcano) has 3 lines/tails, so perhaps is '3';
   • Our transliterated '5' (photon-photon scattering?) has 4 lines/photons, so perhaps '4';
   • Our transliterated '6' (the hand of Vecna?) has 5 fingers, so perhaps '5';
   • After that we have the eye/hand (which would be 1/5) in square/circle; I have no good ideas; and then of course the 'void' and '/'.
   
   

Think I'll need to add the giant rune up top to the doc. It appears to be purely decorative. I THINK its supposed to light up when when you use the final rune to open the portal. Just like the runes above the barrier leading to part 2. (which you can get to those and toggle them. Won't impact the raid function)

Skulls lighting up should be detailed in the doc... If I moved it anywhere, let me know. It would make sense if they were, but they're too unwieldy to use. If they end up being the solution... I'll be suggesting a mechanic change.

Kopru symbol number... could make sense. When I get a chance, I'll try shifting the numbers and see if it produces a different result on some of my decoding attempts.

[Magnus_Arcanis]

With u57's released, new hints have been added to Isle of Dread that relate to the figuring out the dark secret.

So far, we've found three in the adventure area.


When approached, she'll say a quick voice line (this doesn't seem to appear in any text channel, volume is managed by the sound effects track) and then disappear leaving a scroll behind. This burning parchment won't last long and needs to be looked at quickly. Note, the ellipsis I use in the burning parchment are not accurate. See the pictures in the master document as there may be a new mini puzzle involved with them. However the capitalization is correct.


Coffin in ruin Twitch Clip
Found by Apep in the area below the bridge the temple in the burnt out area in the north, there is a building ruin with a coffin-like structure. Ghost Flame is not immediately visible. The trigger appears to be killing a late spawning Humble or Walking Ancestor on top of the coffin. Based on the condition we're incredibly lucky that this is the first one we found.

Voice Line: 'Another soul for his menagerie'

Burning Parchment: ...The Whisper... power... secrets... finds knowledge... Conceals it but ever entirely destroys... fragments it... the game... order, phrasing and tone must be exact down to the last period.

Wrecked Ship Twitch Clip
Found by Emergencies, in a rock formation near the ship wreckage in the west, when approached, the Ghost Flame's spirit will spawn. Do need to be really close to it.

Voice Line: 'Are you hunter or prey, time will tell'

Burning Parchment:
Pact... speak the words... Spirits... bound... Eternal... You must be close to hear a whisper...

Stone Crypt Chronicle Entrance Twitch clip

Found by ZavyAvy, above the entrance to the Stone Crypt Chronicle in the east, you'll see the spirit form of the ghost flame.
Voice Line: 'How did you pique his interest I wonder.'

Burning Parchment:
Soon I will enter a pact with this whisper... Contingencies... someone is reading this... dealt me a dark hand... find me in the smoking mountain.


With that, good news bad news.

Bad News
- Largely these hints lead to things we already knew. order matters, /say mechanic requires an exact response, and needs to be said in the right place. You can only hear the secrets the Dark Secrets say if you're close enough when killed.
- With 2 of the 3 so far needing a condition (killing a mob in a certain spot and walking into the right corner), others may need also need a condition met. So even if we run across a spot that has a another hint, we might miss it as we didn't meet the condition.

Good News
- There may be more to these hints beyond what they're saying. Capitalization and the number of ellipses appear to be very deliberate and could yet reveal additional clues.
- We now know what we're looking for, the ghost flame's spirit. Its not impossible we missed more in the adventure area and its possible there are some in quests and the raid we have yet to discover. Only had a few hours last night.

Call to Action
3 is strange number. We're guessing that there are more. So I call to you adventurers! Descend upon the Isle of Dread and bring to me any secrets you find!

LINK TO THE MASTER DOCUMENT

[ChrisTOTG]

With u57's released, new hints have been added to Isle of Dread that relate to the figuring out the dark secret.


Stone Crypt Chronicle Entrance Twitch clip

Found by ZavyAvy, above the entrance to the Stone Crypt Chronicle in the east, you'll see the spirit form of the ghost flame.
Voice Line: 'How did you peak his interest I wonder.'

Is there text saying "peak"? Or did you mean to say "pique"?

[LightBear]

The thing that triggers me the most is "Find me in the smoking mountain", perhaps the rednamed mobs in the wilderness of the isle have to be killed at a certain spot?

[Magnus_Arcanis]

Is there text saying "peak"? Or did you mean to say "pique"?

no text. fixed.

[Aelonwy]

Hmm each of the new clues has the word whisper. Does /whisper do anything I wonder? And how literal might "speak the words... Spirits... bound... Eternal..." be?

[Magnus_Arcanis]

Hmm each of the new clues has the word whisper. Does /whisper do anything I wonder? And how literal might "speak the words... Spirits... bound... Eternal..." be?

Can confirm using /whisper will generate an error and is not usable.

[Aelonwy]

Can confirm using /whisper will generate an error and is not usable.

Well darn. That would have been really neat if they had slipped an emote in there.

[ChrisTOTG]

Well darn. That would have been really neat if they had slipped an emote in there.

Whisper is in the Haunted Halls of Eveningstar.

[Kelledren]

With u57's released, new hints have been added to Isle of Dread that relate to the figuring out the dark secret.

So far, we've found three in the adventure area.


When approached, she'll say a quick voice line (this doesn't seem to appear in any text channel, volume is managed by the sound effects track) and then disappear leaving a scroll behind. This burning parchment won't last long and needs to be looked at quickly. Note, the ellipsis I use in the burning parchment are not accurate. See the pictures in the master document as there may be a new mini puzzle involved with them. However the capitalization is correct.

Voice Line: 'Another soul for his menagerie'

Burning Parchment: ...The Whisper... power... secrets... finds knowledge... Conceals it but ever entirely destroys... fragments it... the game... order, phrasing and tone must be exact down to the last period.

So with this clue clearly you need periods, possibly between names. And finish your /say statement with a period.

I came looking for this thread in particular because I was watching Voodu’s first take of the new court case quest, and one of the optional evidence pieces discussed was called the sacred tome, and the description read in the video made it sound like it could very much be a clue for this as well. When I get a chance I will try to run it and read exactly what was written in the description and bring it here. Felt like Darth Vader when he heard an admiral discuss the Hoth system, listening to Voodu read the text of the sacred tome.

Might be other clues in the new quests as well. If we think saying Vecna’s many names has something to do with the puzzle then there might be more added here (Sattler), but not sure if this would count as the raid was created before this content released.

[Magnus_Arcanis]

For the more passive observers. Here's where I'm at.

We're trying to answer the following questions:
1. What do we say?
2. What command do we use to say it?
3. Where do we say it?
4. When do we say it?
5. What order do we say it?
6. Do we have any additional conditions?
7. Should we apply lore from outside Isle of Dread?

1. What do we say?
I'm 99% sure what we're supposed to say are the dark secrets themselves. They're the only thing we can say exactly. They're the only thing labeled as secret. Fits with the lore.

Osfield (first, South West, defeated second)

• Osfield joined first. Looking for a happy ending. A bard chasing my story.
• The 1st verse. The Academy called me prodigy, and reckless. They were right.
• The 2nd verse. The Common folk called me the Flame of Hope. Perhaps I was.
• The 3rd verse. The Kingdom called me champion but feared me for I spoke my mind.
• The 4th verse. Prince Lindal of the Elves called me Yarrow, as did my friends.
• Yet only when the prince spoke my name did I feel the flame in my heart.

Alaric (Second, South East, defeated third)

• Faithful Alaric came second, hoping to heal my broken heart.
• It broke on his altar but it was not his doing.
• Lindal's people would not accept me. Duty came before love.
• Yet a broken heart is fertile ground for ambition.
• My frail humanity, a chance thing of birth, would be no match for my will.
• I would match elven blood with something greater. Power.

Kelas (third, North East, defeated first (will spawn Deaths Teeth)

• My apprentice Kelas came third. He would never question an order.
• Order keeps things in their place, and mages like order.
• So I overthrew the headmasters and claimed the Academy.
• Those mages who would not join became traitors.
• Those who were wiser became servants and seekers.
• With them I wrung every secret from my world until I found him.
• The master of secrets would be a secret himself after all.

Gorth (fourth, North West, defeated fourth)

• The pirate Gorth was the fourth. Always the gambler. He cheated. I cheated better.
• We sailed every ocean seeking the island of my visions.
• We found it and the darkness waiting beyond it’s jungles and beasts.
• I brought my friends to the volcano and sealed all of our fates in this secret pact.
• From the shadows it told me the words. It showed me the symbols.
• Five friends. Five Souls. Five fingers on a hand. The darkness beckoned.

Lindal (final, Center, defeated last/never)

• Heavy is the crown. My kingdom besieged. Enemies on all sides.
• She offered aid and blew on the embers of forgotten desire.
• I king Lindal came to this island. I came for my people. I came for guilt. I came to hide.
• But first one last quest with old friends. I dared to dream again.
• Yet the dream turned to ash. She had bargained with darkness.
• I broke free. I left her. I left them. All doomed. My shame burns. The Beast consumes.

2. What command do we use to say it?
With the newest hints, one mentions tone. The Say channel does have two entries. /say and /shout. /whisper is not a valid command, and throws an error when used. There is no exception for this case. its been tested.

I've tested both /say and /shout with my best guess so uncertain which is better to use. Part 1 teaches us to use /say, but /shouting a secret makes a lot of sense.

Either way, both methods should be tested.

3. Where do we say it?
The /say (and /shout) mechanic have a limited range. /say is relatively small. So positioning also seems to matter a great deal. Most tests have performed on the platforms, due to the sound buff mentioning that only secrets can be spoken here. Which that is either incorrect correlation, or this part we probably have down correct. Though standing closer to the spirit may help? Will try and test that today.

4. When do we say it?
This is a bit more confusing. There are two major ways of thinking.

1. After walking the 4 paths of the dead. - This seems like the most simple and obvious.
2. Sometime after defeating Kelas, but before Gorth. - Reason being that once Gorth is defeated, the Death's Teeth loses his bound by secrets effect. Possibly hinting at us disrupting his curse.

5. What order do we say it?
With the new hints, we're now 200% sure order matters. However, we've mostly been applying it to which platform we say secrets on first.
Osfield > Alaric > Kelas > Gorth > Lindal (order of current party join)
Lindal > Osfield >Alaric > Kelas > Gorth (order of original party join)
Kelas > Osfield > Alaric > Gorth > Lindal (order they're defeated in the raid)

However, its also possible that the order of what you say may also be important. Till now I've mostly been using the above order. They were organized in my best attempt at logical order as the order we hear the dark secrets is not set. There may be other variations I haven't considered yet.

The big concern I'm starting to have is that if you mess up the order, you can't try again without resetting the instance. Which may include the timing as well. Which... if that's at all true, that'd invalidate a lot of my old previous tests as we were trying multiple variations a run and likely means we need to re-test.

6. Do we have any additional conditions?
No, but maybe.

I don't think we need a specific class option or item anymore. Unless we find a hint that suggests one, I'm personally going to focus elsewhere. Using just what we can as any character/group and raid/game mechanics to accomplish the goal. That being said, feel free to test whatever you feel like. I could be wrong. If you let us know what you've tried, I can add it to the doc.

There is also a chance that certain parts may need to be done by more than one person. I don't think we have enough evidence to suggest that, but we have enough to not ignore that possibility.

7. Should we apply lore from outside Isle of Dread?
No. The temptation is high, I get it, but I'm convinced everything we need exists within Isle of Dread.

[merridyan]

Well darn. That would have been really neat if they had slipped an emote in there.

Other MMO's call /tells whispers, anyone tried this?

[Kmm]

Have you tried kiting Death's Teeth to the platforms and /saying the secrets while it's there? I'm not playing enough DDO to test it lately.

[Magnus_Arcanis]

We Figured it out!!!!!

I got it!!!!

Turns out the missing piece was that we need to stand next to the spirts when saying secrets

https://clips.twitch.tv/DarkEndearin...d9huImJ6Ij9Jp_

https://clips.twitch.tv/BetterCogent...kCw10zxIOD-8nH

[rabidfox]

We Figured it out!!!!!

I got it!!!!

Turns out the missing piece was that we need to stand next to the spirts when saying secrets

https://clips.twitch.tv/DarkEndearin...d9huImJ6Ij9Jp_

https://clips.twitch.tv/BetterCogent...kCw10zxIOD-8nH

Awesome work! Just ran the optionals on Khyber after watching you all do it; cool boss fight.

[Kelledren]

We Figured it out!!!!!

I got it!!!!

Turns out the missing piece was that we need to stand next to the spirts when saying secrets

https://clips.twitch.tv/DarkEndearin...d9huImJ6Ij9Jp_

https://clips.twitch.tv/BetterCogent...kCw10zxIOD-8nH

Gratz! Excellent job! Just one question: What’s in the box? What’s in the second box?

[Ultramaetche1]

We Figured it out!!!!!

I got it!!!!

Turns out the missing piece was that we need to stand next to the spirts when saying secrets

https://clips.twitch.tv/DarkEndearin...d9huImJ6Ij9Jp_

https://clips.twitch.tv/BetterCogent...kCw10zxIOD-8nH

Thanks for your efforts!

We chucked a group together on Orien and got an LH BONUS completion.

[PurpleSerpent]

We Figured it out!!!!!

I got it!!!!

Turns out the missing piece was that we need to stand next to the spirts when saying secrets

https://clips.twitch.tv/DarkEndearin...d9huImJ6Ij9Jp_

https://clips.twitch.tv/BetterCogent...kCw10zxIOD-8nH

Good lord! Good work figuring that out! I'd completely given up.

I've put a note on the wiki page explaining how the optional works; I've made sure to link back to this thread, and of course I've credited you with finally solving the mystery. Thank you everyone who contributed to this thread! It's amazing what this community can find given enough time to try stuff out.

[Mindos]

Good lord! Good work figuring that out! I'd completely given up.

I've put a note on the wiki page explaining how the optional works; I've made sure to link back to this thread, and of course I've credited you with finally solving the mystery. Thank you everyone who contributed to this thread! It's amazing what this community can find given enough time to try stuff out.

https://ddowiki.com/page/Skeletons_in_the_Closet

Just to keep it all together

[Magnus_Arcanis]

Thanks all and thanks for updating the wiki! Huge thanks to everyone that checked out https://www.twitch.tv/arcanaverse and help put this all together. Its been a rough road, but today we stand victorious!



We found out some more specifics. Turns out its not quite as tight.

Solution can be found in the master document.

1. Run the walk the four paths of the dead. (order and when doesn’t matter)

2. Need to stand next to the spirit, not necessarily the platform (you don’t to be on the platform at all.) and while alive, use /say to say the dark secrets (more info in the wiki). Order now matters. Osfield > Alaric > Kelas > Gorth. Starting with Osfiled, this can be started before you finish walking the paths.

3. Then you can drop Death’s Teeth in the middle platform. Which will spawn Lindal's spirit. And then you say say his secrets to perform the same mechanic a 5th time. Don't need to bother with GF at all damage wise.

4. Once completed, Ghost Flame will leave and you’ll start a new end fight against Vecna’s Wrathful Hand for an alternate end fight.

5. When defeated, you get 3 chests. Right one has more runes and special loot (new items and augments)

Speaking of Loot... we have new LOOT AND AUGMENTS

Ones we found so far, more being posted to the discord.