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https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/5fb347a8-7afe-49a0-89f6-1303da8c82db/Mad+Pen+Error+Extra+Wide.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/9f69f51c-97b9-4e5e-9623-3a2247999ede/The_Quill_High_Contrast+042825-1.png https://www.madpenandquill.com/the-keepers-collage daily 0.75 2025-05-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/468d0adb-5df4-4243-9825-c9b6860a5aeb/pen+and+quill+discarded+v2.PNG https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/ea9636e9-11a7-4b33-9cc4-98c381d6d67e/darkspyre+castle.JPG The Keeper's Collage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/4d6629d7-c8a7-4f26-9370-6263476eb5a5/way+in+for+gif+%281%29.gif The Keeper's Collage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/922734a4-a538-4dfc-b445-69c6c92506dd/darkspyre+1-2.jpeg The Keeper's Collage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/e80ed732-e840-4a4c-b1e0-6b1479419d41/no+time+for+the+present+conclusion.jpeg The Keeper's Collage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/c09248ee-c66a-40b2-8a6a-680040ac865f/episode+3+sim+lab.jpeg The Keeper's Collage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/62de9597-8518-485a-b320-8a8d6e04d4ce/darkspyre+4+for+keepers+collage.jpeg The Keeper's Collage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/b6138a12-db7e-4e09-9e99-f918e32e8e6f/darkspyre+5+mission+objectives.png The Keeper's Collage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/b36f91a5-0b58-46f1-b5b2-cea0e8171d85/darkspyre+6+for+keepers+collage.jpg The Keeper's Collage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/ac89b340-c10f-4788-af78-169432ef1666/darkspyre+7+for+keepers+collage.jpeg The Keeper's Collage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/63aa67d0-d367-4d2f-9930-4565f40f2c89/darkspyre+8+WIP+for+keepers+collage.png The Keeper's Collage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/18419e54-a4f4-4cab-a036-a71a5d3872c9/funhouse+for+keepers+collage.JPG The Keeper's Collage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/2a022c4b-5bff-4314-ac86-3387484b10d4/dramatis+miranda.JPG The Keeper's Collage Miranda. Friend of our protagonists, and object of Master Aven's desire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/33e5ee23-eb7c-442f-9e07-40387394bf43/reflection+way+in.png The Keeper's Collage In Darkspyre Episode 1, "Reflections of the Past," we were nerding out on bilateral symmetry to hide codes in plain site. The reflections created by mirrors unlock the code. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/74d87f5f-8a3c-4786-b1de-ed8c53614a0f/dramatis+aven.png The Keeper's Collage Master Aven. The main antagonist of the Darkspyre series, and the current Master of Darkspyre. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/1746965509088-SHYIPAPCZMMVDBT6IGJS/refraction%2Bpuzzle.jpg The Keeper's Collage Ok. So maybe the first Darkspyre episode could have been called "REFRACTIONS of the Past"... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/9cc23bba-ecb1-46b9-9a32-6ef0d0aa519d/dramatis+rike.png The Keeper's Collage Rike. One of Aven's predecessors as a former Master of Darkspyre. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/62e7256c-5deb-4ab0-9912-6fa6fde03f87/multiple+modalities+puzzle.png The Keeper's Collage COMPOUND PUZZLE: How many puzzle modalities can we cram together? This incorporated spatial layering with a box that was more than it first appeared to be, hidden in plain sight amongst other boxes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/c3c22a09-58ce-49c4-9160-325373c87d3a/drmatis+dalia.png The Keeper's Collage Dalia, the First Mistress of Darkspyre. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/62e7256c-5deb-4ab0-9912-6fa6fde03f87/multiple+modalities+puzzle.png The Keeper's Collage COMPOUND PUZZLE, CONT'D: Inside the box, the players had to use a visual reflection... and for good measure, the actual reflected image could only be seen with a blacklight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/e3ee1671-bd00-422e-8e63-b16bf74809ac/dramatis+sadie.png The Keeper's Collage Sadie. Once the protagonists' friend, Sadie betrays them to Master Aven. Even after defeating Master Aven, if the protagonists can't put a stop to Darkspyre itself once and for all, Sadie is the heir apparent to be the next Mistress of Darkspyre. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/d6b9a8a7-45a6-41e7-9831-0bb3889a7c75/multiple+modalities+puzzle.png The Keeper's Collage COMPUND PUZZLE, CONT'D: And to top it off, the reflected clue was tied to a pigpen cipher... which could only be completed by pairing two sheets in their own overlay puzzle! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/f2689f1d-1652-4443-86d8-34ac7696eea1/A231EAF3-0593-4AB9-A590-E25F56856FB4_1_105_c.jpeg The Keeper's Collage Dr. Daft. Mad Scientist and thrall of Master Aven, who ultimately fails Aven in trying to thwart our protagonists. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/d6b9a8a7-45a6-41e7-9831-0bb3889a7c75/multiple+modalities+puzzle.png The Keeper's Collage COMPOUND PUZZLE, CONT'D: The Mad Pen once described this multimodal puzzle to me as "bRaiDed BrAinTeaSerY: eaCh ThrEad eAsY, 'tiL tWisTed uP & maDe tO kNot thE noGgiN." https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/c6c2092e-0c75-44ac-8349-c7e45bbef124/fred+from+the+future.png The Keeper's Collage Fred Leeman. The first NPC our protagonists meet in the Darkspyre arc, and a recurring ally. Fred is alongside his off-kilter clone, "Friendly Man." Yes, "Friendly Man's" moniker does, in fact, derive from his glitchy way of trying to say "Fred Leeman"... and it sticks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/24a362c1-5892-4196-860f-e8e1ff7f840a/dnd+puzzle.jpeg The Keeper's Collage Why not combine two of my favorite things? Yes. This is a D&D-themed puzzle in the Darkspyre Episode 2 escape room! D&D plus escape room = NERDGASM!!! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/81908a6b-a8c1-4387-af7c-035315dd88b3/dramatis+fred+leeman.jpeg The Keeper's Collage Fred Leeman kicks off the protagonists' Darkspyre adventure "with an unexpected knock... at the door." https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/d22c2186-9fa7-43e1-a4fa-57675ba1c0ab/locked+gifts.png The Keeper's Collage In Darkspyre Episode 2, "No Time for the Present," clues, keys, and other objects were locked up inside of gifts.. Yes. "Presents." https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/1746906679158-J5SBJKJGCX36HKLDERSM/dramatis%2Bfriendly%2Bman.jpg The Keeper's Collage Friendly Man assists the protagonists in their journey through Darkspyre. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/c72d728a-d7c3-4308-8a03-3297cef08b52/darkspyre+2+clock.jpeg The Keeper's Collage Ultimately, the players compiled all the necessary components of a mystical clock in "No Time for the Present." And yes, they did it... just in time... bah dum, dum! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/e21fb7c8-07eb-47db-8ee0-d92b2002fbc2/dramatis+marci.gif The Keeper's Collage "Marci." An interactive droid NPC, who becomes the protagonists' unlikely ally. Formerly designated AR-CI 3, excessive laser testing on this little droid at the hands of Dr. Daft caused her to go haywire... and decide that she had had enough of Dr. Daft and Master Aven's abuses. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/c72d728a-d7c3-4308-8a03-3297cef08b52/darkspyre+2+clock.jpeg The Keeper's Collage MYSTICAL CLOCK, CONT'D: Components at each numeric point of the clock included mystically aligned items like a pentagram at "5," a magic 8 ball at "8," and salt at "11." https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/5d1fbaba-634e-45e9-ac0e-30ef8ea68c9f/74C9642C-33DD-40E8-8F2A-69C054C43CAC_1_105_c.jpeg The Keeper's Collage Dr. Daft's Team. While beholden to Dr. Daft and Master Aven, they work in secret with the hope that clues they leave about may help our protagonists bring an end to their masters' evil deeds. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/c72d728a-d7c3-4308-8a03-3297cef08b52/darkspyre+2+clock.jpeg The Keeper's Collage MYSTICAL CLOCK, CONT'D: The "Key of the Present" is shown "plugged" in at the top of the apparatus. (Bonus Nerd Points if you can come up with a better mystically aligned object for "12" than a d12!) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/987ca805-8e90-42f4-b92c-d19693d5fdf6/dramatis+elda+wise.png The Keeper's Collage Elda Wise. Originally the brilliant assistant to Dr. Daft. Ultimately, his successor... and an ally to the protagonists, working in secret to help them rid the world of Master Aven. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/72c97302-c326-4e5c-b76f-32f481875195/Darkspyre+3+Collage+1.gif The Keeper's Collage In Darkspyre 3, "Echoes of the Future," hidden QR Codes linked to clue videos that would reveal hints at how to complete puzzles and use objects found throughout the room. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/9ff74d88-765d-43de-9fa8-1530f38cffc0/846E4BBB-2B61-4BEB-8B32-28B93CC1222B_1_105_c.jpeg The Keeper's Collage Barny. Master Aven's ale-loving jailor. But Master Aven doesn't know that Barny's actually soft at heart. Our protagonists aren't sure what to make of him... friend or foe? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/2e23a589-2803-4dab-ba21-1eccb6f7fa84/darkspyre+4+chopstick+key+pass.png The Keeper's Collage Darkspyre 4, "Darkspyre Dungeon," featured a multitude of cooperative puzzles. In this one, adjacent prisoners used chopsticks to pass a key back and forth until one prisoner could reach it through a slot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/a7933106-b21c-4a17-99aa-68b14049ba1d/Darkspyre+3+Collage+2.png The Keeper's Collage In Darkspyre 5, "Hopelight," custom anaglyphs revealed clues for how to arrange touch lights into the proper trigger sequence. Get a red lens and see if you can find the right pattern... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/88c9bd06-edda-4985-b549-51ccd8cea7c2/darkspyre+6+headstones.png The Keeper's Collage In Darkspyre Episode 6, "Aven's Demise," the set is littered with headstones like these. In their etchings, clues to opening the Master of Darkspyre's crypt abound. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/fee9f15d-427d-4524-9025-126133d56d72/darkspyre+6+headstones+2.png The Keeper's Collage In Darkspyre 6, the incorporation of a skeletal heart hands sculpture, a blue spotlight, and the resulting shadow cues players toward a code hinted at by the headstones. (Of course, the code itself is not to be found in this particular photo!) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/3bb63550-a917-4e9b-8da8-0dcfa5443800/Darkspyre+7+Buildout+Time+Lapse+v4.gif The Keeper's Collage Darkspyre 7 feature a custom Potion Lab wall, built from broken-down boxes & a PVC frame. Add brick-patterned sheeting, load with props & puzzles, the wall was ready for captors to be chained together on opposites sides of it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/f8aff779-4995-4ac9-89ca-c0f2a62a96ca/Darkspyre+8+AI+Art+Collage.png The Keeper's Collage In Darkspyre Episode 8, "The Heart of Darkspyre," an in-progress work at this time, AI-generated art is being heavily leveraged to deepen the immersion and embellish puzzles. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/0c944fe6-6ed0-4c74-b597-f4aa2a5722d2/IMG_3443.jpeg The Keeper's Collage Playtest: The Funhouse. Putting this pop-up escape room thorugh end-to-end testing in our garage before its in-classroom debut. https://www.madpenandquill.com/the-quills-vanity daily 0.75 2025-05-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6805092a94969d6f98a99e4d/582b6bf6-ca79-45ce-85b8-f0e9999747f3/the+quill+for+the+quills+vanity+-+transparent.png https://www.madpenandquill.com/the-quills-vanity/immersion monthly 0.5 2025-05-26 https://www.madpenandquill.com/the-quills-vanity/puzzles monthly 0.5 2025-05-25 https://www.madpenandquill.com/the-quills-vanity/technology monthly 0.5 2025-05-26 https://www.madpenandquill.com/the-quills-vanity/v/avens-demise monthly 0.5 2025-05-26 https://www.madpenandquill.com/the-quills-vanity/v/darkspyre-dungeon-coop-puzzles monthly 0.5 2025-05-26 https://www.madpenandquill.com/the-quills-vanity/v/mirror-anamorphosis monthly 0.5 2025-05-25 https://www.madpenandquill.com/the-quills-vanity/v/dramatis-personae-friendly-man monthly 0.5 2025-05-26 https://www.madpenandquill.com/the-quills-vanity/v/the-refraction-code monthly 0.5 2025-05-25 https://www.madpenandquill.com/the-quills-vanity/v/the-piano-puzzle monthly 0.5 2025-05-17