It took me a while but I realized there is a logic behind the map changes if you go lighting bonfires: the house with the loot has a bonfire on top so - and it’s a bit weird because the village is an illusion - it looks like somebody saw the first two fires and lit the third one in the chain. Doing so probably involved opening the door to the stash on the side of the tower.
I have been wondering about the other major change - the crypt not being swamped - and today I’ve realized you can see a rivulet of water flowing in from the side:
This goes straight into the hole - the one that leads to the underground passage. Has anybody noticed some change on the outside which could link to the fires being lit?
I still haven’t figured this bit out. I love VT’s map design. Kudos for this one, can’t wait for the wizard’s tower.