Shackles of Truth - Recap

Tufan the Peri, Master of Storm, by Finntan

Our third mystery of the 2016 summer season was "Shackles of Truth." The Experts of Enigma (ages 9-12) tackled this adventure with their usual zeal, diving right into the midst of one story after another. It was challenging to identify the good guys from the bad guys in this adventures, since most of the characters were experienced liars.

The Detectives didn't realize this until later in the story, so they found themselves in and out of trouble faster than one could say, "periwinkle." (I checked the etymology, and this word is not related to our "peri," but it is in my mind, now! No wonder it's my favorite color.)

Did I mention peri? Yes, we met some peri. We frightened them away. That's what happens when one threatens war upon diminutive fairy-like creatures. They turn and run. Actually, we're lucky they didn't turn back into Paraika, the truly evil female demons of desert nightmares.

We did apologize--and this seemed to help! The peri proved to be useful little allies later in the game. Their tiny roll of a "4" saved the day in a very important roll against some pretty nasty bad guys.

Did I mention Div? There were Div. Demons working for Angra Mainyu, the Zarathustrian god of darkness and the Druj. Druj means lie--which should explain why there were so many lies flying around this case.

Confused now? Good, since that's just where our Detectives found themselves all week. A wonderful, confusing mess that had them wondering what exactly was their case. They even thought Madame Drak had lied to them, that wily fortune teller, but it turned out she was telling the truth about the wrong guy. Asking questions of a soothsayer is tricky business!

Zahra Niyoosha the Peri by Sadie

I can't tell you what happened, since this case will one day be repeated and the lies must have a chance to work then, too.

Let's just say that Asha won out in the end. The Truth was discovered in time, reparations were made even to the Peri, and the big bad thing that could have happened ... didn't.

Kudos to the bold team who managed to balance strong courage with a whole lot of problem-solving in hindsight. They knew all along that they might be in trouble, yet they dove into the fray like a true group of heroes!

This mystery tests a group's resilience, their ability to rebound after a truly demoralizing defeat. This group came back with sparkling resilience, their humor and determination restored after a night's rest.  They saved the day with their usual flair, a little older (five days older, to be precise), a little wiser and oh, so happy to put an end to the lies!

Here are links to the mystery's magical Peri, which the Detectives made, and the adventure images. [Adventure Images Coming Soon.]