Session VIII: The Golden Cage -- Recap -- Summer 2017

The final adventure of the summer took place at the Landing YMCA in Brunswick. Eighteen adventures set out to solve the mystery known as "The Golden Cage."

We bounced on and off the page as the detectives made some unpredictable choices. The final mystery had some new twists and turns that were very entertaining. The first variation was provided by the moon, with a solar eclipse on our first day. We made our own pin-hole cameras so we could watch the eclipse, but the images were so small that we ended up sharing the one pair of solar eclipse glasses we had.

The eclipse fit neatly into the mystery, since it involved the Firebird from the Golden Mountains of the Sun. This group of detectives came with all kinds of knowledge and research on Russian mythology and folktales, so they were onto the devious plot pretty quickly, but there were still a few surprises along the way.

Knowing whose advice to follow can make a big difference in outcomes. The detectives decided not to trust a character, and that meant several days of off-book adventuring. It led directly to the capture of a sunspark stone and a number of detectives in serious trouble.

Our bold detectives took on Koschei the Deathless in his magic chamber, where he was most at home. This resulted in the biggest twist of the story, when Koschei decided to use the sunspark stone of a certain horrified detective to summon another big bad into the game.

We can definitely say that our team was bold, adventurous and courageous. They were skilled at getting out of the trouble they devised.

One of the Secret Keepers the detectives made this week

The hapless detective caught in the Golden Cage along with the Firebird had her own adventure, too. The dragons couldn't leave her captured, so they sent Sayehmoosh for a little assistance.

That detective emerged from the cage with newfound powers that she will have for future adventures. She restored the team's lost artifacts
and revealed that three of the detectives were still under Koschei's power.

Those three detectives tried to defeat their comrades. Fortunately, the detectives won back their freedom.

With the whole team restored, the group rescued the Firebird, defeated Koschei and his little friend. The sun was not eaten; the Firebird flies free and all is well that ends well.

Right?

Well, maybe. The immediate problem was solved rather nicely.

Cernunnos the Horned God of the Wild Hunt from Celtic myths was summoned to chase down the little friend. He did this, but then he discovered that the detectives had transformed Koschei into a baby.

Cenunnos is known for his chaotic ways. Summoning him for "help" always has its down side. He took that ugly baby into the Underworld with him, creating a definite sequel for next summer.

Did Cernunnos foster the baby Koschei himself or did he deposit the adorable bundle with some unsuspecting foster parents? We won't know--until next summer.

Never a dull moment with this crew of detectives! Thank you for a whole week's entertainment--and for a new adventure! A wonderful way to end a fabulous summer of adventuring!

Images of the adventure may be found on the Dragon's Eye FB page, here.

Images of the Secret Keepers the detectives made may be found here.

Session VII: Star Chronicler's Journey -- Summer 2017

Artifacts the detectives brought for the week:
A Weedy Sea Dragon, a Winter Crown, a Serpent Time Trap,
two Moon Rabbits and a Secret Keeper

The seventh week of the 2017 summer featured an all-ages mystery called "Star Chronicler's Journey." The story led to Huangshan, the Yellow Mountains. This World Heritage Site is an incredible mountain range in Anhui Province of south eastern China.

Huangshan is known for its strange rock formations and cloud seas. It is high on my list of places I hope to visit--and after this adventure, a few of the detectives might just want to visit it as well.

In our minds, we visited Dragon's Daughter Pool, where we met the daughter of a Dragon King. A lady bug told us a secret. Two park guards discovered chickadees doing the strangest things in the night, and then a group of orphans needed rescuing by the wise one who stayed a chickadee.

We exchanged magical freezing spells with Hsigo and shadowy mist beings along the trails leading into the mountains. We talked with Immortal Pointing the Way and Monkey Gazing at the Sea, two of the rock formations found in the mountains.

We made our way to Lotus Peak, where we found a pool and a cave that may not be on the park maps, and from there, Flying Cloud Shoes took us into the heavens.

The Dragon King's Daughter

Trouble came from both chaos and order in this adventure, as the detectives ended up in a celestial prison. Fortunately, they were able to escape with some help from a turtle friend of dragons.

It's rare that a case is solved by stillness--yet that was the case with this mystery, where the forces of order and chaos went to battle on the celestial seas. Holding still wasn't easy, but our team managed to settle the forces. Everyone's happy, except the Empress of Chaos and the Emperor of Order. They are having tea over a nice game of chess.

Our artwork this week was amazing--the group created the whole park on a table. Images of the week's presentation may be found here.

Images of the adventure may be found on the Dragon's Eye FB page, here.

Session VI: The Dream King - Recap - Summer 2017

The sixth adventure of the 2017 summer season drew a small band of determined and experienced detectives. They entered the deep layers of the dreaming to rescue the dragonmage, Nyxos, played by Max Middleton. Nyxos is an order mage who works with dream magic, so the mystery led the detectives deeper and deeper into the Dreamtime.

The detectives dove right into the waters of the dreaming--and naturally, that caused a little trouble. Fortunately, a few stayed on shore to rescue their sleeping comrades. Nyxos was caught in the tentacles of a famous whirlpool, the same tentacles that nearly trapped our heroes.

Once they freed him, Nyxos was able to reveal the reason he entered the deep dreaming in the first place. Someone powerful needed his help--and now, the detectives were on the case, too.

I can't say much without revealing secrets ... but I can say that the Dream King of the story's title did get involved. Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams, sent the detectives to retrieve his Dream Cabinet of Curiosities, so that they could take up the Dreamweaving to defeat their foe.

The opening of the Dream Cabinet of Curiosities was an event each day--strange things inhabited the box, each a useful tool in the dreamweaving. A detective described it like "Christmas every day." I'd agree if Christmas were designed by Tim Burton's team from Nightmare Before Christmas."

The dreams the detectives wove took the form of board games played by the characters in the story. Each board game represents a different dreamscape, as each team tried to wear down the power of their enemy.

The final showdown was a series of games played against a vast army summoned from family and friends. Many thanks to Lou and Eric Ensel, Ken and Gideon Walden, Brad and Ingrid Bowman, and one other for joining us for a wonderful ending!

Photos of the amazing board games are on the Dragon's Eye Adventures FB page here.

Photos of the adventure are here.

Final Adventure Opens with an Eclipse

I didn't realize until recently that a solar eclipse would take place during the final week of our summer adventures. It works easily into a story about the abduction of the Firebird who lives in the Golden Mountains of the Sun, so here is my plan for Monday.

Anyone who has a pair of solar glasses that are safe for sun-viewing is welcome to bring them. For those of us who do not have them, we will be using the oldest image-creating technology known to humans, the camera obscura. We'll make simple box viewers, and also use some simple tools, to create images of the eclipse.

I thought about viewing the eclipse indoors, but it just seems crazy not to experience the event in nature. We have enough fear in the world right now, and with some clear-headed science and information, we can safely experience the strange change of light.

I'll work it into our story, naturally--and the rest of the week will seem so much brighter for the courage and wisdom of the choices we make on Monday.

Session V: Madame Drak - Recap - Summer 2017

Rebecca plays a merchant from the Irbit Underfair

Seven Mavens of Mystery gathered last week to take on the fifth adventure of the summer, "Madame Drak." This was one of our advanced teams of dragonmages, featuring three of our Maine Founders and four detectives who have earned their dragonwings, for solving 5 or more mysteries.

I wish I could say that the adventure oozed wisdom because of all of this experience, but I can't, because, well, we did use a couple of shadow and light jewels to negate another pair of shadow and light jewels, and well, now we know what that does! Maybe next time, there will be a green glow.

What I can say is that courage ran deep and wide, and the team fixed every problem they created. As the team remarked at the end of the week, good thing they had someone with them to restabilize things.

I really can't say much about the week, because this mystery gives away layer after layer of secrets about Madame Drak. Let's just say we now know why she prefers found copper pennies. We also know more about the jewels we use to power our spells in Dragon's Eye Adventures. We also know the lizard's name, and we know what it's like to negotiate help from a 3-year-old mountain goddess.

Special thanks to K.D. for designing a great set of games involving Greek discus throwers come to life! That section of the play will be called K's Challenge.

This week's project involved some amazing work--delicate, wild, mysterious. I can't say enough about the beautiful bowls and runestones the Detectives made. They may be seen on the Dragon's Eye Facebook page by clicking this link.


Photos of the adventure may be viewed here.

Thank you, Detectives! I had a blast with all the twists and turns of this adventure!