Summer 2019, Session IV: "Lizards of Solomon's Mines" Recap

The fourth adventure of the 2019 summer season featured an adventure called "The Lizards of Solomon's Mines." Fifteen detectives ages 9 to 14 took up the mystery, bravely diving into the story.

Madame Drak's lizards, Yasheritsa, led the detectives into the Copper Mountain jar, where it is pennies all the way down to the subterraneous world of lizards. A rollercoaster ride led to the depths of King Solomon's secret gold mine in the mythical land of Ophir. There, the detectives discovered a box made of light hovering over a grid of jewels. A dark fog was oozing from the jar, freezing the miners and the magical shedim working in the mine. Even the lizards were in trouble. They turned into crystallized, jeweled lizards, frozen in time.

A tiny airplane delivered an invitation from a stranger, leading the detectives into the desert in search of a secret entrance into the underworld. The Night Demons chased them, trying to steal the box--and for a brief time, they succeeded--but our team pulled together and escaped with the box of light.

The visit was quite unique. Let's just say that our host was just hanging around the cave, waiting for visitors to entertain him. The detectives amused him quite well--and he sent them to the next person who could assist with their quest.

She was very helpful. She gave the detectives sound advice, protected the box of light from the night demons, and provided many jewels for their journey. How very kind of her. She even told the team who to visit, to find the three missing jewels needed to secure the box. So very helpful.

Our detectives traveled back in time to the 10th century BCE, to meet with Zadok the High Priest from the Tribe of Levi, Hiram the Builder from the Tribe of Dan, and King Solomon from the Tribe of Judah.

What can I say about the ending, without giving away anything to future detectives? Not much. All's well that ends well, and no lizards were harmed in the making of this adventure. I'm happy to report that the crystallized lizards were returned to their normal forms, and they were so grateful to the detectives that they are now offering them their special brand of lizard magic.

Thank you to Marcello Santomenna and Oliver Van Soest, for playing some very entertaining characters! This was Marcello's last week as a CIT, and we will miss him! 

We have three more adventures with Oliver--and he continues to create cartoons and drawings for each mystery. I will post his cartoons after the summer ends -- and will let families know when they are on the website!

Visit the Dragon's Eye Adventures website for photos of the lizards the detectives made, and for images of the adventure.

Summer 2019, Session III: Recap for "Indra's Net"

Fifteen detectives joined forces for the third mystery of the 2019 summer, "Indra's Net." The story drew on Hindu and Buddhist myths from India, featuring the retired Vedic god, Indra, and his net of illusions. The birth of a baby elephant with wings frays the net, and the detectives were called by the dragons -- and by Indra--to investigate.

They flew by Garuda Express toward Swarga, Indra's heavenly palace and realm, but were waylaid by shadow nagas, enemies of the Garuda. Yarn balls and foam Frisbees flew in turns, swift runners were named, and the games were spectacular as the detectives sent the shadow nagas home for healing spells.

The meeting with Indra did not go as expected. His priorities were not the same as the detectives', but he did loan the team some powerful items for their quest. Those came in handy at the end, but not for the reasons Indra intended. Let's just say that the old god of storms had a sudden flash of insight -- and a baby elephant gets to keep its wings!

Photos of the beautiful pouches and stones the detectives made are on the Dragon's Eye Adventures Facebook page. Here is a link. Images of the adventure itself may be found here.

Thank you to Oliver Van Soest and Marcello Santomenna for assisting me this week. This is Oliver's second summer as my assistant, and Marcello is volunteering as a CIT for a few weeks this summer.

Summer 2019, Session II: Recap for "Wayward Tales"

Madame Drak and the dragons sent the detectives to the Asante tribe of Ghana, Africa, for the second mystery of the 2019 summer. When two visitors arrived at the Dragon's Eye Detectives' Agency, the team had to choose which one to follow. This team flew into the heavens to visit Nyami the Sky God. He told them about the empty Treasure Box of Stories, and asked them if they could hunt down the stories and return them so that he and the sky people could enjoy a good tale.

The detectives headed to the village where Anansi the Spider lived, to ask him about the escaped stories. His wife Aso and youngest son, Ntikuma, helped the detectives locate Anansi, who had a tendency to wander when work was about to be done.

Our mystery involved tracking and trailing a series of three deconstructed stories. Anansi's memory was full of holes, so the detectives had to visit the people and animals in Anansi's stories, to interview them. They didn't always see the stories as Anansi did, so getting them to cooperate took some brave and clever work on the detectives' part.

The Facebook page has some wonderful shots of the detectives tracking and trailing Osomo the elephant, riding a dragon through the sky, and sneaking up on a blind bat. Here is a link.

While I can't expose many of the secrets of the tales, I can say that the detective with the triceratops foot has been cured, along with the detective who had the T-rex arm. The furry hand, arm, and shoulder took a little more work to cure, but I assure you that no detectives were left behind as a pile of bones. Good thing we had that dinosaur egg from the first adventure, and that Tomte from last February's adventure, and the fairy dragons ... they saved quite a few people from the lovely lady we met by the river's side.

Our team's kindness turned a start from red to gold -- and now we have a friend in high places, and a whole village of friends in the jungle. Even Anansi was pleased with the detective's parleying skills. He has a whole new story to tell.

As for Nyami, his Box of Stories overflows with the stories the detectives created. If you'd like to see some of their beautiful books and the creatures detectives made in after hours, visit them here.

Summer 2019, Session 1: Recap

We discovered daily rainbows cast
by the sun every afternoon in Searles

The detectives gathered three found pennies for the first Three-Penny Mystery of the summer. Madame Drak brushed off the cobwebs of winter and scrubbed away the muddy vestiges of spring, as she polished her crystal ball for the first dream from the dragons.

A Black Skystone of Doom was heading toward earth, and the dragons foretold of a trip back in time to a place where the dinosaurs roamed. Sure enough, a package arrived from Professor Eon Oscaput, a paleontologist with an extraordinary tale about a magic ring that the dinosaurs had that could turn aside the Black Skystone of Doom.

Our team gathered the largest cabbages they could find an headed off for a visit to Timedigger and his Tin Lizzy time machine that loves riddles. Timedigger sent them back 66 MYA, to the Atrocious Period, a little-known era at the tail end of the Cretaceous Period.

The cabbages came in handy as camouflage for the carnasaurs -- and as friendly offerings for the herbisaurs. Our team had a fabulous week of romping and stomping with the dinosaurs. The pictures are priceless and may be viewed here!

We couldn't save all of the dinosaurs, but we did our part rescuing Mamasaura's dinosaur eggs. They'll hatch once in every adventure, when a detective needs a little dinosaur help with future mysteries!