Session I : Ship of Fools -- Recap

Session I: Ship of Fools began slowly, with hot weather and new distancing guidelines running a little interference, but we soon recovered our "sea legs" so to speak, and the adventure took off. We promised chickens -- and there were chickens. Living chickens, skeleton chickens, bespelled chickens -- and even a talking egg.

What did we learn about chickens this week? They have a tendency to spill secrets, at the worst possible moments. Zoya the chicken got our team into trouble several times with her habit of oversharing, but her heart was in the right place.

Which was not the case with Koschei the Deathless. His heart was in the wrong place, as usual. He hid his heart on an island in the sea, buried beneath the Tree of Life, in a chest, in a duck, in an egg, in a needle. We weren't sure how exactly his heart fit into a needle, but there it was ... beating at a distance, keeping Koschei alive forever.

This wasn't the first time that we faced Koschei the Deathless. One detective had faced him before, several years earlier, in a case called "The Golden Cage." That group had turned Koschei into a baby, in order to restart the maturing process. They gave the baby into the care of Cernunnos, and thought they were done, but that decision led to another mystery called "Hound and Horn."

That adventure left Koschei as a baby, but facing a spell that turned him into a lime tree. One might assume that would be enough, but as our detectives discovered this time around, Koschei is a wily little fellow, even as a toddler. He managed to convince someone to release him from the tree, and off he went, stealing the Tsar's flying ship and turning it into a black pirate ship.

Fortunately, our team of detectives were on the case! They tracked the Tsar's ship back through the story of "The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship," visiting the Tsar's parents and lost brothers, and then the Baba Yaga. Along the way, they learned that talking eggs say foolish things, but their advice may hide some secret wisdom, leading to unlikely treasures, like clumps of peat, empty boxes, or a stray bone from a spooky bone cow.

I'm happy to report that the Tsar's pirate ship has been returned and restored to its glorious firebird form. The Baba Yaga's wand of rebirth has sent Koschei on to his next life as a blackfooted ferret, and his bone dogs are now happy puppies living with a very cranky man who needs a little joy in his life.

Here is a link to the Dragon's Eye album on Facebook, where you may see the delightful flying ships the children made this week!