Summer 2022, Wk 2 - The Fairy Queen's Flock

Oliver Van Soest wrote and led this session's adventure. "The Fairy Queen's Flock" began with a dream about a Banshee Queen in County Cork, Ireland. The dream gave just enough clues to lead the team to a fairy mound outside of Morrow.

There they found a friendly cow who provided a bowl of milk as a gift for the fairy queen. The team faced some challenges with a fence that changed from chain links to iron, growing taller and stronger until the detectives found a way to coax the fence into letting them into the site.

The mist surrounding the mound proved an even more challenging foe, but the detectives made it to the cairn at the top of the mound. Their Dragon's Eyes revealed the invisible crevice, and into the mound our team went, following long, winding tunnels deep into the hill. The guard at the door to the Banshee Queen's hall appreciated the sip of milk they offered.

The Banshee Queen Cliodhna (Clee-ohth_nuh) was beside herself. The team's careful protection for their ears was not enough to fight the waves coming from her wailing cries. The detectives had to sneak up on her when her back was turned, and then find a way to calm her so they could talk.

The queen revealed that her precious baby birds were losing their color and songs. These rainbow-colored birds reside on the enchanted island of Tir na nOg, across the sea. They feed from the apples of immortality there, and their songs bring healing and peace to the living. Our team agreed to travel to the island, to find out why the birds were losing their color and their songs.

They traveled to see the ghost of Oisin the Poet, one of the few mortals to travel to the fairy island of Tir na nOg who returned. Along the way, they had some serious yarnball games with the invisible One-Footed Hoppers. The hoppers warned them that they were offending the Banshee Queen--a very confusing message at the time.

The team was able to find Oisin's grave, but when they spoke with the ghost, their Secret Keepers began to glow. They narrowly escaped a Changeling's trickery to send them home. Finally, they met Oisin and learned about his story. He told them how he traveled across the sea on a white horse, so they chose to use one of their dragons to make a boat.

The boat set out to sea, but wouldn't you know, it was swallowed by a sea serpent. Fortunately, they found some unusual company in the belly of the sea monster, and managed to solve their problem, the musician's problem -- and feed the sea serpent at the same time. A win-win-win for all involved.

At last, the detectives reached the fairy island of Tir na nOg. They were met by a white cat who gave Ballerina Kitty a run for her money in terms of fright factor. Calm kitty. Crazy kitty. Calm kitty. Crazy kitty. After a battle against the cat and her one-footed minions, the team could sit down to learn the cat's story.

Her name was Aibell (Ay-vel) Her harp was creating the dangerous music that was draining the birds' color and songs. She was mad at Cliodhna, her twin sister, because she was the one who turned her into a white cat. The two had many feuds as sisters, so when Cliodhna arrived, the scene was barely civil at first.

Our team of detectives had their hands full convincing them that it was in their best interest to let go of their feud. They helped Cliodhna realize that leaving Aibill as a cat was not fair -- and would only result in her beloved birds' death. Our clever sleuths came up with multiple ways the sisters could get along again, and all ended well for the Aibell, Cliodhna and the Birds of Peace and Healing.

A very special thank you goes to Oliver for this wonderful adventure. It was inspiring to watch him lead the group through the story. Thanks also to our older detectives who helped make this week possible. Their assistance as honorary CITs really made a difference!

Picture of the birds the detectives made are found on our Facebook page in this album. Photos of the adventure are here.

Summer 2022 Wk 1: The Midnight Cat -- Recap

The first mystery of the summer featured a story called "The Midnight Cat." The detectives purchased their 3-Penny Mystery from Madame Drak with pennies found by my sister, Jennaya Duke, who lives in Arizona. The dragons sent the first dream -- and it was a doozy of a nightmare: A stolen amulet, a capture Rat Queen and shadow cats chasing the detectives across the night sky of London.

The team traveled to the Museum of Anitediluvian Antiquities (Old, Old Stuff) in London. A black jackal followed them, and they had a nice chat with a man sitting outside the museum. The police were there investigating the theft of an Egyptiana artifact, so the detectives used the Oroborus to reach the third floor storage room from their dreams.

The Eye of the Sun guarded the box holding the Rat Queen. After vaniquishing the Shadow Cats guarding the box, the team was able to negotiate with the Eye. A clever win-win solution was found: The detectives got what was in the box, fulfilling their mission, and the Eye got to continue guarding the box, fulfilling its mission.

The Rat Queen revealed the identity of her captor: Onyx Bast, curator of the Egyptian collection at the museum. The team decoded an open letter code, learning that Onyx planned to meet a partner in Paris, at the famous flea market called Les Puces.

Tracking Onyx through the flea market led to a secret tent and an auction for all kinds of magical artifacts. Many magical beings were present, including the man from the bench the team met in London. He managed to steal some of the team's personal artifacts, causing much concern when he used them to bid on items at the auction.

Our team did some bidding of their own -- and later traded those for their artifacts, keeping only the magical kiwi bird.

Onyx's purpose at the auction became clear only at the end, when she and the "bench man" battled the auctioneer for something hidden in his pack. A huge yarnball game featuring flying spells of all kinds -- freezing magic, zombie transformations, and shadow cat evocations -- was held. Onyx and her partner (Dogtooth Spar -- Rebecca spilled the beans on the name, as Onyx and Dogtooth talked with one another during the game) escaped.

Fortunately, the gnome auctioneer knew where the two were going. He told the detectives the story of le Chat Noir and Henri Riviere's magical shadow puppet performances. Henri Riviere accidentally activated a Magic Lantern that had the power to open the Shadow Realms. He and his fellow artists found that they had opened an ancient Egyptian prison, holding a ferocious shadow creature.

When Onyx and Dogtooth tried to steal the lantern from Riviere, he hid the crystal orbs inside his paintings, and gave the Magic Lantern to the gnome auctioneer to keep safe. He also managed to hide Onyx Bast's amulet, a gift from her mother, the Egyptian cat goddess. That amulet made its way over time to the museum collection.

So Onyx and Dogtooth were gathering all the pieces they needed, to try to open the Shadow Realms again, to relase the wild prisoner.

After a visit to Le Chat Noir on its closing day in 1897 Paris, the detectives entered the paintings of Henri Riviere, racing against Dogtooth and Onyx to find the location of the crystal orbs. The results of those visits may be seen in the shadow puppetry on the Dragon's Eye Facebook page. Here is a link.

The detectives secured three orbs, while Dogtooth won one orb -- so both sides met to negotiate in Le Chat Noir. The team learned the identity of the myserious prisoner in the shadow realms. Let's just say they worked out yet another win-win solution, where everyone received their heart's desire. The world was saved from a destructive and chaotic force, and the two thieves were happy and ready to give up their thieving ways because someone much beloved was coming home.

Photos of the games, the shadow puppetry and artwork from the week are on the Facebook page!

Many thanks to the older detectives who stepped in to play Onyx for the games! We had a spectacular first week -- wonderful sewing projects, fun mystery, clever deductions, and hilarious moments with the kiwi bird.