Wk5 The Night Wanderer - Recap 2024

Fifteen detectives gathered at the Dragon's Eye Detectives Agency for Madame Drak's Three-Penny Mystery called "The Night Wanderer." The Nine Dreamers sent a dream warning them about trouble in the Greek Underworld. 

Ghostly shades were clustering around a boat inside the Underworld, and the line extended all the way to the entrance and out into the Mortal Realms. There were Shadow Serpents and a mysterious Night Wanderer (the Black-Veiled Person or BVP) in the dream, both walking a Path of Chaos and Shadows.

Our team was able to decipher some of the clues from the dream to identify the location of the entrance. It was a famous cave near Lake Avernus, near Cumae, Italy. The Cumaean sibyl presided over the Oracle of Apollo there, when Cumae was a Greek colony. Odysseus and Aeneas entered the Underworld from this location, two of the few mortals who undertook this dangerous journey.

Our courageous detectives wasted no time in traveling to Lake Avernus. The shades were not happy to see them, but the doors leading into the Underworld were unlocked. They faced the Floating Eyeballs ("Why is it always eyeballs?" I have no good answer, other than I like floating eyeballs ...) in the Forest of Persephone.

They moved through the line of shades toward the boat that should have ferried the deceased across the River Acheron, but no one was there. Only a pole resting against the boat, and note in a cipher using Greek letters. As our team deciphered the note, the laughter rippled around the room as they each learned that it read: Gone camping.

Charon the Ferryman of the Greek Underworld had gone camping.

Cerberus was missing as well. No one was guarding the Gates to the Palace of Hades.

The Night Wanderer appeared in the distance, watching our team, while on the other side of the Underworld a huge orb of Dream Magic came from a cave. A perfect place for the cliffhangers we so love in our mysteries.

The next day, the team split into two groups. One would meet the Dream Orb, while the other stayed away, in case the Dream Orb was a trap. The orb turned out to be Morpheus the Greek god of Dreams, coming to greet the Heroes of the Dragon's Eyes. He is a Friend of Dragons, from the mystery called "The Mask of Dreams" -- so he recognized a few of the detectives.

He warned them about more trouble brewing even deeper within the Underworld, from the realm known as Tartarus. Our detectives are very familiar with the dangers lurking in Tartarus, including many of the Titans, the Hundred Handed Ones, and other monsters. Morpheus recommended that the detectives head to Hades' Palace, to get his permission and perhaps, his help.

The team reunited and headed to the Palace of Hades. They were intercepted by the Night Wanderer (BVP), who now had a black star with blue tips. This surprised our detectives -- a changing star in an immortal's shadow is not common. The color showed that the Night Wanderer was now on a Path of Shadows and Order.

Hecate, Goddess of the Crossroads

She was a formidable goddess with two black dogs -- confirming our team's suspicion that she might be Hecate, the Greek goddess of Crossroads, Magic and the Moon. She took no time to introduce herself, although she did flash a Waking Dragon's Eye in response to one detective's signal. She and her Black Dogs quickly dispensed with our detectives and sent them down a Serpent Chute into a stone prison.

Shadow dragonflies kept our team from escaping, but a door soon opened with a guard, who escorted the detectives into the presence of Hades. Elisabeth played Hades -- a very stern god who was concerned about the mortals traveling through his Underworld. He was resting in the palace, unaware of the troubles.

Hades had a guest, a teacup troll named Agni, who had brought some lovely troll tea, including a nice swirl of slug slime. Some of the detectives knew Agni, from "The Teacup Trolls." They were the ones who taught him about "vacations" and "breaks."

Persephone was in the Mortal Realms at her Summer house, but she and Hades were conversing via Zoom. As the detectives described the troubles they were finding in the Underworld, the cause of the troubles soon became apparent.

Agni was so excited about his vacation, that he was telling everyone about vacations and breaks ... and the Serpent Locks of the Greek Underworld wanted vacations, too. Word spread, and soon, even Charon learned about vacations -- and he is well-known for trying to take a break, so he took off with Cerberus.

Our detectives were sure that Hecate must be behind the troubles, but Persephone explained that Hecate was her best friend. She was the ancient goddess of the Tripart Year, and much revered by the Olympians and Titans. Her symbols of Goat, Lion and Serpent represent the three parts of the year. She came to the Underworld to protect Persephone and escorts her to and from the Underworld as the seasons change -- and she must have returned and discover the locks abandoned and the doors and gates all open.

Sending living mortals in the Underworld to Hades and Persephone is part of her job as Protector of the Realm. As the goddess of Crossroads and Gateways, she also has an interest in locks that work, so she often acts as the Night Wanderer, checking the sacred entrances and exits.

Hades, God of the Underworld

Hades and Persephone began brainstorming about the Greek Heroes who might be able to help them. Most of them were busy or unavailable ("Isn't he a constellation now ...?") so our detectives volunteered.

Their next step was a meeting with Hecate, the Night Wanderer in one of the smaller Groves of Persephone. Hecate apologized for her haste, explaining that she had to get to Tarturus to examine the locks there. The Shadow Serpents were slithering out from under those gates, and it was clear that some force inside Tartarus was working powerful magic, trying to undo those massive locks.

Our team did some research on the prisoners of Tartarus who work with Serpents. Achlys, goddess of Misery, and Nyx, goddess of Night, were on that list, as were some of Nyx's many children.

Hecate bestowed a gift to each of the detectives -- a Pocket Deity representing their favorite Greek god or goddess. They worked together to devise a plan to call upon each deity for a boon that would enhance their magical battle with the Shadow Serpents -- and whoever was leading this attempted outbreak.

Our detective used many of their jewels to pull up a very powerful scrying spell: A Dream from Morpheus that could reveal which prisoner in Tartarus was dreaming of vacations and world-ending chaos. The random magic went awry, and a little final bit of random magic came from Hecate, so the heroes won the toss of the die. The culprit turned out to be Eris, goddess of Strife.

Hecate explained that Eris has a good side and a negative side. The detectives knew all about the golden apple she tossed that started the Trojan War. That's the kind of mischief she loves -- if it draws in her brother Ares, she's even more excited. When her star turns from Red (Chaos) to Blue (Order), the striving she creates becomes productive -- artists work hard sewing their pouches and dolls, writers dig deep to come up with endings to their stories, and workers all over the world achieve all kinds of amazing things.

Artemis, Goddess of Moon & the Hunt

The game to end all games was the result -- the most complicated end game in Dragon's Eye history. It was magnificent -- and executed with the utmost effectiveness by our heroes. Hecate laid down the field with her powerful golden fire (her star was black with golden tips, so we had her most balanced aspect for this encounter).

There were yarnballs flying as Freezing Fire from the Shades conjured by our three Hades -- they took down each serpent by 2 points. There were the foam frisbee "arrows" flying from Apollo and Artemis, worth three points each. Half the team played the Shadow Serpents, while the other half brought in their deities. Asclepius moved through the game, healing players with his serpent magic and staff.

Elisabeth played Eris, with her Shadow Serpents. She was wonderfully cool, laughing quietly as the battle commenced. She didn't mind that the Shadow Serpents were slowly dwindling. She simply conjured a second wave of them.

A detective summoned Aries. This was a risky move, as Hecate warned them, but the detective wisely asked Aries to remove the magical boundary separating the two sides. Aries did this with great glee. Another detective called upon Athena to make a new border, pushing the Shadow Serpents back towards the gates of Tartarus.

A second boon from Artemis called her back for a second round of foam frisbee arrows. Hera was summoned for three powerful zaps -- her zaps sent a Shadow Serpent out of the game, no matter how many hitpoints they had left! A detective called upon Hecate, so she split into two of her three aspects. Hecate 2 healed, while Hecate 1 kept up the boundaries, preventing anyone from escaping. Hecate 2 also had one powerful zap like Hera's. She used it to remove the last of the Shadow Serpents from the game.

Finally, only Eris was left.

Our heroes pelted her with yarnballs, but she only laughed -- and grew larger and stronger. Some detectives called for their friends to stop, but the yarnballs kept coming. Eris grew stronger and stronger. Hecate revealed that Strife grows stronger when you fight against it.

Fortunately, one member of our team remembered the Circle of Stillness from adventures of the past. They created a Circle and went still, closing eyes and refraining from looking at Eris as she split into two parts. The two parts circled around, growing stronger when someone looked at them or giggled or moved in any way. Eventually, the Circle began to grow quietly stronger and stronger-- and Eris slowly melded into the single Eris, small and quiet, with a Blue Star of Order.

Athena, Goddess of Wisdom

Our final wave of Greek deities stepped in to fulfill their parts of the plan. The oh-so-powerful and dangerous Chaos gathered up a bowl of darkness to hold Eris. The mighty Queen of the Sea, Amphitrite, created a wave that washed the bowl all the way to Persephone's Grove, where Athena, goddess of Wisdom took on the roll of Judge. She asked the detectives to tell her about Eris' recent crimes.

She asked Eris why she had done what she had done. "It was fun." said Eris. "So worth it."

Athena asked Nyx, Eris' mother, to create the punishment for her daughter. "I'm not angry," said Nyx, "Just a little disappointed." [Quote of the week.] She sent her daughter to her room in Tartarus, grounding her for the next millenia or two.

Hecate invited our heroes back to the Palace of Hades for the after-party celebration, complete with fireworks. Hera sent food from the Upperworld, so our team could have pizza and other delectables without endangering their mortal lives. The Detectives asked Hades to provide vacations and breaks to his Underworld workers, and Hades agreed to draw up a planned rotation, so respite could be had without leaving the gates open.

That night, the dragons came to them in their sleep, and flew into the heavens. Morpheus, god of Dreams, joined them for a romp through the heavens.

Thank you to the detective who conjured up the idea of offering Serpent Locks to the Cailleach's shadowserpents. The detectives have been offering these in each mystery since February -- and my writing took a turn that was truly fun! Eris and her breakout were the original plan, but having the detectives cause said breakout was just too priceless to ignore!

Thank you to Elisabeth for spot-on depictions of Hades and Eris. She and I agreed that Hades in the Greek world is not as evil as he is depicted in many modern books and movies. Her Eris was delightfully understated -- and somehow more ominous because of that!

To view all of the detectives' beautiful artwork, visit the Dragon's Eye Adventures Facebook page. The work that they each put into their Pocket Deities is remarkable!

Wk 4 The Twelve Moonrabbits - Recap 2024

We should have known that inviting Moonrabbits to an adventure would bring lots of chaos into our week! Fortunately, most of it was fun! The twelve daughters of Di Jun and Changxi represent the stages of the Moon in the ancient Chinese calendar. They are the Twelve Earthly Branches of the 12-day week, operating parallel to the ten-day week that feaured ten Sun Ravens.

The story of the Sun Ravens is well-known, with many books and videos that tell the story. The story of the Moonrabbits stops with the names of the twelve daughters and their parents. So this week filled in the gaps, with some imaginings of our own.

Our story began with the Three-Penny Dream from Madame Drak. In the dream, they visited a beautiful Chinese garden with a moon gate. They looked through a stone lantern with their Dragon's Eyes open, and saw the Moon under attack by fingery cloud-like beings.

Cai the Moonrabbit showed up with a chewed up issue of The Celestial Snews, a newspaper popular with the Celestial Beings of the Immortal world. Our clever team found a coded message hidden within the articles. This led them to the Moon and the palace of Chang'e, the Moon Fairy.

She told them about the draining of the Moon's magic by the Cloud Wraiths, and asked them to rekindle the Moon Lantern by bringing back the memory of the Moonrabbits. She sent them to the Magistrate, Keep of the Book of Celestial Beings, in the Palace of the Sun, where the Emperor Di Jun reigned over the Heavens.

Magistrate was very concerned by the news they brought. He didn't believe them at first, but his books showed that they were right -- the story of the Moonrabbits was disappearing from the page as they read. If they didn't act fast, even the memory of their names would soon vanish.

Magistrate checked through his Book of Heroes for someone to undertake the saving of the Moon, but his heroes were pretty busy that day. Our detectives kindly offered their services ("I think he's talking about us," said one detective to the others), and a crack team of Celestial Heroes was born.

Our team accepted their secret mission and headed off to Madame Wu, the most ancient of the ancient Storytellers. They found her in the garden from their dreams, sitting by a pool where she was watching their story unfold. She already knew who they were, knew why they came.

Madame Wu taught the detectives about the Wuxing, the Five Agents. She also revealed the names of the Twelve Moondaughters and their relationship to the Five Agents. The most ancient stories were being forgotten, and the Cloud Wraiths were unraveling the little bits that remained. She also had some magic to help them retrieve their Starbowl, which they accidentally left behind them.

The spell to retrieve the Starbowl took the strength and magic of three Secret Keepers -- a Teacup Troll for Water and Earth elemental magic, a Shadow Demon for Fire and Metal elemental magic, and a Fairy Dragon for Wood elemental magic.

The team headed down a rabbit hole from Here to There, their quest leading them through the four quarters of the Celestial Heavens. The Cloud Wraiths trapped three rabbits in each quarter, and the detectives freed each group with a joyous celebration of air hugs.

In the South, the Cloud Wraiths fought them and lost, so they freed Ssu, Wu, and Wei, the Rabbits of the Summer's Full Moon. The Red Bird of the South admired their courage.

In the West, they fought the Serpent Cloud, the leader of the Cloud Wraiths. He also lost, and Shen, Yu and Hsu were freed, the Rabbits of the Third Quarter Moon and Autumn. The White Tiger admired their Wisdom, and said hello to the two detectives who met him in April. He named the cub they gave him Peaseblossom.

In the North, they met General Tiger, the Tai Sui of Friday, July 20. He was the General who sent the Cloud Wraiths, and he was not happy about the interference the detectives were creating. He left to report to the Grand Duke. The team freed Hai, Tzu and Ch'ou, the Rabbits of the Dark and New Moon, and the Winter. The Black Warrior admired their Compassion.

The team headed off to the Eastern Sky, and found the Asure Dragon there. He turned out to be the Duke of Jupiter, who ordered his sixty Generals to chase the Moonrabbits from the Gardens of Jupiter. He was not happy that the Heroes of the Dragon's Eye were interfering with his plans, so he wrapped them up in wispy cloud filaments.

Just when things looked truly bleak, Rebecca's phone brought some Celestial Music, along with a clap of thunder and rumbling earth. There was so much chaos happening in the Celestial Realms that Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor of the the Center, summoned all of the parties to his court for a reckoning.

The Bailiff called the court to Order, and the case of the Duke of Jupiter vs the Dragon's Eye Detectives began. Everyone had their say, and the Yellow Emperor asked questions of Plaintiff and Defendants. The Jury was very amused and kept giggling as the story of the rabbit's mischief all around the Celestial Heavens was told.

They dug holes from Here to There everywhere, even in the Palace of the Sun.

They ate the buds off the Chrysanthemums of Longevity from the Duke of Jupiter's gardens.

They poured Magic Moon Dust into the Old Toad's Moon Pool and turned him half purple.

The list was long.

The Yellow Emperor summoned the Daughters of Di Jun and Changxi to the court, and the detectives brought forward the lovely rabbits. But something was very strange. The detectives had already noticed the robot-like actions and words of the Moondaughters -- but now it was revealed that the trapped rabbits were actually AI Bots, complete fakes that the daughters had left behind when they escaped from the traps.

So where were the naughty Moonrabbits?

Let me just say that they were revealed at last, their mischief unveiled, and appropriate actions were taken. The great Huang Di sentenced them to work with the Duke of Jupiter, rebuilding his beautiful gardens, to be followed by a round of apologies and reparations. The daughters agreed to tone down the mischief, and the Duke agreed that maybe his Generals and their Cloud Wraiths went a bit too far in their revenge.

The Detectives made a good case for the Moon's significance to the Earth. And Huang Di found them blameless in all of this mischief -- they were, in fact, true Heroes, helping to bring balance to the chaos and order of the Celestial Realms.

The judge requested their autographs, which they happily provided. The Celestial Snews went viral with the new story of the Mortal Children who saved the Moon. And the after parties were wonderful, with plenty of jewels left over for a grand showing of fireworks.

Photos of the children's drawings and their beautiful Moonrabbits are on the Dragon's Eye Adventures Facebook page! The creativity of our detectives was amazing this week.

Thanks to Elisabeth Kelly for an excellent first week as Program Assistant and Dragonmage. Her performance as Old Toad won her the spontaneous applause of our detectives.

Thank you, also, to Missy Heald and Krystal Hoehling for the rescue of one of our Moonrabbits. Its trip to the Moon missed slightly and it landed in the lights of the Maker's Room.

 

Introducing Elisabeth Kelly

Elisabeth Kelly has been coming to Dragon's Eye Adventures since 2016, when she and her sister Katherine joined the mystery called "Troll Troubles." With eleven mysteries, she has demonstrated her calm and collected method of handling some of my toughest characters, including the Grey Lady, Lilith, and the Midnight Cat.

Now, she is returning as my Program Assistant, bringing her wisdom and insight to a new roll as Dragonmage for the last three adventures of the summer. She also brings 75 hours of volunteer work as a CIT (Counselor in Training) at Cathance River Educational Alliance in Topsham, ME.

Elisabeth is a thoughtful person who likes to express herself through singing, sketching, and design. Her skills as an artist have been amazing us for years -- see below for a few of her lovely designs.

Elisabeth will be a senior at Mt Ararat High School this fall. She is involved in leadership activities such as the National Honor Society and PALS (Peers Assisting and Listening to Students) through her school. Her extracurricular activities include ensemble theater roles and stage crew for the Mt. Ararat Stage Company. In 2022, a short story she wrote was selected for publication in the Twisted Tales writing contest.

She enjoys playing tennis, rock climbing, reading dystopian novels, and playing open-world adventure games. Elisabeth is eager to come back for another summer of adventures, and I am delighted to welcome a new Dragonmage to our team!

Wk 2 Dunraven Fair 2024 Recap

The Dragon's Eye summer 2024 season began with a tiny group of detectives and a visit to the Dunraven Fair. This goblin fair is held at special occasions at the sight of Dunraven Castle on the South Wales coast near Southerndown. Our team learned about this site's long history from Iron Age ring fort to Roman fort, to medieval castle, to Victorian hunting lodge, to modern day walled gardens and ruins.

This summer, a special convocation of the fair was held to celebrate the merging of two stars. The fair-goers were excited to welcome Professor Flummery, a famous sorcerer and merchant of the rarest of the rare creatures.

Our detectives were not so excited. They met Professor Flummery, and his darling rabbit, Caisearbhan (Ky-sheer-vawn). He took off with their baby dragons, and a precious seahorse and magical dove. Cai wasn't so certain about that, so she whispered a secret to a certain Mr. M, who sent a letter to a certain detective whose secret identity is safe with us. So the team learned where the Professor was headed: Dunraven Fair.

After the sorcerer's apparent treachery, the team befriended his shadow lion by feeding him conjured zebra meat. The team dubbed him Cupcake (that's "Coop-caw-cuh" said the Shadow Lion.) Out of game, the detectives have declared this cannon, so the name shall remain for future encounters with Professor Flummery.

The dream from Madame Drak guided our team to the Dunraven Castle ruins. They performed some magic to go back in time to the mythical realms of the Raven King and his shadowy underworld palace. He gave them permission to enter the fair and even provided a magical amulet that would deter anyone who sensed the presence of their mortal souls.

This amulet proved very useful against the floating eyeballs that guard the woods surrounding the fair. Their job is to prevent mortals from trying to sneak into the fair. The Eyes did a very poor job on this particular night. They found a few mortals, for sure, but something made their minds stray ... what was that? A sound way over there? I must go investigate ...

The Raven King also gave our brave detectives disguises that would fool even the magical beings at the fair. When they arrived, they blended in beautifully -- I mean, horribly -- with the denizens of the fair. Visit the Dragon's Eye Facebook page for images of their visit.

Out of game, the team made tiny dolls representing their costumes. They are fabulous! We had a lovely fortune teller with golden hair, a pink and lavender fairy dragon, a chic goblin in an outfit that was to die for, a club-wielding goblin that you wouldn't want to upset, and a faceless demon with shadow magic swirling around him. See them close up on Facebook, here.

The detectives created posters to display at the fair, offering a reward for help finding their baby dragons. They visited the merchants and traded artwork for magical artifacts. These artifacts come back to future adventures, powered up for one-time use in each mystery.

Each merchant shared a secret about how to reach Professor Flummery's famous secret booth. How can something be famous and secret at once? That's part of the magic of the Dunraven Fair -- and the Professor's special blend of magic.

Let's just say that our detectives managed to locate this famous secret place. They handled the sticky webs like pros, and made it past the giant spider guarding the way. Finally, they came face to face with their nemesis, Professor Flummery. 

Let me just say that all's well that ends well, as so often happens with our cases. The dragonlings were returned to the detectives, along with the other magical creatures. The detectives had fun choosing a new creature for more trading, this time with the Professor.

Our team had some OOG challenges, but pulled together in the end. It's not easy squeezing an adventure into three days, but we managed. On Friday, four of the team members returned. They made up games for the fair and we played them in the gym.

A special thank you goes to Adam Shaughnessy, visiting Dragonmage. Learn more about him here. He did a wonderful job bringing Professor Flummery, the Shadow Lion and the Spider to life. A very special thanks to Mr. M as well, and to a certain young detective for sharing her story about Mr. M. Thank you to the detectives, for their high courage, their persistence, and their sewing skills, which were put to good use this week!

Let me assure all that "no zebras were harmed in this adventure."