Return of the Midnight Cat -- Recap

Two of the Detectives with their shadow puppets

The Detectives spent their April vacation in the mythical realms of ancient Egypt. The Midnight Cat and her accomplice, Dogtooth Spar, stole a whole swarm of winged scarabs from the Museum of Antediluvian Antiquities. The Detectives set out to find them, following the clues into the heavens.

Wadjet the cobra goddess tested the Detectives with a particularly challenging battle. With a little help from Shu, the Detectives prevailed and won her support. She transported them to the heavens on a serpentine staircase.

Khonsu the moon god assisted with another lift to the Sky Boat of Nut, goddess of the Sky. From there the group headed to see Geb the earth god.

First, they had to battle Selket, the fierce scorpion goddess. The group's boast about the force led to an impromptu lesson from Selket in how one generates the force. As with the dragon's Path of Honor, the force rises when one balances the energies of chaos and order within oneself. Our hardworking Detectives managed a circle of stillness and lifted the last sphere with their inner powers.

Geb provided the cipher and clue to the next leg of the "all expenses paid journey," courtesy of the Midnight Cat. This time, the group headed to the gates of the Underworld. They traded all of their jewels for some fabulous magical amulets.

Merneith the Time Raveller visited them to fix a wee problem with a certain Serpent Trap. She also discovered the secret to how the Midnight Cat and her companions entered the Duat. Thank goodness the group had just purchased the amulets of Bastet and Aset --- combined, the two amulets shrank our heroes into miniature cats jsut the right size to sneak into a tiny tunnel.

Naturally, more trouble ensued ...

Selket drawing by Gail

The details must remain secret for the next time I run this case. Let's just say, "Beware of warm fuzzies." Our clever team managed to handle every tricky turn and challenge of this case, those in game and out of game. We were tested in some extraordinary ways, and rose to each and every challenge, so this was a victory well-deserved! Congratulations to our persistent team! You won the respect and admiration of one tough scorpion teacher!

Visit the Dragon's Eye Facebook page to see the lovely artwork the team created for this adventure: Shadow puppets and drawings of Egyptian gods and goddesses.

The Oroborus - April Vacation 2016 Recap

Merneith the Time Raveler had a toolbox full of odd items

A small but brave group of Detectives took on the mystery of "The Oroborus" this past week at the Landing YMCA in Brunswick. Rifts opening in the Serpent Roads of the Oroborus were threatening the known world, so the Detectives set off for the Egyptian Duat to find out who was causing the problem.

Fortunately, they had some help--an ancient Dragonmage known as Djedi, who once served the Pharaoh Khufu CA 2500 BCE, plus a Time Raveler known as Merneith. It was a week of serpents, some good, some bad and some very, very bad. One highlight of the week was the group's use of the Moon Rabbit as bait for the Serpents trying to capture them. The youngest Chef showed off his culinary skills, sending the hungry Serpent for some wild Sage, while he and the Rabbit escaped to safety.

Our new location at the YMCA provided some unexpected additions to our games. The exercise balls in the Aerobics Room quickly found popular uses as shields, water globules and comfortable seating. The Meditation Room proved to be the perfect place for the Circle of Stillness the Detectives created to calm the darting silver fish that represented their Ren or Names. The group soon found out how difficult it is to remain still when a Water Snake is rattling off nonsense rhymes and talking about itching noses.

The Big Bad (who shall go nameless for future adventures) found the Detectives to be a formidable group who just would not give up the chase! They had the audacity to petition help from Egyptian gods and goddesses, such as Au Set (goddess of magic), Anubis (god of the underworld and embalming, who brought an army of jackals), Serket (formidable scorpion goddess), Pesht (ancient cat goddess of the wild, wild variety) and others.

With the Detective's brand new Time Serpent Traps and the Time Stopper Amulets in play, the Detectives and the assembly of immortals saved the world from a watery chaos. The Oroborus was restored and a handful of Detectives now know the secrets of the Mystery of Mehen. We celebrated with a toy theater presentation for family and friends.

Thanks to the Detectives for a delightful week of fun, laughter and creativity! And thanks to the staff at the Landing YMCA for a warm welcome to the Y!

The Dragon's Eye Adventures Facebook pages has a few illustrations from the week.

Temple of the Sun: Report

Detective disguised as an Egyptian guard
by Drew Walden

Eight detectives teamed up in this week's adventure in ancient Thebes. The scarab amulet of Seti I was stolen from his tomb in ancient times, and the Detectives traveled back in time to 1112 BCE to investigate. Our team was off the page more often than on, with a train with a human face, a mummy-disguised detective leaping from a sarcophagus, a stolen starbowl, a shadowmage rescue, and a fire-water sheep spouting water bridges over lakes of fire.

In spite of the train, this was an Egyptian adventure. The city of Thebes will not be the same after all the sneaking and hiding, the guards pouring into the streets searching for the strange visitors from the Pharaoh.

All roads led eventually into the Duat. The underworld may not have been ready for this highly creative crew--certainly the 42 gods and goddesses gathered in the Hall of Judgment were in for a colorful visit.

It was a week full of some very skilled sneaking and great fun! Our most nerve-wracking moment may have been the meeting with Amenhotep, the High Priest of the Temple of Amon-Re. The Detectives discovered just how important a little backstory is--and researching the current Pharaoh you're supposed to be serving is highly advised.

It all turned out well in the end. The errant sun god was sent packing, along with Apep the serpent of chaos. The amulet of Khepri was returned to Seti I and he took his place in the Sun Barge of the Blessed Ones.

What did we learn from the week? One can get very, very far with only minimal magic.

The loveliest moment came at the very end. Each story begins and ends with a dream--and this week, the final dream was one of a winged scarab taking the Detectives for a ride. Just as I finished, one of the detectives looked down and found a tiny black beetle on the ground in front of us. Naturally, it became part of the dream.

For the detectives who were skeptical that the scarab is related to our beetles here in Maine, here is an article from National Geographic. Visit the Dragon's Eye Ventures Facebook page for some wonderful photos of our games, the Detectives' wonderful artwork and scarab amulets.