Summer 2024, Session IV: The Moonrabbits

Summer 2024, Session IV presents the mystery called The Moonrabbits, a sequel to The Nine Fallen Suns.

The myth of the Ten Sun Ravens is balanced by reports of Twelve Moonrabbits. Stories of these twelve moons are not easy to find in English, so I have created one based on what I know about them.

When twelve elusive Moon Rabbits go missing, the Detectives set out in search of a lost tale from ancient China. Their journey takes them to one of the oldest libraries, and from there, into the Celestial Heavens. Good thing they have their Moon Lanterns, because the White Road is long, dark, and cold.

We will be making Moon Lanterns and Moonrabbits.

Moon Rabbits - Recap

The Twelve Moon Daughters
by R L McNulty

Thirteen lucky Detectives took on the very first episode of "The Moon Rabbits," one of four new adventures during the summer 2016 season. The Detectives, ages 9 to 12, were a very seasoned group, including one of our first Detectives to reach her 10th mystery.

A delightful and strangely silent Moon Rabbit named Cai wormed her way into the Dragon's Eye headquarters carrying a copy of The Celestial Snews. This newspaper told the backstory of The Nine Fallen Suns, the prequel to this mystery. Our clever Detectives noticed a secret message hidden in the articles that hinted at trouble on the Moon.

Cai led the Detectives to the Palace of the Moon, where Chang-o the Moon Fairy asked for their help finding the twelve missing Moon Daughters. Our group faced a few challenges along the way, fighting off wispy black cloud demons, a disgruntled old toad and moon spiders. Lesson of the week: Take the time to admire the swamp.

Moon Palaces are akin to Sun Palaces -- not so easy to enter when one is a mortal. The Detectives had none of the usual paperwork, so they used the magical artifacts they had from other adventures to obtain the needed paperwork and Moon Gate Pass. Their first attempt with a wish from the Wind Amulet from The Wind Horse failed -- well, technically, it succeeded, only not on the day they intended. They received that Moon Gate Pass on the second in-game day.

Fortunately, a member of the group also had a Selkie Stone, and the Selkie's instructions were much more clear: Bring the Moon Gate Pass back now. The group entered the palace with their Honor intact and met the beautiful Chang-o.

She sent them to the Palace of the Purple Tenuity to talk with the Might Magistrate of Matters of Most Momentous Magnitude. Mind your manners in the Palace of the Purple Tenuity. These deities are all Order Gods, so they like things just so.

The Magistrate is an old friend of the Detectives by now (three cases involve the Magistrate and his brother). He discovers a slight problem in the Book of Matters -- the Moon Daughters are slowly vanishing from the book.

Madame Wu's Caravan by S. Melquist

The Detectives hurry to a meeting with Madame Wu, the oldest of the old storytellers. She lives in a swamp just like the toad, only her swamp is guarded by pesky caterpillars who spit freezing venom. (We've met those pesky caterpillars all summer! They had to make an appearance somewhere on the page!) Madame Wu told the Detectives what they had to do -- and here I shall refrain from giving away too many secrets for future adventurers!

Let's just say that the Detectives did a fabulous job creating new stories about the Moon Daughters. Teams of two or three designed games for the rest of the Detectives to play--and everyone had a chance to see what it was like to master a game for the adventure! it was great fun! The games can be seen here on our Dragon's Eye Facebook page.

The Detectives' own Moon Rabbits helped save the day -- and introduced the first ever Patience Jewels into the game. These lovely jewel are not a school of magic in and of themselves. Patience is not necessarily a goal in itself, but a way to other kinds of skills--so these jewels boost other types of magic.

Congratulations to a delightful team of Detectives who worked hard on their teamwork and their rabbits! Much was achieved by all that work! We had a strong finish and a wonderful week exploring a whole new story--and we ended with an invitation to an interplanetary journey that shall one day come to pass.

Thanks to Ken Walden, Lou Ensel, Isaac Ensel and Drew Walden for playing the Generals this week! Also thanks to Amanda Walden, without whom the Moon Rabbits would still be in pieces! Sewing with thirteen Detectives is quite an accomplishment!

The thirteen Moon Rabbits sewn by the thirteen Detectives

Summer 2016 Session IV: The Moon Rabbits

The Moon Rabbit
Micron Pen & Colored Pencil
R L McNulty 2016

This mystery for ages 9 to 12 began when I was researching Chinese myths about the ten sun ravens. Every source mentioned that the sun ravens had twelve counterparts, sister rabbits associated with the moon. Yet when I went looking for the stories about the moon rabbits, there were none to be found.

I decided that this had to be fixed. The moon daughters deserve a good story. So here it is: The Moon Rabbits.


When twelve elusive Moon Rabbits go missing, the Detectives set out in search of a lost tale from ancient China. Their search takes them to one of the oldest libraries and from there into the Celestial Heavens. Good thing they have their Moon Lanterns, because the White Road is long, cold and dark.

Our activities this week include Moon Lanterns and hand-sewn Moon Rabbits.

Nine Fallen Suns - Report

Eight detectives gathered at the Dragon's Eye headquarters for the second mystery of the 2014 summer. "The Nine Fallen Suns" is a story about compassion for nine missing ravens shot from the sky by Yi the Archer in Chinese mythology. Tenth Sun's strength is waning as he carries the burden of ten suns, and he needs his brothers to rekindle his sunspark stone.

I think of this case as a story about compassion--and this group of detectives really took that message to heart. The Turtle Lion named Kung Tan arrived to hugs. The detectives rusted and then burst the metal bars of an iron cage, and then felt so bad, they healed it, breaking the spell they didn't know was there and releasing Iron Ox. There aren't many iron cages left in "Nine Fallen Suns" -- the twenty-one cages that held the nine sun ravens and the twelve moon daughters all became baby oxen.

Even the campus bugs received the love as we stopped for every beautiful moth, beetle, cicada and what-in-the-world-is-that creature. The detectives greeted the campus squirrels with our traditional gesture--and one little squirrel sat down to eat a perfect little white mushroom as Sara and I said hello.

We had fun out of game with the Chaos and Order Spies searching for the Dragon's Eye detectives. The group decided to hide their identity, and became an art camp led by Mrs. Wiggins. Her art instruction must have really helped, because this week's art really flourished. The detectives learned to work with chaos and order in their paintings and the glorious results may be found on the Dragon's Eye Facebook page.

I will remember this special week as the week of hugs and bugs. The mythological world may have been headed into darkness, but our group of detectives brought a special light with them into the underworld! The sun ravens and the moon daughters are home, safe and sound, free to take their turns in the world. Tenth Sun has been healed and the sun spark stones shine with a brighter light.

Moon Lanterns

One of the loveliest and simplest of art projects is the Moon Lantern we're going to be creating for the mystery "Nine Fallen Suns." After a week of sunchasing, the Detectives will need a bit of the moon's cool and collected beauty. Twelve rabbits might seem an unlikely crew to produce such soothing, gentle moon energy, so I like to think of this project as something the moon daughters create during bunny snuggles time (which is most of the day--I should know, I have three rabbits slumbering in my home.)

I tested many different flower and lantern designs to come up with something easy and elegant. Here is the final design:

It's a traditional fanfold flower made from crepe paper, which gives it more strength and suppleness. The petals are easily arranged and fluffed. The light is a little battery-powered tea light. Safe for paper, since it's an LED bulb. I think the handle may need to be two pipe cleaners, so they hold their shape.

At night, the Moon Lanterns come into their own with a lovely warm glow.

I can't wait to see a whole group of these -- we may have to find a dark hallway somewhere on campus, so we can take some lovely photos. There are more photos of the lantern in the Nine Fallen Suns album on the Dragon's Eye Facebook page.

Session III: The Nine Fallen Suns

Moon Daughter
R L McNulty 2014

The third session of the summer involves an adventure inspired by an old Chinese myth about "The Nine Fallen Suns."  Our mystery picks up where the original myth left matters.

Tenth Sun has carried the burden of ten for millenia, and his sunstone needs to be rekindled by his brothers' sunstones. Can the Detectives find them in time to prevent the sun from setting for a final time?

The nine fallen sun ravens is a fascinating myth that is based on the Chinese calendar system. The ancient Chinese reckoned time with both a base five and a base six system. They had a ten-day week based on the sun, and a twelve-day week based on the moon.

This summer, the Detectives will encounter the twelve Moon Daughters on their journey--elusive rabbit girls whose myths have been lost to time. Ten sun raven boys and twelve moon rabbit girls -- a cosmic family in need of a reunion.

It saddens me that while we have the story of the sun ravens, the story of the moon daughters has been lost--I intend to fix that, based on what I know about the myths and calendar system surrounding the story of the sunravens. We'll bring the daughters and the suns home this summer.