Summer Camp Fair in Portland - Sunday, March 17

Dragon's Eye Ventures will be one of 70 camps participating in the annual Summer Children's Camp Fair sponsored by Maine Summer Camps. The fair is this Sunday, March 17, from 1 to 4 PM at East End School gymnasium, 195 North Street. Portland.

Come see what wonderful programs Maine has to offer! Stop by the Dragon's Eye Ventures table to say hello and to learn about this summer's adventures. Four mysteries for the Mavens of Mystery (ages 9 - 12) and two for the Riddle Ravelers (ages 6 - 9).

Joker's Wild - Make-Your-Own-Adventure

The Fool
R. L. McNulty

A mysterious deck of cards leads the detectives on a journey into the unknown where Ace is high and Joker's Wild spells trouble. This experiment with random story generation will add some serendipity into the week. Detectives will create their own secret cards to add to the deck, so the journey we take will be determined by a random draw of cards created by the group and by the leaders.

Each session prior to this final one will add a card based on their week's theme, so this story's potential will grow all summer. This is a new type of Dragon's Eye Venture, so I cannot wait to see how this one evolves! We'll end each summer with a new Joker's Wild and no two will be alike.

Detectives will create their own story cards, sculpt their own set of dice and sew a little pouch to hold everything. The games will be determined by random draws, but rest assured--there is always sneaking in the cards. The group will help create a record of the story, so that an online chronicle of Joker's Wild can begin to grow.

Blackheart's Ruby - Madagascar Pirates

Bone Ruby Compas Rose
by R. L. McNulty

When a magical amulet known as the Bone Ruby shows up at Dragon's Eye Ventures, trouble follows close behind it. The detectives find themselves drawn into the world of pirates and pirate queens of Madagascar at the turn of the 18th century. Before this adventure ends, the detectives must discover the secret location of the legendary pirate utopia known as Libertalia, a place of contradictions where anarchy reigns and slaves walk free.

Detectives will create their own Bone Ruby amulets, pirate maps and flags. Our week will feature new variations of an old classic game called Overboard, along with many other pirate-inspired challenges like Walk-the-Plank.

The Midnight Cat - 19th Century France

Drawing by R. L. McNulty

A mysterious jewel thief known as the Midnight Cat leaves a trail of coded messages that leads the detectives on a wild romp through the artworld of 19th Century France. All roads lead to Paris and the studio of an artist known as Henri Rivière, whose famous shadow plays hide a secret known only to a very few. Can the detectives catch this wily thief, or will the Midnight Cat vanish into the shadows?

Ciphers and coded clues abound in this mystery, and our art projects will include more shadow puppet play. Detectives will make their own codewheels and a jeweled Book of Secrets. Games will include treasure hunts for hidden clues and tracking and trailing the Midnight Cat through the landscape.

Temple of the Sun - Egyptian mythology

Khepri by R. L. McNulty

The Ba spirit of a long-dead pharaoh of Egypt seeks the detectives' help to retrieve an ancient amulet stolen from his tomb. The detectives travel back in time to investigate the theft, which took place in the 19th year of Ramses IX. The clues reveal a struggle between two powerful politicians. Before this case is over, the detectives find themselves on a journey into the Egyptian underworld, in search of the court of Anubis.

This case is based on ancient records of a court case about a tomb robbery. The robbery and the court case are real, but Dragon's Eye adds a little magic to the story! Our projects this week will include Egyptian amulets, hieroglyphs and ushabti (miniature statues placed in tombs--ours will be truly small).

Jewel of the Tides - Celtic Sea Legends

Sea Witch by R. L. McNulty

Celtic legends from Ireland and Scotland are full of stories of the selkies, the seal people who inhabit the seas. In this Dragon's Eye adventure, a sea witch has stolen the shining jewel of the tides from the selkies. Can the detectives stop the sea witch from releasing the dreaded Tonn Taoide, the tidal wave, upon the land?

Our art projects for this mystery include black seal stones and handsewn pouches. Detectives will face many challenges of the sea--waterbreathing, octopus escape plans and anemone sea ciphers, to name just a few.

The Golden Cage - Russian Firebird Tales

Firebird by R. L. McNulty

A falcon's news sends the Detectives off into the Thrice Ten Lands in search of the legendary Firebird who lives in the Golden Mountains of the Sun. Their journey takes them through the mythical landscapes of Russia, with encounters with Baba Yaga the witch and the dreaded Koschei the Deathless and his skeleton knights. Help comes from unexpected places in the fairy tale realms.

Our art projects for this week will include Secret Keepers and lacquered boxes of treasure stones. The games feature ciphers and riddles with a Russian flare, lots of sneaking through magical forests and flying yarnballs.



Summer 2013 Programs for Ages 6 to 13

Dragon's Eye will return for more mysteries for young people this July and August. This year, we're expanding our offerings to include advenures for a wider group of ages. Our first two sessions will feature mysteries for Riddle Ravelers, those budding detectives ages 6 to 9. Following those sessions, we'll have four sessions for the Mavens of Mystery, those young sleuths ages 9 to 13.

What is a riddle raveler? Ravel is one of those strange words in the English language that means the same with or without the more-familiar "un" that turns it into unravel. So a riddle raveler is one who unravels a tangled mystery.

What is a maven of mystery? A maven is an old word for one who has mastered a skill. So our mavens of mysteries are those more experienced detectives who have developed their skills of logic and deduction.

I'll be posting more details about the adventures themselves in the coming weeks.

Dragonstones, Doorbells and Texas Dudes

Sea serpent and a crab by O. Van Soest (Age 10)
Colored pencil and Micron pen on paper

The final week of adventure opened with the smallest enrollment of the summer--two brave adventurers who faced the threatening mists of Terra Incognita on their own. It's amazing how much suspense can be created with only three of us. We were able to take the story further and deeper, so we were "off the page," improvising new material, more often than we were "on the page."

The Dragon's Eye Ventures Facebook page has an album of beautiful photos from the week--the shadowpuppetry was especially stunning. A delightful sea chart was created by one of our two artists, complete with a whole array of hilarious sea monsters. The origin maps were simple in shape and design, yet full of wonderful photos of family journeys.

Here are just a few of the things the three of us learned during this final adventure:

1)  Dragons are not always willing to part with their dragonstones, even for a good cause--like saving the world. World's End may be someone's idea of a good time.

2)  Doorbells don't always signal welcome guests, and even the lords of the underworld can make a foolish mistake. ("Ruh roh ... is that a dragonslayer at my doorstep?")

3)  And finally, the next time you decide to become Bob Marley the Texas dude, make sure the mist isn't listening. Mist has an impeccable ability to mimic any creature. You may find yourself coming back to haunt you.

A week of laughter, fun and wonderful solutions to every challenge thrown by the mist.

Trails, Tents and Turtle Trouble

Secret messages were passed back and forth
in this niche within a tree. This message
had the feel of raven's foot magic.

A trail of open-letter and zigzag codes led the detectives into the Turtle Mountains of North Dakota for the August 2012 adventure Turtle Mountain Dreams.  Were the Mavens of Mystery doing the tracking or being tracked? A little of both, as secret messages were passed back and forth. Having a rain and lightning god of unknown origin on one's tail can be a little unnerving, but the detectives managed to fend off the occasional freezing bolts sent their way.

Tenting and nature huts were part of the fun this week--and an album of images may be found on the Dragon's Eye Ventures Facebook page. Shadow puppetry, turtle mountain maps and a rare Book of Secrets from a mysterious shadowmage added some artistic style to the week.

Origin Maps for Terra Incognita

Origin map by Raphael Foye

I love entering uncharted waters with the Dragon's Eye detectives. This summer, Terra Incognita: The Unknown Lands brought us into new territory with an exploration of eight world tree myths. We had one basic art project for the entire week: The origin maps that each child constructed for the final challenge of the mystery.

We started with a map of the map--a plan that laid out the design of the book. The books trace each artist's journey from birth until today, with the center block representing either their birthplace or their earliest memory of place. The different branches of the book then follow the journeys from that place, with pockets to hold special memories, people, pets and other secrets that hold special meaning.

The books were stunning--and I'm so pleased to share pictures of them on the Dragon's Eye Ventures Facebook page. I've been imagining this project for almost five years now, slowly working on the ideas behind the case and testing different ways of making the bookmaking accessible. So it was deeply satisfying to see the group's enthusiasm and commitment to the project.

Most satisfying was the final game, where the individuals each shared their book with the others. The attention the group gave to one another was wonderful to see--and the books were truly stunning as they unfolded in such interesting and varied ways.

Whimsy & the Roll of the Dice

The 100-sided Die

The 100-sided die carries its own bit of mystique.  Most people have never seen a 100-sided die, and the usual first response carries just a hint of disbelief. "Whaaat?"  Until you've seen the cleverly-engineered sphere with its hundred facets and numbers, the very idea of it remains a bit elusive.  Even then, it takes a quick lesson in finding the zenith to understand how it actually works.

The 100-sided die came as a gift from a child back in the days when Dragon's Eye was the Detective's Club.  Since then, it has been rolled again and again over many years of adventures. In that time, I have seen the number 100 rolled only three times.

I have seen the number 1 only once--and I'm pretty sure I rolled it the last time, because we laughed our heads off.  I was known at the time for my low rolls.

So when a group rolls a 100, followed by my roll of a 1--it is a very rare event.  And yet, this is what happened last week.  A roll of 100 by the detectives, a roll of 1 by me acting as the Empress of Chaos opposing their spell.  We started laughing so hard that it became clear that the driving force of the roll was whimsy.  We celebrated with a whimsy jewel--a rare variation of the dream jewel that produces magic of a whimsical nature.  Whimsy is a gift of chaos--a bit unpredictable yet delightful fun.

I can't give details about the follow-up use of the spell without revealing secrets that might provide forewarning to the next group, but let me just say that the whimsy jewel lived up to its chaotic reputation.  It worked, but in an unexpected way.

A full life emerges from a mix of effort and luck--a combination of planning and serendipity.  This is one reason that we use the dice in Dragon's Eye Ventures.  The heroes must activate the Path of Honor to earn the jewels that power the spells, but in the end, the roll of the dice determines the outcome.  When they fail, the mavens of mystery must dig deep to find another solution--a much-needed skill in life, facing failure without crumbling, continuing the journey even when you think defeat is inevitable.

But once in a blue moon, something delightful happens in the roll of the dice.  A 100 and a 1 appear one right after the other. The result:  Golden laughter.  Whimsy grins with the gleaming grin of a Cheshire cat.

Thank you to the four mavens of mystery for the gift of laughter in our first Maine adventure.  That was a legendary roll in the Dragon's Eye realms--and the story will be told again and again!