Summer 2014 Begins with "Secret of the Gargoyles"

Island of Chimera by R. L. McNulty 2014
Micron pen, colored pencil & acrylic wash

The yarnballs are in the wash and the foam Frisbees drying on the rack -- a sure sign that a summer of mysteries is on the way. My table is overflowing with art supplies and my entryway holds an ever-growing stash of bags carrying the makings of an adventure.

Session I "Secret of the Gargoyles" starts on Monday, June 30, with a group of eleven detectives. Here is a glimpse of the map behind the story -- it's gargoyles all the way on this one. We will be searching out Bowdoin's stone guardians and doing our best to keep the village safe.

Summer Internship with Dragon's Eye Ventures

O Captain, My Captain!
Photo by Ike Voorhees, Summer 2013

Dragon's Eye Ventures is looking for an intern for the Summer 2014 season. This is a unique opportunity to learn about the inner workings of adventure-based education. This is an unpaid internship that runs from Friday, June 27 through Friday, Aug. 8--six weeks and a day of adventuring with young people!

The intern will work side-by-side with Rebecca this summer, playing character roles in the adventures, running games and team challenge initiatives, helping detectives with their projects, and assisting with the daily tasks, such as snack and lunch. The hours are 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM with a half-hour break around lunch time.

Applicants may send a resume and coverletter to dragonseyeadventures@gmail.com.

Session IA: Ragabash the Rude

The Serpent's Tooth
in its raw form waiting for
the scrimshaw map

Session 1A has been added to the summer 2014 adventures as an additional mystery for ages 6 - 9. The mystery for this week is "Ragabash the Rude." A missing scrimshaw on an old sea serpent’s tooth leads the Detectives on a one-of-a-kind journey aboard The Roustabout, the ship carrying the notorious Ragabash the Rude and his band of pirates known as the Rabblerousers.

There are two paths through this adventure and the group much choose between them: Infiltrate the pirate and follow the story disguised as Rabblerousers or join Ragabash's nemesis, Captain Blunderbuss and the crew of The Gusty Gull. Either path leads to trouble on the seven seas, so our Detectives better have their wits and their sea legs about them!

Our art projects depend on the path the Detectives choose--pirate bandanas or British Navy tricorn hats. We'll be the best-dressed sailors on the campus this week. We will also be making our own scrimshaw serpent's teeth.

Ragabash the Rude: An Additional Adventure for Ages 6 - 9

Compass rose from a pirate map
by R L McNulty
Colored pencil on paper

With the first session nearly full (one space left) and requests coming for additional weeks for our youngest detectives, Dragon's Eye Ventures is adding one more week to the summer offering for ages 6 - 9. Session IA will run from July 7 through July 11 as a five-day mystery.

The adventure fee is $250, and After Hours is $50. If you have already registered, just print out the second sheet of the new registration form and send that along with the payment.

Our mystery this week will be "Ragabash the Rude"--a wonderful romp on the seven seas with Ragabash the Rude, captain of The Roustabout and leader of a crew of pirates known as the Rabblerousers.

Session V: The Book of Shadows

A book of shadows by R L McNulty

Our summer 2014 season will end with a journey into the underworld realms of "The Book of Shadows." This is an advanced adventure for ages 9 to 13, a story for the brave hearts among us.

A powerful Irish mage seeks “The Book of Shadows” in an attempt to open the portal between the realms of light and shadow. Can the Detectives stop him from releasing the vengeful Shadow Wraiths upon the mortal world or will the dreaded shadowy terrors walk the sunlit paths?

This adventure draws upon old Irish myths of the sun and the dark realms of the dead. Our activities will also focus on light and shadow, with books of shadows and sunspark stones. The books of shadow come alive when light shines through them. The most intriguing shadows are often the ones discovered and not planned.

Session IV: Mask of Dreams

Mask of Dreams
R L McNulty

Session IV features "The Mask of Dreams," a mystery for ages 9 to 13 that draws on Greek myths about Morpheus and Oneiros, two ancient gods of dream.  A mask of unknown origins has some secret powers that unlock the dream world. This story is a tried-and-true adventure guaranteed to augment the detectives' knowledge of Greek mythology. One 4th grade teacher friend of mine uses "Mask of Dreams" every year during her unit on Greek myths.

The activities this week include making our own two-sided masks of dreams. One side represents a happy dream and the other represents a nightmare. Morpheus also challenges the detectives to a shadow puppet duel in the world of dreams--and parents, family and friends will get to see the duel on Friday at our usual 3:30 presentation!

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.

Session II: Da Vinci's Dragons

The second session is an adventure for ages 9 to 13 called "Da Vinci's Dragons." This is a more complex version of a recent birthday party adventure, redesigned for the Mavens of Mystery. A mysterious globe is stolen and the Detectives are called in to follow the trail of clues in a classic "whodunnit." Naturally, there are dragons at the base of this story ... and a famous artist.

This week has something for everyone--fairy dragons, old globes with mysterious origins, and a unique combination of Renaissance art, science and magic. Our projects this week will include perspective drawings that explore a little Renaissance magic and fey dragon sculptures.

Session I: Secret of the Gargoyles (Ages 6 to 9)

Gargoyle Globe
from "Secret of the Gargoyles"
by R L McNulty

The summer 2014 season will begin with a four-day adventure for children ages 6 to 9 (entering first through fourth grades). "The Secret of the Gargoyles" involves a wizard and stone gargoyles that don't stay stone for very long ... and that does not bode well for the villagers who live below the castle. Can the detectives learn the secret of the gargoyles before the wizard unleashes his evil plan?  Our art projects for this week include gargoyle masks and snow globes.

Summer 2014 Programs Announced

Dragon's Eye Ventures will be offering five weeks of programs during the summer 2014 season. These will be held on the Bowdoin campus in July and August, running Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 4 PM. Afterhours care is available for the week or a single day.

The first week of July will feature an adventure for our youngest detectives, ages 6 to 9. The Secret of the Gargoyles promises lots of fun with wizards and gargoyles and a mythical creature called the chimera.

The next four sessions are for detectives ages 9 to 13. Session II is "The Black Skystone of Doom"--a hilarious romp through the little-known Atrocious Period, when the dinosaurs roamed the earth. This is perhaps the funniest Dragon's Eye adventure, with the dreaded spitasaurus and Humongasaura Regina, the Dinosaur Queen.

Session III features "Ravens of the Sun," a story that takes up where a Chinese myth about sun ravens ends. Nine sun ravens have been shot from the sky, leaving Tenth Son to carry the burden alone. When he grows ill, his mother seeks out the Detectives, for help finding the nine fallen suns.

Session IV offers "The Mask of Dreams," a mystery leading to the Cave of Dreams in the Greek underworld. The Detectives must seek the help of Morpheus, the god of dreams, if they are to save the world this time.

Session V closes the summer season with "The Book of Shadows." This adventure leads into the Irish underworld realms, chasing a shadowmage who threatens to unlock a door into the shadowrealms. What goes into the shadowrealms is not the Detective's concern--it's what come out that causes concern.

The Midnight Cat: Report

One of the beautiful shadow puppets
from "The Midnight Cat" This one is
by S. Melquist and M. Hoy.

A jewel thief known as the Midnight Cat led our six detective mages on a mouse and cat chase through the streets of London, the aisles of Les Puces de Saint-Ouen flea market in Paris and even back in time to the darkened halls of Le Chat Noir on closing day in 1897. It was a week full of secrets and ciphers--and this determined team tackled every code by hand! A very impressive display of code-breaking!

Favorite challenges of the week included the zany bird lady who imprisoned the zebra-finched Detectives (yes--zebra-finched is now an adjective describing the state of being turned into a zebra finch) in cages. She tried to sell them at Les Puces, but the birds were too clever. They played dead every time an admirer came to see them. Clever little bird claws reached for the keys, and soon the Detectives were ... de-zebra-finched!

The story took some unexpected turns, as our thief led the Detectives back in time to the closing day of Le Chat Noir. The artist Henri Rivière was able to shed some light on the reason our thief had stolen the Golden Cat amulet and the candelabra from the flea market.

Let's just say it wasn't good news. The Detectives entered the Shadow Realms to talk with the inhabitants of the prints made by Henri Rivière. Their beautiful shadow puppets may be seen in an album on the Dragon's Eye Facebook page along with the prints that inspired them. Their books of secrets and photos of the week's adventure are also on the page.



Sunrise in the Shadow Realms
Photo by Ike Voorhees, 2013

The Detectives found their journey leading to an ancient goddess of the sun, demoted to the status of a moon goddess and doomed to live out her life in the underworld. Fortunately for her, the Detectives had other ideas--and the sun rose again in her heart. All mysteries need not end in battle and even a red star can grow a tinge of gold.



Joker's Wild II: New Cards by Ike and the Detectives

Ghost Hunter by Ike Voorhees
Micron pen on Bristol board cards

Joker's Wild is the last mystery of the Summer 2013 season. We have been slowly creating a deck of cards from which the story will be drawn. There are character cards and challenge cards. Our Facebook page has an album called Joker's Wild which has all of the cards created to date. The artwork is by Rebecca McNulty, Ike Voorhees and each of the young Detective Mages who have been to a Dragon's Eye adventure this summer.

The deck will continue to grow each week, even as the Joker's Wild week unfolds. This is an experiment with "off-the-page" story creation.