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.
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Hecate, Goddess of the Crossroads
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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.
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Hades, God of the Underworld
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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.
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Artemis, Goddess of Moon & the Hunt
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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.
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Athena, Goddess of Wisdom
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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!
