Childrens Online Books

Party Mystery Games For Sale 

The Missing Empress, A Swordfern Mystery Who-Done-It Game by Patrick Volpe.  Approximately 91 pages, $10.  To order this party game, click on the Ordering menu on the left.  A sample of the game follows. 

Major Characters:
Alpha Swan, the High Priestess and leader of the Mt. Amazons 
Kevin of the House of Justinian, the ex-king of Swordfern 
The Earl of Guillotine (Pat of Guillotine) 
The Emir Sam, the barbarian and Second Lord of Galacia 
Marshal Mandrake, the acting leader of the kingdom’s army 
 
Minor Characters: 
Omega, the last of the House of Swan (and Consort to Yolanda) 
The Princess Yolanda (of the House of Justinian), Regent of the Kingdom 
Borigard the cleric (the old magician) 
Grand Marshal Wilkey (on leave from leading the army)... 
 
Character Information

Alpha Swan is the first of the House of Swan, a High Priestess and the first on the Mt. Amazon Ruling Council. She is also the most powerful wizard known to be alive. She is an expert at manipulating people to get what she wants. After winning the Mt. Amazon civil war, she no longer has any opposition among the Mt. Amazons. Now she seeks to change the kingdom. She also plans to force it to fulfill its part of its alliance with the Mt. Amazons. She is currently faced with an unexpected revolt by the province of Galacia. She has journeyed to the kingdom to ensure her brother's (Omega's) support for several of her goals. She has visited the palace several times and arrived yesterday. She is staying in the guest wing.

The Princess Yolanda is the Regent of the kingdom. She became ruler of the kingdom when her father abdicated the throne. Yolanda took the term of Regent instead of Queen, keeping the regency for her as yet unconceived daughter. She agreed to marry Omega Swan to unite the kingdom and the Mt. Amazons. Recently, Yolanda has quarreled with the Mt. Amazons. The Mt. Amazons wish to take the Empress to their temple to train her to become a Mt. Amazon. Yolanda has vowed not to give up her daughter till her 18th birthday (the Empress is 4)...

Round 4 Begins:

One by one, Omega, the Princess, and the Earl return and say that the Empress is not in any of the areas of the palace that they searched. The Earl asks Yolanda for permission to search every room of the palace for incriminating evidence, including the guest’s rooms. The Princess grants it.

The Earl makes two other announcements: 1) that a servant to each of the following is missing: Alpha Swan, Kevin, The Emir, Marshal ManDrake, and Grand Marshal Wilkey. These servants were called into the palace with a message that their masters wanted to see them. 2) That Borigard the cleric has been found. He is asleep in his room, which is right next door to the Empress’s room.

The Princess yells at the Earl "Wake him at once! If I find out he has turned my daughter into a frog again, I will caste him into the streets!"  Turn to Round 4 and read Omega’s announcement next and then follow the directions.

Omega informs his wife "The Earl has more important matters to attend to. We all can wake the cleric." As he leads the others to Borigard’s room, he informs his guests of the time when Borigard changed the Empress into a frog. As commonly happened, the young child was pestering the old cleric when he was trying to nap. He told her to go away or that he would turn her into a frog. She was so excited by the idea that she begged him to change her into a frog. Wanting some peace and quite, he granted her wish...  Read Borigards announcement next.

After Borigard is awakened, Omega informs him that his daughter is missing. Yolanda demands to know if he knows where she is. After he answers no, Yolanda informs him that she appears to have been kidnapped. Borigard asks, "You woke me to tell me something I already knew? Why can’t I ever be allowed to sleep undisturbed around here!" he demands.

Everyone is stunned. Omega says with bewilderment that he had been asleep. He asks how he could possibly have known that the Empress was kidnapped? Borigard smiles and says "The Empress told me. She placed herself into my dreams..."  The players should now read their information for Round 4 and ask each other questions.  When everyone is finished, read Event 5.