The Brothers Infinite or Fine Print
So, that new story I mentioned the other day? I've decided to name it THE TRIAD SOCIETY. Reliarach has three armies per duchy compared to Andaria's two and thus three counts to lead them. The counts form a regency board called a Triad that has greater power in the kingdom's system of government than other nations where the duke is an absolute power after the king. The Top Hat Society is really The Triad Society, allowing in members only related to the counts of the kingdom. This is a starting place. That novel is officially added to the queue and will be written...later.
Watching ELLA ENCHANTED last night (Parminder Nagra AND Anne Hathaway? Hellllooooo nurses!), Minnie Driver said a line that immediately caught my attention. She's a fairie that will not oppose another fairie because the latter may take away the former's enchantment of youth. The thing is, Minnie Driver isn't that young. And this started the wheels turning. What is young? It could be comparative. If someone is 10,000 years old, a 100-year-old person is young! Bam! There we go. The fountain of youth.
The fountain of youth isn't a magical spring or the holy grail. You know what? Why does the holy grail always get all the attention. We're using the Ark of the Covenant. Any pool of liquid the ark (lost to time...or was it? duh duh duhhnnn!!!) imbues it with magical powers. Anyone to drink from that water has all their ails healed and is given young life.
What is that? They will forever be 1/10 their actual age. So a 30yo person who drinks from it will look (and have the physical make-up without the retrograde of brain development [for story purposes]) three years old. So we meet a main character, his wife, and his son. They are visiting their great-uncle in Florida. Their other great uncle has just died and processing his records, it was discovered that the men have never paid any of their property tax. Ever. To make matters worse, they were heavily invested with Bernie Madoff and have lost most of their fortune. The possessions need to be catalogued and sold to pay off the outstanding debt.
Of course, great-uncle is opposed to this and quite stubborn. And well he should be. He's at least 100 years old. No one knows for sure. He was old when dad was a kid. He's always been "great-uncle". Well, that's because he's actually 1000 years old and has been watching over his descendants ever since. His brother had kept a journal through the centuries and had been scanning the pages before they totally disintegrated. Going through his things, they find an external hard drive in a safe in the attic. They begin to read it, thinking he was writing a novel. The story tells the adventure of four or five brothers who joined the Crusades and found the lost ark of the covenant and all their adventures through the centuries. It's only after their done reading the story that they see the other items on the drive, high-res scans of the pages along with samples of the paper for carbon dating.
I'm not doing it justice here, but I want to write down all the ideas I've had so far. The son, rather than being the sullen, removed teenager, really likes his uncles. They never did all the ridiculous things aunts and uncles did, but just sat in the corner and smiled. Made sure he was all right, and always got him the best birthday presents. He'll be allies with his uncle in this depending on how the outcome shapes up.
Working titles for the moment are THE BROTHERS INFINITE and FINE PRINT. Not sure if either of those will actually stick.
Watching ELLA ENCHANTED last night (Parminder Nagra AND Anne Hathaway? Hellllooooo nurses!), Minnie Driver said a line that immediately caught my attention. She's a fairie that will not oppose another fairie because the latter may take away the former's enchantment of youth. The thing is, Minnie Driver isn't that young. And this started the wheels turning. What is young? It could be comparative. If someone is 10,000 years old, a 100-year-old person is young! Bam! There we go. The fountain of youth.
The fountain of youth isn't a magical spring or the holy grail. You know what? Why does the holy grail always get all the attention. We're using the Ark of the Covenant. Any pool of liquid the ark (lost to time...or was it? duh duh duhhnnn!!!) imbues it with magical powers. Anyone to drink from that water has all their ails healed and is given young life.
What is that? They will forever be 1/10 their actual age. So a 30yo person who drinks from it will look (and have the physical make-up without the retrograde of brain development [for story purposes]) three years old. So we meet a main character, his wife, and his son. They are visiting their great-uncle in Florida. Their other great uncle has just died and processing his records, it was discovered that the men have never paid any of their property tax. Ever. To make matters worse, they were heavily invested with Bernie Madoff and have lost most of their fortune. The possessions need to be catalogued and sold to pay off the outstanding debt.
Of course, great-uncle is opposed to this and quite stubborn. And well he should be. He's at least 100 years old. No one knows for sure. He was old when dad was a kid. He's always been "great-uncle". Well, that's because he's actually 1000 years old and has been watching over his descendants ever since. His brother had kept a journal through the centuries and had been scanning the pages before they totally disintegrated. Going through his things, they find an external hard drive in a safe in the attic. They begin to read it, thinking he was writing a novel. The story tells the adventure of four or five brothers who joined the Crusades and found the lost ark of the covenant and all their adventures through the centuries. It's only after their done reading the story that they see the other items on the drive, high-res scans of the pages along with samples of the paper for carbon dating.
I'm not doing it justice here, but I want to write down all the ideas I've had so far. The son, rather than being the sullen, removed teenager, really likes his uncles. They never did all the ridiculous things aunts and uncles did, but just sat in the corner and smiled. Made sure he was all right, and always got him the best birthday presents. He'll be allies with his uncle in this depending on how the outcome shapes up.
Working titles for the moment are THE BROTHERS INFINITE and FINE PRINT. Not sure if either of those will actually stick.