I have four characters, all intertwined, all coming together because of one powerful secret that will somehow save their souls.
Nathaniel — the man on the run. The man with memories that won’t let him be. 3 years after Cresek-Tawn, he’s now a glorified merc…though he’s finding his jobs are becoming increasingly ‘bizarre’.
Folloman Finn — Far Plains Drifter. Also a con, a cheat, and a thief. Strangely, he is also an inventor — though he doesn’t actually know what his inventions do. He’s the creator of the Amulet of Unspeakable Horrors, the Machine of Follo the Mad (though he doesn’t particularly care for the name) and the Deathreaper.
Bartimus Glenn — A captain of industry. Power. Fame. But he wants more. He has an alter ego…dark, evil. He sometimes wonders if humans haven’t aligned themselves incorrectly — if perhaps peace, love, and harmony are so against our nature that we are destined for failure.
Amber — The one person to escape the clutches of the Butcher — a sadistic killer that has been mutilating his victims for over a decade. A strong willed woman (perhaps the only thing that saved her from the Butcher’s torture), she now gravitates to strong individuals, using their power as a shield to protect herself.
Each one needs the secret. A secret that isn’t necessarily world-altering…but on a personal level, can affect each of them deeply. I began surfing the web, looking for some cool unexplained phenomena. Below are my favourites:
Voynich Manuscript: The Voynich Manuscript is considered to be ‘The Most Mysterious Manuscript in the World’. To this day this medieval artifact resists all efforts at translation. It is either an ingenious hoax or an unbreakable cipher. It is written in an unknown language — of which no one has ever encountered before. The book is filled with diagrams of unknown plants, pressed leaves, strange drawings of women.
* The first and largest section contains 130 pages of plant drawings with accompanying text, and is called the Botanical division.
* The second contains 26 pages of drawings, obviously astrological and astronomical in nature.
* The third section contains 4 pages of text and 28 drawings, which would appear to be biological in nature.
* The fourth division contains 34 pages of drawings, which are pharmaceutical in nature.
* The last section of the Manuscript contains 23pages of text arranged in short paragraphs, each beginning with a star. The last page (the 24th of this division) contains the Key only.
Piri Reis map
Wouldn’t it be strange if a map dating from the 15th century appeared showing the topography of the world which hasn’t been seen in 6000 years? Very strange indeed. This map, while beautiful illustrated, shows the coasts of Africa, South America…and Antarctica.
Antarctica wouldn’t be discovered for another 300 years from when the map was drawn. Odd, but not a real head scratcher. But what if the map didn’t show the ice but the actual northern land mass of Antarctica which has been buried in miles of ice for the past 6000 years? Only recently has modern science been able to map this region through the massive ice shelves.
Okay, so some primitive culture perhaps made it to Antarctica? Well, the problem again is that the first primitive culture first developed 5000 years ago. And how did this map appear in the hands of a Turkish explorer?
The Map was sent to the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Bureau. Upon studying this map, they concluded that it was developing using aerial photography methods…which would be a most difficult thing to do 6000 years ago.
So who made the map?