In the film Annihilation, I was introduced to a new concept of mass mutation. There was an alien energy field called the Shimmer, which mutated every life form in its area of influence. Some of these changes were small and subtle while others were extreme and grotesque. After developing the setting for my new fantasy book, I had a brain wave. Early in the project I included a strong source of magic lingering in the largest forest south of Storuuk. Now, I am thinking of giving this source of magic even greater influence in its surrounding environment than I originally planned. After nearly two decades, the source would mystically transform every plant and animal in the forest. Creatures such as fairies, goblins, and trolls as well as many others would emerge as a result of the source’s mystical influence. Even the humans who are either desperate or foolish enough to enter the forest are changed by the source’s magic. Over time, people in the surrounding towns and villages would think the forest is cursed and avoid it unless they have no other choice.
Tonight, I had an interesting thought regarding the female lead of my spin-off fantasy series. What if Queen Guinevere and the wizard Merlin were the same character? That essentially sums up the female lead of my new series. She will be able to do things such as heal the sick and wounded, see into the future, or turn stone into gold. What do you think?
For my spin-off fantasy series, I am thinking of introducing a female lead who possesses what is known as absolute beauty. Absolute beauty is when someone has the beauty of a god and is so beautiful that no mortal can resist them. The female lead will essentially be the goddess Venus made flesh. However, because someone with this power would be divinely beautiful, they would attract a lot of unwanted attention to them. This will make the female lead constantly uncomfortable and irritable. In the end, she just wants to be left alone. She will also have some additional powers that some would consider miracles, which would make even more desirable to those around her.
I like the idea of being reincarnated and live an infinite number of lives in various vessels. I am thinking of applying this concept in my fantasy series. In most fantasy stories I have experienced, whenever a sorcerer dies that is the end of their story. However, what if when they die their spirit leaves their human body and becomes reincarnated into a great beast of magic? For example, if the sorcerer in question was good then they would be reincarnated into something magnificent like a wolf that is larger than any bear or an eagle with feathers as colorful as a peacock’s. But if they are evil, they would be reincarnated into monstrous abominations such as flying gargoyles that could snatch away women and children to feed or large demonic snakes with acidic venom that could melt through armor. The possible new forms a deceased sorcerer could take would be limitless.
Arms races have always served a significant role in the formation of governments and escalation of wars. In medieval times, there was an arms race between arrows and armor in which armor technology continually advanced to counter arrows. When nuclear weapons were first created, there was an arms race between the United States and Soviet Union that lasted for decades and almost created World War III. I am thinking of featuring an arms race in my second fantasy book. Before the events of Numen the Slayer, dragon warfare did not exist, which made them the ultimate weapon of mass destruction in Gradaia. Therefore, this arms race will involve ways to counter dragons. It will be an arms race between dragons, blood magic, human engineering, and dark alchemy. I already have ideas in mind of what this arms race will produce and it is going to be an epic clash between man, beast, and sorcery.
One of the most common and most darkly brutal aspects of the Middle Ages was the usage of torture. It was often a form of punishment and interrogation. The methods that were employed were quite diverse and gruesomely imaginative. Several of them would be considered human rights violations in the modern world. For example, you could burn a person’s eyeballs out of their skull with a white-hot iron, you could flay them, you could stretch them on a rack until their bodies are torn limb from limb, or you could seal the victim in a coffin that has an interior laced with spikes. I am thinking of portraying torture in my third volume, but I will be adding my own personal twist to it with magic. For example, you could cut a person’s toe or finger off then use magic to grow it back. Here’s the twist, even though you would regenerate the injury quickly, you do have the option of regenerating it incorrectly, which would cause severe nerve damage that leaves the victim in a state of constant debilitating pain. With this method, you could keep the victim alive a lot longer and make them feel a lot more physical and psychological pain than you would with conventional methods of torture. There will be scenes in which an assassin is punished in this manner in the third volume of my fantasy series and it will show a dark side to a major character.
In Numen the Slayer, there is a prophecy that is hinted throughout the story. After the devastation of the Dark Death plague, the last of the Druids foretold the coming of a Golden Age that would be brought upon by a “golden beast”. When this “Golden Age” will come and what the “golden beast” symbolizes is unknown, but it will serve as a theme in throughout the trilogy. What do you think is the “Golden Age” and the “golden beast” that will bring it? Share your thoughts.
