The "MacGuffin" for the story

[tk1912]

I had a thought for The MacGuffin (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin) for our story.

According to the legends of the SF society, one day a powerful object that they call the Anastasis would appear in the universe, an item that would be able to recreate worlds. For most of the people in the SF society, the Anastasis is simply a legend, a pipedream that will never come true (although a small segment of that society believes that it will appear).

When the SF society stumbled over the Fantasy World, they were surprised to discover what they believed were references to the Anastasis. It was either on the fantasy world already or would be soon.

This threw the SF society into a little bit of turmoil. Some couldn't believe that the legends were true. Others (the sect in particular) rejoiced that the prophecies had been fulfilled. Still others believe the Anastasis could be used to solve some of their society's woes.

First of all, there are a number of severely polluted worlds that desperately need to be cleaned up. Second, they're running out of hospitable worlds for their citizens and its believed the Anastasis could terraform more.

But one person in the SF society realized that the Anastasis could be used to gain him/her power, for he/she believes that it could be used as a weapon. He/she believes that if it can create, it can also destroy.

So the SF society wants to make contact with the fantasy world to find the Anastasis, but there are those who believe that if the fantasy world won't share it or hand it over, they'll have to take it by force....


Two caveats to this idea:

The word Anastasis is the Greek word for "resurrection." That might be a little spot-on for the purposes of our story and I only used it as a placeholder.

Second, I'm not sure if the fantasy world would know what (or maybe who) the Anastasis is. I think it might be more fun if they didn't know; that way, when they found out what those pesky aliens wanted, they might try to beat the aliens to it.

[Jeff Gerke]

I love this, TK.

Jeff

[lexkx]

There's a lot to like in this idea. One thing I'm not sure about is why a wicked SF character would need to think the Anastasis could be used to destroy. The idea has merit, but the power to create is such an alluring, intoxicating concept - especially for anyone who has the least bit of a God complex - and appeals on its own. Why not make it a race for creation? (The catch-22 for an evil character when offered limitless opportunities to create is that they would always be trying to create "the perfect". With no thought for the consequences, and no qualms about forcing a newly created environ to be recreated when it didn't meet the evil one's standards.)

In Him,
Lex

[pixydust]

Yah, he/she could have the idea that this artifact could give them power--the power to create--but as all things this has a dark side--when in the wrong hands this "artifact" can destry worlds.

And I think it would be cool if the fantasy world didn't relize what they had.

And you could mix this with the paralell time idea, too.

one day a powerful object that they call the Anastasis would appear in the universe

Maybe this thing they see appear out of nowhere is actually the other planet. The power they seek is on the planet. What they don't know is that the solar system is shifting, coliding with another

Hmmm....that gives me another idea....

[Hisart]

Two thoughts...

1. What if this 'thing' was the Fan world's core and was the source of ... {dare I say it?} ... Magic on the planet. It would be a neutral creative force, like a giant battery.

2. There are two empires on the Fan world, Ming the Merciless and Arthur Pendragon, that have been at war for a thousand years. The SF world also has two Empires and only two scout teams land on the Fan planet. After checking out the planet the likes attract ... evil to evil, good to good.

Just my 2c's

[tk1912]

hisart said:

1. What if this 'thing' was the Fan world's core and was the source of ... {dare I say it?} ... Magic on the planet. It would be a neutral creative force, like a giant battery.

This could work.

But what I think would make the ending of the story a lot more fun is if the MacGuffin everyone is chasing turns out to be a dead-end. The real MacGuffin is something else entirely.

So in this case, everyone would be scrambling to get MacGuffin A, what they believe is the source of magic on the planet. All the sings point to MacGuffin A, but once MacGuffin A has been captured by someone (perhaps with tragic results), people discover that really, what they've been looking for is MacGuffin B.

I don't know. It's late, I should be in bed. I suspect my six month old son will be up and squalling in an hour or two and I should have at least a little sleep before that happens.

[lexkx]

Not a bad idea....

Bernard Cromwell's 'Heretic' (not, all in all, a great or inspiring book, but entertaining just the same) uses a similar MacGuffin - several different factions are looking for the Holy Grail. One faction goes so far as to create a false Grail to lure out their enemies. In the end, the protagonist discovers his father had the actual Grail and he knows where it's hidden. He's then faced with the decision of what to do with a priceless relic.

All that to say, what if the SF and/or evil forces of the story searched the Fantasy world over for the source of its magic, convinced either by prophecy or error that this source is the Anastasis, only to eventually learn that the actual Anastasis required the blood of one unique child? The sheer number of moral crises this would generate almost shapes the plot by itself.

In Him,
Lex