Are we part of nature?
After Hittites and Leprechaun the next period of history that seemed to offer real potential for a plot was the arrival of the Romans in Britain. At that time Britain had its Druids who, as far as I can gather, believed, much like the indigenous people of North America, that the trees and the animals had a kind of soul and could help humans. If they wanted to calm their thoughts, they would go into the woods and let the trees soak away the tumult of their feelings. If they wanted the people to fight, they’d take them into a storm and let the thrashing of the trees make them aggressive. Now come the Romans with their gods and we have a clash of cultures. The Druids want to keep their integration with nature and it’s healing but the Romans insist on man’s supremacy. Even when the priests come from Rome they teach the world was made for man, not the other way round as the Druids believe. What’s the story? The Druids insist they need a human sacrifice to get rid of the Romans but the girl they choose has a lover in the Roman army – maybe a local recruited in and he has to prevent the sacrifice, or make a substitution. Maybe the centurion has a pet monkey or a shrew of a wife he wants rid of so he can have the girl. Now the soldier must go among the trees to find wisdom, or at least a plan. The wife talks to the soldier, telling him she is troubled in her mind and he takes her to the Druid, telling him he’s been told by the spirits this is the sacrifice they want. The Druid realises he can use her as a missionary among the Romans and takes her into the woods where she becomes calm. The soldier now tries to get the Druid to believe the real sacrifice was to be the centurion. When they kill the centurion it creates a retaliation and the soldier must choose. It ends with the Druid converted to a blend of his old religion and the new, the wife going with him, the soldier choosing between the army and his heritage and the girl. Maybe he is promoted and sent to face the Huns. Well, that’s the outline. Is there enough to draw me in? I’ll take a look at the next great eruption before deciding.