Jungle Quests? Lost Civilizations? Any Advice?

I need info on jungle quests and lost civilizations, but I'm not sure what year my story is set yet.

Here's what I've got so far:

I'm thinking Carl Barks style adventure set in a fantasy world backdrop. I'm planning to send my hero off after a "lost treasure", and have him end up in the deep jungle where there's a lost civilization that is totally cut off from the rest of the world and is totally differant from humans as we know them. Not sure yet if it'll be a "magic realm" or not.

At the moment, I set mine in the middle of a lush green jungle, probably South America but not sure yet. I was thinking that maybe their city was in a volcanic valley, where the mountains were so tall and so forbodin (rumbling and spouting lava) that the people never dared leave the vally, while at the same time outsides thought it was just on big volcano so never went into the valley. That's how I'm planning to isolate my city anyways. I want it to be a fictional place, but I want it to at the same time "feel" like it's a real place. I want it to be "magical" and "fantasy-like", while still being within the realms of believability. I want readers to feel like it could really happen.

I'd like to use some real places mixed in with my own fictional places, but I'm not sure where exactly I should be setting my story.

Does any one know of any good places where I might set this story?

Are there such places in South America?

Should I plan on setting it elsewhere?

What about PNG, would that be a better place to set it?



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I was thinking of having an oracle of some sort in my story, but I don't much about oracles. But I was thinking of having some sort of "holy building" in the center of the civilization, with a priestess of some sort where folks go to seek advice.

Anyone got any advice on any real life oracles or preistesses that I could use to base this on?



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My characters are still playing hide and seek with me and I haven't found them yet.

Well, I've got my basic one paragraph description of my plot idea. Now I need some characters to act out in my plot. Not a clue yet. I'm assuming that my main character well be a man, cause I keep calling him a him and he.

When you think of a hero going off on a quest for lost treasure, what do you think of? What type of person should he be?

I've also come to the conclusion that my villain is a woman, because I keep calling her a priestess, though I'm not yet sure if she is the "real" villain, or just a public front for the real villain who keeps to the shadows.

What do you think? Should she be the prime villain or should she be the front for another more evil villain?

I'm also thinking that my main character/hero needs a side kick or two to go on this quest with him. Not sure yet how many I should use. Any ideas? One? Two? More? None? Should they start out as friends or should they meet up along the way?

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Than I've got the villaigers to think about. They are a lost civilization. They have had no contact with the outside/modern world. What do they look like? How do they dress? How many should there be? What customs and traditions should they have? What are they like? Are they more advanced with space age computers? or are they simple, living off the land in a utopian Garden of Edan? Could the actually be the Garden of Edan?


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What about The Ruby Throated Humming Bird? (The item for which the story gets it's name, and the lost treasure my hero seeks) What is it? A piece of jewerly? A totem? A carving? A gemstone? Should it be a real object? A myth? Obveously it'll be something of great importance to my villagers. Should my hero find it? If he does find it... well he take it away with him? Well he keep it for himself or is it for someone else? Well he return it to the villagers?

Why is my hero seeking The Ruby Throated Humming Bird? Personal glory? Public fame? To win a dare/bet? To give it to somepne who's offering an reward for it? It it for him or someone else? A privaye collector or a museum? Does he want it just so he can say that he found it?



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One last question: What is the best error for a quest of this nature? I was thinking of setting it in the late 1800's to early 1900's as that seems to be when everyone was looking for lost treasures. What do you think?


As you can see I have lots of questions to answer before I can start writing. I'd like to know what everyone thinks I should do: What type of characters do you think I should use? Where should I set the story? What should the motives be?

What's your take on this? I'd love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!







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