SYNOPSIS "HIC SVNT DRACONES"
The year is 1584. British statesman and favorite of Queen Elizabeth I, Sir Walter Raleigh, is issued a charter that would allow him to claim and establish a settlement in Virginia in the New World. However, due to not being permitted to leave the Queen’s side, he instead funded missions to sail to the New World in an attempt to colonize North America (DREAMCHASERS).
The first settlement attempt in 1585 experienced some troubles, including one of Sir Richard Grenville’s ships becoming embayed before what is now known as Cape Fear, and Grenville’s order to have the village of Aquascogoc destroyed as allegedly, a silver cup was missing after initial exploration, and Grenville assumed it had been stolen (SILVER AND BLOOD).
After the first attempt at colonization failed and the remaining settlers of the so-called Lane Colony had to be evacuated by Sir Francis Drake (DRAGON OF THE SEA), a second colony was to be established in 1587 by John White at the behest of Sir Walter Raleigh. White was to return with supplies in 1588, but the mission was delayed until 1590. When the English finally returned with the ships Hopewell and Moonlight, they found the colony deserted, with the word “Croatoan” being carved into the settlement wall (ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT).
What truly happened to the settlers is unknown, and even though historians assumed that they integrated with the Native tribes of the region, the truth is that…
… after the relief mission did not arrive in 1588, supplies began to ran low for the remaining 114 colonists, they decided to build a ship that could take them to other parts of the region where supplies might be more plentiful. After completing the ship in early 1590, the colonists set out, but were surprised by a sudden, supernatural storm that sped them away over 600 miles away from the coast, where suddenly a cataract opened up in the middle of the ocean, devouring the ship and sucking it below the ocean floor, where the settlers ended up in an underground realm, covered in lush, pre-historic vegetation (PERFECT STORM). Upon landfall and exploring the mysterious underground realm, they come across gigantic reptiloid creatures - some of which are being ridden by… Vikings!
After failed expeditions by Walter Raleigh between 1595 and 1602 to find his missing colonists, a final expedition led by Bartholomew Gilbert in 1603 went in search of the colonists, but their ship, too, was caught in a similar storm and brought to the land under the sea. The realm is lit by what seems to be “stars” hanging in the sky, but which are in fact crystallized dew drops of water attached to the roots of a gigantic tree (Yggdrasil) that is growing through the ocean floor and mountain above the Hidden Land.
Here, they found the colonists hiding in caves and living almost feral lives, as they were fighting to survive against the pre-historic dinosaurs which apparently survived the ice age in this underground paradise, and had been partially domesticated by Viking clans, who were also captured by similar storms and brought to the Hidden Land on their own settlement expeditions more than 500 years before, when the first Norse settlers landed in Newfoundland. The Vikings had managed to live alongside the prehistoric saurians, and with the help of Norse runic magic, had managed to tame them.
So now in order to escape the Hidden Land, which the Norsemen had decided must be Jotunheim, due to the gigantic dinosaurs that roamed the land, the British colonists must try to find a way back while fighting off attacks from Vikings and dinosaurs, and Vikings riding on dinosaurs/evolved “dragons” (HIC SVNT DRACONES).
The British manage to survive for several years, however their numbers don’t increase much as many men and women are killed by the hazards of the realm. During their explorations of the undersea land, the British find a mysterious temple hidden in a jungle, which looks like nothing they have seen before. They decide it must be part of an ancient civilization, and they are intrigued by the murals all around the temple, that seem to depict various events and place, such as the mysterious oceanic storm and cataract that apparently brought the British and the Vikings to this realm, but they are also frightened by some of the other drawings which seem to depict, among other things, two giant serpents, and even the end of the world.
In ca. 1606-07, the young British woman Virginia Dare, daughter of John White, happens upon a young Viking warrior while bathing in a lake. Before they can interact, the warrior, Baldur, is attacked by a wolf and seemingly mortally wounded. Other clan members arrive and drive away the wolf, and capture Virginia. Virginia is kept as a slave and housemaid in one of the Norsemen’s villages for some time, and is tasked with nursing Baldur back to health, which - against all odds - succeeds. Baldur reveals to Virgina that he had experienced visions in his dreams of his own death, and his dreams were usually prophetic in nature. He is therefore surprised that this dream did not come true as foretold, and thinks it might have to do with Virginia’s unexpected interference.
After a failed attempt at escape back to the British, Virginia reluctantly learns some of the Norseman’s language, and she eventually falls in love with her former capturer. The Viking clan does not approve of this and want to kill Virginia, but she and her lover (Baldur) escape in the cover of night, and decide to live in the jungle apart from both the British colonists’ settlement as well as the Norsemen’s settlement.
One day, a giant earthquake disturbs the night, and the British must flee the caves they had been hiding in lest they be crushed to death. The earthquake also disturbs the Viking tribes, and their runic magic fails them partially, meaning the dinosaurs are able to escape their control and start hunting and killing both British colonists and Vikings alike. Great chaos ensues, and a volcano that is also part of the Hidden Land erupts, causing fire and ash to fall on the land. Virginia and Baldur find refuge in the hidden temple, while the British and Vikings fight each other and the dinosaurs.
Finally, the Vikings and British notice a movement undersea ocean, and witness a humongous dragon breaking through the waves, and ascending towards the sky, devouring man and beast alike. The Vikings, terrified at the sight of the dragon they identify as Jörmungandr, The World Serpent, are driven mad and start killing each other as well as the British (THE WORLD SERPENT).
The events of Ragnarok begin to unfold, and the Einherjar march to war alongside the gods of Asgard against Loki and the giants (THE EINHERJAR (WHAT DREAMS MAY COME)).
Meanwhile, in the Temple, Baldur explains to Virginia what the paintings on the wall and runes mean, and tells her about Ragnarok, the Twilight of the Gods (TWILIGHT OF THE GODS).
As they believe the world is ending, Baldur and Virgina embrace, and suddenly a gemstone, one of the “dewdrops” from the roots of Yggdrasil, which had been placed on a pedestal inside the temple, begins to glow in a faint blue light.
Surprised, the two take the gem, and a hidden door inside the temple opens, that takes them through an underground passage where a small boat is waiting. As they climb in, runes all around the boat start to glow, and the boat magically floats out of the cave and temple. Baldur and Virginia emerge from the cave, reborn as Lif and Lifthrasir, and see the world behind them go down in ruin, as they magically ascend on a bridge of water, shining in rainbow colors, and are spirited up through the oceanic cataract again. As they pass through the chasm, they see a gigantic sea serpent (Jormungandr) circling through the waters beyond, and they believe they can spot a smaller, human-like being wielding a sparkling hammer, fighting the serpent under water as they pass (BEYOND THE RAINBOW BRIDGE).
When Virginia and Baldur finally arrive atop the water, the cataract mysteriously closes behind them, and the sea is perfectly still. A mild wind blows into their faces, and the runic boat is carried onwards, towards an unknown land that they can spot in the distance...