Fortuna Series — Week 1 Outline
Episode 0: Fortuna Primigenia — The
Seed
Zodiac Sign: Moon Child (Cancer)
1. Synopsis
In ancient Praeneste, the goddess Fortuna Primigenia stirs amid a storm. A Roman general’s wife gives birth under divine auspices, but an ominous sign shadows the event. Millenia later in modern Los Angeles, a woman’s dog disappears on the same day as an ancient Fortuna festival. As she searches and dreams, the lines between past and present blur — guided by a shared lullaby and a symbolic golden coin. Both timelines explore fate, lineage, loss, and the enduring presence of Fortuna.
2. Key Characters
Ancient:
✦
The General — ambitious, seeking divine approval and legacy.
✦
The Priestess of Fortuna — mysterious oracle and truth-teller.
✦
The Child Oracle — innocent, chosen to draw the sacred lots.
Modern:
✦ The
Woman (artist/scholar) — intuitive seeker haunted by loss.
✦
The Dog — symbol of loyalty and fate, guides her spiritually.
3. Settings
Ancient:
✦
Praeneste (modern Palestrina), early Roman Republic (~3rd century
BCE)
✦ The Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia — grand terraced
temple, sacred well, rituals.
Modern:
✦
Northeast Los Angeles, circa 2004–2007
✦ Dog(-friendly)
parks, hillsides, neighborhood streets, a modest home.
4. Central Symbols
✦ The Golden Coin: An ancient Fortuna token cast as an offering in Rome and mysteriously found in modern L.A., linking timelines.
✦ The Latin Lullaby: Quod bonum faustum felix fortunatumque sit — a sacred melody sung during birth and hummed unconsciously in the present.
5. Musical and Visual Atmosphere
Music:
✦ The
Latin lullaby is the emotional core—tender, beautiful, already set
to music, woven through the episode as ritual, memory, and dream
motif.
✦ SUNO AI-generated tracks provide a fresh, ambient,
and nuanced Fortuna soundscape—avoid O Fortuna and
overused dramatic tropes.
✦ Use atmospheric drones, soft
percussion, choral pads, and minimalist melodies blending ancient and
modern sounds.
Visuals:
✦
Ancient scenes: candlelit temple terraces, marble steps, storm
clouds, ochre and gold banners.
✦ Modern scenes: urban parks,
fluttering flyers, twilight hillsides, subtle nods to Roman ruins in
landscape shapes.
✦ Dream sequences: ethereal overlays
merging dog, temple, and woman in shifting time.
6. Episode Narrative Beats
Ancient Rome:
✦
Storm heralds divine intervention.
✦ General prays for
victory and builds temple after sacred lot drawn.
✦ Birth
scene with priestesses chanting lullaby.
✦ Omen foreshadowing
Fortuna’s fickle nature.
Modern L.A.:
✦
Woman wakes from dream; dog missing.
✦ Flyers printed, search
begins amid subtle signs (coins, bus ads).
✦ Dream visions
merge with ancient past.
✦ Reflective voiceover on loss and
love.
7. Series Integration
The lullaby acts as leitmotif for protection, origin, and transformation.
The golden coin is a recurring tangible link between past and present.
Fortuna Primigenia’s theme centers on birth, fate, and first teachings.
The episode functions as a mythic prologue, grounding emotional and spiritual themes for the series.
8. Tagline Suggestion
"Before the world begins, a mother dreams. And somewhere, a dog listens."
9. Next Steps
Develop detailed cue sheet integrating SUNO tracks with lullaby for Episode 0.
Prepare musical and visual moodboards.
Begin drafting Episode 1 (Fors Fortuna — Leo) storyline, characters, and thematic connections.
Notes for second session:
Themes: Faith shaken and restored, innocence lost, reclaiming sacred ground
✦ Ancient Timeline (Praeneste, mid-2nd century BCE)
Setting:
The
sacred hillside of Praeneste, before full Roman conquest — a
magnificent sanctuary already in use, though not yet
expanded into the full terraced marvel known today.
Key Points:
✦
The temple’s oracle is active, with divination
taking place in lower shrines — Jupiter Puer and Juno also receive
devotion.
✦ A tense political atmosphere: the
people of Praeneste fear Rome’s growing reach, especially with
rumors of consolidation and suppression of regional cults.
✦ A
ritual misinterpreted or interrupted — an omen
seen in the casting of lots or fall of sacred dice (possibly a sudden
storm or broken statue).
✦ Local priestess (a
parallel to modern characters) receives a message from the
goddess: Fortuna will be taken, but not
destroyed.
✦ The episode does not follow Sulla
directly but foreshadows a cultural seizure:
Praeneste’s sacred authority will be co-opted, and Fortuna’s name
used by another power.
✦ The camera ascends to reveal the future
grandeur of the site — the complete virtual reconstruction
of the Temple of Fortuna Primigenia in all its splendor.
✦ Modern Timeline (Los Angeles, 21st century)
Setting:
Northeast
Los Angeles, shortly after Halloween. The protagonist lives near
Sycamore Grove Park — a regular city park where
children play and where the two beloved dogs were often walked.
Key Points:
✦ A
Halloween ritual gone wrong: something that was
meant to honor or protect instead feels off — incomplete,
unsettling.
✦ The golden dog (“Day”) disappears
in the first week of November. Flyers go up, hope flickers.
✦ A
few days later, the protagonist (perhaps searching online for signs)
discovers an obscure Roman holiday on November 13 —
dedicated to Fortuna Primigenia, but in Rome, not
Praeneste.
✦ This triggers a wave of association:
What if the dog was born under Fors Fortuna (June), and now vanishes
near another Fortuna date?
✦ A visit to a local
curandera evokes ancient echoes. She speaks of fate, says
Fortuna’s favor may still shine — but there will be a cost, or a
journey first.
✦ The episode ends with the protagonist dreaming
of the temple — the fully rebuilt complex gleaming on a
hillside — as if called across time.
✦ Foreshadowing & Symbolism
✦ The omen: Not
just an ancient ritual error, but a tear in the chain of
continuity — the goddess is losing her name, her voice,
her place. The temple is at risk of erasure or misuse.
✦
Parallel loss: As Fortuna is claimed by Rome, the
dog disappears in the present — both acts of
displacement.
✦ Shared symbols: sacred
dice, sycamore leaves, a mother and child statue, flickering candles
— appearing in both timelines.
✦ Emotional tone:
The feeling of something slipping away, paired with the deep
intuition that nothing sacred is ever truly lost.