Background Mythology

Since time immortal, the human race has longed to fly. Whether in our dreams or in our visions, men and women have long been envious of the birds. This desire to take to the skies fueled centuries of innovation, resulting in the Wright Brothers' invention of the modern airplane in 1903.

However, what very people realize is that humankind has always possessed the ability to fly. Most students of history and science are familiar with Isaac Newton's discovery of the equation for gravity, which was first published in the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica in 1687. What very few know though is that Newton also discovered an equation for flight.

Because he was a deeply religious man, Newton kept the flight equation to himself, out of fear that if humanity had the power of flight, it would fundamentally change how religion was viewed. Newton believed in angels and a life hereafter, and therefore felt that having the power of flight would make humankind too much like the angels themselves and consequently destroy faith.

Before dying in 1727, Newton gave the flight equation to an unknown person, with the strictest of instructions that it only be shared with one other person. Since that time, the secret equation has been passed down over the centuries, eventually making it's way from England, through Europe, to China.

The equation for flight was introduced into the Zhuge Family in 1886, when it was passed on to Zhuge Jin, a politician. He was trusted with the secret equation, because in addition to being an honorable man, his family was also descendant from Zhuge Liang, the inventor of the flying Chinese sky lantern, or Kongming lantern.

Zhuge Jin passed the secret equation on in 1910 to his son, Zhuge Liang, where it would remain for the next 53 years. Zhuge Liang planned on passing on the secret equation to his own son, Zhuge Zhan, but became disappointed in his son's decisions and self-centered life. Finally in 1963, Zhuge Liang chose instead to pass the equation on to Zhuge Zhan's son, Quetzalcoatl.

Having been single his entire life, and with no heirs of his own, Quetzalcoatl is soon realizing, at the age of 68, that he must find someone soon with whom to share the secret equation of flight.