Water is Thicker than Blood (5 page)

“
You mean helping save people’s lives by giving them clean
water?”

“
I mean the long-term repricussions of your actions. The
potential dangers of starting up the generator before the full
wards and protections were in place. We could have experienced an
arcane backlash that blew up the Circle! It could have imploded
under its out output. Did you think of the danger of people now
knowing that we
can
create these kind of generators? I have a meeting with
Samedi today about this. What should I tell him if he wants
generators for every district?”

“
The Baron ain’t above a few people dying for the betterment
of Nola. Tell him the truth.”

“
Tell him the truth? You are completely mad.”

“
Why
not
tell him the truth? He’s a man himself of occult-leanings.
He’d surely understand the neccessity of a single sacrifice for the
good of hundreds of people. Or maybe I’ll tell him myself if you
disinclined to do it.”

Hex took two quick steps toward Joseph and leaned into him
until there was only a hair’s breath between them. “I can’t do
anything to you formally right now, because doing so would threaten
the Circle with infighting that we can ill afford right now. You
managed to convince the right people on the council that this was a
good idea. Good show. I underestimated how conniving you really
were. But know this. If you so much as
sneeze
in Samedi’s direction without my
permission, Lady Rae may be alerted to the presence of a bokor in
Bywater. And then you can show off to the Voodoo Queen just how
much power you
think
you have.”

Joseph
swallowed reflexively and stepped away from Hex. “Ain’t
nothing bad can happen from this.”

“
I’m sure Madame Curie thought the same thing when she
carried those glowing tubes in her pocket.”

“
Who?”

“
Marie Curie.” Joseph shrugged. “The mother of
radioactivity? We
have
a library at the Circle. Have you never bothered to use
it?”

Joseph rolled his eyes.

“
This is the point, Joshua! You have no sense of history. It
never occured to Madame Curie that her research would one day lead
to nuclear weapons that would destroy the world. The history of
humanity is littered with people who, blinded by ambition, did not
fully appreciate the scope of dangers they unleashed upon the
world.”

“
It would seem to me that not everyone at the Circle is as
paranoid as you about this.”

“
That is because, like you, they are so enamoured with the
power they have gained through their minimal efforts that they fail
to understand the powers that have been lost. Our Circle sits on
the site of a once magnificant temple of occult knowledge. It was
recognized throughout the world. Magicians worked wonders there
that we cannot begin to fathom and may never understand. Because
after the bombs fell, people needed someone to blame. And their
natural fears turned on those they least understood. The original
temple was burned to the ground, as was everyone in it.”

“
So how did it come to be that a bunch of
plain folk with
sticks and torches kill them?”

Hex shook his head. “You have no understanding of history.
You have no understanding of the Inquisition. The old witchcraft
trials in Salem. You are ignorant, and you wear your ignorance with
a smugness I have seen on the faces of dozens of fools like you.
Fools who think they are so much smarter than everyone else. Fools
who think the rules don’t apply to them. You took a dangerous short
cut to power and temporal fame that cost someone his life and cost
you your soul.”

“
If it makes you feel better,
Darwin
, I didn’t
technically
offer a human for sacrifice. I just performed the
deed for someone else. I may be a murderer, but my soul don’t just
yet belong to no demon.”

“
Wait? What did you do?”

“
Archmage!” said Lula as she and Rue entered the house.
“Ain’t this a blessed surprise.”

“
Madame,” Hex offered a short bow to Joseph’s
mother.

“
You a blessing visiting us this day. You staying for some
lunch?”

“
No, I was just leaving. My business with Joshua is
resolved...for now.”

“
Don’t feel like you need to rush off on our account. We got
plenty from the market. Even got some nice fish I’m gonna fry up
with some okra Rue grew in her garden.”

“
Do stay,” added Rue. “You look like you been running
yourself ragged. Rest a bit and let’s put some meat on your bones.
Like they don’t feed you up at that Circle.”

“
You ladies are very kind, but I have a meeting with Baron
Samedi. And you know it is not wise to keep the Baron waiting.” He
looked at Joseph and scowled. “We’ll talk more later.”

“
I’ve no doubt we will, Archmage. No doubt at
all.”

Life in the Big Easy ain’t so easy at all.

Post-Apocalyptic Blues
takes place fifty years after World War III in the city of New
Orleans, or Nola as it is called by the locals. Ruled over by the
enigmatic Baron Samedi, New Orleans struggles to rebuild while
defending itself from slavers, raiders, internal tribal squabbles,
and an angry environment that has been trying to swallow it whole
long before the first bombs fell.

Designed for use with
Modern OGL game systems,
Post-Apocalyptic
Blues
throws players into the heart of New
Orleans just as civilization begins the slow, painful process of
returning after a nuclear war. Includes original player classes
designed for survival in the post-apocalyptic wastes, a magic
system re-imagined specifically for the flavor of New Orleans'
occult history, rules for cybernetics and implants that take into
account the harsh realities of the setting, detailed overview of
the parishes of New Orleans, biographies of all of the major NPCs,
and much more.

Visit
bardsandsages.com
to learn
more about the setting and all of our projects.