Plots

Saint-Domingue, Port-au-Prince

The Governor's Office

June 1799

Benoit Joseph André Rigaud is a man of ambition. Born to a wealthy French plantation owner and an enslaved woman named Rose Bossy Depa, Rigaud's father acknowledged his son's status as a mulatto at a young age, and like many of the ones who do, sent his son to an institution in order to be educated and gain a skill that would be useful for a career; in Rigaud's case he was sent to Bordeaux where he was trained to be a goldsmith.

Not satisfied with such an ordinary position in life, Rigaud quickly became active in politics after returning to Saint-Domingue from France. As a champion of the movement to free people of color, also known as mulatto, in Saint-Domingue, Rigaud saw an opportunity during the French Revolution and quickly allied himself with the revolutionaries. It was that decision that started him on the path of becoming a military officer, and by the mid-1790s Rigaud was leading an army to put down slave revolts that had become prominent in the North while also being given the authority to govern by Étienne Polverel, one of the three French civil commissioners who had arrived in the colony.

With an army made up of mulattos and whites who feared the massive population of enslaved blacks, Rigaud was quite successful, and with the Quintus family not only funding Rigaud but also the revolutionaries in France, King Louis XVI was quickly overthrown in 1795 and replaced by a Council made up of Quintus's allies.

For a time everything went well and France was on its way to quickly become the powerful nation that it was. Unfortunately that changed in 1797 when word of Toussaint Louverture tearing down the race-based caste system in the North reached Rigaud and he was forced to lead his army to the North to put Louverture and his forces or former slaves down. Months after he had set out he had received a letter from Augustus Quintus detailing an increase in hatred towards the Council from the citizens of France and that without the Quintus family's aid the Council would have been overthrown by the people. That had been the last contact that Rigaud had with Augustus and perhaps the first sign of trouble to come.

Two years later Rigaud is now a simple governor, with no military power, overseeing The West Department. While to some this position might seem to only be slightly worse than his previous one, in reality it completely pales in comparison to the point of not even being worth mentioning. His duties are purely administrative in nature with no military power to speak of or the ability to create permanent laws. While he is able to create laws, his "Highness" can veto them and there would be nothing that Rigaud could do about it.

However, it seems that God has not abandoned him yet, for standing before him is a man, a white man who is here on the behalf of the French Empire to reinstate order in Saint-Domingue.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Mr d'Hédouville, please have a seat." greets Rigaud with a smile as he shakes the man's hand. "Would you like anything to drink?" he asks as stops by the shelf near his desk to get himself a glass and a bottle of rum.

"Do you have rum?" asks d'Hédouville. "It has been quite hard to come by in France lately." explains the man.

"I would imagine so." replies Rigaud as he grabs two glasses from the shelf along with the bottle. "His Highness has stopped most shipments in and out of Saint-Domingue. The only ships allowed to leave currently are those that are exiling anyone that had a hand in the slave trade and the navy brigs; which begs the question, how did you get here without being accosted by his soldiers?" asks Rigaud as he pours them both a glass.

"'His Highness' is not the only one with magicians in his employ." replies d'Hédouville before taking a sip of his rum and releasing a sigh of content.

"You came prepared, that's good. Now, how exactly can I help you?" asks Rigaud.

Taking another sip from his glass before putting it down on the desk, d'Hédouville crosses his hands together and leans forward "Your last correspondence to France was to inform us that you were moving forward with putting down Louverture and his forces. Afterwards you were never heard of or about again until a few months ago when a ship carrying people claiming to be exiled from Saint Domingue arrived in France and the people on there claimed that a new nation had been formed here with you as one of the governors. Emperor Napoleon and the ruling body of France would like to know, what happened?"

Sighing at d'Hédouville's question, Rigaud purses his lips and puts his glass down "A former slave named Samael happened." says Rigaud before taking another sip. "A child from a magical bloodline who awakened to his heritage and with it slaughtered the entire Quintus family before empowering an army of former slaves to conquer Saint Domingue. My worth as a governor is the only reason that I still live, and even then it is only a matter of time before I hold no value to him."

"Very well, what can you tell me about Samael?" asks Rigaud's guest.

"For one, that is not his name. His actual name is Atem. Samael is merely the name given to him by Basilius and is only used by those who do not agree to his rule in private. Second, he is only eight years old and claims to be a godslayer." says Rigaud.

"Eight years old!? Are you sure?!" exclaims d'Hédouville.

"Very. I remember Augustus talking about him sometime around 1794. He raved about how much potential that slave had as a warrior and that if he weren't a slave he would be on par with Dumas. He was only four years old at that time." explains Rigaud before taking a sip of hie rum.

"I see. And what is this about him being a godslayer? I know that magic is real, and wasn't that surprising to find out, but gods? Isn't that absurd?" asks d'Hédouville.

"It surely is, but it seems like the entirety of Jacmel believes it, even those two white magicians that work for him." agrees Rigaud. "Regardless of the absurdity of it however, we can't deny that his use of magic on his army is very troublesome."

"True. That brings me to my next question however, how loyal are his magicians to him?" asks d'Hédouville.

"It depends. Alexander, a magician that claims to be from an organisation called the Clock Tower, is only loyal because of his fear. The magician that used to work for Basilius however, Bjarte, is completely loyal to him. I don't know exactly why, but I wager that it's because of some debt. The other magicians, like the egyptian children that he surrounds himself with and the blacks trained by Alexander, would never betray him." informs Rigaud.

"I see… and what of his army?" asks d'Hédouville.

Hearing the question, Rigaud releases a heavy sigh before gulping down the rest of his rum and pouring himself another glass "Without magic his army is unstoppable." answers Rigaud as he chugs down his rum.

"Surely you over exaggerate." says d'Hédouville.

Sneering at the man, Rigaud refills his glass before answering. "No, I do not over exaggerate. Bullets? Absolutely useless. Cannon fire? At best you will give them broken bones. Swords and sabers? There are better and more amusing ways to break one's weapons.

As for the navy, the less said about them the better. The navy is composed entirely of brigs that are as fast as the fastest frigates and far more sturdy than the toughest warship, and with the magically enhanced cannons they are capable of taking down any opposition while taking little to no damage."

Silence fills the room as d'Hédouville processes the information given to him by Rigaud. He had expected for the former slaves to have the advantage, but this is far beyond anything he could think of. Even with magic it all seems to be quite absurd to him. How could an army of savages and illiterates accomplish something like this. Two magicians would not be enough to give an army of tens of thousands such capabilities, and according to the magician accompanying him Egyptian magic, the magic that Samael and the children surrounding him use, is only useful when it comes to cursing a certain area, not making normal humans impervious to otherwise fatal damages.

Retaking Saint Domingue will be a harder endeavor than he expected and will require far more magical aid than he hoped.