Stories: Love Poultice No. 95

He looked over at her tenderly -- and his stomach did a half-flip. The smile had fallen from her face.

Summary

After a mage finds his focus -- and thus his powers -- scattered by a brutal bout of sickness, he learns that his ability to cast spells isn't the only thing that has disappeared.

Story Data

Major Characters

• Tal, a mage
• Alice, his girlfriend

Dates of Story Events

• Early April, 1997
  • Era: From Causes To Crusades

Locations

• Unspecified, possibly the U.S. northeast

Significant Cameos and References

• Tal's attempt to cast a spell through a runic focus indicates he's from the same tradition as Mars.

Trivia

• The title of the story is a riff on the song "Love Potion Number 9."
• Based on reports of this and other similar incidents, U.S. intelligence agencies ultimately would compile thousands of pages of research on a germ warfare program to neutralize mages in the event of a civil war or outside attack. This went so far as a serious discussion of loading up on vaccines and then deliberately unleashing smallpox on the American public; thankfully, the idea was shot down before leaving the "what-if" stage. Reports of this research would reach the public in 2001, and cause a significant stir even though the plans were years dead. Portions of the papers were leaked that year and provided plenty of fodder for conspiracy theorists, but the entire thing wouldn't be declassified until the 2030s.

Read it at

http://www.tomorrowlands.org/nov2003.html#11042003∞

Feedback

Add questions or feedback about this story in the comments section.

---

CategoryStories StoriesByBaxilDragon BaMoTTuSto