Wet areas got wetter and dry areas got drier. The rich got richer, and the poor got poorer. And they all met in Nineveh. A massive global drought combined with an epic contamination of the world's limited fresh water supply combined with the privatization of the remaining unpolluted aquifers has created a crisis of biblical proportions. As a result, water has been priced beyond the affordability of the masses, forcing them to collect rainwater which constitutes the new contraband. With a mind-altering drug introduced into the limited public supply, there were few resisters that dared to defy the ultimate fascist system.

The Resistance is led by Ndbele, a gifted teacher and sage. His daughter Evolon is his greatest warrior, and Bethlehem is his most trusted ally. Nineveh is ruled ruthlessly by Nimrod, the head of the Global Water Corporation. With Canaan, the leader of his Security Forces, he has a complete stranglehold on the world's water market. He has only one weakness, his nymphomaniac son Saisir.