In the late 1800s, towering metal pylons loom over the Victorian city of Nightingale, crackling with magical energy. In this alt-history timeline, ancient mystical creatures from another realm known as the Fae revealed themselves to the world in the 1500s, changing the course of human history by introducing us to magic. Nightingale essentially became the new centre of the world as people flocked to the city to learn the ways of arcane sorcery and put it to use in science and industry. Magic portals were opened and human explorers, known as Realmwalkers, began stepping through them to explore unknown worlds, returning with new resources, discoveries, and a whole lot of treasure.
But in 1889 this bold new age of magic came crashing to an end. A mysterious cataclysm called the Pale invaded our world. To flee its destruction, humans across the planet attempted to use their portals to reach the relative safety of Nightingale, but the portal network had already been destroyed. Instead of arriving at Nightingale, these humans stepped out of their portals and found themselves trapped in the Fae realms with no way to return home, armed with nothing but their wits and resourcefulness in a strange and hostile world.
