By the close of the eighteenth century, the British Empire stood at a precarious crossroads between prosperity and ruin. Its vast dominions were ravaged by a terrifying plague, and whispers of magic had begun to take tangible form.
King George III became a prisoner of his own mind, haunted by voices of ancient forces stirring deep within Albion. Some court physicians diagnosed the onset of madness, while others murmured of a curse. Yet none could say with certainty what truly afflicted the king.
England itself teetered on the edge of a technological revolution, already stepping into the age of steam and steel. The sudden emergence of magic was therefore met with ambivalence.
The empire struggled to maintain equilibrium. Science, faith, and magic each vied to claim the nation’s future. Holy orders, clandestine societies, and fae who had crossed from beyond the borders of the world all fought for the destiny of the British Isles.
- George III Ascends the Throne
With the accession of the young monarch George III—gifted with an innate sensitivity to magic—England entered a new and troubled era. The first portals to other worlds opened in the mountains of Scotland and the marshes of Ireland. The fae, ancient dwellers of other realms, remained hidden for the time being, while the king’s dreams and visions were dismissed by courtiers as signs of madness.
In the shadows of London and Edinburgh, the first secret societies emerged, seeking to harness the powers of the Swarm—the tainted magic leaking from the rifts.
Meanwhile, the British Empire continued its long and exhausting war with France over colonial possessions.
- The Treaty of Paris
Alarming news arrived from Quebec: a strange plague was sweeping through the newly conquered lands. Witnesses spoke of demon-like creatures and entire villages vanishing overnight. Doctors described a new disease, while priests warned of divine punishment.
The Admiralty and the War Office studied reports of the infected and compared them with rumours of unusual beings and glowing portals appearing across the empire.
The first specimens of infected creatures were delivered to Portsmouth, where doctors and naturalists began their experiments. From these efforts, the first division of the Bureau for the Investigation of Anomalous Phenomena was born. What began as scientific curiosity soon spiraled into obsession.
Exhausted by its struggle against the infection, France ceded Quebec to Britain in exchange for the Caribbean islands. The growing awareness of the threat posed by the Swarm compelled both powers to seek peace. Each recognized the need for respite—a fragile pause in hostilities—to prepare for the greater trials that lay ahead.
1760–1783. The American Revolution
In the colonies, fear of monsters from Indian legends intertwined with mounting political unrest. Sects promising salvation from evil forces and their plague multiplied, feeding the atmosphere of chaos in which the movement for independence gathered strength.
In the spring of 1775, dozens of portals opened in the forests of New England. Five fae delegations made contact with both indigenous peoples and settlers. English loyalists accused the rebels of conspiring with demons, and discord between the metropolis and the colonies reached a boiling point. Thus began the War of Independence from the British Empire. At the same time, indigenous peoples forged alliances to resist the colonists.
- Francis Barrett
Francis Barrett, a London youth captivated by rumours of magical beings, encountered fae for the first time. They taught him the rudiments of magic and warned him of the Swarm. Barrett would later become one of the first modern magicians to systematize the occult knowledge of the New Age.
- Margaret Nicholson’s Assassination Attempt
Margaret Nicholson, a deranged laundress, attacked King George III at St James’s Palace. Fortunately, she only wounded him.
The king received first aid from employees of a nearby pharmacy, among them a young apprentice surgeon named Francis Barrett. Recognizing in Barrett a kindred spirit with abilities akin to his own, the king took the young surgeon’s apprentice under his protection. Some courtiers believed the monarch was showing mercy to the man who had helped save his life, while others suspected he feared further assassination attempts and no longer trusted his physicians.
Examination of Nicholson’s remains revealed traces of foreign tissue resembling samples previously recovered from Quebec. The discovery shocked the nation. Barrett was soon admitted into the Bureau for the Investigation of Anomalous Phenomena, where he founded an order reminiscent of the Knights of the Round Table. He named it the Circle of Guardians, composed of scientists and priests charged with finding a solution to the problem with the Swarm.
- The ‘Madness’ of George III
The king waged an exhausting battle against the influence of the Swarm. He began to hear whispers and see creatures invisible to others. Doctors declared him insane, yet the true remedy lay in purification rituals performed by a secret circle at court. Barrett became a central figure in these rites.
- Revolution in France
Chaos engulfed France as magic and fae openly took part in the revolutionary upheaval. Waves of refugees carried fear across the Channel, reaching London.
1790
Hundreds of monarchists, scientists, and priests fled the revolutionary terror and sought refuge in England. Among them was Countess Jeanne de la Motte, the adventuress infamous for her role in the affair of the diamond necklace. She claimed that alchemists were orchestrating the revolution, replacing men and women with homunculi.
In Britain, anti-magic sentiment grew rapidly. The so-called Holy Orders emerged—brotherhoods of priests, soldiers, and scientists dedicated to combating manifestations of the Swarm and the fae. Their methods combined science, faith, and ancient rituals, though they denied any involvement in magic.
King George III found himself in a perilous position. He understood that magic was essential to defend the empire, yet most of his ministers demanded its prohibition. His mind was torn between three forces: his own will, the insidious whisperings of the Swarm, and a third voice urging the necessity of magic and the preservation of old customs. This voice belonged to the awakened Spirit of Albion, the ancient guardian of the British Isles—a higher entity aligned with the forces of Order. The Spirit reminded the king of the age of Arthur and Merlin, who had become legends precisely because they had once defended the land against the Abyss.
- War with France
When part of the British fleet near the coast of Europe was infected by the Swarm, the destruction of the ships was mistaken for an act of French aggression. War erupted.
In his dreams, King George was visited by the Spirit of Albion, who reminded him of the ancient pact between Arthur, King of Men, and the land of the island.
That same year, troops under the command of the Duke of York were dispatched to Flanders to suppress the revolution in France. Among them was Arthur Wellesley. It was there that he first encountered the fae in battle—an experience that left him both terrified and fascinated by their magic. He was struck, too, by the effectiveness of the “old wives’ superstitions” employed by some Irish soldiers against the fae. During the campaigns in the Netherlands in 1795, Wellesley began to compile a set of rules for modern warfare, determined to share with fellow officers the hard lessons he had learned.
- The Irish Rebellion
Ireland became the stage of open warfare between humans and fae. The Society of Patriots of Ireland received support from the Sidhe, the ancient spirits of the hills. The French fae supported their comrades from the islands. The French authorities were also quick to lend a hand. The French government came up with what they believed to be an excellent plan to get rid of the dangerous neighbours, whose units were mainly made up of fae. They sent some of them to support the revolutionary situation in Ireland.
The landing of the French corps was accompanied by the awakening of ancient burial mounds—the gates of the fae. With great difficulty, and aided by the Holy Orders, the British managed to seal the portals. Yet Ireland was proclaimed the first independent kingdom where fae assumed leadership. Importantly, this did not mean that humans were stripped of rights or systematically oppressed. On the contrary, the fae rulers recognized the equal rights of humans and fae alike.
The defeat proved costly for England. Many fled Ireland alongside retreating troops, and George III’s reputation suffered a severe blow. In the aftermath, persecution of magicians and non-humans within England intensified.
Simultaneously with the uprisings in Ireland, the fae revealed themselves in British India and other southern colonies. There, the local populations proved far more willing to cooperate with “non-humans” as a means of defending themselves against the forces of Chaos—especially when the fae offered aid in resisting the distant metropolis.
1798
Admiral Nelson, commanding his squadron, sailed for the shores of Egypt to confront the French fleet. Along the way, he encountered sea fae-mermaids and a colossal leviathan rising from the depths.
A battle nearly erupted, but the admiral, realizing the peril of losing his entire fleet, chose negotiation. He proposed postponing the conflict until he had fulfilled his king’s orders. Struck by his courage and unwavering sense of duty, the fae agreed, leaving one of their emissaries aboard Nelson’s flagship.
Nelson succeeded in establishing diplomatic correspondence between the British Crown and the sea fae. Yet this achievement brought him both allies and enemies. Many aristocrats remained convinced that the fae’s true aim was the destruction of all human empires—and the British Empire most of all.
- War in India
Rebellion swept across much of India. Arthur Wellesley played a decisive role in the capture of the city of Seringapatam from fae and their human allies. Though wounded during the campaign, he emerged victorious. Seringapatam became one of the few strongholds left in British hands. For the surviving soldiers, animosity toward fae hardened into fanatical hatred.
Arthur Wellesley, together with several officers distinguished in battle, returned to London to help devise new tactics for the war against fae and the Abyssal Legions.
- James Hadfield’s Assassination Attempt
During a performance at the Drury Lane Theatre, a retired soldier infected by the Swarm fired upon King George III. The king survived.
Hadfield was captured alive, and under interrogation revealed the designs of the Brotherhood of Darkness: the assassination had been intended to shatter the Arthurian Shield, a magical pact safeguarding Britain from infection.
The revelation of the existence of the Shield—and the king’s role in sustaining it—galvanized the sacred Orders and ignited fierce debate throughout the empire.
- Barrett’s Book
Francis Barrett published his seminal work The Magus, or Heavenly Philosophy, under the patronage of King George III. In it, Barrett argued that magic was not inherently evil but merely a tool, its moral weight determined by its use. He outlined the concept of multiple worlds created by the Almighty Lord of All Worlds, distinguishing between the forces of Order and Chaos.
The king, realizing that his own mind had become a battlefield between the Spirit of Albion and the Swarm, established the Regency Council to safeguard the empire from forces that might seize control of it. The council was composed of the crown prince, five ministers, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the masters of the Holy Orders, and the chancellors of Cambridge and Oxford.
High society soon divided into factions: supporters of Barrett and Admiral Nelson, who believed in studying magic and forging alliances with fae, and opponents led by war hero Arthur Wellesley, who rejected any such alliance.
- The Treaty of Amiens
After years of bloodshed, England and France agreed to peace. Both nations were exhausted not only by war but also by their struggle against the Swarm. The Holy Orders gradually abandoned their rigid rejection of magic. A new era dawned in Europe—an age of pragmatic faith, where science, politics, and magic became inseparably intertwined.
In 1809, Arthur Wellesley was elevated to the title of Viscount Wellington. He set about building a new type of British army, yet he remained steadfast in his refusal to allow fae into its ranks.
