It’s 1905. On the shores of Lake Geneva stands the exclusive Clockwork Café. Run by the enigmatic Richard Blanc, it doubles as the secret meeting place of the Society of Lady and Gentleman Adventurers of Geneva. Here the spies, adventurers, master-criminals and detectives of the Great European Powers meet on neutral territory to exchange tales of daring-do. 1905 is a time of upheaval in Europe. There are revolutions and rumours of revolution; fears that conflict between the Great Powers will plunge the world into global war. There are also whisperings of plots and counter-plots and of strange events from all across the continent.

The world is slightly different from our own, one where fantastic events can happen and where world-changing events are taking place. The clockwork engine is a reality and is rapidly supplanting steam-power as a main energy source in the way that the internal combustion engine did in our own history. Prototypes of clockwork-powered airships and clockwork automatons have already been seen. Across the ocean in America there are reports of vast factories ready to produce a new generation of clockwork machines.

In the early days of the 20th Century, the world is set to change forever.