The setting is a steampunk Victorian era England. The backstory of the game has some similarities to William Gibson and Bruce Sterling's novel, The Difference Engine, also set in an alternate history Victorian age.
A time traveller on a reconnaissance mission from the distant future became stranded in England of the late 1800s, and his technology came into the hands of the Royal Society led by Baron Fortesque (based upon Charles Babbage), a grand inventor. Fortesque then retro engineered many of the futuristic contraptions, creating an entirely different, alternate timeline.
