Red Death

In ancient Egypt almost 5,000 years ago, in the shadow of the first pyramid, an alien darkness entered the world, and it has manipulated humanity’s destiny from the shadows ever since. Known as the Red Death, it tainted magic itself, twisting the minds of those who dare to use it. Thanks to this being’s influence, in the 1890s terrifying monsters still lurk on the edges of civilization, creatures of frightening power and horror. Nameless corruptions haunt old forests, chthonic abominations arise on lonely moors, and accursed monstrosities emerge from unknown seas.

Only a select group of people know of the existence of magic or the supernatural. Even fewer know of the Red Death as a mysterious and malevolent entity that imposes its own dark will upon the world. By the final years of the 19th century, its influence is stronger than ever, and no corner of the globe is left untouched by its sinister hand. Yet at various times and places in history—the Library of Alexandria at the height of Roman power, Arthurian Britain, the dawn of the Renaissance, the Age of Enlightenment—heroes have arisen to oppose the worst of the Red Death’s schemes and avert disaster.