The year is 1795. A great Rent has torn open reality and sunk most of Europe beneath the waves. Only one place stands untouched by the calamity: Venice.

By day the city bustles, the Queen of the Adriatic taking pride of place once again as the West's capital of trade. However, by night Venice takes on a darker persona, both figuratively and literally masking itself. Gangs stalk the canals looking for blood, the clandestine secret societies making themselves known to fight for their own corner of the city.

But more sinister still, the Rent in the Sky has opened the path for otherwordly phenomena. Magic spills out from a world beyond the veil, bringing with it creatures devoted to ancient deities. Deities who look on the burgeoning Venetian empire and smile and the madness unfolding.