The year of our Lord AD 409. Following waves of barbarian attacks from the hyperborean North the last cohort of Roman infantry leave Pons Ælius on the north bank of the Tyne. Behind them the smouldering remains of the destroyed fort glow against the coming night.

In 1909, whilst replacing a gas main, workmen unearth a collection of thin, postcard sized, slivers of wood preserved in the wet soils of Newcastle's Quayside. It is only by serendipity that as these tablets are revealed Professor Wells, of the University's Department of Esoteric Studies, is passing by. Recognising the antiquity of the find the Professor arranges for the artifacts to be taken immediately to his laboratory. 

Over the following weeks Wells discovers the tablets contain a series of extraordinary writings. 

The writings, which become known as the Codex Machina, tell of a group of Roman soldiers living at the furthest reaches of the Empire. The earliest writings are simple accounts of everyday life, but as time passes the writings become increasingly concerned with the emergence of a cult - only known by the initials DEM. The secret society meets behind closed doors, but rumours abound of damnable rites taking place in a darkened room, wherein the gods hurl lightening bolts and speak through diabolic machines. Towards the end of the period the writings become increasingly incoherent, but one line of text is found repeated over and over again...


D.SATURNI.A.D.XI.KAL.APR.MMDCCLXII.A.U.C.