Retrograd is a dystopian steampunk city, mixing futuristic and Victorian technology to create a dark world dominated by an organization called Gloria Mundi. The road to Retrograd was literally paved with good intentions. Set in the year 2052, Retrograd is located in Newropa and the product of a bizarre timeline. During the 21st century, the world suffered apocalyptic wars and pandemics that left humanity struggling to survive. Then the Cardinals emerged...
The Cardinals were powerful psychics who discovered that they had the power to travel through time. The Cardinals united under one such psychic who called himself Rex Mundi. As Gloria Mundi (and the Chronology Protection Agency), these Cardinals altered history to prevent disease and nuclear Armageddon from annihilating the planet. Then they got greedy. Even the Cardinals could not resist the temptation to continue to tweak history to serve their own ends, ultimately turning themselves into the ruthless dictatorship that rules Retrograd, with Rex Mundi as their leader.
It is into this world that Davi Atman emerges. As an employee of Gloria Mundi, Atman worked as a "cleaner" on their behalf until he was caught in an explosion while trying to dismantle a bomb. That near-fatal explosion unlocked Atman's own power to glimpse the past and travel to change history. Gloria Mundi tried to commit Atman to an asylum, but after his escape, Atman sets out to put the world to rights, even if he has to travel in time to do so.
