The world in which Albion takes place is a world not far removed from our own. The President is George Bush, Jr. There is a heated war of words and ideals in the world over a war in Iraq. Gay rights trump terrorism on many people’s agendas.

However, this world is slightly different. In this world, there really are things in the dark which do not show their faces in the light. There is a boogeyman, and he will eat your toes if you disobey your mom or dad. There is darkness…and there is light.

In 1849, a group of witches petitioned the government for a land grant, asking for a plot of land to call their own, a place where they - a persecuted religious minority - could exist in peace, well away from “normal society.” President Madison, in a magnanimous decision, granted the request, and Wolf Lake was founded in Arizona. The true nature of the town was never revealed to anyone outside of the President, and each succeeding President was made aware of this community of exiles, but to this day, there is no official record of why Wolf Lake was founded, nor is there a reference to witchcraft in any reference material associated with it.

The settlers called the place home, and practiced their powers openly, without fear of being murdered for what they could do as easily as others breathed. They mined, tended crops, raised cattle and ran their lives with their magic. When non-witches came through, the townsfolk of Wolf Lake hid their powers, pretending to be a simple community of settlers, and acting the part of farmer and miner, shopkeeper and ‘companion’. Only the Brethren of Albion knew their secret, and they kept that secret as their own. The two towns became sisters, bound in the mingled blood of their children, and both prospered. Eventually, they opened their town to non-witches, and the community swelled, the witches learning to use mundane methods to perform their tasks and the non-witches never learning the truth about their neighbors.

In the early 50’s, with the Red Scare going full force, President Truman realized that if the Soviets discovered that America had an entire city of witches living in it’s heart, they would release that knowledge to the world, and the entire Christian world would turn against America. He quietly set in motion a plan to destroy Wolf Lake and cover up its existence.

By this time, much of the town had intermarried with normal folk, and the powers of the past had faded. The witches, and those descendents with power, began having frighteningly vivid dreams about a wall of water, crushing them and drowning them, but none gave it credence. Some heard rumors of what was coming, carried on the wind by spirits or elementals, but few paid heed. When the day of the Wolf Lake Incident came, those who remained were not prepared. One May morning, the townsfolk awoke to the sound of rushing water…and tragedy struck. The town was flooded, and hundreds lost their lives to the relentless tide. The Wolf Lake Reservoir was created, sealed in the blood and death of hundreds of witches and their descendents, and has been plagued with mishaps and deaths ever since.

The survivors of the Incident were resettled, with assurances that the chain of events leading to the deaths of so many would be investigated and restitution would be made.

They are still waiting.