Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura - Preston Radcliffe

Preston Radcliffe is the dying gnome aboard the I.F.S. Zephyr whose last act sets Arcanum’s grand conspiracy in motion. Mortally wounded after the crash, he entrusts a silver signet ring—engraved with the initials G.B. and marked by P. Schuyler & Sons—and leaves behind a passport and a Roseborough Inn matchbook that point toward the trail to Tarant.

The ring’s owner and meaning draw vultures and liars. In Shrouded Hills, a gnome claiming to be Radcliffe’s brother tries to wrest it away, proof that the trinket is more than keepsake: it is leverage, a key to power and secrets. Those who know the city’s undercurrents warn not to surrender it lightly; finding its true owner becomes a quest in its own right.

In Arcanum’s lore, Preston Radcliffe is less a man than a spark—the first warning that “one of great power” is returning to unmake the world, and the hand that passes on the clue needed to uncover the truth. His name fades with the crash, but the ring he gives turns the gears of fate.