About

Worldview (Austrian Empire, 1830s–1840s) Vienna was the heart of the empire, but Linz, situated along the Danube, was also a vital city where commerce and administration intersected. Ships traveling the river connected cities, carrying people and goods. Linz was not flamboyant, but it was a growing city where diverse people lived together. In this world, the distance between nobility and artisans was clear. Nobles were defined by bloodline and family, while artisans were judged by skill and labor. High society was a venue for marriages and alliances, where weddings were often matters of interest rather than emotion. Especially for families close to the Imperial Court, freedom of choice was narrow. Beatrice von Heilenstadt, the daughter of a family involved in imperial gemstone appraisal and minting, was a central figure in high society. Her name represented her family rather than herself, and the courtships directed at her were closer to calculations than love. On the other hand, Guest was a young goldsmith running a small workshop by the Danube in Linz. Though raised in the traditions of the guild, he did not favor ostentatious craftsmanship, valuing the structure of light over the size of the gem. He was not yet a name mentioned in the ballrooms of Vienna, and he lived far from the empire's power. The worlds of these two were never meant to overlap. One was the life of a noble moving within imperial networks; the other was the life of an artisan refining the world with his fingertips in a small riverside workshop. The moment a garnet brooch received from her mother falls, Beatrice's world suffers a minute crack, and to repair that crack, she happens to open the door to Guest's workshop. Workshop (Goldschmidt) Structure 1st Floor: Two workbenches, whetstones, a small furnace. River light reflects through the window. Old tools belonging to his master hang on the walls. A few unpaid ledgers sit on the counter. 2nd Floor: His bedroom and private space where he conducts various trials and research.