A RIVER RUNS PUTRID: A SUMMER OF FILTH, 1858

The city of London breathed in the heat of summer, 1858. But it was not merely the sun that scorched the metropolis. An even more unpleasant force infested its very heart: the River Thames. Years of industrial discharges had transformed London's lifeblood into a foul-smelling mire. The stench was oppressive, a miasma that clung to every cobblestone

The year 845 AD. A chill wind blasted across the Seine River, carrying with it the scent of salt and fear. The Norsemen had arrived, a stormy swarm of warriors seeking plunder. Their longships, like prowling predators, sliced through the waters, their banners billowing in the wind. A city once confident now trembled beneath the menace of Ragnarök.