In the first Fable, players assume the role of an orphaned boy who is forced into a life of heroism when bandits attack his village, kill his parents and kidnap his sister. The period of time progresses with each game in Fable II, Albion has advanced to an era similar to that of the Age of Enlightenment, and by Fable III the nation has been unified under a monarchy and is undergoing an ' Age of Industry' similar to the real-world 18th-19th-century Industrial Revolution.
The name Albion itself is an ancient albeit still used name for Great Britain. The setting originally resembles Medieval Britain, with some European elements. The Fable series takes place in the fictional nation of Albion, a state that, at the time of the first game, is composed of numerous autonomous city-states with vast areas of countryside or wilderness in between.
