Briefing One

Over the past few weeks, Big Four scientists have detected unauthorized entry onto several worlds in a regular pattern. While we can't be sure that it is Centrum, there are a few things we do know about it.

The worlds affected are Gernsback, Reich-5, Dixie, and Roma Aeterna.
The worldshifts occur every week at more or less the same time. This indicates some kind of systematic plan.
Reich-5, Dixie and Roma Aeterna are all shifting towards Centrum. Dixie in particular is in danger of changing Quantums to Quantum 6 very soon. Gernsback is shifting but not really going anywhere. This worries us that perhaps some Gernsbackian scientist might have discovered the Secret.

A Homeline agent of the United States, Mr. William Delaughter, who has been "undercover" in Dixie for many years has formed a plan to help counter this shift and to simultaneously give you leads to find out what is happening with the shifts.

[Picture of a journalist] Mr. Delaughter has an identity on Dixie as a liberal Richmond journalist at a dissenting Richmond paper, the Enquirer. The Enquirer is unabashedly pro-Union, which makes it wildly controversial in the Confederacy, though it's popularity waxes and wanes.

Delaughter's Plan

Mr. Delaughter has been working for many years to move the CSA and USA towards reunion, which would be a sea change sufficient to bring Dixie closer to Homeline and perhaps make it safe to open up trade with entirely. These recent movements have made it imperative that his plan proceed and succeed as soon as possible.

Delaughter's plan involves creating prominent Unionists, and driving a wedge between the CSA and their allies in Europe, Britain and France. One of the people he has been working on recently is a young celebrity French noblewoman, the Countess Marie De'Burge, a supermodel and long-time resident of Richmond. He has succeeded in at least making her socially aware by alternately villifying her in his column, and, when he's sure she's listening, addressing some terrible (but comprehensible) problem of the CSA as best he can. (The evil of slavery, Delaughter has found, is so vast as to be totally alien to most people's way of thinking.)

It was recently announced that Fidel Castro, who on Dixie is a famous exiled civil rights leader, would be returning to the CSA in Sonora, to give a speech at a Mexican Constitutional Party rally. Text of the news story.

By some espionage-ish string-pulling, Delaughter managed to get the Countess to schedule a trip to Sonora to visit some of the trustees of her many incredibly fat bank accounts at the same time. He wants her to hear Castro and approve.

The trip there will take place on an airship, the CAS Gideon Pillow. Delaughter will be coming along, but obviously, in person, he won't have much pull with De'Burge. That's where the PCs come in. They are to befriend or manipulate De'Burge and get her to the rally safely. But there are a few other things to think about:

This might reverse the movement of the timelines temporarily, and give Homeline more time to figure out what's going on, but it won't solve the main problem.
The first-class cabin on the Gideon Pillow is going to be full of upper-class people of all stripes, many with business interests throughout the world. If there is any big change in the world, they will know it.
It's possible that whoever is making the change would try to assassinate Castro, heightening tensions significantly and bringing Dixie closer to nuclear armageddon. That of course must be prevented at all costs.

Back to the CAS Gideon Pillow pamphlet.

Check out the characters again.