Earth history in the early 20th Century has been shaped by a number of forces, but none more than the Scarlet Lion, a dark, magical figure who arose in the late 1800s and established an Empire of the Undead in Eastern Europe. She was defeated at the Battle of Paris in 1890 and thrown into the timestream. Her minions carried on her Empire, though, awaiting her return. Two global wars have been fought in her name, the First and Second Leonine Wars. At the end of the Second Leonine War, the Leonine Republic was drastically reduced in size, creating a geopolitical balance between the remaining superpowers: the Franco-British Empire (Monkeydom), the People's Democractic Republic of Nippon, and United America.

After the war, it was revealed that the Leonine Repubic established a Moonbase to research ancient artifacts on the moon, and to recover the Spawn of the Scarlet Lion and Cthulhu. Teams were sent to recover the egg containing the godling. Lunar explorers were surprised to find that the presence of the godling had provoked the Spirit of the Volderic god Katallakh to awaken. After a clash of forces on the moon, little was left of Moonbase Babylon, but the remaining crew and a horde of Space Monkeys vowed to rebuilt it. Meanwhile, Winnie the Punk stole the godling egg and brought it to Zebulon, where it hatched and possessed Elvis, the King of Zebulon. To complicate matters, a coup had taken place on Zebulon in which King Elvis was overthrown. The coup was supported by Regent Severus of the Lysithian Republic. To exorcise the godling and reclaim Elvis' throne, a team from Zebulon located Phrixus, a Lysithian sage who had dwelt on Zebulon for millenia. Phrixus was able to restore the King, but muttered that he needed to be off to "find the Dragon Fleet" and then disappeared. Severus and his troops were defeated by Elvis' loyal subjects, and the King was restored to the throne. It is now a few years later...1953.

Rumi Fujizawa: On behalf of the Myomita Corporation, Welcome Team. My name is Rumi Fujizawa, and I am the Director of Off-World Operations for Myomita Corporation, the only Corporation on Earth to be a member of the Sol Alliance. As you may have gathered, the Corporation is financing all aspects of this mission, with minor contributions from United America, the Franco-British Empire and the Leonine Republic. I should remind you that your boarding passes were impregnated with a DNA-level contract stipulating that any alien technology, artifacts, and other intellectual property discovered on this mission, are property of the Myomita Corporation. Anyone who disagrees, may leave the ship at their convenience. All crew members will be compensated 100,000 emyen at the successful completion of the mission.

Before beginning the technical briefing, I would ask each person to introduce themself...

The technical phases of our mission are:

1. Navigate to and deactivate the cloaked anti-technology satellites in Earth Orbit
2. Return to Earth and obtain one kilogram of ultraplanar-purity Sigurdschist
3. Activate the MacGuffatron Plot Reintegrator and retrieve the Scarlet Lion from the Timestream
4. Compel the Scarlet Lion to locate her Brother, Phrixus.
5. Learn what Phrixus knows of an interstellar threat and a countermeasure which he has developed.

Our first issue ... finding the satellite. Myomita purchased a sensor unit which should reveal the cloaked satellite. It was installed on the ship before it left Mars. Unfortunately, the user manual did not make the trip. We will need to figure out how it works.

Prime Minister Hamms: The Royal Government of Zebulon has received communiquėes via diplomatic channels requesting our assistance in this archaeological research project. I feel it appropriate to express our enthusiasm for projects which help reveal the ancient history of the Solar System, and its inhabitants. However, I must caution you that some of these artifacts relate to a dark period in Zebulon's history in which the planet was under the sway of the Scarlet Lion and her minions. At the conclusion of your studies, we would appreciate any results which you are able to share with our Archeological Institute.

I am informed that General Punk himself will command the mission from the Flagship. The artifacts, namely some ancient documents in an incomprehensible script, have been loaded on board. We trust that General Punk will return these precious artifacts and the flagship in the same condition that he received them. Were it not for my important duties as Prime Minister, I would gladly accompany this distinguished group of experts from Zebulon and beyond. Perhaps you could all introduce yourselves...

Per Dr. Boldliar's specifications, we have modified the sensor suite with phased tachyon emitters and entered his program into the flight navigation computer.

On behalf of King Elvis of Zebulon, I wish you all good luck!

Please be seated. I believe there is some coffee in the back of the room. Can everyone hear me (test, test)? Don't take notes, I have some handouts. {this one}

I should introduce myself -- or perhaps, you already know me. My name is Christopher Robin Milne, son of the Ancient Archmage Mirlyne. Before we get side-tracked on minutiae, I should mention that, yes, I have in the past served the Great Old One Cthulhu {Christopher Robin holds up out- of-focus picture of his former master, WIL save DC 20 or lose 1d3 SAN}, but we've had a bit of a falling out of late. I've been eaten just one too many times for failing my Lord and Master, and I grow weary of it.

As you know, something bad is coming. Now, when I say something bad, I would have you bear in mind that I have looked into the very heart of evil itself for minutes on end, so I have some perspective on the matter. Specifically, a race named the {dramatic pause}... Dihomar {PCs make will save DC 25, or lose 1d3 SAN}. I assume none of you have heard of the Dihomar {make will save DC 25, or lose 1d3 SAN}... Well, they aren't from around here. In fact, where they live wouldn't make much sense to you. Suffice it to say, that they've found a way from where they live to where we live.

It's not the first time. They came long ago. They were opposed by similarly powerful Gods, known to you as the Volderen. They defeated the Volderen. Only one escaped to our space.... his name? Katallakh. He was greatly weakened when he came here. Katallakh closed the door behind him, so to speak, but the few Dihomar {make will save DC 25, or lose 1d3 SAN} who entered our space wrought havoc.

Katallakh devised a defense against the Dihomar {waits for SAN save, when it doesn't come, shrugs}...ah, how delightfully adaptive is the mind! Now where was I? Ah yes, defense against the Dihomar by investing some of his power in the Race of Zebulon. And then Katallakh was killed by Cthulhu. They fought over the planet Earth and Cthulhu was victorious. The worshippers of Katallakh were driven to the heavens.

And so, that brings us up to date rather nicely, I think. Where do you fit in? Well, with the Dihomar...with them banging down the door that has kept them at bay for eons, we need to find Katallakh's defense. It's been a long time... no one really knows what it is...but if anyone knew, it would be the Lysithians. Specifically, Phrixus. To find him, we must find his sister, the Scarlet Lion. I hope I'm not going to fast for you. To find her, we must use a device known as the MacGuffatron Plot Reintegrator. To power it, we must obtain some supernaturally pure sigurdschist metal. That's where I come in. I happen to recall seeing some on one of the outer planes... and I have a plan to get you there. I have canvassed ancient texts full of Secrets Man Was Not Meant to Know, and I have discovered that several gates will be opening in New England tomorrow. I believe you can follow those gates to find the sigurdschist. You will find the metal in the form of a spoon. Further details are left to you as an exercise.

You will depart in two separate trains this evening -- that way, at least one of the parties should make it to the destination. Try to get some sleep on the train... it's going to be a long day. I will do my best to screen you from my former master's scrying. Good Luck.