Recon Report - CB-66

Agent CB-66, code name Linus, was sent on a reconnaissance mission to Earth 13. These are the reports he sent back. It appears he tried to send many more reports but not all were received. This problem seemed to get worse as his mission continued though agent CB-66 was entirely unaware that his missives were no longer being received. He never returned from his mission, and at this point we are unsure if his transmitter stopped functioning altogether or if he was finally eliminated during his travels. The various reports and excerpts we received have been arranged according to the regions he visited. 
=== Albion: Day 1 - Day 6 ===
"Day 3: This world is strange. I find myself unable to describe the oddities that plague my visit and consume my concentration. I will begin by saying I am not sure if this world is of the future or the past. After a short travel from my entrance, I have arrived at Londinium. The culture and technology of this place seem out of sync with themselves. They seem to have reached a level of social egalitarianism consistent with late 20th or earth 21st century Earth 1, yet their political divisions remind me more of the age of Victoria. Furthermore they seem singularly obsessed with superstition regarding monsters and mayhem. I am not sure if these streets are lit by gas lamps because they do not have the technology for light bulbs, or because of an energy crisis. I will investigate further before reporting again.Day 5: Woden wants a report on the geopolitics of this strange land. Unfortunately the geopolitics of these lands are not much clearer than anything else. The people of Londinium speak proudly of their empire, but I am not sure if this is some form of the British Empire that managed to survive, or a new empire constructed in the wake of events that shaped this world. The people of Albion refer to their ally the Great Republic which they also call Columbia, though I am not sure if it is an independent nation or a semi-autonomous colony. Frankly I am not even sure they know. Trade seems to have broken down, and travel is increasingly rare for these people. Their leaders warn of the machinations of the Red Empire. They tell stories of radical cultists who rule over an empire including dark Siberian wastelands and vampiric Romanian republic. I am not sure what to believe.Day 8: I seem to have underestimated Albion's engineering capabilities. Today I saw airships which use zero-pressure balloons instead of Hyrdrogen or Helium, and I am beginning to suspect that their trains run on nuclear boilers, not coal. These people confuse me more and more. How can they be so advanced, and yet be ruled by superstition. Even men of science go quiet when their colleagues talk about the dangers of ghouls and psychopathic ghosts. I am becoming frustrated. Maybe I'll find more reasonable companions elsewhere.Day 10: "I'm leaving Londinium tomorrow. I will work my passage on a merchant ship. I've been warned that the route we're taking is perilous and crashes are not uncommon. The transmission cuts out here. 
=== Day 13: Location Unknown ===
"Oh God! I was wrong! It's true its all true!"
=== Day 35-39: Gallia ===
Day 35: "I have a correction to make regarding yesterdays transmission. It seems that most polite Luetia society treats the idea that the Emperor's family are werewolves as a deranged conspiracy theory. In contrast they allege that the Royal Family of Albion are a host of warlocks, maybe even with Fae blood."Editors note: We did no receive the transmission that agent 66CB mentions on day 35.Day 37: "I saw it! I know I did! It was behind me. In the dark ! I don't know how the creature found its way across the sea but I'm certain!"Day 39: "The smuggler may be trustworthy after all. If this plan works I'll be in the Great Bazaar of Constantinople in less than 12 days. The sooner I'm out of Luetia the better. I dreamed of... the creature... again last night. For a moment I thought I saw its horrific smile when I awoke."
=== Day 42-45: Location unknown, Hamburg? ===
Day 42: "Smuggler may have exaggerated his own competence. Shit."Day 45: "I can't sleep. The nightmares... the creature in the blackness, it's too much. Luckily Hamburg has wine. Its the only thing that seems to help me find a dreamless sleep."
=== Day 56-67: Location Unknown, most likely Earth 13's equivalent to Serbia ===
Day 56: "Our refugee band managed to get past the besiegers with only 3 deaths. Now that we're out of Budapest progress should be quicker. I didn't even have the nightmare last night. It feels so good to see the sun."Day 57: "Bad news. We met a black robed friar on the road. He was missing one eye and the other was bloodshoot, but the iris was the color of jade. I never heard him speak but according to Sandor and the other guides he warned them that a new Blood Priest has risen in Arbanon and plans to overthrow the Pasha. Troops have been called in to support the Pasha from Constantinople and Anatolia. Everyone seems to agree that if the Sultan tries to stop the Revolution, the Red Empire won't hesitate to intervene itself. A war could be brewing, and in the very country we need to cross."Day 60: "I dreamed of... the creature... last night. I woke up shaking. The first refugees from Arbanon have crossed the border. They tell us that for the last 3 days clouds have completely blocked out the sun. The Red Empire will soon be on the march."Day 61: "It has begun."Day 64: "The horror stories I hear as refugees flee Arbanon have woven themselves into my now familiar nightmares. I see hundreds of innocents slain by the Red Empire's legions. I see thousands of families fleeing in blind terror. But it is not only the legions that chase them in my mind. It... is still there. Smiling. Wine is not enough anymore."Day 67: "Sandor's plan may work, but it scares me. He says that now that the Sângerat legions have crossed into Arbanon, the Red Empire's border will be less well guarded. We will cross into the Red Empire itself, cross Wallachia as stealthily as we can, and smuggle ourselves across the black sea. God be with us."
=== Day 81: The Black Sea ===
"The smugglers say they are employed by Mr. Magnus, a name I've heard before several times before in passing. The smugglers do not fear the Navy of the Red Empire; after all the vampire officers who make the Red Legion's so deadly lose most of their power in the open water. No, instead the fear the private littoral navy of the Boz Koyunlu company who jealously defend their exclusive rights to trade with the Red Empire.Looking down in the water today I could swear I saw a great shape moving through the inky blackness. As I stared down into the water below I felt my body go rigid as I sought it out again with my eyes. I felt as if I was in a deep trance, which was only broken when a crew mate roughly shoved me and turned my head away from the water. They tell me that men have often gone mad before when staring into these depths."
Category:Reconnaissance Reports