In The Shadows of a Willow: Difference between revisions

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In The Shadows of a Willow is an Open-Table LANCER Campaign that began on January 30th, 2026.

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The campaign involves space, warfare, eldritch math gods and a deeply unserious work group chat.

Brother, it appears we have some work ahead of us to keep our pilots posted.
- Sonata

Yay! I love a good info-dump! - Symphony

About

In the year 5026U, there was a catastrophic incident regarding one of the moons of the planet Puriq. The ruler of that planet, a former pilot by the name of Simon Dominguez, has begun assembling a crew to find out what exactly caused that incident and, more importantly, how to prevent it from happening again.

The moon blew up! Kaboom! Good fireworks show! - Symphony

Be more considerate.
- Sonata

Player Characters

I hope they find me likeable.
- Sonata

They probably won't, dear sister. - Symphony

DO NOT EDIT THE ROSTER.
Player Name	Character Callsign	Character Pronouns	Licences
Amia, any except he/him	SORCERER	she/her	DHS Jersey 3
Emma, she/her	HORNET	she/her	HESH Moss Mantis 2/SSC Swordgrass 1
Geoffrey, he/him	STALKER	he/they	HORUS Pegasus 3
Viridiana, she/her	SUSPIRIA	she/her	IPS-N Earhart 3
Thomas, they/them	WINTER	any/all	SO-S Manhattan 3
Sean, he/him	HARPY	he/him	HORUS Hydra 3
Nikki, she/her	RETRIEVER	she/her	IPS-N Lancaster 3
Katana, he/him	HADES	he/him	ARC Polemos 3
Rit, any/it	BLOODHOUND	NA	IF Lily 3

NPCs

Sister, they call us NPCs! How rude! - Symphony

I believe they made a typo.
- Sonata

DO NOT EDIT THE ROSTER.
Name	Callsign	Species	Mech	Title/Occupation
Simon Dominguez	SPIRAL	Human	SCRAPPER Midnight "Free Me From Hell"	Captain
Edward Garcia	BONES	Human	IPS-N Blackbeard "Beelzeboss"	NHP Specialist
Dominic Suarez	JUNKIE	Human	LSI Winchester "Mercury's Passage"	Combat/Expedition Operations Leader
Valentina Suarez	CORONA	Human	ASV Tyto "Give Me One Example"	Stealth/Recon Operations Leader
Britney Bascom	N/A	Elf	None	Medic
Harper C. Blackwood	SCATTERBRAIN	Human	LSI Kalashnikov "Trip Like Me"	Mechanic/Engineer/Printer Specialist
Symphony	SPIRAL	SISYPHUS-Class NHP	SCRAPPER Midnight "Free Me From Hell"	SILVER LINING Ship Manager
Sonata	SPIRAL	ASURA-Class NHP	SCRAPPER Midnight "Free Me From Hell"	Vice Captain
SEKHMET	BONES	SEKHMET-Class NHP (Eidolon)	None	Lab Assistant
TOTEC	CORONA	TOTEC-Class NHP	ASV Tyto "Give Me One Example"	Unknown
N/A	GALILEO	N/A	HORUS Dullahan "Pale Blue Dot"	N/A
Sparkxie	SORCERER	BEELZEBUB-Class NHP	DHS Jersey "BOMBER GIRL"	Moral Support Specialist for SORCERER
Harmony	STALKER	SISYPHUS-Class NHP	HORUS Asphodel/Pegasus "Silence of Darkness"	Co-Pilot for STALKER
???	LA MANCHA	???	???	???

The Story So Far

There was interference on a nearby moon to the planet Puriq. A group was sent there under the payroll of Simon Dominguez, handled by Dominic Suarez. This moon was not a moon, but a research satellite for something called the POSEIDON VAULTS. There was also an incredibly advanced Legionnaire on this moon, one that could seemingly take nearby NHPs and use them as its consciousness, albeit briefly. This mission culminated in the complete and total destruction of this satellite, which prompted Simon Dominguez to enlist a crew to board his personal ship, the SILVER LINING.

SESSION 1: WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD, KID

PLAYERS: HORNET, SORCERER, HADES, SUSPIRIA, RETRIEVER, STALKER

"I can't remember anything 
Can't tell if this is true or dream 
Deep down inside, I feel the scream 
This terrible silence stops with me" - Metallica, One

Upon being launched into a blink gate, the party ended up on a Karrakin-Controlled planet, where they were immediately shot out of the sky via anti-air missiles. They crash-landed in an Ungrateful camp with all people there joined in prayer to something they referred to as Great Prime. Eventually, after a bit of smooth-talking and speech-giving, GALILEO appeared to the party, deeply unsatisfied with the speech given. After a bit of discussion, GALILEO agrees to join them on the journey back to the SILVER LINING, on the condition that the planet they are currently on is taken care of. Almost too perfectly on cue, a KTB force begins to pincer the Ungrateful camp. GALILEO took on one side on his own with his mech, Pale Blue Dot, while the party split off to protect the other side of the camp. After a bit of combat, the party killed the at the time leader of the planet, YYZ (Namesake: Rush, YYZ), and were forcibly ejected back outside of the blink gate one week later in real space, with GALILEO in tow.

SESSION 2: CODE TO MY HEART

PLAYERS: STALKER, BLOODHOUND, HADES, HARPY, HORNET

“Aquarion
Ford Taurus
A strike on the box
Ooh, Ford Focus!” - Vulfpeck, 1612

Apex Renegades had a touch of valuable information for the crew of the Silver Lining. Naturally, the next step is to rob them of this information as quietly as possible. When the pilots arrived, they quickly found 10 guards and 2 mechs guarding the information. This very quickly did not matter, as the party swiftly dismantled 3 poor guards and robbed their corpses of family photos while Hornet went on a casual stroll past the two mech guards to gather the information. Two key pieces of info were found: A summary of the HOWLERS, a cult who is dedicated to opening the POSEIDON VAULTS and freeing TYPHON PRIME to bring about NHP liberation, and a brief history of LA MANCHA, a Volador pilot with a knack for manipulating and opening Thinspace. This profile included his history during the Second Hercynian Crisis, where he played an active roll in its conclusion before and after his legal death. The party easily got off the planet, unseen and unheard.

SESSION 3: WE'RE UP TO NOTHING

PLAYERS: STALKER, BLOODHOUND, HADES, SUSPIRIA, HORNET

“What’s the use in always crying?
Kick about and make out
You might just learn something” - Remo Drive, Blue Ribbon

There was high Howler presence on a certain planet. Goal is simple: kill Howlers, gather information from the wrecks. And boy, oh boy, did the party do exactly that. The only thing truly of note from this mission is the information gathered regarding the POSEIDON VAULTS, more importantly how there seems to be... more than one. While it's unclear if there are multiple instances of TYPHON PRIME, there are at the very least, multiple POSEIDON VAULTS. One of them seems to be the central vault that sealed TYPHON PRIME several hundred years ago, but more have been made since, such as one of Puriq's moons that seemingly appeared and was destroyed.

House Rules

White Dragon of Friendship: Call out the “White Dragon of Friendship” if you believe a scene is creating out of character hostility between one or more players. This is to remind everyone that we are here to have fun and tell people to change the subject and cool off.

Yay for friendship!
- Symphony

X Card: If at any point a subject comes up that is triggering to you, say “X Card” and the DM will pivot the scene in a different direction.

Don't be gross.
- Sonata

Rule of Cool: The DM reserves the right to overrule the system rules if a player wants to do something especially cool or interesting that normally wouldn’t be possible.

Hype Moments! Aura! We gotta go for the win!!!!!!!! - Symphony

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 '''{{PAGENAME}} '''is an Open-Table LANCER Campaign that began on January 30th, 2026.
+<spotify>
+https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1rZHvmL5o40QnzwoWIkH2k?si=f8bd1d56a9e14707
+</spotify>
 The campaign involves space, warfare, eldritch math gods and a deeply unserious work group chat.
@@ Line 31: / Line 35: @@
 |[[SORCERER]]
 |she/her
+|DHS Jersey 3
-|HORUS Sluagh 2
 |-
 |Emma, she/her
 |[[HORNET]]
 |she/her
+|HESH Moss Mantis 2/SSC Swordgrass 1
-|SSC Monarch 2
 |-
 |Geoffrey, he/him
 |[[STALKER]]
 |he/they
-|HORUS Pegasus 2
+|HORUS Pegasus 3
 |-
 |Viridiana, she/her
 |[[SUSPIRIA]]
 |she/her
-|IPS-N Earhart 2
+|IPS-N Earhart 3
 |-
 |Thomas, they/them
 |[[WINTER]]
 |any/all
-|SO-S Manhattan 2
+|SO-S Manhattan 3
 |-
 |Sean, he/him
 |[[HARPY]]
 |he/him
-|HORUS Hydra 2
+|HORUS Hydra 3
 |-
 |Nikki, she/her
 |[[RETRIEVER]]
 |she/her
-|IPS-N Lancaster 2
+|IPS-N Lancaster 3
 |-
 |Katana, he/him
 |[[HADES]]
 |he/him
-|ARC Polemos 2
+|ARC Polemos 3
+|-
+|Rit, any/it
+|[[BLOODHOUND]]
+|NA
+|IF Lily 3
 |}
@@ Line 148: / Line 157: @@
 |HORUS Dullahan "Pale Blue Dot"
 |N/A
+|-
+|Sparkxie
+|[[SORCERER]]
+|BEELZEBUB-Class NHP
+|DHS Jersey "BOMBER GIRL"
+|Moral Support Specialist for SORCERER
+|-
+|Harmony
+|[[STALKER]]
+|SISYPHUS-Class NHP
+|HORUS Asphodel/Pegasus "Silence of Darkness"
+|Co-Pilot for STALKER
+|-
+|???
+|[[Thinspace|LA MANCHA]]
+|???
+|???
+|???
 |}
 == The Story So Far ==
 There was interference on a nearby moon to the planet Puriq. A group was sent there under the payroll of Simon Dominguez, handled by Dominic Suarez. This moon was not a moon, but a research satellite for something called the POSEIDON VAULTS. There was also an incredibly advanced Legionnaire on this moon, one that could seemingly take nearby NHPs and use them as its consciousness, albeit briefly. This mission culminated in the complete and total destruction of this satellite, which prompted Simon Dominguez to enlist a crew to board his personal ship, the [[SILVER LINING]].
- They haven't been on any missions. I find this section pointless until then.
- - Sonata
-<blockquote>It'll save us time later, sister. Or- you don't care about later if I'M the one filling it out, do you?
+=== SESSION 1: WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD, KID ===
-- Symphony</blockquote>
+==== PLAYERS: HORNET, SORCERER, HADES, SUSPIRIA, RETRIEVER, STALKER ====
+ ''"I can't remember anything''
+ ''Can't tell if this is true or dream''
+ ''Deep down inside, I feel the scream''
+ ''This terrible silence stops with me" - Metallica, One''
+Upon being launched into a blink gate, the party ended up on a Karrakin-Controlled planet, where they were immediately shot out of the sky via anti-air missiles. They crash-landed in an Ungrateful camp with all people there joined in prayer to something they referred to as Great Prime. Eventually, after a bit of smooth-talking and speech-giving, GALILEO appeared to the party, deeply unsatisfied with the speech given. After a bit of discussion, GALILEO agrees to join them on the journey back to the SILVER LINING, on the condition that the planet they are currently on is taken care of. Almost too perfectly on cue, a KTB force begins to pincer the Ungrateful camp. GALILEO took on one side on his own with his mech, Pale Blue Dot, while the party split off to protect the other side of the camp. After a bit of combat, the party killed the at the time leader of the planet, YYZ (Namesake: Rush, YYZ), and were forcibly ejected back outside of the blink gate one week later in real space, with GALILEO in tow.
+=== SESSION 2: CODE TO MY HEART ===
+==== PLAYERS: STALKER, BLOODHOUND, HADES, HARPY, HORNET  ====
+ ''“Aquarion''
+ ''Ford Taurus''
+ ''A strike on the box''
+ ''Ooh, Ford Focus!” - Vulfpeck, 1612''
+Apex Renegades had a touch of valuable information for the crew of the Silver Lining. Naturally, the next step is to rob them of this information as quietly as possible. When the pilots arrived, they quickly found 10 guards and 2 mechs guarding the information. This very quickly did not matter, as the party swiftly dismantled 3 poor guards and robbed their corpses of family photos while Hornet went on a casual stroll past the two mech guards to gather the information. Two key pieces of info were found: A summary of the HOWLERS, a cult who is dedicated to opening the POSEIDON VAULTS and freeing TYPHON PRIME to bring about NHP liberation, and a brief history of LA MANCHA, a Volador pilot with a knack for manipulating and opening Thinspace. This profile included his history during the Second Hercynian Crisis, where he played an active roll in its conclusion before and after his legal death. The party easily got off the planet, unseen and unheard.
+=== SESSION 3: WE'RE UP TO NOTHING ===
+==== PLAYERS: STALKER, BLOODHOUND, HADES, SUSPIRIA, HORNET ====
+ ''“What’s the use in always crying?''
+ ''Kick about and make out''
+ ''You might just learn something” - Remo Drive, Blue Ribbon''
+There was high Howler presence on a certain planet. Goal is simple: kill Howlers, gather information from the wrecks. And boy, oh boy, did the party do exactly that. The only thing truly of note from this mission is the information gathered regarding the POSEIDON VAULTS, more importantly how there seems to be... more than one. While it's unclear if there are multiple instances of TYPHON PRIME, there are at the very least, multiple POSEIDON VAULTS. One of them seems to be the central vault that sealed TYPHON PRIME several hundred years ago, but more have been made since, such as one of Puriq's moons that seemingly appeared and was destroyed.
 == House Rules ==