In The Shadows of a Willow

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

This Page has a Playlist. We recommend clicking play before reading the article.

The campaign involves space, warfare, work-life balance, yuri, revolution, workplace drama, 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	HA Sunzi 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 Aquilegia 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
Chris, he/him	HAWKEYE	he/him	SSC Death's Head 3

NPCs

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

I believe they made a typo.
- Sonata

SILVER LINING CREW

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 (Legionnaire)	SCRAPPER Midnight "Free Me From Hell"	SILVER LINING Ship Manager
Sonata	SPIRAL	ASURA-Class NHP (Legionnaire)	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
Apprentice	SORCERER	GMS COMP/CON-Class Assistant Unit	HA Sunzi "Comment te dire adieu"	Moderator for SORCERER
Harmony	STALKER	SISYPHUS-Class NHP	HORUS Asphodel/Pegasus "Silence of Darkness"	Co-Pilot for STALKER
Charon	HADES	ACHILLES-Class NHP	ARC Polemos "Cerberus"	Advisor/Assistant for HADES
Takashi Shimura	REBOUND	Human	SSC Swordgrass "Sin Eater"	Pilot

OTHER KNOWN NPCS

DO NOT EDIT THE ROSTER.

Name	Callsign	Species	Mech	Status	Organization/Affiliation
Martín Hidalgo	LA MANCHA	Volador	HORUS Revenant (Name unknown)	Killed in Action	None (KTB House of Tears, formerly)
Hollow	PURE	PALE-Class NHP (Legionnaire)	HORUS Koschei "A Farewell to Kings"	Active	None (allied with SILVER LINING)
Ghost	VOID HEART	PALE-Class NHP (Legionnaire)	HORUS Rakshasa "Shade Lord"	Active	None (allied with SILVER LINING)
Sparkxie	SORCERER	BEELZEBUB-Class NHP	DHS Jersey "Bomber Girl"	Destroyed	Former NHP and assistant of SORCERER
Lawrence Garcia	CROSSBONES	Human	IPS-N Empakaai "Wonderboy"	Active	Horizon Collective (allied with SILVER LINING)

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.

SESSION 4: BREATHE SO LOUD

PLAYERS: STALKER, BLOODHOUND, SORCERER, HARPY, HORNET, SUSPIRIA

"We don't talk about it
We don't have the time
We thought love was something
We weren't meant to find" - Flipturn, August

A thinspace portal opened, so the party went in to investigate it. On the other side, they found a former SSC-affiliated pilot named REBOUND, who needed help getting a local town on their feet again after it was ransacked by bandits. Upon entering the town, it seemed as though none of the people there recognized the party's mechs as mechs, but as suits of samurai armor. Whenever the individual pilots ejected from their mechs, the mechs turned into lifeless suits of the same armor. After a week of gardening, training villagers, and other various helpful tasks to get the town prepared, the bandits came again and the party killed all of them. The portal reopened, and REBOUND was recruited to the SILVER LINING.

SESSION 5: GHOST LIGHT

PLAYERS: BLOODHOUND, STALKER, SORCERER, HADES, HORNET, HARPY, HAWKEYE

"Peel off your body
And leave it behind
So others can take it
And steep in your mind" - The Altogether, Clean-Slated Slate

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