Adventure Two · Shadows of the Compañeros
Masks at the Table
Every speech is public. Every useful decision is being made elsewhere.
The summit is underway. Every speech is public, every useful decision is being made elsewhere, and the DeSauros mission must build leverage without losing the people it has promised to protect.
Adapted from Act II of the Shadows of the Compañeros campaign. This page is for the GM and contains spoilers. Players should use the Player Packet.
Read First
Quick Facts
- Players
- 4–6 players
- Length
- One long session or two shorter sessions
- Position in the series
- Adventure Two, immediately after Ash on the Ledger. Can start standalone.
- Rules
- System neutral. Use any rules set, the Native Rules, or the 2d6 Resolution Bridge.
- Format
- Website only. No PDF.
- Setting
- The summit in Boca Serena, Canula Prime.
Table provenance
This adventure was played in the original Mar de Oro campaign, then revised for publication and web play.
New to Mar de Oro?
Boca Serena is the principal city of Canula Prime. Heller is an autonomous duchy within Valdegracian dominion, and the characters are attached to Captain Huan DeSauros’s mission.
Position measures the delegation’s political standing and leverage from 0 to 6. This adventure is political negotiation and investigation, not a required sequence of speeches. For more background, visit Start Here.
Continue from Ash, or start standalone
If your group played Ash on the Ledger in this browser and saved its record to the campaign, the state below is imported automatically. Otherwise the labeled standalone default applies.
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What the players know
The summit is underway. Every delegation wants influence over the terms that follow San Telmo. The DeSauros mission needs to build leverage while protecting people and its own credibility. Rumors, disappearances, and disputed trade papers are creating pressure, and public procedure and private bargaining are diverging.
Share the Player Packet before play. It contains nothing below the GM markers on this page.
How this adventure plays
The summit is a campaign hub, not a sequence of speeches. Six key scenes are pressure nodes that can occur in any order, alongside the six-phase agenda. The act ends on a discovery or a contact, not a boss encounter.
At the table
- Ask the players for their strategic objective, concession, and threat instead of turning every exchange into one social roll.
- Close each negotiation phase with a private move: an invitation, bribe, disappearance, intercepted note, accusation, or request for protection.
- Each posture Heller adopts gains one ally and alienates another. Name both at the table.
- A public challenge to the Convener or Project Custodian advances Negotiations Collapse and gives the custodian a reason to move Resa.
- If the investigation stalls, the rebels make contact instead of the route closing.
Players can walk away
The characters are not required to pursue this adventure. If they abandon it, let the factions, clocks, and unattended situation continue according to the fiction, record what changes, and follow what the players choose instead. A clock advances only when its established fictional trigger occurs. See When the Players Walk Away.
The Negotiation Cycle
- Name the public subject: trade, tariffs, security, scientific access, custody, cultural protections, or the official San Telmo account.
- Ask which faction benefits if the discussion remains narrow and which benefits if it widens.
- Let the DeSauros delegation handle technical wording. Ask the players for the strategic objective, concession, and threat.
- Resolve one meaningful intervention in the chosen rules system. A clean success preserves Position; a mixed result gains the objective with debt, exposure, or a clock advance.
- End with a private move: an invitation, bribe, disappearance, intercepted note, accusation, or request for protection.
GM truth
GMAct objective, goal, and what must surface
Act objective: Build Heller’s Position, discover which delegations know about the Ear, and expose the first link between respectable trade and the disappearances around Porto Sombra.
GM goal: Build Heller's Position while turning diplomatic procedure into investigation.
Truth that must surface: The Ear is being offered indirectly, while Stroomdijk interests are using respectable trade structures and exemptions to hide another operation.
Pressure: Negotiation pressure, disappearances, altered manifests, Stroomdijk exemptions, private diplomatic approaches, and faction reactions.
The cargo clause, read as GM: The language appears to protect trade. In practice, it protects the route.
10-minute GM prep
- Check the continuity panel above: Position, the four clocks, and who holds each witness and piece of proof.
- Read the act objective and the truth that must surface.
- Pick the first agenda phase and name its public subject.
- Decide which two key scenes are most likely to be reached first, without fixing their order.
- Print the three handouts, or have the handout pages open, and keep the Summit District map ready.
- Keep the GM Quick Reference beside you and the Adventure Record open for the end of play.
The DeSauros delegation
Captain Huan DeSauros
Role: Chief negotiator and captain of Aurora Ventus.
Strength: Pragmatic authority, crew loyalty, commercial judgment.
What they need from the characters: A clear objective and warning before the party creates a public crisis.
Isabella “Izzy” Ferraro
Role: Trade and logistics adviser.
Strength: Numbers, tariffs, routes, insurance, and supply.
What they need from the characters: Accurate evidence; she refuses to build strategy on rumor.
Rafael “Rafa” Morales
Role: Legal and diplomatic adviser.
Strength: Jurisdiction, treaty language, procedural traps.
What they need from the characters: Custody plans, witness status, and the exact concession the party is willing to make.
Delegations and important faces
Arturo DeLuca
Role: Governor or former governor; default Project Custodian
Wants: Turn Canula’s crisis into permanent personal power.
Fears: Proof that he coerced Resa or profited from trafficking.
First move: If he remains active, invites the characters to dinner and offers exactly one thing they need; otherwise his remnant network retaliates.
Lorenzo Montoya
Role: Inquisitor
Wants: Expose corruption, protect Valdegracia from its own abuses, and clear Melenko’s name.
Fears: False certainty and uncontrolled institutional violence.
First move: Offers sanctuary in exchange for testimony he can defend.
Edmund Lysander
Role: Albion ambassador
Wants: Win advantage while keeping the flag clean.
Fears: Evidence that the delegation knowingly ordered the cut-off atrocities or cannot control its own field command.
First move: Offers help through a truthful statement designed to hide a larger lie.
Helena Drake
Role: Albion covert commander and delegation security liaison
Wants: Secure the Ear and break enemy command.
Fears: A battle she cannot end before it becomes public.
First move: Identifies the party’s strongest operator, treats them as a professional equal, and withholds the scale of her field orders from Lysander.
Willem van der Zee
Role: Stroomdijk envoy
Wants: Protect trade and keep the delegation above scandal.
Fears: A record that makes plausible deniability impossible.
First move: Offers a legal compromise that quietly preserves the route.
Juliette Armand
Role: Luminore attaché
Wants: Protect heritage and win legitimate cultural access.
Fears: Discovering that her own delegation will exploit what she saves.
First move: Offers public support for one local protection.
Where the text names DeLuca as the Project Custodian, substitute whoever holds that role after your San Telmo and Ash endings.
Summit agenda
Opening
Public subject: Recognition and procedure
Hidden contest: Who may speak for Canula Prime and who controls the San Telmo record.
Adventure window: Reception, private introductions, altered registry.
Trade
Public subject: Tariffs, convoy access, and insurance
Hidden contest: Who controls Éterlumin routing and which manifests remain sealed.
Adventure window: Warehouse raid, clerk protection, Stroomdijk correspondence.
Security
Public subject: Escort rights and naval presence
Hidden contest: Albion wants access to signals; Valdegracia wants lawful seizure powers.
Adventure window: Dock surveillance, false order, airship inspection.
Culture and Science
Public subject: Historical sites, research, education
Hidden contest: Luminore seeks access; the Clann and local families fear mapping.
Adventure window: Protect a site, meet Juliette, receive the triskele coin.
Private Bargaining
Public subject: Bilateral concessions
Hidden contest: The Project Custodian tests buyers for the Ear.
Adventure window: Infiltration, blackmail, secret meeting with Montoya.
Final Terms
Public subject: Custody, publication, and enforcement
Hidden contest: The winner decides who can act openly after the conference.
Adventure window: Present evidence, protect witnesses, survive retaliation.
Negotiation moves
Demand Access
Requirement: One Position or proof of immediate danger.
Result: Gain inspection, interview, or site access under named conditions.
Protect a Person
Requirement: A safe location, legal argument, or committed ally.
Result: The person cannot be quietly removed without public cost.
Expose a Contradiction
Requirement: Two independent sources or one intact primary record.
Result: Reduce a faction’s credibility and force a public answer.
Trade Silence
Requirement: Evidence the target believes can become public.
Result: Gain a concession now; create permanent debt and moral risk.
Force a Vote
Requirement: Four Position and at least two delegations willing to be recorded.
Result: Turn a private issue into binding public procedure.
Break the Table
Requirement: Proof of atrocity, armed attack, or active Source danger.
Result: End normal negotiation and begin inquiry, blockade, or emergency authority.
The negotiation moves are tools, not a menu of permitted actions. If the players attempt something else that makes sense in the fiction, resolve it honestly and let the summit react.
Key scenes
Pressure nodes, not a sequence. Use any, skip any, and let player choices decide the order.
Opening Statements
Pressure: The party must choose whether Heller argues as a loyal duchy, commercial intermediary, or quiet reformer.
Complication: Each frame gains one ally and alienates another.
Luminore Dinner
Pressure: Juliette Armand offers cultural protection in exchange for access to inland records.
Complication: Her motives are principled, but her delegation still wants ownership of knowledge.
Albion Courtesy Call
Pressure: Lysander offers support against the Project Custodian and hints at a shared enemy.
Complication: Commander Drake has already identified a Heller signal pattern.
Stroomdijk Ledger Session
Pressure: Willem van der Zee hides a disputed cargo clause inside routine trade language.
Complication: The clause legalizes inspection exemptions used by the trafficking route.
The Rusty Anchor
Pressure: Dockworkers, sailors, and thieves discuss a special machine and people moved under guard.
Complication: The Convener’s observers notice anyone asking the right questions.
Clann Coin
Pressure: A triskele-marked Éirighdún coin appears beneath a mug or inside a pocket.
Complication: Sharing it gains trust with one person and risks exposing the contact to another.
Handouts: the Stroomdijk Cargo Exemption fits the Ledger Session; the Clann Warning fits the Clann Coin; the Conference Invitation frames the whole summit.
Social consequences
Support Valdegracian procedure
Immediate gain: Access to records and official protection.
Cost: Workers and rebels assume the party will choose order over them.
Publicly challenge the Convener or Project Custodian
Immediate gain: Credibility with reformers and local families.
Cost: Advance Negotiations Collapse and give the Project Custodian a reason to move Resa.
Trade information with Albion
Immediate gain: Fast access, transport, or a private file.
Cost: Albion learns what the characters value and how to approach them later.
Back Luminore protections
Immediate gain: Cultural access and Juliette’s support.
Cost: Luminore gains a legitimate path toward the Source.
Pressure Stroomdijk privately
Immediate gain: One concession and a route into the network.
Cost: The traffickers begin erasing people rather than paperwork.
At the Table
Clocks & State
These are the campaign clocks, not act-local replacements. They continue from the imported state; do not reset them. Position runs from 0 to 6 and continues from Ash. Use the tracker in the continuity panel during play.
Negotiations Collapse (8 segments)
In this act: public challenges and humiliations at the table advance it.
Advance when: Public accusations fail, violence reaches the conference, or delegations are humiliated.
When full: The summit becomes a blockade, seizure, or armed standoff.
Traffickers Erase the Route (6 segments)
In this act: accusations against Stroomdijk make people disappear instead of paperwork.
Advance when: Stroomdijk is accused, raids fail noisily, or witnesses disappear.
When full: Ledgers burn, captives are moved inland, and the network sacrifices an intermediary.
Albion Covert Command Identifies the Asset (6 segments)
In this act: displaying evidence or using Heller signals draws Drake's attention.
Advance when: The party displays evidence, uses Heller signals, contacts Vega, or exposes an Albion operative.
When full: Drake begins armed extraction and the Wolf in the Clouds act starts.
Project Custodian Completes the Ear (8 segments)
In this act: procedure buys the custodian time.
Advance when: Resa is isolated, the party delays, technical records are recovered, or the custodian gains outside expertise.
When full: The Ear can transmit toward the inland Source. The custodian schedules a demonstration, seizure, or sale.
Required truths, not required scenes
No single scene has to deliver the act's truth. The exit condition can be met through any one of these routes: a ledger, a witness, correspondence, a disappearance, or rebel contact. If a player choice removes a default assumption, use the campaign's When the Expected Route Breaks guidance.
Failure moves the situation forward
A failed roll may change access, custody, exposure, leverage, or clock pressure. It does not erase a required truth or close the route forward.
When play stalls
- Stroomdijk hides the exemption clause deeper in routine trade language, or sacrifices an intermediary if pressed publicly.
- Albion trades a file or fast passage to learn what the characters value.
- Luminore offers cultural protection in exchange for inland access.
- The Shadowed Tide makes contact if the investigation stalls, rather than the route closing.
- Close the current negotiation phase with a private move: an invitation, bribe, disappearance, intercepted note, accusation, or request for protection.
When to move on
GMMove on when
The party secures a ledger, witness, correspondence, disappearance, or rebel contact showing that people are being moved through exemptions protected by Stroomdijk interests, and the Shadowed Tide becomes a viable route forward.
End when the party secures a ledger, witness, or correspondence showing that people are being moved through exemptions negotiated by Stroomdijk interests. A messenger from the Shadowed Tide offers a meeting, or the rebels intervene after the party’s investigation fails.
At the Table
End State & Carry Forward
At the end of play, fill in the Adventure Record: Position, the four clocks, witness and proof custody, the private offer, faction state, the route forward, and the session outcome. Choose "Save ending and continue" to write it to the campaign save and move the campaign to Act III.
There is no correct ending. Record what changed.
Revisit the Character Question. Did the character’s answer change?
Continue in the campaign reference with Act III: The Shadowed Tide.
Table safety
Disappearances and people moved under guard are central pressures here. Keep them restrained: show consequence, absence, and fear rather than suffering. Agree on lines and veils before play, check in when a scene involves captives, and let players redirect at any time. The people inside the route are people to protect, never set dressing.
Running it in any system
Resolve one meaningful intervention per negotiation beat in your chosen system. A clean success preserves Position; a mixed result gains the objective with debt, exposure, or a clock advance. For a light default, use the 2d6 Resolution Bridge or the Native Rules; for other systems see System Conversions.
Reference
GM Quick Reference
Player Materials
Secondary reference
Summit District
Use for conference play during the summit.
