Chapter II: Continuity and Starting States

Continuing from the Game Master’s Guide

At the end of the San Telmo Incident, ask three questions: Who is safe now? Who controls the proof? Who controls access to the chamber? Then record all five campaign facts established by Adventure Zero: Emilio Resa’s custody, control of the proof, access to San Telmo, the public account of the incident, and the authority able to convene the summit. Do not assign Elena or the Ear retroactively. Their status enters play as an opening revelation in Act I of Shadows of the Compañeros.

SAN TELMO ENDING	CAMPAIGN OPENING	IMMEDIATE PRESSURE
Official Containment	Valdegracian authority controls the public account and presents the conference as routine restoration.	Witnesses are watched, documents require legal access, and Heller is treated as a useful but disobedient subject.
Deniable Extraction	Albion or Heller removed data, a sample, a usable pattern, or Emilio Resa.	The missing asset becomes the secret center of the summit. Every faction suspects theft but lacks a complete chain of proof.
Public Rupture	The chamber event became known beyond the island.	Delegations arrive with emergency authority, journalists, guards, and incompatible demands.
Truth Fragmented	Different powers hold different parts of the story.	The party begins with leverage and enemies. No one can act cleanly without bargaining.
The Chamber Answers	The old system changed geography, supply, memory, or doctrine.	The campaign begins one step closer to the Breathing Source. Carry forward Source Disequilibrium at 1/10 by default for this outcome. If prior play tracked a different amount, import that recorded total instead; do not add the default again to inherited progress. The separate +2 consequence when Albion takes the Ear early applies only to that different trigger.

Official Containment

CAMPAIGN OPENING: Valdegracian authority controls the public account and presents the conference as routine restoration.
IMMEDIATE PRESSURE: Witnesses are watched, documents require legal access, and Heller is treated as a useful but disobedient subject.

Deniable Extraction

CAMPAIGN OPENING: Albion or Heller removed data, a sample, a usable pattern, or Emilio Resa.
IMMEDIATE PRESSURE: The missing asset becomes the secret center of the summit. Every faction suspects theft but lacks a complete chain of proof.

Public Rupture

CAMPAIGN OPENING: The chamber event became known beyond the island.
IMMEDIATE PRESSURE: Delegations arrive with emergency authority, journalists, guards, and incompatible demands.

Truth Fragmented

CAMPAIGN OPENING: Different powers hold different parts of the story.
IMMEDIATE PRESSURE: The party begins with leverage and enemies. No one can act cleanly without bargaining.

The Chamber Answers

CAMPAIGN OPENING: The old system changed geography, supply, memory, or doctrine.
IMMEDIATE PRESSURE: The campaign begins one step closer to the Breathing Source. Carry forward Source Disequilibrium at 1/10 by default for this outcome. If prior play tracked a different amount, import that recorded total instead; do not add the default again to inherited progress. The separate +2 consequence when Albion takes the Ear early applies only to that different trigger.

Custody and Convening Matrix

Use the row that best matches the table’s result and select each column independently when custody was divided. During Act I, establish Elena’s status and the surviving Ear pattern as separate revelations. Even under Official Containment, the Project Custodian must not control both: either Montoya or another protector has secured Elena or a decisive witness, or Heller, Albion, or a local survivor holds an independent copy of the pattern.

SAN TELMO RESULT	CONVENER / AUTHORITY	EMILIO RESA	CONTROL OF PROOF	ACCESS TO SAN TELMO
Official Containment	DeLuca or another Valdegracian authority convenes under formal procedure.	Official custody or coerced consultation.	Valdegracia controls the public account, but protected testimony or copied notes survive elsewhere.	The estate is sealed; access requires a writ, leverage, or infiltration.
Heller Extraction	DeLuca remains, or Calderón convenes to recover jurisdiction.	Heller protection, hidden custody, or at large.	Heller holds technical notes; Valdegracia retains an incomplete official record.	Valdegracia controls the site, while Heller knows one route or procedure.
Albion Extraction	DeLuca or Calderón calls an emergency summit after a humiliating loss.	Hidden by Albion, missing, or escaped.	Albion holds copied data; the public record remains Valdegracian and incomplete.	The site is locked down; Albion has stolen measurements or a route, not lawful control.
Public Rupture	Calderón, a crown commissioner, or the Church convenes an emergency inquiry.	Hospital, Church, crown, or contested protection.	Testimony and physical evidence are public but fragmented among rival claimants.	The chamber is damaged, sealed, or evacuated; access is openly contested.
Truth Fragmented	DeLuca, Calderón, or an acting governor convenes.	Choose one custodian.	Choose one or more holders; no account is complete.	Choose the access holder separately from Resa and the proof.
The Chamber Answers	Emergency authority follows the previous political result.	Survivor and witness rather than automatic prisoner.	The event distorts the record, but testimony and physical traces survive.	The site has changed; reaching it requires a new route or permission.
PROJECT CUSTODIAN	Whenever later text says DeLuca controls the Ear project, substitute the current Project Custodian if San Telmo removed him, transferred the asset, or placed another authority in charge. The custodian may be DeLuca, a crown office, Albion covert command, a Heller black project, or a Church containment team.

Official Containment

CONVENER / AUTHORITY: DeLuca or another Valdegracian authority convenes under formal procedure.
EMILIO RESA: Official custody or coerced consultation.
CONTROL OF PROOF: Valdegracia controls the public account, but protected testimony or copied notes survive elsewhere.
ACCESS TO SAN TELMO: The estate is sealed; access requires a writ, leverage, or infiltration.

Heller Extraction

CONVENER / AUTHORITY: DeLuca remains, or Calderón convenes to recover jurisdiction.
EMILIO RESA: Heller protection, hidden custody, or at large.
CONTROL OF PROOF: Heller holds technical notes; Valdegracia retains an incomplete official record.
ACCESS TO SAN TELMO: Valdegracia controls the site, while Heller knows one route or procedure.

Albion Extraction

CONVENER / AUTHORITY: DeLuca or Calderón calls an emergency summit after a humiliating loss.
EMILIO RESA: Hidden by Albion, missing, or escaped.
CONTROL OF PROOF: Albion holds copied data; the public record remains Valdegracian and incomplete.
ACCESS TO SAN TELMO: The site is locked down; Albion has stolen measurements or a route, not lawful control.

Public Rupture

CONVENER / AUTHORITY: Calderón, a crown commissioner, or the Church convenes an emergency inquiry.
EMILIO RESA: Hospital, Church, crown, or contested protection.
CONTROL OF PROOF: Testimony and physical evidence are public but fragmented among rival claimants.
ACCESS TO SAN TELMO: The chamber is damaged, sealed, or evacuated; access is openly contested.

Truth Fragmented

CONVENER / AUTHORITY: DeLuca, Calderón, or an acting governor convenes.
EMILIO RESA: Choose one custodian.
CONTROL OF PROOF: Choose one or more holders; no account is complete.
ACCESS TO SAN TELMO: Choose the access holder separately from Resa and the proof.

The Chamber Answers

CONVENER / AUTHORITY: Emergency authority follows the previous political result.
EMILIO RESA: Survivor and witness rather than automatic prisoner.
CONTROL OF PROOF: The event distorts the record, but testimony and physical traces survive.
ACCESS TO SAN TELMO: The site has changed; reaching it requires a new route or permission.

PROJECT CUSTODIAN

CONVENER / AUTHORITY: Whenever later text says DeLuca controls the Ear project, substitute the current Project Custodian if San Telmo removed him, transferred the asset, or placed another authority in charge. The custodian may be DeLuca, a crown office, Albion covert command, a Heller black project, or a Church containment team.
EMILIO RESA
CONTROL OF PROOF
ACCESS TO SAN TELMO

Standalone Prologue: Winds of Treachery

Groups beginning with this volume may start aboard the Aurora Ventus on the third night of the voyage. Before the playable crisis begins, a saboteur destabilizes a lift-control assembly and three engineers are killed. The characters must contain the continuing pressure, protect the crew, and identify the saboteur while the frigate loses height. Repairs delay arrival by two days in every outcome. Their success determines additional damage, the saboteur’s fate, crew trust, and what evidence reaches Boca Serena.

The voyage begins with sabotage, casualties, and a delay that changes everything.

Alternate Opening

Use the sabotage as a full first session only when the group has not played San Telmo. For continuing groups, treat it as a prior incident summarized in the delegation’s briefing or omit it entirely.

PROLOGUE OUTCOME	CARRY FORWARD
Clean containment	After the fixed two-day repair delay, no additional subsystem begins impaired; the party has a living witness or intact device.
Saved with damage	One ship subsystem begins impaired; the delegation arrives late and visibly vulnerable.
Saboteur escapes	Carry forward +2 Albion Awareness once for the escape (2/6 on a fresh clock). Preserve inherited progress and do not add it again if already recorded; the saboteur becomes a recurring intermediary.
Public execution or scandal	The delegation gains a reputation for severity; social position improves with hardliners and worsens with reformers.
Critical containment failure	The fixed three deaths remain, several crew are injured, and one subsystem is destroyed. Crew loyalty depends on whether the characters shared risk and responsibility.

Clean containment

CARRY FORWARD: After the fixed two-day repair delay, no additional subsystem begins impaired; the party has a living witness or intact device.

Saved with damage

CARRY FORWARD: One ship subsystem begins impaired; the delegation arrives late and visibly vulnerable.

Saboteur escapes

CARRY FORWARD: Carry forward +2 Albion Awareness once for the escape (2/6 on a fresh clock). Preserve inherited progress and do not add it again if already recorded; the saboteur becomes a recurring intermediary.

Public execution or scandal

CARRY FORWARD: The delegation gains a reputation for severity; social position improves with hardliners and worsens with reformers.

Critical containment failure

CARRY FORWARD: The fixed three deaths remain, several crew are injured, and one subsystem is destroyed. Crew loyalty depends on whether the characters shared risk and responsibility.

Default Standalone State

San Telmo occurred three days before the Aurora Ventus reaches Canula Prime. Use Truth Fragmented as the imported result: DeLuca remains governor; Emilio Resa has been recovered but is compelled to consult under emergency authority; Heller holds copied pressure notes; Albion holds a copied log; Montoya has protected one witness; and Valdegracia controls the sealed estate. During the first act, the characters discover that Elena is secretly held and that DeLuca possesses one partial Ear assembly. Those are new revelations, not facts retroactively added to San Telmo.

Legacy Roles

The campaign supports ordinary characters, but it becomes more personal when one or more characters carry a legacy from the Compañero expeditions or San Telmo. These roles are narrative permissions, not classes. Before play, choose a Canonical Melenko PC, a protected Melenko NPC, or an Open-Table Legacy Anchor.

LEGACY	PERMISSION	PRESSURE
The Returned	Melenko Costilas or another figure believed dead is present. Old allies and enemies recognize habits before faces.	Montoya seeks proof; Vega’s loyalty becomes dangerous; Albion wants confirmation.
The Shard-Bearer	A character carries a soul-shard resonance or unexplained Source response.	The Ear and Source answer more strongly; privacy becomes difficult.
The San Telmo Witness	A character saw the chamber answer and knows the official report is false.	Every faction wants testimony, silence, or custody.
The Heller Envoy	A character holds sealed ducal authority.	Doors open, but capture would expose Heller’s hidden role.
The Field Interpreter	Shatterstein or an equivalent character can recognize, redirect, or aggravate active field behavior without mastering it.	Every decisive intervention creates a physical consequence or advances Source Disequilibrium.
The Warden	Tarkov or an equivalent sealed bond answers the Source indirectly through a ring, object, vow, or hidden resonance.	Keep the bond and its origin concealed. This role complicates the mystery; it never explains it outright.
LEGACY ANCHOR	In open-table play, select one Returned or Shard-Bearer character as the Legacy Anchor. Melenko remains a historical figure whose name Montoya seeks to clear, while Vega recognizes the Anchor’s resonance or protects them under an old promise. Wherever later text says “Melenko or the Legacy Anchor,” use the mode chosen before play.

The Returned

PERMISSION: Melenko Costilas or another figure believed dead is present. Old allies and enemies recognize habits before faces.
PRESSURE: Montoya seeks proof; Vega’s loyalty becomes dangerous; Albion wants confirmation.

The Shard-Bearer

PERMISSION: A character carries a soul-shard resonance or unexplained Source response.
PRESSURE: The Ear and Source answer more strongly; privacy becomes difficult.

The San Telmo Witness

PERMISSION: A character saw the chamber answer and knows the official report is false.
PRESSURE: Every faction wants testimony, silence, or custody.

The Heller Envoy

PERMISSION: A character holds sealed ducal authority.
PRESSURE: Doors open, but capture would expose Heller’s hidden role.

The Field Interpreter

PERMISSION: Shatterstein or an equivalent character can recognize, redirect, or aggravate active field behavior without mastering it.
PRESSURE: Every decisive intervention creates a physical consequence or advances Source Disequilibrium.

The Warden

PERMISSION: Tarkov or an equivalent sealed bond answers the Source indirectly through a ring, object, vow, or hidden resonance.
PRESSURE: Keep the bond and its origin concealed. This role complicates the mystery; it never explains it outright.

LEGACY ANCHOR

PERMISSION: In open-table play, select one Returned or Shard-Bearer character as the Legacy Anchor. Melenko remains a historical figure whose name Montoya seeks to clear, while Vega recognizes the Anchor’s resonance or protects them under an old promise. Wherever later text says “Melenko or the Legacy Anchor,” use the mode chosen before play.
PRESSURE

Campaign Continuity

Shadows of the Compañeros uses one campaign continuity: San Telmo, Emilio Resa, Elena Resa, and the surviving Ear pattern. Legacy roles change who carries old resonances, promises, and pressures; they do not replace those established campaign events. Use the Legacy Anchor selected before play wherever later text offers “Melenko or the Legacy Anchor.”

Shatterstein and Tarkov remain valid named figures when they are part of the table’s continuity. Shatterstein may provide a deliberate interpretive pulse while Tarkov’s sealed Warden resonance supplies an incompatible reference. The Ear can carry or amplify a pattern, but it does not explain Tarkov’s bond or confirm his identity. Keep that connection unresolved during this campaign.