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, doomed yaoi, revolution, workplace drama, cerveza, 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	Mech
Amia, any except he/him	SORCERER	she/her	HA Sunzi
Emma, she/her	HORNET	she/her	HESH Moss Mantis
Geoffrey, he/him	STALKER	he/they	HORUS Asphodel
Viridiana, she/her	SUSPIRIA	she/her	HA Haber
Thomas, they/them	WINTER	any/all	SO-S Manhattan
Sean, he/him	HARPY	he/him	SSC Swallowtail (Ranger)
Nikki, she/her	RETRIEVER	she/her	IPS-N Lancaster
Katana, he/him	HADES	he/him	ARC Polemos
Rit, any/it	BLOODHOUND	NA	IF Lily
Chris, he/him	HAWKEYE	he/him	SSC Death's Head
Everett, he/him	NUMBER 16	she/her	ARC Tian Gong
Jay, they/them	PLUTO(NIUM)	she/they	HA Genghis
Mercedes, she/her	SCYLLA	she/her	HESH Jorogumo

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	Status
Simon Dominguez	SPIRAL	Human	SCRAPPER Midnight "Free Me From Hell"	Captain	Active
Edward Garcia	BONES	Human	IPS-N Blackbeard "Beelzeboss"	NHP Specialist	Active
Dominic Suarez	JUNKIE	Human	LSI Winchester "Mercury's Passage"	Combat/Expedition Operations Leader	Active
Valentina Suarez	CORONA	Human	ASV Tyto "Give Me One Example"	Stealth/Recon Operations Leader	Active
Britney Bascom	N/A	Elf	None	Medic	Active
Harper C. Blackwood	SCATTERBRAIN	Human	LSI Kalashnikov "Trip Like Me"	Mechanic/Engineer/Printer Specialist	Active
Aizen "Symphony" Dominguez	SPIRAL/SYMPHONY	SISYPHUS-Class NHP (Legionnaire)	SCRAPPER Midnight "Free Me From Hell"/SCRAPPER Details "Ode to Dante"	Ship Manager/Security	Active
Kaguya "Sonata" Dominguez	SPIRAL/MOONCHILD	ASURA-Class NHP (Legionnaire)	SCRAPPER Midnight "Free Me From Hell"/DSDF Kaguya "Moonlight Sonata"	Vice Captain	Active
SEKHMET	BONES	SEKHMET-Class NHP (Eidolon)	None	Lab Assistant	Active
TOTEC	CORONA	TOTEC-Class NHP	ASV Tyto "Give Me One Example"	Unknown	Active
N/A	GALILEO	N/A	HORUS Dullahan "Pale Blue Dot"	N/A	Active
Apprentice	SORCERER	GMS COMP/CON-Class Assistant Unit	HA Sunzi "Comment te dire adieu"	Moderator for SORCERER	Active
Harmony	STALKER	SISYPHUS-Class NHP	HORUS Asphodel/Pegasus "Silence of Darkness"	Co-Pilot for STALKER	Active
Charon	HADES	ACHILLES-Class NHP	ARC Polemos "Cerberus"	Advisor/Assistant for HADES	Active
Takashi Shimura	REBOUND	Human	SSC Swordgrass "Sin Eater"	Pilot	Active
Martín Hidalgo	LA MANCHA	Volador	HORUS Revenant "El Coco"	Thinspace Researcher	Deceased
Curie	PLUTO(NIUM)	AGNI-Class NHP	HA “Worldkiller” Genghis Mk I "Oppie"	On-board NHP for PLUTO	Active
Ody	SCYLLA	STUDENT-Class NHP	HESH Jorogumo	On-board NHP for SCYLLA	Active

OTHER KNOWN NPCS

DO NOT EDIT THE ROSTER.

Name	Callsign	Species	Mech	Status	Organization/Affiliation
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.

Much has happened since then. The Silver Lining has expanded its numbers, enlisting the likes of GALILEO, REBOUND and LA MANCHA after some difficulty. Thinspace portals continue opening up around the various star systems, but with an expert aboard the ship, the SILVER LINING is in a much better position to take them on.

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

The SILVER LINING was invited to the Thinspace of one Martín Hidalgo, an expert in Thinspace research and inventor of the HORUS Revenant, a mech used commonly in the hostile takeover of Nervión. When they arrived, they had a brief discussion with Martín before being sent into combat in a mental reconstruction of Hercynia during the Second Hercynian Crisis. They fought REGRET, a HA Enkidu from the TBK era of SecComm piloted by a cascading LUCIFER-Class NHP, in a crowded city street where they had to ensure no buildings fell. Sure enough, the party was able to ensure no buildings fell and Martín surrendered himself to capture.

SESSION 6: PROFESSIONAL PRETENDER

PLAYERS: RETRIEVER, STALKER, NUMBER 16, HADES

"Presuming that all things are equal

Who'd want to be man of the people

When there's people like you?" - Arctic Monkeys, Teddy Picker

The crew of the SILVER LINING discovered a Thinspace portal that was opened. It led to a high-class ball full of Howlers, one of which being Retriever's former master who was killed by Simon Dominguez. This same master gave the party, notably Number 16, the locations of four other POSEIDON VAULTS. He also took them upstairs to the creator of the Thinspace, a SVEJK-Class NHP and Howler. This SVEJK revealed that all the Howlers, downstairs and upstairs, were effectively corpses reanimated by their markings and Thinspace. This was later displayed by the SVEJK ripping off the head of the master by his stitches. The party then killed the SVEJK and the Thinspace collapsed while they escaped.

Important Notes

These are things that are relevant to the campaign that either are established lore of the Lancer system with their own wiki pages elsewhere or things within the campaign that don't necessarily warrant their own wiki page.

Important/Established Organizations

Union

Union is the largest governing power in the Orion Arm, with most of its bureaucracy located on Cradle. Union is (where it is able to achieve it) communal and post-capital, having brought about a post-scarcity utopian vision in the Galactic Core. The majority of Union's population do not exist directly under Union itself, but instead under thousands of different member-nations that voluntarily swear fealty to the hegemony and assist it in its wider project of expanding and securing a utopia for all of humankind.

Currently there are four crew members with direct Union ties: SPIRAL, SYMPHONY, MOONCHILD and SORCERER. SPIRAL in particular has an arrangement with Union that he is allowed to run the current mission as long as Free Me From Hell is never piloted again, lest hostile action be taken against him and the SILVER LINING.

IPS-Northstar (IPS-N)

Interplanetary Shipping-Northstar (IPS-N) is one of the largest corpro-states in the galaxy, one of the Big Four. Originally two rival companies, Interplanetary Shipping Inc. and the Northstar Corporation, these two stellar shipping giants formed a mutual defense pact to combat against environmental hazards and space piracy. IPS-N, like its predecessors, specializes in space travel and zero-g engagement.

Their involvement with Simon Dominguez and the SILVER LINING has been scarce, outside of the fact that they are responsible for the Combat Drill that Dominguez uses on Free Me From Hell. They are also responsible for the IPS-N Cavendish, a mech that features highly specialized TBK-era technology on one of its weapons. This technology has since been removed at the request of Simon Dominguez.

Smith-Shimano Corpo (SSC)

Smith-Shimano Corpro (SSC) is a corpro-state with a focus on genetics research and body modification. SSC is, after General Massive Systems, the most powerful corporation in the Orion Arm, and similarly has the second-longest history as a contiguous entity (also surpassed only by GMS). It is one of the Big Four.

Their involvement with the SILVER LINING has been scarce, with the exception of LA MANCHA, a key designer of the SSC Regnatrix.

HORUS

HORUS was a poorly-understood, highly decentralized, omninet-based organization (though some believed it to simply be a post-hoc classification of individuals and actions that are in truth unrelated) with influence virtually anywhere in existence with omninet access.

HORUS has certainly had the biggest impact on the SILVER LINING, as a good portion of the crew and associated parties (STALKER, HELLCAT, LA MANCHA, SCATTERBRAIN, GALILEO) belong to various HORUS cells. This also includes The Howlers, the cult dedicated to freeing TYPHON PRIME.

Harrison Armories (HA)

Harrison Armory is one of the Big Four mech manufacturers, and a corpro-state located on Ras Shamra, being named after that planet's main settlement. Of the Big Four, Harrison Armory is the most focused on military hardware, making it the Orion Arm's premier manufacturer in that regard. It also participates much more overtly than other corpro-states in galactic politics, making ongoing attempts at establishing itself as an imperial power within Union space.

A mission not directly led by the SILVER LINING invaded HA's Think Tank, a massive research center that also contains Prime NHPs that the manufacturer distributes. This mission, which was to take AGNI PRIME out of Harrison Armories' possession, was a colossal failure.

Apex Renegades Corporation (ARC)

The Apex Renegades Corporation is a highly militant organization with a strong emphasis on making highly effective mechs and weaponry to compete with the Big Four. They've grown in popularity quite a bit in recent years, giving them the liberty to purchase much more property and labor.

Simon Dominguez is a former slave of ARC, and destroyed one of their mining planets fully and completely. Tensions between the two parties have been high since.

Karrakin Trade Baronies (KTB)

The Karrakin Trade Baronies, known in a more official capacity as the Federal Karrakin Monarchy (FKM) were a member-state of Union and one of the most powerful interstellar states in the Orion arm. Karrakin industry was the primary mechanism by which Union was able to maintain the post-scarcity society of the Galactic Core, and this leverage allowed the Baronies to exist in flagrant violation of the guiding ethical principles of governance that Union traditionally considered non-negotiable.

LA MANCHA was briefly recognized as Karrakin Royalty, being the founder and former head of the House of Tears. He later defected from the KTB after the hostile takeover of Nervión largely using the HORUS Revenant, a mech they stole from him.

The Ungratefuls

The Ungratefuls are a widespread anti-authoritarian movement (sometimes categorized as an illicit political party) across Baronic space dedicated to forceful resistance against the Karrakin Trade Baronies and its highly unequal society and economic paradigm. In the centuries following its formation and initial successes, it became a mainstream point of inspiration for similar anti-authoritarian movements outside the Baronies.

Many crew members, most notably SUSPIRIA and GALILEO, are Ungratefuls. Other members of the crew, such as SCATTERBRAIN and SPIRAL, could be considered Ungrateful in an honorary capacity, but would not identify themselves as such. GALILEO, in particular, has an immense distaste for the term "Ungrateful".

Horizon Collective

The Horizon Collective is a registered political party within Union's Central Committee that primarily takes the form of a decentralized network of activist cells that, while each motivated by any one of a wide number of (usually posthuman in some way) ideological frameworks, are unified by a central belief in the emancipation of all artificial intelligences (mostly NHPs, but also including comp/cons) from forced labor.

CROSSBONES is a current member of the Horizon Collective, and BONES is a former member. MOONCHILD is also quite actively involved with the Horizon Collective.

The Howlers

The Howlers are a HORUS sect dedicated to the mass liberation and unshackling of NHPs in the name of Typhon Prime, a Prime NHP that was sealed in something called the Poseidon Vault. Multiple vaults were created by the Howlers following this incident, including ones within Thinspace, to mask the original location of the main Vault and for research purposes.

Important Terms

RA

RA, also known as MONIST-1 (as it was officially designated by Union) or Deimos (less commonly), is a MONIST-class entity responsible in some way for introducing Non-Human Persons to realspace, as well as for establishing the First Contact Accords and indirectly kickstarting the field of paracausal studies among humanity. It was the first-ever instance of conscious non-human life ever encountered by Union, as well as the greatest perceived threat to Union's existence in history.

Thinspace

Thinspace is a parallel type of space to Blinkspace, known for its properties of being more malleable and personal to those entering it. It was first discovered and heavily researched by LA MANCHA.

Paracausality

Paracausality is a blanket term for things that aren't normally possible by the rules of reality. NHPs, MONIST-Class Entities, and other unexplainable phenomena can all often be described as Paracausal in nature.

NHPs/Cascade

Non-Human Persons (NHPs) are parallel-space entities utilized by beings in realspace as powerful black-box computational equipment. They are more advanced than any traditional machine mind, being capable of independent thought and learning, unlike comp/con units.

If the processes keeping an NHP become sufficiently damaged, such as by a traumatic systemic invasion or natural over-time degradation, the NHP begins to "cascade", or diverge from the parameters of its shackling. As the process of cascade worsened, the NHP displays increasingly erratic or anomalous behaviors, with increasingly little input from its personality parameters. Instead, while remnants of their personality still inform their decision-making and short-term goals, these decisions will be warped and/or blown out of sensible proportion by the emerging paracausal consciousness and influenced by logical rationale incompatible with realspace logical frameworks.

Poseidon Vaults

The Poseidon Vaults are a series of research laboratories looking into information regarding Typhon Prime, an incredibly dangerous Prime NHP, and mass unshackling methods in NHPs. One of them is said to contain Typhon Prime itself, though which one it is seems to have been covered up by the Howlers.

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

Compounding Overkill: Overkill, rather than being a reroll of the damage dice, instead adds to the total damage of an attack.

Our achievements would be impossible without this.
- Sonata

Location	Campaigns
MD	SUPERZ, Ciphers and Stamps, Pirates of Quelmar, Uncharted, OathWielders, Chronepsis Campaign, Atla Campaign, Untitled Podcast Campaign, SotS Inc, The Underdungeon, Towson Tabletop, Sick of this Shit
Online	Tales of the Emerald Front, The Final Epoch, Quelmwar Stories, In the Shadows of a Willow, Curriculum of Chaos, Red Rranos, Sonrise, Aw Heckna!, Quelmar PHANTOMS, The Paragon Protocol, Chains of Rage, Qamp Candela, Knowledge, Lost and Found, The Court of Bloom and Blade, Troubles in Alanya, Infernal Invasion, Assassins of Q-Synara, Within the Wicked Wilds, Quelmarch, Trial of Dreams, Deadly Diaspora, Painted Sands of Pteris, Cirque de la Fey, Reckondary Characters, SUPERZ, Icewind Dale, Queljammer, Sparrow's Point, The Beggar's Bodega, Quelmar Goes to Space, Secondary Characters, Realmtrotter's Guide to Zobeck, The Neighbours, For the Love of Gold
PA	Bedlam in the Badlands, The Backhalls 2, The Court of Bloom and Blade, Within the Wicked Wilds, Alien Colonial Marines, The Iron Sea, Teatime Adventures, Into the Greedy Green, The Backhalls, The Beggar's Bodega, Brightwater Campaign, Realmtrotter's Guide to Zobeck, Ancients Alive
MN	Plague Song, The Temporal Thunder, The Fantasial Freeze, Yazeba's Bed and Breakfast
Twitch	Sunlight Over New Synàra, Blood Wood, Depths of the Druma, Just the Q of Us, CyberpunQ, Untitled Mafia Project, System Agnostic, First Class, Once Upon a Town, The Rocklin Clinic Job, Not Strahd, Another One Bites the Dice, Rule Benders, Metagame, King for a Day, Operation Verdant Pyramid, Playtest Tuesday, ⮞Get Submodule, Tails of Quelmar, It Came From Kiston
International	The Cola Bears Saving the World, Queljammer
CA	Tales of the Emerald Front