Ironbound Shadows - Part One

War lurks in every corner. In the resource-rich Appian Tuaithe, years of escalating conflict finally reach an uneasy peace as the region’s noble stewards enter negotiations with ignoble revolutionaries. When a shadowy sect of reactionary terrorists attempt to spark open war, their actions threaten to plunge everything into chaos.

You are not a revolutionary. You are a member of the Mirrorsmoke Mercenary Company, hired as a deniable third-party to stabilize the situation. Far-right insurgents have gotten their hands on mech-scale military tech, and a wealthy businessman worried for his people wants it taken care of. You are to enter the Appian Tuaithe, follow the trail of a deadly experimental weapon, and put the organization known as the Scions of Iron out of commission. In doing so you will unravel a web of intrigue that takes you from glittering arenas to cavernous mines. Good luck trooper - and whatever you do, don't get caught.

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Ironbound Shadows - Part One is the first of a three-mission series for Lancer written by Alice Ryan, designed for groups who enjoy challenging mech combat interwoven with thrilling undercover intrigue and tense political drama.  This introductory mission takes the player characters from License Level 1 to LL2. In this mission, PCs are introduced to a tense antebellum setting and begin to encounter a cast of characters on all sides of revolution, many with their own agendas - all set upon the complex backdrop of the Dawnline Shore.

This mission is designed to be run alongside Field Guide to the Karrakin Trade Baronies, and is built to make full use of the Bonds, Stress, and Clocks narrative systems introduced therein. Ironbound Shadows - Part One also references NPC templates introduced in Dustgrave to further elevate mech combat to more challenging and evocative heights.*

In addition to the first mission of Ironbound Shadows, this product contains:

• Rich background material on the Appian Tuaithe, a colonial region on the forefront of Baronic expansion and extraction in the Dawnline Shore
• Information on the political machinations of the Appian Tuaithe, including everything needed to understand the mystery at the heart of the module
  • Full background on the Scions of Iron and the rival factions of House Athanasidhe and the Hand of Alesia.
    
  • Dossiers on the major characters throughout Ironbound Shadows
  • The true identity of Ironbound Shadows's overarching antagonist
  • A preview of Ironbound Shadows - Part Two, complete with setting, cast, and motives of its own central antagonist

• New Exotic gear for PCs to discover as they delve into the mystery of the Sideritis, a deadly experimental weapon used by the Scions of Iron
• Six new Reserves to acquire in the city of Stemma, a peaceful capital strung with the tensions of looming conflict and class division
• [Coming Soon] Three tactical maps designed by Alice Ryan to enhance every fight throughout the first mission
• Tracklists to set the atmosphere

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The Dawnline Shore teeters on the precipice. A new world struggles to be born, and the knives of reaction stand poised above its crib. Will you fight to break the cycle of abuse, or simply earn your paycheck?

Show us what you're made of, Trooper. Be flexible, be unreplaceable - and most of all, be untraceable.

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* future missions will also reference NPC templates and classes found in the third-party supplement Field Guide to Suldan.