For the GM Only
This chapter contains everything that players are not supposed to know. Read Chapters One through Three first; this chapter assumes you have done so. Do not share the contents of this chapter with players before or during play. Everything the crew discovers should come through play, not through briefing.
What the GM Needs to Know
The adventure the players see is simple: transport a container, stop at a waypoint station, complete the delivery. The adventure you are running is more complicated than that, and the gap between those two things is where the drama lives.
This chapter gives you the full picture: what is really in the container, who knows what, who wants what, how each major NPC will behave, and how the adventure can resolve. Read all of it before your session. Know it cold enough that you can play the NPCs honestly rather than steering toward a predetermined outcome.
The crew's choices determine the resolution. Your job is to play the universe honestly and let the outcome follow from what the players decide.
The Full Truth
What is actually in the container
The sealed container does not hold medical supplies. It holds a data drive with encrypted navigational charts for a newly discovered slipstream corridor, a route that bypasses three Irnan Directorate checkpoint systems in the outer Verge.
A route like that is worth a significant amount of money and political leverage to whoever can file a legal claim on it. It is worth considerably more in secrecy, while the filing is still in process and before the Directorate can mount a counter-claim or station a patrol cutter at the corridor seam.
How the container came to be on the Ember Drift:
A Funtari merchant consortium called the Nerezza Compact discovered the corridor three months ago through an independent survey crew they had contracted. They mapped it, encrypted the charts, and began the legal process of filing a route claim, which takes time and requires that the claim documentation reach a neutral treaty court without being intercepted by the Directorate.
Saint Orra's Rest operates as a Jaziri pilgrimage station and diplomatic listening post inside neutral space. It also, quietly, hosts a treaty arbitration office that the Nerezza Compact has used before. The "clinic" in the delivery address is a cover. The data drive is the real cargo.
The Nerezza Compact hired Caelis Vorn to arrange the final leg of transport. Vorn was told the container held "sensitive medical records for a private patient." He believed it. He is the kind of merchant who has learned that some questions are better left unasked, and he has been using that principle longer than is good for him.
What each party knows
| Party | What they know |
|---|---|
| The crew | They are transporting medical supplies for a Funtari merchant. |
| Caelis Vorn | He is moving something sensitive for the Nerezza Compact. He does not know it is navigational charts; he accepted the "medical records" explanation because the pay was good. |
| The Nerezza Compact | The full picture. They know what the drive contains and what is at stake. They are not present in this adventure except as a background power. |
| Inspector Tarek Oll | The Directorate intercepted encrypted comm traffic suggesting something significant was moving through the Verge. Oll was dispatched to investigate. He does not know what the object is or who is carrying it; he only knows the traffic signature suggested something worth looking at. |
| The Pale Table | A corrupted relay fragment let a Pale Table data broker piece together that something was being moved through Harrowspan. They sent Sev to intercept without knowing exactly what the cargo is or who the carrier is. Sev is working from an educated guess. |
| Maren (deceased) | Vorn's advance shipping message arrived at Harrowspan in partial cleartext due to a relay error. Maren, the station harbormaster, read enough to understand the container was not medical supplies and that the sender was nervous. She tried to send a warning to the delivery crew. The Pale Table got to her before she could confirm the warning had been received. |
What Happened Before the Adventure Started
Three days before the crew's arrival at Harrowspan, Maren intercepted the advance message and began to piece together that the cargo was sensitive. She sent an encrypted warning to the crew's ship relay address but did not wait to confirm delivery before beginning to investigate further.
Two days before the crew's arrival, Sev arrived at Harrowspan posing as a salvage contractor running a small survey job in the local wreckfield. Sev had already identified Maren as the station's information hub and, through a combination of surveillance and patient conversation, determined that Maren had been in contact with the incoming cargo ship.
One day before the crew's arrival, Sev confirmed Maren knew something. Rather than risk Maren warning the crew and causing the cargo to be rerouted, Sev arranged an accident: a maintenance corridor pressure failure that has been logged as an industrial accident. Harrowspan Station has a small population and limited forensic resources. The official report will say equipment failure.
Maren left behind an encrypted message in Harrowspan's relay terminal, queued for delivery. It has not been sent yet because the relay queue is backed up due to a partial relay outage. The crew can find and retrieve it.
By the time the crew docks at Harrowspan, the Directorate patrol cutter is already there. Inspector Oll arrived twelve hours before the crew, drawn by the same encrypted traffic that sent him to the Verge in the first place. He does not yet know about Maren's death; he has been aboard his cutter reviewing records.
NPC Detail Sheets
Playing NPCs honestly
Each NPC below has wants, limits, and a voice. Play them as people, not obstacles. They will respond to how the crew treats them. None of them are purely hostile; none of them are automatically helpful. The adventure's resolution depends on the crew finding the angles that work.
Caelis Vorn
Funtari merchant, he/him
Physical impression: A middle-aged Funtari man with the compact, well-fed look of someone who has spent his career in enclosed spaces with reliable food. He dresses carefully but not expensively. He sweats when he is nervous.
What he wants: For this job to be over. He wants the container delivered, the payment collected, and for no one to ask him any more questions about it. He is genuinely not sure what he has gotten himself into, and that uncertainty is making him anxious in ways he cannot entirely hide.
What he knows: He knows the Nerezza Compact hired him to arrange transport. He knows the cover story is medical records. He has begun to suspect the cover story is not fully accurate, because the Directorate cutter's presence at Harrowspan is not a coincidence you associate with medical records.
What he will do under pressure: If the crew presses him directly, he will admit he does not know what is actually in the container. He will tell them the Nerezza Compact gave him the package, the address, and a cover explanation he accepted without verifying. If they ask him why he did not verify it, he will be honest: the pay was good and he did not want to know. He is not a criminal; he is a man who made a comfortable moral decision he is currently regretting.
What he will not do: Endanger himself or the crew for the sake of the Nerezza Compact. He has no loyalty to the Compact beyond the contract, and that loyalty is currently being tested by the presence of a Directorate cutter.
Voice: Slightly formal, precise with money and logistics details, visibly uncomfortable when the conversation moves outside those lanes. He apologizes more than necessary when he is lying and not enough when he is telling an uncomfortable truth.
Key information he can provide (if the crew asks the right questions):
- The Nerezza Compact is a Funtari merchant consortium, not a criminal organization, but they are not above bending the law when the profit margin justifies it.
- The contact at Saint Orra's Rest is a treaty arbitration clerk named Severin Holst.
- The container has a commercial lock, not a security lock. Vorn has the code. He will give it to the crew if he genuinely believes the alternative is worse.
Inspector Tarek Oll
Irnan Directorate Inspector, he/him
Physical impression: A tall, lean Human man in Directorate field uniform: navy blue, clean, with the quiet confidence of someone who has done this job for long enough that most of his questions are not actually questions. He carries his authority the way someone carries a tool they are accustomed to using correctly.
What he wants: To find out what the encrypted traffic was about and whether it represents a threat to Directorate interests. He is not here to shake down a freighter crew. He is here because someone pointed him at a signal and told him to follow it.
What he knows: He knows the Directorate intercepted communications suggesting something significant was being moved through the Verge. He does not know what, who is carrying it, or why it matters. He is here to find out.
What he will do under pressure: Oll is by-the-book. If the crew gives him legal grounds to board and inspect, he will board and inspect, methodically and without dramatics. If they do not give him grounds, he will watch and wait and look for grounds to develop.
He is not corrupt. He will not take a bribe. He will not fabricate a reason to detain them. If he becomes convinced the crew is not the source of the problem, he will say so and adjust his investigation accordingly. If he becomes convinced the crew is the source of the problem, he will be patient and thorough about proving it.
What he will not do: He will not start an incident without legal grounds. He will not ignore evidence of a crime to avoid paperwork. He will not pretend not to know things he knows.
Can he become an ally? Yes, under specific conditions. If the crew chooses to work with him, share what they know about the cargo, and help him build a case against the Pale Table's interference, Oll can become a genuine asset: he has authority, resources, and the ability to make Harrowspan's unofficial death investigation into an official one. He will not like being manipulated into this position, and he will say so, but he will work with people who are straight with him.
Voice: Measured, formal, economical with words. He uses the phrase "for the record" more than ordinary conversation requires. His questions are precise because he is listening to the answers precisely.
Key leverage points:
- He does not have grounds to board the crew's ship yet. He is looking for them.
- If the crew can point him at Sev and the Pale Table, his interest in the Ember Drift decreases significantly.
- He is aware Maren died. He is not yet treating it as suspicious, but he is not ruling it out either.
Sev
Pale Table operative, they/them
Physical impression: A Human of indeterminate age who looks like they belong wherever they are standing. At Harrowspan they are wearing a salvager's work jacket and carrying a survey tablet. They are relaxed in the way of someone who is always calculating and has decided that visible tension is a tactical disadvantage.
What they want: The data drive. The Pale Table wants to sell the navigational charts to whoever will pay most for them, which is probably the Irnan Directorate, though they have not ruled out the Nerezza Compact buying them back or an Antaean broker offering good money for exclusive access. Sev's job is to acquire the cargo and get it out of Harrowspan.
What they know: They know a container with sensitive cargo is coming through Harrowspan aboard an independent freighter. They do not know the exact contents but they have guessed correctly that it involves route data. They know Maren knew something and that they have neutralized her. They do not know the crew was warned.
What they will do under pressure: Sev works in a preferred sequence: charm first, trade second, threat third, force only if necessary and winnable. They will approach the crew in the early scenes as a helpful fellow traveler, offer information, see what they can learn, and gradually work toward making an offer for the cargo. If the crew refuses and Sev concludes force is viable, they will not hesitate. They are dangerous.
What they will not do: Start a firefight they cannot win. Sev is pragmatic. They have one colleague with them aboard Harrowspan; the crew has five people and a ship. If the math does not favor them, Sev retreats and looks for a different angle. They do not sacrifice themselves for the Pale Table.
Can they be negotiated with? Yes, but the crew should understand what they are negotiating with. Sev will make any deal that gets them the cargo, and then look for a way to collect on the deal and recover the cargo afterward if conditions allow. A deal with Sev needs to leave Sev with less leverage than the crew, not more.
Voice: Friendly, curious, slightly self-deprecating in the way of someone who wants you to underestimate them. They use the crew's names after hearing them once. They ask questions that sound like small talk. They are never making small talk.
Key information the crew might extract:
- The Pale Table is interested in the cargo because of what it represents, not because they know exactly what is in it.
- Sev knows who hired them but will not share that without significant incentive.
- They have access to a relay bypass that could push a message through the current relay outage, which is useful leverage if the crew needs to reach someone.
Maren (Deceased)
Harrowspan Station harbormaster, she/her
Maren is dead before the adventure begins. She matters because of what she left behind.
The encrypted message
Maren queued an encrypted message for the crew's ship relay address before she died. The relay outage has held it in the station's outbound queue. The crew can find and retrieve it by accessing the relay terminal in the station's operations section.
Retrieving the message: Accessing the terminal requires an Electronics check (Average difficulty). The message is encrypted; decrypting it requires a second Electronics check (Average difficulty) or a Intellect + Science check (Hard difficulty) to break the encryption without the key. Alternatively, a Savvy + Streetwise check (Average difficulty) identifies that the relay operator's access code is written on a piece of tape under the terminal housing.
Contents of the message (once decrypted):
"To whoever is carrying the Vorn cargo. I have seen the advance manifest. What you are carrying is not medical supplies. There is someone already here who I think is after it. I do not know who else knows. Do not trust the obvious parties. The Directorate arrived before I expected. Something has been moving faster than it should. I am trying to find out more before you arrive. Do not dock normally. Use the secondary bay on the far side of the station spine. I will meet you there. Signed: M"
Maren wrote this message before she knew she was in danger. The secondary bay instruction no longer applies, but the warning about the cargo is accurate and the reference to "the obvious parties" is specific enough that a perceptive crew may realize she meant Sev.
The Three Possible Resolutions
The adventure can end in three broad ways depending on what the crew decides. All three are valid outcomes. The GM should not push the crew toward any particular ending; present the NPCs honestly and let the crew decide.
Resolution 1: Deliver the container as contracted
The crew completes the original job. The container reaches Saint Orra's Rest and is delivered to the treaty arbitration clerk, Severin Holst. The Nerezza Compact files the route claim. The Directorate has been outmaneuvered but not made into enemies of the crew specifically. Vorn is relieved and pays as agreed.
Consequences: The crew earns their 1,600 credits and a favorable reputation with the Nerezza Compact, which may have future value. Inspector Oll has nothing on them and moves his investigation elsewhere. The Pale Table is frustrated but has no particular reason to target the crew unless Sev decided to make it personal.
What this resolution requires: Getting the container out of Harrowspan without Oll boarding and finding it, without Sev getting their hands on it, and reaching Saint Orra's Rest.
Resolution 2: Give or sell the container to the Directorate
The crew, voluntarily or under duress, hands the container over to Inspector Oll. Oll opens it, finds the navigational charts, and the Directorate takes possession of the route data.
Consequences: Oll is genuinely grateful and professionally respectful. The crew has Directorate goodwill, which is worth something in the long run, though it will not pay their debt to Vorin Holding. The Nerezza Compact will be extremely unhappy when they find out, and they will eventually find out. Vorn will be caught in the middle and will blame the crew to protect himself. This resolution creates future complications.
What this resolution requires: A decision to work with Oll, either actively or because the alternatives have run out.
Resolution 3: Use or sell the charts independently
The crew opens the container, discovers the charts, and decides to profit from them directly: sell to a third party, use the route themselves, or auction to the highest bidder.
Consequences: Maximum short-term reward. The Nerezza Compact loses the route claim. The Directorate is outmaneuvered by people they cannot officially pursue without admitting what they were looking for. The Pale Table may become a partner or a competitor depending on how the crew played it with Sev. The crew has made powerful enemies and one significant windfall, and their next job in the Verge will come with more scrutiny.
What this resolution requires: The crew decides to open the container, gets it open, and finds a buyer or uses the data before the other parties can respond.
Adventure Pacing
This adventure runs in five scenes. The scenes are numbered but not rigid; the crew's decisions may compress some scenes or expand others.
Scenes 1 and 2 (Chapters 5 and 6) are orientation. The crew arrives at Harrowspan, discovers the complications, and begins gathering information. The pressure is present but not yet active. These scenes reward investigation and social play.
Scene 3 (Chapter 7) is the complication and investigation. The crew learns what they are actually carrying, figures out who killed Maren, and begins to understand the shape of the problem. This is the information-gathering peak; everything the crew does in scenes 4 and 5 should flow from what they learn here.
Scene 4 (Chapter 8) is the action peak. The crew has enough information to act. Sev moves to collect the cargo. Oll closes in on whatever grounds he has found. The crew has to navigate both pressures at once. This scene is designed to allow personal combat, ship maneuvers, a tense negotiation under time pressure, or all three, depending on how the crew has played it.
Scene 5 (Chapter 9) is resolution. The crisis passes one way or another. Consequences settle. The adventure ends with the crew in a clearly different situation from where they started.
The GM should let the crew lead. If the players want to confront Sev in Scene 2, let them. If they want to make a deal with Oll in Scene 3, let them. The scene numbering is for the GM's reference, not a sequence the players are obligated to follow.
What to Prep
Before your session, do the following:
- Read Chapters One through Four completely.
- Skim Chapters Five through Nine (the adventure scenes) to understand the flow of each scene, the key decision points, and the GM callouts.
- Note the adversary stats in Chapter Thirteen: Inspector Oll and his crew, Sev and their colleague, and the Directorate patrol cutter's stats if a ship encounter occurs.
- Have the Ember Drift stats from Chapter Three available. You will need Hull Points and System Points if the ship takes damage.
- Familiarize yourself with the three pregenerated characters your players did not choose; they are background crew and may need brief moments.
- Decide how the relay outage is running. The outage is real: most messages in or out of Harrowspan are delayed. This creates isolation pressure on the crew and is why Maren's warning has not been delivered. You do not need to specify the technical cause; "a relay node in the approach corridor is running degraded" is sufficient.
You do not need to read the full Player's Guide or GM Guide before running this adventure. Everything here is self-contained.