Scene One: The Offer at Port Meridian
Scene type: Roleplay, setup Location: Port Meridian, a licensed broker's office on the lower commercial ring Characters present: Caelis Vorn, the crew
Running Scene One
This scene is a flashback in structure. The crew already accepted the job before the adventure begins at Harrowspan. You have two options:
Option A — Run it live. Start here. Play through the meeting as a proper scene. This works well with new players who benefit from a low-stakes opener to learn their characters.
Option B — Summarize it. Open at Harrowspan (Scene Two) and give the crew a one-paragraph briefing of what happened at Port Meridian. The summary version is at the end of this chapter.
Either approach works. Choose based on your group. If players seem eager to jump into action, use Option B. If they seem interested in building into the story slowly, use Option A.
Read-Aloud: The Meeting
Port Meridian's lower commercial ring smells of recycled air and floor sealant. The broker's office is a narrow room with frosted partition glass and two mismatched chairs facing a desk no one seems to own. A man waits for you there, standing rather than sitting, holding a datapad he has clearly looked at more times than necessary. He is Funtari, middle-aged, well-dressed in a way that suggests he is trying to look comfortable rather than wealthy. When you come in, he puts the datapad face-down on the desk and extends a hand. His grip is firm. His fingers are cold.
The Setup
Caelis Vorn booked this meeting through a third-party cargo broker. He paid the broker's cut in advance and asked that no questions be noted in the registry. The broker complied, because Port Meridian brokers see this kind of request every week and Vorn paid without negotiating.
The office is small and semi-private. Anyone in the corridor outside could hear raised voices, but normal conversation stays inside.
Vorn has a sealed cargo container registered to a forwarding company. The container is listed as "medical cold-chain: perishable biological samples." The registration is clean. He needs it moved from Port Meridian to Saint Orra's Rest, with a planned fuel stop at Harrowspan. He has a contact at Saint Orra's Rest, a Dr. Lios Caern, who will receive the cargo and sign off.
He is offering 800 credits upfront, 800 on delivery.
What Vorn Says
Give Vorn a careful, practiced quality. He has rehearsed this. He knows the job sounds strange if you look at it too long, so he answers questions before they are asked, which is itself a tell.
Use these lines as a script. You do not have to say all of them. Pull the ones that fit the conversation.
Opening:
"Thank you for coming in person. I prefer to deal with people I can look at." He pulls out a datapad and sets it on the desk without looking at it. "I have a cargo transfer. Port Meridian to Saint Orra's Rest, one stop at Harrowspan for resupply. The container is already sealed, registered, and crated for transit. The delivery contact is a Dr. Lios Caern. She'll sign on receipt."
If asked about the cargo:
"Medical supplies. Cold-chain biological samples. The reason it's sealed is chain-of-custody documentation: if the seal breaks, the cargo's legal certification breaks with it. Standard practice for anything that goes through Irnan inspection corridors. I'm not asking you to carry contraband. The registration is clean. You can verify it right now."
He says this confidently and means it. He was told the container holds medical samples. He believes that.
If asked who he works for:
"A consortium with interests in the outer Verge. Medical logistics, research contracts. Nothing interesting." He pauses just slightly too long before "nothing interesting."
If asked why he isn't hiring a licensed carrier:
"Licensed carriers file full manifests with Port Meridian customs. The consortium prefers discretion. Not secrecy: discretion. There is a difference." He doesn't elaborate.
If pushed on why the stop at Harrowspan:
"Harrowspan is on the corridor to Saint Orra's Rest. You'll need to resupply regardless. I've arranged a discount rate through the harbormaster there, a contact named Maren. Ask for her when you arrive. She'll sort you out."
If asked about the delivery timeline:
"As soon as is reasonable. No unrealistic urgency. Saint Orra's Rest within six days, total transit. Two and a half days Port Meridian to Harrowspan, counting the approach in, two and a half days Harrowspan to Saint Orra's Rest, with whatever time you need at Harrowspan."
If the crew tries to walk away:
Vorn does not chase. He says, "I understand. If you change your mind within the hour, I'll still be available." Then he sits and picks up his datapad. He means it. He has other options. This matters to him but he is not desperate.
Checks Available
Players may attempt the following checks during the conversation. These are optional; the crew can take the job without rolling anything.
Perception + Readiness (Easy): Notice that Vorn is nervous. His hands are slightly stiff. He keeps the datapad face-down. He is composed but it costs him effort.
On a success, the crew knows he is concealing something emotional: worry, not dishonesty specifically.
On a Boon: they also notice he glances at the door when he mentions the consortium.
Intellect + Subterfuge (Average): Detect that he is telling the truth about what he knows, but that his information is incomplete. He genuinely believes the container holds medical samples. He does not know more than that because he was not told more than that.
On a success, the GM should tell the player their character gets the sense that Vorn is honest but operating on limited information. He is a courier in a chain, not the author of the plan.
On a Boon: the crew also gets the impression that Vorn has some awareness the job is unusual, even if he cannot name the reason.
Savvy + Negotiation (Average) — Improve the upfront payment: Push for better advance terms. On a success, Vorn agrees to 1,000 credits upfront, 600 on delivery. He does not change the total (1,600 credits). On a failure, he holds at 800/800 and suggests the crew is welcome to decline.
On a Boon with the success: he also mentions that Dr. Caern may be willing to arrange a bonus on delivery if the timeline is good. He does not know how much. He says this in a way that suggests it is real but he is not certain of it.
If Players Want to Research Vorn Independently
Some crews may want to do their own digging before accepting. Let them. Port Meridian has public business registries.
A Savvy + Streetwise check (Easy) finds that Vorn has made three previous cargo transfers through Port Meridian brokers in the last 18 months. All were clean. All were listed as medical or research logistics. None were flagged.
An Intellect + Lore check (Average) about the Nerezza Compact finds that it is a mid-tier Funtari merchant consortium with interests in outer-Verge supply chains and survey operations. It is not on any enforcement watchlist. It is not well-known. It is the kind of organization that exists to move money without attracting attention.
Neither check reveals anything alarming. The job looks clean because Vorn genuinely believes it is clean.
The Job Details
Make sure the crew has the following information before this scene ends. Vorn will provide all of it if asked. If the crew does not ask, Vorn volunteers the critical points at the end of the meeting.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Pay | 800 credits upfront, 800 credits on delivery (or 1,000/600 on a successful Negotiation check) |
| Cargo | One sealed container, registered as medical cold-chain biological samples |
| Route | Port Meridian to Harrowspan (resupply stop, approximately two and a half days: one Slipstream jump of about a day plus the in-system approach), then Harrowspan to Saint Orra's Rest (approximately two and a half days on the same pattern) |
| Delivery contact | Dr. Lios Caern at Saint Orra's Rest. She will sign on receipt. |
| Harrowspan contact | Maren, the harbormaster. She has a discount arrangement for resupply. Ask for her by name. |
| Container handling | Do not open it. Cold-chain documentation requires an unbroken seal. |
| Container registration | Clean and verifiable. Vorn provides the registration code. |
Vorn transfers the upfront payment when the crew agrees. It clears immediately. He says, "Safe transit" when they leave, and means it, even if he does not fully understand what he has set in motion.
What Vorn Does Not Say
He does not say who his employer is beyond "a consortium." He does not say what the container actually holds. He does not say that encrypted relay traffic about this transfer was intercepted by the Irnan Directorate two days ago. He does not know any of those last two things himself.
He does know that the consortium is the Nerezza Compact and that their work tends to involve navigational or survey data rather than medicine. He has delivered similar jobs before and has found it more comfortable not to examine them closely. If directly confronted with this during Scene Three, he will admit it.
Transition to Scene Two
Once the crew accepts the job, they depart Port Meridian aboard the Ember Drift. The transit to Harrowspan takes approximately two and a half days: one Slipstream jump of about a day, then the in-system approach. Harrowspan is a Close approach, so the Ember Drift emerges at Long band and, at Cruise 2 with an 8-hour Interval, takes about 32 hours from emergence to the docking ring. The slipstream corridor and the approach are routine. Nothing happens in transit that requires GM attention.
Open Scene Two when the Ember Drift reaches Short band and Harrowspan Station appears on the forward screens.
Option B: The Summary Version
If you are running the adventure from Scene Two and skipping the roleplay opening, read this to your players at the table before you begin:
Before we start, here is where your crew stands. About two and a half days ago, you took a job from a Funtari merchant named Caelis Vorn at Port Meridian. One sealed cargo container, medical supplies, port-to-port. He paid 800 credits up front. You pick up 800 more at delivery. The container goes to a Dr. Lios Caern at Saint Orra's Rest. You are stopping at Harrowspan to resupply. Vorn told you the harbormaster there, a woman named Maren, arranged a discount rate. The container is sealed. You were asked not to open it. Cold-chain documentation. The job seemed clean.
You came out of slipstream at Long band and have spent a day and a half on the approach since. Harrowspan is on the forward screens now as you reach Short band. The Ember Drift is running fine. The container is in the cargo bay.
What does your crew do?