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. 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. 

Good luck, Trooper - and whatever you do, don't get caught. 

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Ironbound Shadows is a third-party narrative for Lancer written by Alice Ryan, and designed for groups who enjoy challenging mech combat interwoven with political drama and undercover intrigue. Its story takes your players from License Level 1 to LL4 over the course of three missions set in the Appian Tuaithe, a tense antebellum setting waiting to erupt. Along the way, they will fight fascists, pose as Pankrati, and unravel a deadly web of intrigue - all set upon the backdrop of the Dawnline Shore, one of Lancer's most incendiary flashpoints.

Ironbound Shadows requires setting context from the Field Guide to the Karrakin Trade Baronies, and makes full use of the Bonds system within. It also references NPC templates and classes found in the third-party supplement Field Guide to Suldan and the first-party module Dustgrave to elevate mech combat to more challenging and evocative heights.

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The full release of Ironbound Shadows contains:

• 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
• Over 100 pages and 60,000 words of rich narrative, in-depth combat, complex characters, and written dialogue
• A spread of unique new resources for your players to acquire
  • Seven new Reserves to acquire in the city of Stemma, a capital strung with the tensions of looming conflict and class division
  • Two pieces of Exotic Gear to discover as your players research The Sideritis, a deadly experimental weapon wielded by the Scions of Iron
• A full suite of resources for GMs to run the narrative with ease
  • Two new Sitreps; Take and Hold, to capture a more dynamic style of jockeying over a central objective, and Deny Ground, to evoke a progressive uphill push towards securing key objectives
  • Ten tactical hex maps carefully designed to make every combat feel unique
  • 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?

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Ironbound Shadows contains content warnings for the following subjects: fascism, terrorism, imperialism, manipulation, xenophobia, and political violence, as well as aspects of physical, medical, and familial abuse. Refer to the Introduction section for more details.