Editing Openai/695f146f-35a4-800f-bdf0-3252b8bc7b77 (section)

===== Long, detailed session summary =====

This session begins with the full group present and the Claimant on-screen. The coup and exile are already past. The opening fiction assumes shared trauma, not fresh wounds.

The GM frames the Sedgelands immediately as useful but dangerous:
* trade flows through here,
* enforcement is inconsistent,
* and everyone knows everyone else’s business.

The Claimant’s presence is risky. They are not openly named, but secrecy has a cost: protection, bribes, silence.

The first major move is not a Sortie, but a conversation. The retinue discusses what they need first:
* money,
* safe movement,
* and time.

The GM introduces multiple rumors simultaneously:
* a merchant network under pressure,
* bandits extracting tolls,
* a local authority figure unable to maintain order.

Importantly, none of these are framed as “your enemy.” They are problems that exist without you.

Recon is collaborative. Each PC contributes questions tied to their playbook:
* Who profits from the bandits?
* Who is failing to enforce order?
* Who could be embarrassed into cooperation?

The Sortie crystallizes around intervention without ownership. The group decides to:
* disrupt a local threat,
* make themselves indispensable,
* but avoid claiming territory.

The engagement roll drops them into a tense, unstable situation rather than open combat. Violence is present, but limited. The group uses:
* intimidation,
* negotiation,
* selective force.

The success condition is deliberately narrow:
make the Sedgelands safer for one specific flow of trade.

They succeed—but not cleanly. Consequences include:
* increased visibility,
* a minor faction feeling threatened,
* and rumors tying the group to outside power.

Downtime cements the theme:
* stress recovery scenes deepen character relationships,
* minor projects hint at future ambitions,
* but nothing resembling a Domain is defined yet.

The session ends with the group having momentum, not a plan.