Year of the Snake: Day 19 – The Shadowborn Glitch

 

Year of the Snake: Day 19 – The Shadowborn Glitch

By Captain Hedges Log Date: January 19, 2026 Location: Hedges’ Landing (The Swamp) Status: DATA RECOVERY / SIMULATION BREACH

The rain is hammering against the hull of the Penitent Thief, matching the rhythm of the magnetic tape drive spinning on my desk. Whirrr-click. Whirrr-click.

We found a stack of old data reels in the "Sunken Cathedral" sector of the archives. Most of them are corrupted—just static and white noise. But one of them... one of them keeps playing, no matter how many times I try to delete it.

It’s a simulation file. A training program for the Tomorrow War. But someone—or something—has rewritten the code. The monitor flickers, showing a knight in armor, but half his body is glitching into chrome and wire.

This isn't just a file; it's a ghost story.

Project: GHOSTS OF WAR

Campaign Module: The Shadowborn Simulation

This file outlines a "Haunted Holodeck" scenario. It takes the classic "Haunted House" trope and twists it for the Year of the Snake sci-fi setting.

The Core Twist: The Sin of Omission In standard simulations, soldiers are haunted because they did nothing while a family was slaughtered. In this campaign, the players (or the soldiers they believe they are) were the Knights of the Circle—the sworn protectors of the Shadowborn family—who failed in their duty.

• The Hidden Memory: Years ago (in the "real" future timeline), the Mist Tyrant (Duke of Alba) discovered the location of the last Shadowborn heirs. Instead of fighting to the death to save them, your players' characters surrendered or fled to save their own skins.

• The Massacre: Because they fled, the Inquisition tortured and executed the Shadowborn family (Kateri and her children) in a ritual to power the Thule "Rising."

• The Curse: Kateri Shadowborn didn't scream for mercy; she looked directly at the fleeing players and whispered the curse that trapped them in this 1500s simulation: "You shall not rest until the blood is paid."

The "Glitches"

Since the players are trapped in a "1500s Spanish War" simulation, the Shadowborn ghosts act as "viruses" trying to break the illusion.

• The Journal: The players find the Holy Journal of Kateri Shadowborn. It details their own betrayal, but the handwriting changes to match the players' handwriting as they read it.

• The Matriarch: The "Ghost in the Veil" is Lady Aurora Shadowborn. She appears in mirrors wearing 16th-century mourning clothes, but her face is "pixelated" or glitching into a skull.

• The Signal: The banging on the walls isn't just noise; it's the Shadowborn family crest tapping out the coordinates of their real bodies in the future.

The Exit Strategy

To "beat" the game, the players must do what the soldiers in the movie couldn't:

1. Stop fighting the fake "Dutch Rebels."

2. March into the Mist Tyrant's fortress (the "Chateau").

3. Break the Simulation.

They will wake up in the Tomorrow War (future Thule Empire) as crippled/cybernetic prisoners, but they will finally have the chance to kill the real Mist Tyrant and redeem the Shadowborn legacy.

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Product Identity & Legal The "Year of the Snake" Project, "The Tomorrow War," "Mist Tyrant," and "Thule Empire" are Product Identity of Arthur Earl C. Hedges Jr. "Shadowborn" and "Ravenloft" concepts are used here as fan-content homage/adaptation and are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast. © 2026 Arthur Earl C. Hedges Jr. All rights reserved.