Buenaventura, 1810 — Campaign Background
In 1810, the Pacific port of Buenaventura sits at the crossroads of empire, revolution, and foreign ambition. Humid jungle presses against the rickety wooden streets, and the sea brings merchants, missionaries, soldiers, and spies in an endless tide. Though technically under the authority of the Viceroyalty of New Granada, the region has begun to slip from the control of Madrid. Across the continent, juntas form in defiance of the Crown, inspired by Enlightenment texts, resentment of Spanish taxation, and rage at the chaos created when Napoleon’s France forced the abdication of the Spanish king.
Buenaventura is a rough, strategic jewel: a port linking Pacific trade to the interior via river routes. Gold from Chocó, timber, quinine, and whatever contraband the smugglers can stash in hidden coves all pass through its docks. But so do revolutionaries, foreign emissaries, and secret couriers carrying letters that might determine the future of the entire region.
In this atmosphere of tension and opportunity, no one is fully in control. Every tavern, church courtyard, and warehouse is a potential meeting place for agents working at cross-purposes. What seems like a mundane shipment may in fact be coded messages from Caracas, weapons purchased with British silver, or lists of rebel sympathizers hidden inside crates of salted fish.
The governor’s palace tries desperately to maintain order, but Spanish authority has fractured. Some officers remain loyal to the Crown; others hedge their bets, exchanging information with rebel contacts. The region’s Indigenous communities and maroon settlements wield their own power, controlling territory and trade routes the Europeans cannot navigate without them. Meanwhile, the British operate in shadows, encouraging instability where it benefits them and restraining independence movements when they grow inconvenient.
Players stepping into this world must navigate double agents, coded letters, secret uprisings, midnight meetings, assassinations disguised as dueling accidents, and foreign backers with murky motives. Buenaventura is a pressure cooker—and it is about to explode.
FACTIONS
1. The Spanish Royalist Administration
Still the official government, but riddled with factionalism and corruption. They rely heavily on military detachments from Popayán and local informants, but morale is crumbling. Some officers secretly negotiate with rebels for future amnesty.
Goals:
Prevent a Patriot uprising in Buenaventura.
Identify and eliminate covert cells.
Secure revenue from gold shipments to prove loyalty to Madrid.
Methods: Interrogations, bribery, censorship, clandestine arrests, and pressured alliances with Indigenous leaders.
2. The Patriot Network of New Granada
A loose coalition: criollo merchants resentful of Spanish taxes, Enlightenment-inspired lawyers, mestizo smugglers, and soldiers angered by Madrid’s neglect. They work in small cells for operational security.
Goals:
Seize control of Buenaventura’s port.
Intercept Spanish supply lines.
Secure foreign recognition—especially British or American.
Methods: Propaganda pamphlets, clandestine meetings in jungle hideouts, coded letters, smuggling routes, assassinations of key loyalist officials.
3. The British Pacific Squadron (Unofficial)
While officially neutral, Britain encourages unrest to weaken Spain—its long-time rival—so it can dominate South American trade. British agents pose as sailors, naturalists, or merchants.
Goals:
Steer the revolution in a direction favorable to British trade.
Establish covert agreements with future local governments.
Monitor (and disrupt) French or American involvement.
Methods: Funding rebels, bribing Spanish officers, smuggling weapons, providing intelligence to both sides when advantageous.
4. The Maroon Confederation of Río Dagua[/]
Descendants of escaped slaves, they occupy hidden forest communities. Skilled in guerrilla warfare and jungle navigation, they are fiercely independent and distrustful of Europeans but will partner if their autonomy is preserved.
Goals:
Protect their settlements from Spanish incursions.
Gain formal recognition and trade rights from any emerging government.
Methods: Ambush tactics, control of river passages, covert support to rebel groups who respect their sovereignty.
[i]5. Interior Indigenous Coalitions
Primarily from the Emberá and Wounaan groups, they navigate alliances based on survival rather than ideology.
Goals:
Preserve territorial control.
Prevent forced labor and missionary pressure.
Maintain neutrality while extracting concessions from all sides.
Methods: Selective cooperation, information brokering, and manipulation of supply routes.
NPC DOSSIERS
Governor Martín de Alzate
Role: Spanish Royalist Leader
Profile: Rigid, exhausted, trapped between duty and reality. Once a capable administrator, now eroded by paranoia.
Code name: La Cadena
Role: Patriot Liaison and Smuggler Queen
Profile: Educated criolla whose shipping business is a front for the rebel network. Charismatic and calculating.
Seeks: Contacts capable of sabotaging Spanish ships and smuggling weapons inland.
Secrets: Maintains a secret romantic correspondence with a British operative—something the Patriots would not forgive.
Lieutenant Andrés Carreño
Role: Royalist soldier wavering in loyalty
Profile: Young officer horrified by the corruption of the administration. Torn between ambition and conscience.
Seeks: A cause worth believing in.
Captain Frederick Miles
Role: Ostensibly, British officer, posing as a naturalist
Profile: Charming explorer type; knows the region’s geography better than most locals.
Mama Yandira of Río Dagua
Role: Maroon leader and strategist
Profile: Elder matriarch commanding deep respect. Her scouts know every river and mangrove.
Cacique Tamané
Role: Indigenous coalition leader and river-route power broker
Profile: A seasoned Emberá leader in his fifties, calm and calculating. Fluent in Spanish but pretends otherwise. Commands skilled river scouts and controls access to vital inland waterways. Values autonomy above ideology.
Seeks: Guarantees that his people’s territory and independence will be respected by whatever government emerges. Fair trade, safe passage, and leverage over outside powers.
