What Are Long-lived Mortals?

Long-lived mortals are humans extended by rare lineages, measured draughts, or binding oaths who live convincingly as ordinary people but age slowly and endure better than most. In Baltimore the Gloam recognises three broad kinds:

• Gloam-line: blood families with inherited longevity and dusk-adapted physiology; heal a little quicker, sleep lightly, thrive in lamplight and libraries.
• Bound: mortals extended by a standing oath or service (often to a patron or place); resilience tied to the oath’s health and kept by ritual renewals.
• Gentled: carefully maintained ghouls (non-vampiric in culture) whose tonics or controlled vitae exposure grant stamina and recall without frenzy.

Common traits: excellent memory, institutional knowledge, night stamina, careful habits, and a talent for staying unnoticed. Limits & taboos: dependence on routines or renewals; daylight exhaustion; uncontrolled “tonics” risk sickness or exposure; no predation, no glamour fakery; the Stacks’ confidentiality is absolute. Most Gloam pass as human and keep to boundary etiquette to avoid turf friction.

Overview

The Gloam Families are archivists, clerks, quartermasters, and “people with keys” who keep the city’s quiet machinery turning. They trade in records, continuity, and discretion: property rolls, cold case ledgers, forgotten door codes, donor lists, and who owed whom a favour twenty years ago. They avoid politics, survive by being indispensable, and keep the Veil intact by keeping stories tidy. Whispered talk of brief, unnatural boosts — “gold on the air” — is logged as ledger entries until a clean artefact appears.

Maxim: “Write it down. Lock it up. Remember.”

Leadership & Faces

• Aunt Mayra Cortez (Archivist-General) — Keys to three basements and four centuries of gossip. Warm smile; iron filing system.
• Benedict Hale (Ledger-Keeper) — Tall, careful, and never wrong about dates; runs the debt book and the borrowing desk.
• Onyeka Ibeh (Custodian of Doors) — Manages passcards, spare keys, and “accidentally” unalarmed stairwells.
• Ruthie Glass (Healer-of-Habits) — Keeps the lineages balanced (sleep, diet, renewals); fusses about tea and shoes.
• Mr Finch (Messenger) — Retired postie with a perfect memory for routes; delivers letters you won’t email.

PC/NPC hooks: Records via Mayra; debts/markers with Benedict; building access through Onyeka; wellness/renewals by Ruthie; sensitive deliveries by Finch.

Structure & Houses

Order (filial & clerical): Archivist-General → Desk Wardens (Ledger • Doors • Health) → Houses (old lines) → Registered Friends (trusted mortals)

Houses

• House Cortez: municipal records, courthouses, and law basements.
• House Hale: private ledgers, deed rooms, and dusty attics.
• House Ibeh: facilities, keys, and stairwells that matter.
• House Glass: hospital archives, donor files, and microfilm.

Protocol & Customs

Reading Room Rules

• No phones. Pencils only. White gloves on request. Names whispered, not shouted.
• Sign the card; return what you take; late fees are favours, not cash.
• Closed stacks mean closed. Ask Mayra; do not open locked cases.

Boundary Etiquette

• Do not escort outsiders into Free Court salons, Harbour red rooms, Iron Belt tracks, or Lodge slips without written invitations.
• Coordinate with Meridian if access requests risk exposure; the Stacks value quiet more than speed.
• No gossip that breaks the Veil. Stories are filed, not spread.

Gloam Law

1. Confidentiality absolute. Reading Room business stays there; violators lose keys and kin-favours.
2. No predation. The Gloam take nothing that isn’t offered freely and documented.
3. Balance renewals. Tonics, oaths, and rites are measured, logged, and never rushed.
4. Respect neighbours. Honour territorial schedules and sanctums. We are guests everywhere.

Resources & Fronts

• The Stacks: climate-controlled sub-basement; card catalogue; microfilm; private listening desk.
• Key Press: a legitimate key-cutting booth that stamps “lost” access back into the right hands.
• Ledger Room: favours book, debt markers, and an index of “who helps whom” across factions.
• Quiet Clinic: a night nurse and a tea trolley; rest, salts, and common-sense care for over-tired mortals.

Relations (Boundary-respecting)

• Meridian Commission (Baltimore FO): Practical arrangement: discreet file pulls and door schedules in exchange for fewer raids and more respect.
• Crimson Harbour (vampires): Formal distance; the Gloam keep donor ledgers tidy and red-room deliveries punctual — never after midnight without a signature.
• Iron Belt (werewolves): Courtesy swaps: the pack shares park incident notes; the Gloam share lost-dog routes and gate keys.
• Free Court (fae/spirits): Polite; invitations archived; mask-tear incidents logged for future avoidance.
• Highland Concord (djinn): Warm; clause copies stored off-site; hospitality observed in both directions.
• Glasswrights (mirror-folk): Mutual discretion; the Gloam store pane inventories; the Guild fixes camera angles in the Stacks.
• Lodge (water-folk): Tide tables in the drawer; pilots get first look at any “body, no name”.

Emerging Rumours (GM Guidance)

• Unsigned Vial Card: Benedict logs a loan card for an ampoule case with no borrower’s mark; the drawer wasn’t forced.
• Metallic Note: Ruthie records a faint “gold” tang on a returned ledger after a club incident; chalked as contaminant, flagged anyway.
• Predatory Offers: A fixer is courting Bound members with “safe renewals”. Mr Finch keeps the route; Mayra keeps the letters.
• Policy: Verify twice, act once. No new tonics accepted; no unvouched oaths; escalate to Meridian only if exposure risks rise.

Known Rooms & Safe Spots

• The Stacks (Mt. Vernon): main Reading Room; lamp-lit; smells of paper and polish.
• Locust Point Locker: key-cache and message slot behind a legitimate locksmith.
• Federal Hill Listening Desk: a sound-damp booth for sensitive interviews; tea under the chair.

Membership (Sample NPCs)

• Aunt Mayra Cortez — Archivist; never misplaces a card; never forgets a kindness.
• Benedict Hale — Ledger; knows who borrowed what in 1998 and who still owes biscuits.
• Onyeka Ibeh — Doors; sees buildings like maps; likes quiet stairwells.
• Ruthie Glass — Health; feeds people soup and sense; hates “miracle tonics”.
• Mr Finch — Messenger; delivers letters that do not want an inbox.

Open Slots: 2–3 house clerks, 1 night nurse, 1 janitor with perfect timing, 1 law intern who reads Latin.

Hooks & Episode Seeds

• The Missing Card: An item left the Stacks without a borrower slip. Find it before anyone notices the gap.
• Door at Dusk: Onyeka can open a service stair that would save a life — but it crosses two factions’ lines. Who signs, who owes?
• Body, No Name: The Lodge pulls a body with a Gloam coin in the pocket; Benedict wants the ledger page back before dawn.
• Renewal Night: A Bound member’s oath is failing. Fix the altar quietly, or they age thirty years in a week.
• Predator in Paper: A “researcher” is mining old donor lists. Mayra asks the PCs to close the book gently, or loudly if required.

GM Notes (Backstage)

• Tone: lamplight competence; secrets managed, not flaunted; leverage written in pencil.
• Pressure Dials: Exposure □□ • Rumour Heat □□ • Favour Debt □□□
• Escalation Path: rumours → first clean artefact → pressure to “modernise” renewals → lines split on safety vs. longevity.
• Fail State: ledger breach on camera; keys confiscated; everyone loses their librarian.
• Win State: proof gathered quietly; measured stance; the Stacks remain the city’s memory — and its conscience.