Overview

The Pilots’ Room is a tide-warmed haven where routes are planned, fog is listened to, and rescues are decided with tea and pencil stubs. It functions as dispatch, commons, and shrine for water-folk who keep the city’s working water honest. The room smells of rope, lemon oil, and raincoats left to dry; bells and lamps hang on pegs, each with a story.

House Maxim (engraved brass over the chart rail): “No boat alone; no body lost.”

Rooms & Layout

The Pilots’ Room (Core)

• Chart Wall: tide boards, harbour charts, wayleave maps, and a slate listing treaty corridors and no-mist windows.
• Dispatch Table: battered oak, grease pencil circles; rota board for pilots, salvage, and fog crew; kettle and biscuit tin.
• Signal Rack: bells, lamps, flags, and hand-horn; code list in a copper frame.

Inner Office

• Charts-Warden Desk: treaty drawer (locked), permit stamps, and a ledger for wayleave signatures.
• Skin-lock Cabinet: sealed cupboard for selkie skins and wraps; two-key protocol; sign-in witnessed by the Net-Mother.

Waterside Stores

• Dive Shed: suits, tanks, lift bags, hook lines; “found & claimed” ledger and tag rack.
• Boathouse Nook: small tool bench, running lights, spare fenders, and tarps; slip key board behind a curtain.

Old Slip Five

• Retired Landing: a kept-by-accident slip used for quiet departures and late returns; fog seems to wait here.
• Mist Hook: bracket for a fog bell and lamp; rung only by order of the Bellman.

Wards, Customs & Safeguards

• Tide Veil: a room-wide glamour that reads as “marine clutter” to casual eyes; cameras record charts as glare.
• Salt Threshold: a bead of sea-salt along the sill; keeps malice from crossing dry-shod.
• Skin-lock Geas: cabinet accepts keys only from named holders; theft or tampering trips a bell no mortal can hear.
• Fog Courtesy: bells and lamps carry treaty codes; wrong rings earn dockside apologies and a fine in favours.
• Quiet Window: drapes and hush-charm dampen raised voices; arguments wait for the Green Lamp to be lit.

Access & Schedules

• Lodge Nights: Mondays & Thursdays, 18:00–22:00 — rota set, treaty notes read, skins checked in/out.
• Pilot Windows: pre-dawn (04:30–06:30) and dusk (18:30–20:30); dispatch assigns escorts and slip timings.
• Neutral Handovers: daily 16:00–18:00 at the pub’s side door; no weapons, no entourages, no cameras.
• Skin-lock Hours: by appointment only; Net-Mother and Charts-Warden both present; signatures in indelible ink.

House Protocol

On Arrival

• Knock twice, state your name and tide (pilot, salvage, guest). Wait for the Bellman’s nod.
• Salt your boots at the tray; wet coats on the rail; no dripping on the charts.

Dispatch Etiquette

• Routes are assigned, not argued. If you must object, bring a better tide and a safer slip.
• Rescue trumps rivalry. All hands answer No boat alone without asking who owns the hull.
• Report strange water (snaps, sheens, songs) in the ledger; speculation stays off the wall.

Boundary Courtesy

• Respect red-room corridors, park tracks, Free Court salons, and mirror-work schedules. Reroute rather than rile.
• Meridian liaison admitted by prior notice; talks at the Dispatch Table with drapes drawn.

Keepers & Regulars

• Maeve Finn — Harbour Pilot & Lodge-Keeper; sets the rota; smiles at storms.
• Caspian Rowe — Sounder; reads wrecks by ear; keeps the “found & claimed” book honest.
• Old Nettie — Net-Mother; minds pups and the skin-lock; hates grand gestures.
• Tomas “Brass” Delaney — Bellman; holds the code list; rings fog only when it’s time.
• Laleh Akbari — Charts-Warden; keeps permits straight and neighbours calmer than they feel.

Logistics & Cover

• Pilots’ Pub Cover: staff trained in polite ignorance; deliveries through the alley; “members’ room” sign that means nothing to mortals.
• Slip Keys: tagged and signed out; missing keys cost a month of dawns.
• Salvage Ledger: items tagged, photographed (blurred by Light Temper), and held three nights before claim.
• Signal Net: bells and lamps along agreed rails; code sheet shared with a handful of trusted neighbours.

Hooks & Scene Seeds

• Bell at Wrong Hour: The fog bell rings at noon—no order given. False wind, prank, or a code you’ve forgotten?
• Skin-lock Scratch: Cabinet shows salt-scored claw marks, but both keys are accounted for. What knocked and why?
• Snap at Slip: A tourist kayak video almost catches an against-wind shove near Old Slip Five. Retrieve it without a scene.
• Found & Claimed: A tidy ampoule case rides in on a tide; ledger says “dry, cold, wrong”. Who wants it back?
• Red Corridor Reroute: The Prince extends a feeding window; Maeve needs a new route that doesn’t offend three neighbours.

GM Notes

• Tone: workmanlike grace; treaties and tides; rescue before rivalry.
• Capacity: Dispatch table works best with 5–7; Dive Shed can kit 4 at once; Boathouse moves two skiffs quietly.
• Complications: bar rushes downstairs, safety inspections, storm surges, rival pilots with louder bells.
• Map Keys: chart wall, dispatch table, signal rack, inner office (treaty drawer), skin-lock, dive shed, boathouse nook, Old Slip Five, mist hook.