Overview

The Accord Table is where Baltimore’s major houses meet to keep the Veil intact, settle quarrels, and timetable the city’s invisible logistics. It prefers consensus; when that fails, it uses a formal vote. The Civic Room is fitted for discretion: mirrors that do not gossip, drapes that eat flash, and a witness bell that only rings when every name is written.

Maxim (engraved on the table rim): “Keep the peace, keep the Veil.”

Composition & Seats

• Crimson Harbour (Vampires) — Prince Eleanor Calvert
• Free Court (Fae/Spirits) — Convenor Edda Glass
• Iron Belt (Werewolves) — Reeve Mara Kincaid
• Lodge (Selkies & Rivermen) — Pilot Maeve Finn
• Glasswrights (Mirror-folk) — Master Mr Calder
• Highland Concord (Djinn) — Matriarch Samira al-Qadir
• Coven of Seven Ways (Witches/Warlocks) — Elder Rowan Hale
• Thresh Collective (Daemonkin) — Coordinator Luz Thresh
• Gloam Families (Long-lived Mortals) — Archivist-General Aunt Mayra Cortez

Non-voting observers: Meridian Commission, Baltimore Field Office (liaison: Senior Case Officer Moira MacLeod), plus ad hoc technical witnesses (Wardwrights’ Guild, clinicians, Glasswright auditors) as needed.

The Civic Room (Layout)

• Round Table: nine named seats; a tenth chair for observers; inset copper ring (“consent circle”) must be touched to speak.
• Witness Rail: two benches for petitioners, envoys, and experts; glass that blurs faces on cameras.
• Side Chamber: caucus room for private breaks; tea, ledger, simple oath kit; no recording devices.
• Ledger Niche: locked cabinet holding minutes, voted orders, and standing treaties; keys held by the Gloam and the Concord.

Wards & Safeguards

• Courtesy Net: tonal enchantment that keeps tempers conversational; shouting tastes of copper.
• Silver Net: mirror baffle fitted by Glasswrights; flash/photo resolves to tasteful glare.
• Consent Ring: binding on procedure only; speeches and votes register when the ring is touched.
• Mask of Ordinary: the floor reads as a dull conference room on casual glance or camera.
• Door Protocol: keyed lift + stair that “forgets” uninvited feet; entry logged by the Gloam clerk.

Business of the Table

• Boundary & Timetables: salon nights, feeding windows, moon drills, mirror crossings, harbour fogs.
• Arbitration: trespass, broken courtesies, debt disputes, craft complaints (e.g., faulty wards, unsafe panes).
• Exposure Governance: incident reviews, cover stories, coordinated clean-ups, Veil repair budgets.
• Sanctuary & Petitions: safe-conduct for late-bloomers, out-of-city envoys, or mortals in genuine peril.
• Rumour Monitoring: cross-reports on anomalies (e.g., “gold-surge/bloom”) with sample custody managed by the Gloam.

Procedure & Voting

• Quorum: 6 of 9 seats present (observers do not count).
• Consensus Sought: the Convenor (rotating quarterly) seeks a unanimous accord first.
• Vote: failing consensus, a supermajority of 6/9 carries ordinary motions; 7/9 for sanctions or treaty changes.
• Emergency Orders: any two neighbours + one distant seat may call an Emergency Veil Order (temporary measures for 72 hours) if exposure risk is immediate; must be reviewed at the next sitting.
• Minutes: recorded in pencil by the Gloam; signed in ink by the Convenor and one counter-signer from a different seat.

On Meridian (View & Protocol)

The Accord Table treats Meridian Commission as a necessary neighbour: regulator, fire-break, and occasional hammer. The liaison attends as a non-voting observer with three formal privileges:

• Exposure Advisory: may issue a written alert on potential Veil breach; triggers an automatic agenda item.
• Request for Assistance: may ask the Table to coordinate a quiet, multi-faction response before raids are considered.
• Warrant Presentation: may present lawful orders; the Table records receipt and negotiates compliance that avoids spectacle.

Standing stance: cooperate to prevent exposure; resist dragnet theatre; no compelled handover of persons or artefacts without specific warrant and chain-of-custody that protects the Veil.

Access & Calendar

• Ordinary Sittings: second Tuesday monthly, 19:30–22:00.
• Neutral Window: daily 16:00–18:00 for cross-faction handovers under clerk supervision.
• Emergency Sitting: 24-hour call by any two seats citing exposure risk; observers notified.
• Petitioners: book via the Gloam clerk; three minutes to speak; gifts or truths accepted.

Civic Room Law

1. No spectacle. If it reads on camera, the meeting is adjourned and sanctions follow.
2. Weapons peace-bound. Power and steel alike are sheathed at the door.
3. Speak for yourself. Proxies must be named in writing; no ventriloquising absent seats.
4. Honour neighbours. Boundaries and timetables agreed here are binding on signatories.

Clerkship & Convenors

• Clerk of the Table: Benedict Hale (Gloam) — minutes, chits, schedule, door ledger.
• Quarter Convenor (rotating): current chair Edda Glass (Free Court); next quarter Samira al-Qadir (Concord).
• Serjeant-at-Door: Jax “Rail” Moreno (Iron Belt) — peace-binds, keys, quiet removals.

Relations & Treaties

• Neighbour Accords: posted calendars (salons, drills, feeding windows, fogs, pane crossings) prevent friction.
• Craft Safety: Wardwright & Glasswright standards adopted for public-adjacent workings.
• Sanctuary Protocol: late-bloomers may claim 72-hour safe-conduct if escorted by any two seats.

Emerging Rumours (GM Guidance)

• Gold Artefacts: multiple seats note brief overperformance events with a faint metallic tang; the Gloam log samples as “dry, cold, wrong”.
• Double Booking: two factions file calendars that collide by “accident” during a festival week.
• Anonymous Petition: a sealed request alleges a Meridian sub-team is courting unsanctioned trials.
• Policy: Verify twice, act once. No trials, no panics, no cameras.

Hooks & Episode Seeds

• Emergency Veil Order: A nightclub incident risks exposure across three territories. Can the PCs broker a clean, multi-house fix within 72 hours?
• The Missing Minutes: A page from the ledger vanishes between sittings. Who benefits from a meeting that “didn’t happen”?
• Two Chairs, One Night: Convenor falls ill; Meridian turns up with a warrant. Who takes the chair and keeps the peace?
• Calendar War: Overlapping salon/feeding/run schedules strain tempers. Re-map the city or watch manners fail.
• Gold on the Agenda: A seat demands the anomaly be weaponised; another threatens to walk. Vote, bargain, or split?

GM Notes (Backstage)

• Tone: urbane brinkmanship; civility under load; power expressed as schedules, signatures, and who pours tea.
• Pressure Dials: Exposure □□□ • Rumour Heat □□ • Boundary Friction □□
• Escalation Path: rumour → emergency sitting → split vote → outside leverage (Meridian, fixers, mortals) → accord or fracture.
• Fail State: camera breach during a sitting; public scandal; neutral ground lost.
• Win State: clean story, quiet repair, timetables reset; everyone leaves owing one favour, not five.