Who Are the Blackwater Choir?

The Blackwater Choir is a breakaway of water-folk who reject the Lodge’s treaties and rescue-first doctrine. They preach that the harbour must be feared to be respected, punishing “landsoft” collaborators and staging spectacles that make mortals keep away. Their membership skews young and storm-fond: selkies who won’t lodge skins, river sprites who treat slipways as altars, and a handful of hard-nosed nixies.

Signature tells: rope knots left where no rope should be, fog bells rung at impossible hours, tide-lines shaped into unfamiliar sigils.

Overview

The Choir aim to unmake the polite harbour: they flip buoys, sing capsizes, and seed panic near tourist lanes to discredit the Lodge. They avoid direct violence when they can stage fear instead—boats spun by song-pressure, cameras drowned in mist, and “accidents” that leave no clean charge.

Maxim (hissed on the piers): “No boat alone—because none shall dare.”

Faces & Inner Ring

• Muirenn “Muir” Glass — Caller; selkie without a lodged skin; voice that finds weak keels.
• Brack Ferris — Knot-Master; river sprite; ritual rope, tide sigils, harbour maps.
• Nia Flood — Foghand; nixie; bell codes, lantern craft, misdirection near slips.
• “Wharf Rat” Jory — Shore Runner (mortal); keys, bolt-cutters, and a grudge against pilots.

Structure & Raiding Cells

Model: Caller (song lead) → Knot cell (prep) → Fog cell (cover) → Shore runner (lookouts & keys).

• Knot Cells: place rope patterns and bottle charms; prime outfalls before the tide turns.
• Fog Cells: manage bells/lamps and low mist; mask faces and cameras without full white-out.
• Call Teams: 2–3 singers set pressure on hulls, oars, and sense of balance; break and run at first siren.

Methods & Habits

• Song-Pressure: low, sustained notes that unsettle balance and wake micro-chop; reads as “rogue gust”.
• Bell Misdirection: coded rings at noon or slack tide to falsify pilot routes and draw cameras.
• Rope Signs: reef-knots where clove should be, or “impossible” hitches on locked rails; a courtesy-turned-curse.
• Mist Veil: shallow, rolling fog that eats flash; never full blankets unless fleeing.
• Harbour Theatre: staged rescues to humiliate Lodge crews; they “save” a danger they caused.

“Choir Law” (as they boast)

1. Fear is safety. If the shore fears the water, it stays honest.
2. No clean rescues. The Lodge must fail on camera.
3. Our tide, our time. Festival nights are for lessons.
4. Leave no proof. Rope, bell, and breath—nothing a court can hold.

Note: They break Rule 2 when mortals genuinely drown—image loses to instinct.

Resources & Kits

• Bell Rack: cut-down buoys with hidden clappers; portable brackets for piers.
• Knot Chest: salted ropes, glass floats, bone needles, tar pots; each knot holds a breath.
• Mist Lamps: hooded lanterns with oil-and-salt mix; throw low veil, not storm theatre.
• Skins & Wraps: some selkies carry decoy wraps; true skins never lodged in skin-locks.
• Edge Ampoules: rare “quiet throat” vials (dry, cold, wrong) that sharpen a song for seconds; officially disdained, quietly hoarded.

Relations & Enmities

• Selkie & Rivermen Lodge: sworn rivals; Choir sabotage pilot codes and rescue windows.
• Crimson Harbour: hostile; stunt-fogs during feeding windows risk donor routes.
• Free Court: scorn; salons request “no-fog” nights after Choir pranks nearby.
• Meridian: cat-and-mouse; Choir treat cordons as stage marks; Meridian counters with Veil Mesh and bell audits.
• Howl & Spark: occasional coordination to bait chases along water edges.

Emerging Rumours (GM Guidance)

• Noon Tide: bell codes ringing at noon match an old pilot ledger—someone’s feeding them charts.
• Gold on the Water: a faint golden sheen on chop after a song-push; singers shake afterwards.
• Skin Theft: a selkie skin vanished from a private lock; Nettie swears the keys never left her belt.

Known Haunts & Set Pieces

• Outfall K-12 (Harbour East): bottle charms under the grate; bell heard against the wind.
• Dead Pier by Tide Point: rope marks under the rail; lantern soot with salt sparkle.
• Mothball Barge “Blue Jenny”: a roving meet; tar smell, hidden bell, easy shove off.

Notable Operatives (NPCs)

• Muir Glass — Caller; thinks fear is kindness; will dive on a true drowning.
• Brack Ferris — Knots as scripture; hates pilots with ritual precision.
• Nia Flood — Noon bells are her joke; one day it won’t be funny.
• Jory “Wharf Rat” — Keys and grudges; sells routes when scared.

Hooks & Episode Seeds

• Noon Bell: Fog bell rings at high noon; tourist kayaks begin to drift into a freight lane. Stop the “accident” without giving the Choir a headline.
• Knot on a Door: A copper-salted knot appears on the Pilots’ Room side door. Decode, remove, and find the bottle charm before a rescue goes wrong.
• Staged Save: The Choir plan to capsize a skiff and “rescue” it on camera. Swap the skiff, catch the singers, or turn the theatre against them.
• Skin Ledger: A missing selkie skin points to a Choir cell. Recover it before the owner bends to whoever holds the pelt.
• Quiet Throat: A seized ampoule sharpens song. Trace the supply or bait the Caller into overusing it.

Countermeasures (For PCs/Allies)

• Bell Discipline: encrypt bell codes; Lodge & Meridian audit clappers; noon rings trigger automatic patrols.
• Knot Hygiene: soak unknown knots in fresh water, cut under witness, burn soaked tails; log sigils with the Gloam.
• Mist Protocol: deploy Veil Mesh over slips; Free Court “light temper” on camera sightlines.
• Route Calm: Concord escorts through treaty corridors; post “no-mist” windows during festivals.
• Skin Security: two-key custody, seal tape, and surprise audits; any missing pelt triggers citywide stand-down.

GM Notes

• Tone: brined menace; ethics under weather; fear as policy.
• Pressure Dials: Exposure □□ • Rumour Heat □□ • Harbour Safety □□□
• Escalation Path: stray knot → noon bell → staged capsize → real casualty risk → Accord backlash.
• Fail State: filmed drowning blamed on the Lodge; tourist bans; Meridian raids on water-folk.
• Win State: knots decoded, bells quieted, staged rescue revealed; harbour remains boring and safe.