What Are Djinn?

Djinn are beings of subtle fire who live convincingly as human but retain craft bound by hospitality and precise language. In Baltimore the Highland Concord recognises three broad kinds:

• Ifrit: heatless-flame workers and metalward crafters; superb in kitchens, forges, and any place that needs steady hands and controlled heat.
• Marid: clause-wrights and translators; specialists in formal compacts, oaths, and negotiated safe-passage with clean, mortal-safe wording.
• Mu’min: hearth-keepers and community anchors; gift for quiet miracles of shelter, calm, and mutual aid, binding neighbours more than contracts.

Common traits: heat tolerance, intense focus under pressure, knack for precise phrasing, “hands that don’t burn.” Limits & taboos: sloppy promises can bind; cruel bargains are outlawed by the Concord; salt lines, consecrated water, and deliberate misnaming can disrupt focus; spectacle is frowned upon. Most Djinn pass as human and keep to hospitality law to avoid turf friction.

Overview

The Highland Concord is a federation of Djinn families and naturalised houses who prize hospitality law, clean bargains, and craft. Their miracles tend towards precise clause-work, heatless flame, and elegant fixes to mortal problems. The Concord favours containment over spectacle and serves as a quiet arbitration forum for promise disputes across the East Side.

Maxim: “Bread first, then bargains.”

Leadership & Faces

• Matriarch Samira al-Qadir (Host of the Copper House) — Elder Ifrit line; keeps the ledgers and the kettle. Settles disputes with tea and terrifying patience.
• Omar Petropoulos (Clause-Warden) — Marid descent; drafts formal compacts; ensures mortal-safe phrasing. Reads three languages and every subclause.
• Nadia Reyes (Hearth-Maker) — Mu’min line; fronts the bakery co-op; handles community outreach, mutual-aid funds, and “no one leaves hungry.”
• Faris Haddad (Wayfinder) — Keeps safe routes, escort lists, and emergency doors. First call when someone needs extracting without headlines.
• Juno “Ash” Markos (Copper Knife) — Discreet enforcer; closes breaches without theatre; insists on proportionality.

PC/NPC hooks: Petitioners approach Samira on open nights; written clauses via Omar; aid or introductions through Nadia; quiet travel with Faris; messes cleaned by Ash.

Structure & Houses

Order (light-touch): Matriarch/Patriarch Council → Wardens (Clause • Hearth • Ways • Peace) → Houses (family lines) → Guests (probationary)

Houses

• House al-Qadir (Ifrit): heatless craft, metalwork, kitchen wards.
• House Petropoulos (Marid): contract-craft, translation, maritime favours.
• House Reyes (Mu’min): mutual aid, food security, shelter networks.
• House Markos (Ifrit/Marid cross): security, breach response, discreet transport.

Protocol & Customs

Hospitality Law

• Guests are offered bread, salt, and tea before talk of bargains.
• Within the Copper House, no bindings are made without a witness and cooling time.
• Violence never crosses the threshold; offenders lose all claims.

Customs

• Bring a small gift (edible or useful) when asking for aid.
• Speak plainly; Omar will translate nuance. No tricks at the table.
• Debts are marked with copper chits; settle them before new asks.

Concord Law

1. Keep Hospitality. No coercion under our roof; no hungry petitioner turned away.
2. Consent, Written. Any binding that touches a mortal requires a written, witnessed clause.
3. Contain Fire. No public displays; no heat on hospitals, schools, or shelters.
4. Respect the Neighbours. Honour Free Court veils, Harbour feeding lines, and Iron Belt tracks.

Resources & Fronts

• The Copper House: community kitchen, meeting hall, safe rooms, warded pantry; weekly open night for petitions.
• Bakery Co-op: cash flow and cover; pre-dawn deliveries as message routes.
• Clause Desk: Omar’s tiny office: translation, notary, contract audits (mortal-safe).
• Shelter Net: beds across three parishes; quiet relief fund for mortals caught in the crossfire.

Relations

• Meridian Commission (Baltimore FO): Cordial. The Concord prefers to resolve problems early and quietly; Meridian appreciates fewer headlines.
• Crimson Harbour (vampires): Professional; bakery delivers to two red-room kitchens. Standing rule: no feeding on Copper House nights.
• Iron Belt (werewolves): Good fences; Concord supplies salves and night-running kits, wolves keep park hunts tidy.
• Free Court (fae/spirits): Warm; shared taste for courtesy. Mask repairs and gallery nights cross-pollinate.
• Marrow Syndicate (smugglers): Wary. Concord refuses “medical coolers” without provenance.

Emerging Rumours (GM Guidance)

• “Gold” Chatter: Three separate petitioners used the phrase “gold on the air” after alley confrontations. No samples; no claims filed.
• Tox Notes: A clinic friend flagged a faint metallic artefact in one night-shift patient. Marked “contaminant” for now.
• Kitchen Talk: A travelling broker asked if the Concord could stabilise “short-burn draughts.” Samira declined pending proof.
• Policy: Observe twice, act once. No edicts or experiments until a clean artefact or corroborated witness exists.

Known Houses & Safe Rooms

• The Copper House (Highlandtown): main seat; big table; bigger kettle; strongest wards on the larder.
• Patterson Bake-Room: after-hours oven and back office; doubles as a calm-down space.
• Greektown Workshop: metal/lock bench; clause-safe; Faris’s route maps on the wall.

Membership (Sample NPCs)

• Samira al-Qadir — Matriarch; remembers every guest who ever ate at her table.
• Omar Petropoulos — Clause-Warden; polite, pedantic, indispensable.
• Nadia Reyes — Hearth-Maker; feeds half the East Side and knows who’s hungry.
• Faris Haddad — Wayfinder; shows up with a van when doors need to open.
• Juno “Ash” Markos — Copper Knife; ends trouble without smoke.

Open Slots: 2–3 house heads; 3–6 journeyman clause-workers; 1–2 mortal allies with excellent kitchens.

Hooks & Episode Seeds

• Bread & Boundaries: A petitioner begs for a clause to protect their band’s venue; the rival wants the night and the audience.
• The Empty Cooler: A courier dumps a hospital cooler at the Copper House door and runs. It’s clean, cold, and wrong.
• Three Sips: Someone offers Nadia a tasting of a “short-burn draught.” She wants Meridian or trusted PCs present—or it goes in the bin.
• Door at Dawn: Faris asks for a quiet escort through a market before sunrise; someone else wants that door shut.
• Clause Audit: Omar suspects a predatory contract targeting a mortal artist; needs muscle and manners to fix it.

GM Notes (Backstage)

• Tone: warm, civil, and capable; danger wears an apron and smiles first.
• Pressure Dials: Exposure □□ • Rumour Heat □□□ • Hospitality Debt □□□
• Escalation Path: rumours → first clean artefact → internal split (ban vs. controlled trial) → outside parties test their patience.
• Fail State: predatory draught trials under their roof; hospitality shattered; neighbours turn.
• Win State: proof gathered quietly; a measured stance (contain, condemn, or treaty) without losing the neighbourhood.