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Dockseed Circle

In its first years, the Circle was chiefly a practical arrangement: shared meals after wage delays, childcare during long shifts, and help for households whose workers were injured. Its quiet recordkeeping began when several workers noticed that people who became ill after certain shifts were sometimes summoned by the Wardens and then omitted from ordinary camp rolls. The watershed moment came during the Lantern Week Vigil. The central lantern burned for three nights while the Wardens sealed a run of cases and refused to identify those taken in. Circle members stood outside the depot with the names they had collected. Their list included people officials had described as transferred, resolved, or never registered. Families recognized names and demanded answers. The protest did not open the cases, but it made secrecy visible. From then on, the Circle's central demand was not simply aid for workers, but a public accounting of every Vigil case. The movement grew through mill and foundry households. Its first triumph was securing a recurring public notice of case totals. The notice did not name the missing, and the Circle soon found discrepancies between its own records and the totals. A later attempt to move The Sedge Camp farther from the industrial settlements turned a mutual-aid group into a political one. Circle members argued that distance would isolate families and make the lantern's boundary impossible to watch. The Circle's setback came when an early copy of its records was seized. Some families' private details became the subject of camp gossip, and several supporters withdrew. Since then, the Talliers have divided records, and the Circle has argued over whether disclosure is worth the harm it may cause. Today it is trusted by workers who need help, watched by depot officials, and divided between those who want a careful public inquiry and those who believe only a complete breach of the sealed cases can end the disappearances.

Factions
Faction

Dockseed Circle

To many workers, the Dockseed Circle is the place that remembers a name when official notices do not.
Type
Workers' mutual aid circle…
Size
46 members
Reach
Locally significant
Base
The Sedge Camp

Overview

In its first years, the Circle was chiefly a practical arrangement: shared meals after wage delays, childcare during long shifts, and help for households whose workers were injured. Its quiet recordkeeping began when several workers noticed that people who became ill after certain shifts were sometimes summoned by the Wardens and then omitted from ordinary camp rolls. The watershed moment came during the Lantern Week Vigil. The central lantern burned for three nights while the Wardens sealed a run of cases and refused to identify those taken in. Circle members stood outside the depot with the names they had collected. Their list included people officials had described as transferred, resolved, or never registered. Families recognized names and demanded answers. The protest did not open the cases, but it made secrecy visible. From then on, the Circle's central demand was not simply aid for workers, but a public accounting of every Vigil case. The movement grew through mill and foundry households. Its first triumph was securing a recurring public notice of case totals. The notice did not name the missing, and the Circle soon found discrepancies between its own records and the totals. A later attempt to move The Sedge Camp farther from the industrial settlements turned a mutual-aid group into a political one. Circle members argued that distance would isolate families and make the lantern's boundary impossible to watch. The Circle's setback came when an early copy of its records was seized. Some families' private details became the subject of camp gossip, and several supporters withdrew. Since then, the Talliers have divided records, and the Circle has argued over whether disclosure is worth the harm it may cause. Today it is trusted by workers who need help, watched by depot officials, and divided between those who want a careful public inquiry and those who believe only a complete breach of the sealed cases can end the disappearances.

How it began

The Circle began with a meal pot and a ledger. After a foundry hand returned from a night shift confused, feverish, and marked for a Vigil case, his family found that no official would say where he had been taken. Several mill workers began pooling food and wages for the household. They also kept their own record of who had been summoned, when the central lantern was lit, and which shifts had reported unusual illness. The first entries were made on scraps of packing paper, hidden beneath a communal cooking board. The workers called their effort the Dockseed Circle because the first contributions were a few seeds saved from a soaked ration sack at the camp's old loading edge. The name stuck, even after the seeds were gone.

How to know them

MottoNo case without an account.
EmblemA black lantern set inside an incomplete ring of three reed stalks. The gap in the ring faces outward, signifying that a boundary is not a wall and can be crossed to bring someone home.
Colours

Soot black, Dried reed brown, Lantern amber

Signs
  • A black lantern inside an open ring of three reeds
  • A short length of reed cord tied around a wrist or meal tin
  • Three small marks beside a copied case number, meaning the entry has been checked by separate Talliers
DressNo uniform. Members sometimes wear a short reed cord on a wrist, satchel, or meal tin. The cord is a quiet sign of mutual aid, not proof of membership.

Standing

AlignmentCollective-minded and protective, but increasingly willing to obstruct authorities and risk individual safety for public accountability.
AgeFourteen years since the first workers began organizing; seven years since the Vigil cases became a public grievance.
WealthPoor but organized. The Circle has enough pooled resources for brief emergencies and modest aid, not enough to withstand a long shutdown or relocation.

What they say they want

Keep The Sedge Camp close to the industrial settlements so workers and their families can reach aid.
Require a public accounting of every Vigil case.
Provide food, fuel, and practical support to households affected by illness, disappearance, or lost wages.
Prevent workers from being treated as disposable entries in a sealed record.

What they are doing now

Keep The Sedge Camp within reach of the industrial settlements and the workers who need its aid.
Force a public accounting of every Vigil case, including people recorded as transferred, missing, or resolved.
Secure independent access to the depot's case index before the next relocation order.
Build enough food, medicine, and fuel reserves to sustain a short work stoppage.

Where it leads

A camp where workers can remain close to their livelihoods without being abandoned to industrial danger, where no person can disappear into a sealed case without a publicly traceable record, and where mutual aid is strong enough that no family must trade silence for survival.

How others see them

To many workers, the Dockseed Circle is the place that remembers a name when official notices do not. Families value its food and attention but sometimes fear its demonstrations will draw scrutiny. Depot officials call it disruptive and accuse it of spreading unverified claims. The Circle's public image is compassionate, stubborn, and difficult to silence.

People

5 ranks

First Pot

Kett

Steady, unsentimental, protective, and reluctant to risk other people's safety for a dramatic victory. She can be stubborn when she believes a plan treats the workers as evidence rather than people.

  1. The Potkeepers3 members

    Coordinate food, fuel, emergency lodging, and small wage contributions. They can authorize immediate aid without a full meeting.

  2. The Talliers7 members

    Maintain the Circle's records of missing workers, Vigil notices, contributions, and public statements. Each keeps a separate portion of the record to reduce the risk of a single seizure destroying everything.

  3. The Shift Voices5 members

    Represent mill, foundry, and depot crews. They carry grievances to meetings and call a vote on collective action.

  4. First Pot1 member

    Current convenor and public speaker. The position has no formal command over the Circle, but controls meeting agendas and is often treated as its leader.

  5. Hands and Households30 members

    Contributing workers, dependents, and supporters. They vote on major actions; attendance and participation fluctuate with shifts, illness, and fear of retaliation.

Other key members

  • Tovin Dast Senior Tallier
  • Gara Foundry Shift Voice and likely successor to Kett
  • Sef Uru Young Tallier and possible leaker
  • Batu Family representative and Potkeeper

How they are organised

How it is runVoluntary mutual-aid association with elected shift representatives and informal records keepers
Who comes nextThe Shift Voices nominate a new First Pot when the convenor steps down or loses the confidence of the Circle. Potkeepers and Talliers review the nominees, then Hands and Households vote at an open meeting. In practice, a successor must be trusted by workers and families alike; an official vote cannot compensate for a reputation for exposing private information.
How they recruitThere is no formal initiation. A prospective member helps with a meal, a household need, a record check, or a shift meeting. The Circle asks what they can safely contribute and whether they accept the privacy rules. People who cannot risk public membership may still receive aid or provide information confidentially.
To join
  • Contribute labor, food, a skill, or a small share of wages when able. Poverty and illness do not disqualify anyone.
  • Respect the privacy of families who do not want their cases discussed publicly.
  • Do not sell or surrender another member's records, testimony, or location for personal gain.
  • Support the principle that every Vigil case deserves an accountable public entry, even if members disagree about how much detail to publish.

Relations

8 factions
Individual Warden…CAUTIOUS WORKING CONTACTOuter camp householdsUNCERTAIN COMMUNITY TIESFamilies of the…CORE SUPPORTERSIndustrial workersPRACTICAL ALLIESRelocation advocatesPOLICY RIVALS WHO MAY…Full-disclosure…INTERNAL POLITICAL…The WardensADVERSARIALDepot managementINSTITUTIONAL OPPOSITION
Ally · Core supporters
Families of the sealed cases

Families of workers who fell ill, changed, or disappeared into sealed Vigil cases. Their testimony gives the Circle moral weight, though some families fear that publicity will endanger surviving relatives.

Operations

What they do

Mutual aid for injured, missing, or financially stranded workers and their families.
Tracking Vigil notices and comparing public totals with family reports.
Organizing meetings, petitions, and short work stoppages.
Maintaining the camp's public demand for a case-by-case accounting.
Watching the central lantern and documenting when it is lit.

How they do it

Pool food, fuel, childcare, and wage contributions for households under strain.
Compare official notices against family testimony and shift-level observations.
Ask workers to record dates, symptoms, summonses, and names in separate, independently held notes.
Use petitions, public tallies, work stoppages, and visible gatherings to pressure the Wardens.
Negotiate with individual officials when doing so may locate a missing person or prevent a family from being evicted.

Services for hire

  • Household reliefA contribution of labor, food, or funds when the household can manage it; never required in an emergency
    A hot meal, short-term fuel, childcare, or a safe place to wait while a household member is missing or under scrutiny.
  • Case tally reviewA promise to protect the privacy of families named in the request
    Help comparing a public notice or case total with the Circle's independently gathered records.
  • Shift and family contactReliable information and a willingness to avoid endangering the source
    An introduction to workers on a particular shift or to families willing to discuss a missing person privately.

What they can do

Can assemble credible timelines by comparing family accounts, shift observations, and public notices.
Can provide discreet short-term aid to a household without requiring official registration.
Can organize a modest but visible work stoppage or gathering at short notice.
Knows which families are missing someone, which notices do not match local accounts, and which workers fear being summoned.

What they have

A modest food and fuel reserve, replenished by small contributions from workers and families.
A divided, partly duplicated record of Vigil notices, missing persons, and discrepancies in public case totals.
Trust among a meaningful minority of mill and foundry households.
The ability to call a short stoppage or organize a visible gathering outside the depot.
A shelter that functions as a meal station, meeting place, and informal refuge.

Where they are weak

Limited reserves make the Circle vulnerable to wage loss, crop failure, or a prolonged work stoppage.
Its records are incomplete and rely on frightened witnesses, inconsistent notices, and the memory of families.
Members' need to protect privacy can make public advocacy seem hesitant or evasive.
The Circle has no secure authority over the depot or the Wardens and can be legally or physically excluded from restricted areas.
A leak or a genuine mistake in its ledgers could damage trust across the camp.

Territory

Headquarters

The Sedge Camp
KindShared ration shelter and meeting room

A low communal shelter at The Sedge Camp, assembled from salvaged boards and reed mats. It serves as a kitchen, meeting room, and informal sickroom. A plank wall inside holds copies of public notices and a hand-drawn timeline of Vigil cases. The Circle avoids keeping its most sensitive records there.

Lands they hold

The Sedge Camp
The worker routes between the camp, the mills, and the foundry
The depot's public notice area and the ground around the central lantern

Outposts

  • The Three-Reed BoardNear the mill and foundry shift routesA public notice point for aid requests, meeting times, and case totals. Its name refers to the reed stems cleared from the ground where the board stands.

Secrets

The big secret · GM only
What they really want · GM only
Hidden plans · GM only
Smaller secrets · GM only
What insiders say · GM only
Trouble inside · GM only
Crimes · GM only

Plot hooks

4 hooks
  • 1
    The Name Left Off the Notice
    Low to moderate, focused on investigation and trustReward: A grateful household, useful testimony, and a contact among mill workers
    A worker's family asks the characters to find out whether a relative listed as transferred is alive. Kett will help, but refuses to let the family member's name be published without permission.
  • 2
    One Page, Two Duties
    Moderate, with social and ethical consequencesReward: Evidence, access to the Circle's records, or the trust of the family involved
    A missing page from the Circle's divided ledger turns up in a restricted place. It could clarify a Vigil case, but it also contains private details about a family that has asked for silence. The characters must decide who should see it.
  • 3
    A Camp Out of Reach
    Moderate to high, requiring investigation, negotiation, or organized resistanceReward: Influence over the camp's future and lasting ties with its residents
    The Wardens announce a plan to move The Sedge Camp farther from the industrial settlements. The Circle asks the party to gather evidence that workers and families will be harmed by the move, while a rival group argues that distance is the only way to reduce exposure.
  • 4
    The Index in the Open
    High, with multiple factions competing to control the evidenceReward: A powerful lead into the Vigil cases and a major shift in the Circle's internal balance
    Someone has copied part of the depot index and plans to release it. The names could expose wrongdoing, but they may also reveal the identity of a worker who is alive under an assumed designation. The characters must find the copier and choose whether to stop, verify, or assist the disclosure.

Work they offer

1Deliver a sealed meal contribution to a family whose address the Circle cannot safely put on its public board.
2Verify the dates and names in an old Vigil notice by speaking to workers from separate shifts.
3Recover a stolen ledger page before it is sold, destroyed, or published without the affected family's consent.
4Observe the central lantern over several nights and record any pattern that could be checked against worker illness reports.

What gets in the way

Their demand to keep the depot close to the works may expose sick workers and their families to further danger.
The Circle's mutual-aid stores are small. A prolonged strike could leave the very households they protect without food or fuel.
Members disagree over whether the central lantern is a warning, a measuring instrument, or a tool used to disguise the real extent of contamination.
Some supporters want every Vigil case opened immediately, while others fear that the records contain names, symptoms, and family histories that should remain private.
The Circle is not sure whether the Wardens are keeping the camp close to the works to protect workers, observe them, or both.

Rumours

1The central lantern is lit when contamination reaches a particular boundary. The Circle suspects this may be true but cannot prove it.
2The Wardens are secretly moving every sick worker out of camp. Some cases do involve transfers, but the rumor exaggerates what is known.
3The Circle keeps a second list of people who returned from sealed cases under different names. It has one suggestive discrepancy, not a verified list.
4Kett once refused aid to a family that would not give the Circle information. The story is false, though she has refused to publish a family's testimony without consent.
5The Circle's ration stores are being supplied by a depot clerk. This is true, but the clerk's motives are unknown.

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