diff --git a/crates/buzz-relay/src/audio/mesh.rs b/crates/buzz-relay/src/audio/mesh.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c635173eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/buzz-relay/src/audio/mesh.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,378 @@
+//! Cross-pod huddle audio: owner fan-out over the relay mesh.
+//!
+//! Today a huddle's audio only fans out within a single pod
+//! ([`super::room::Room::broadcast_frame`]). Under horizontal scaling, two
+//! participants can land on different pods and never hear each other — which is
+//! why [`super::handler`] rejects joins with `huddle_audio_unavailable` when the
+//! deployment sets `huddle_audio_available = false`. This module removes that
+//! wall by routing audio across the mesh to the pod that *owns* the huddle.
+//!
+//! ## Owner-authoritative model
+//!
+//! One pod owns a huddle: the holder of the Redis fenced CAS lease for
+//! `session_id == channel_id` (the session directory, Perci's lane, exposed to
+//! us through [`HuddleOwnerDirectory`]). That pod hosts the single
+//! [`Room`](super::room::Room) —
+//! the sole allocator of the 0..=254 `peer_index` space, so indices can never
+//! collide across pods. Non-owner pods are thin: they register their local
+//! clients as *remote peers* in the owner's room over a reliable
+//! [`Profile::HuddleControl`] stream, forward those clients' Opus frames to the
+//! owner as datagrams, and deliver the owner's fan-out back verbatim.
+//!
+//! ## The payload invariant (why this needs no wire change)
+//!
+//! The client sends `[8B v2 header][opaque Opus]`; the relay parses the header
+//! for telemetry only and forwards the frame opaquely, and `broadcast_frame`
+//! prepends a 1-byte `peer_index`. That `peer_index` is relay-added *routing*
+//! metadata — it never touches ciphertext — so the whole byte string
+//! `[peer_index][v2 header][Opus]` is exactly what [`MeshDatagram::payload`] is
+//! for: opaque to encryption, owned by the routing plane. **peer_index is
+//! always the first byte of a media datagram payload, both directions.** The
+//! client's WebSocket wire format is byte-identical to a single-pod huddle.
+//!
+//! ## Room stays pure
+//!
+//! `Room` never learns about the mesh. A remote participant is an ordinary
+//! [`AudioPeer`] whose `audio_tx` receiver is drained by a task that wraps each
+//! frame in a [`MeshDatagram`] and calls [`RelayPeerTransport::send_datagram`].
+//! The in-pod fan-out is reused unchanged; only a peer's *sink* differs.
+//!
+//! ## Fencing (law, not exempt for media)
+//!
+//! Every datagram carries a [`FencedHeader`]. Both ends reject frames whose
+//! generation is stale for the session — a late datagram from a dead generation
+//! is dropped, which for lossy audio is indistinguishable from packet loss and
+//! is therefore exactly correct. Monotonicity of `generation` across owner death
+//! is guaranteed by the directory's companion INCR counter (session-directory
+//! lane); this module trusts that and only enforces "reject < known".
+
+use std::sync::Arc;
+
+use bytes::Bytes;
+use tokio::sync::mpsc;
+use tracing::{debug, warn};
+use uuid::Uuid;
+
+use buzz_relay_mesh::{FencedHeader, MeshDatagram, RelayPeerTransport, RuntimeId};
+
+use super::room::AudioRoomManager;
+
+/// The slice of the session directory that huddle audio needs.
+///
+/// Implemented by the session-directory lane (Perci) over the Redis fenced CAS
+/// lease. Kept narrow on purpose: audio only asks "who owns this huddle, and at
+/// what generation?" — it never acquires, renews, or releases leases (that is
+/// the owning pod's session layer). Returning [`None`] means "no live owner"
+/// (the caller may then acquire, on the owner path).
+pub trait HuddleOwnerDirectory: Send + Sync + 'static {
+    /// Current `{owner_runtime_id, generation}` for a huddle session, or `None`
+    /// if no live lease exists. Cheap/cached; called on the join path, not per
+    /// frame.
+    fn owner_of(&self, session_id: Uuid) -> Option<Ownership>;
+}
+
+/// A resolved huddle ownership snapshot.
+#[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub struct Ownership {
+    /// Boot-unique mesh endpoint key of the pod currently holding the lease.
+    pub owner_runtime_id: RuntimeId,
+    /// Fenced generation of this ownership epoch; monotonic per session.
+    pub generation: u64,
+}
+
+/// Tracks the highest generation this pod has observed per session, so stale
+/// frames are rejected at every hop (fencing law). Monotonic-only: a frame is
+/// accepted iff its generation is `>=` the highest seen; observing a higher
+/// generation advances the floor (and signals a takeover the caller may act on).
+#[derive(Default)]
+pub struct GenerationFloor {
+    seen: dashmap::DashMap<Uuid, u64>,
+}
+
+impl GenerationFloor {
+    /// Create an empty floor (no sessions observed yet).
+    pub fn new() -> Self {
+        Self {
+            seen: dashmap::DashMap::new(),
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Check a frame's generation against the floor for its session.
+    ///
+    /// - `Accept` — generation is current (`== floor`) or advances it (`>
+    ///   floor`, a takeover we now pin).
+    /// - `RejectStale { known }` — generation is below the floor; drop the
+    ///   frame. This is the fence.
+    pub fn check(&self, session_id: Uuid, generation: u64) -> FenceVerdict {
+        use dashmap::mapref::entry::Entry;
+        match self.seen.entry(session_id) {
+            Entry::Occupied(mut e) => {
+                let known = *e.get();
+                if generation < known {
+                    FenceVerdict::RejectStale { known }
+                } else {
+                    if generation > known {
+                        *e.get_mut() = generation;
+                    }
+                    FenceVerdict::Accept {
+                        advanced: generation > known,
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            Entry::Vacant(e) => {
+                e.insert(generation);
+                FenceVerdict::Accept { advanced: false }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Drop all state for a session (room ended / owner teardown).
+    pub fn forget(&self, session_id: Uuid) {
+        self.seen.remove(&session_id);
+    }
+}
+
+/// Outcome of a fence check.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub enum FenceVerdict {
+    /// Frame is live. `advanced` is true when it bumped the floor (takeover).
+    Accept {
+        /// True when this frame's generation exceeded the prior floor,
+        /// signalling an ownership takeover the caller may act on.
+        advanced: bool,
+    },
+    /// Frame is from a superseded generation; drop it.
+    RejectStale {
+        /// The highest generation observed for this session — the fence floor.
+        known: u64,
+    },
+}
+
+/// Handles inbound mesh media for huddles on this pod.
+///
+/// Registered as (part of) the relay's [`buzz_relay_mesh::InboundHandler`].
+/// Datagrams are delivered to local room peers; the fence is enforced here so
+/// no stale media reaches a client. The `HuddleControl` stream path (remote
+/// peer registration) is driven from [`super::handler`] on join/leave and is
+/// wired in a following change — this type owns the datagram half and the
+/// shared fence state both halves consult.
+pub struct MeshAudioRouter {
+    rooms: Arc<AudioRoomManager>,
+    fence: Arc<GenerationFloor>,
+    local_runtime_id: RuntimeId,
+}
+
+impl MeshAudioRouter {
+    /// Construct a router over this pod's rooms, tagged with the local runtime
+    /// identity (used to distinguish owner vs non-owner delivery paths).
+    pub fn new(rooms: Arc<AudioRoomManager>, local_runtime_id: RuntimeId) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            rooms,
+            fence: Arc::new(GenerationFloor::new()),
+            local_runtime_id,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Shared fence state, so the `HuddleControl` stream path (join/leave) and
+    /// the datagram path enforce one generation floor per session.
+    pub fn fence(&self) -> Arc<GenerationFloor> {
+        Arc::clone(&self.fence)
+    }
+
+    /// This pod's mesh runtime identity.
+    pub fn local_runtime_id(&self) -> RuntimeId {
+        self.local_runtime_id
+    }
+
+    /// Deliver an inbound media datagram to the addressed local huddle.
+    ///
+    /// The payload is `[peer_index][v2 header][Opus]` — already prefixed by the
+    /// sender (the owner, when fanning out to us; or a non-owner client's pod,
+    /// when we are the owner). We fence, then push the payload into every
+    /// *local* peer's audio sink **except** the peer whose index authored it,
+    /// mirroring `broadcast_frame`'s "everyone but the sender" rule so a speaker
+    /// never hears themselves.
+    ///
+    /// Returns the fence verdict for observability/tests. Does not itself
+    /// re-fan across the mesh: if we are the owner, cross-pod fan-out happens
+    /// through the remote peers' mesh sinks during `broadcast_frame`, so an
+    /// owner-side inbound datagram only needs local delivery here.
+    pub fn on_media_datagram(&self, dgram: &MeshDatagram) -> FenceVerdict {
+        let session_id = dgram.fenced.session_id;
+        let verdict = self.fence.check(session_id, dgram.fenced.generation);
+        if let FenceVerdict::RejectStale { known } = verdict {
+            debug!(
+                %session_id,
+                frame_generation = dgram.fenced.generation,
+                known_generation = known,
+                "dropping stale-generation media datagram (fence)"
+            );
+            return verdict;
+        }
+
+        let Some(room) = self.rooms.get(session_id) else {
+            // No local room for this session: nothing to deliver to. Not an
+            // error — membership can race a datagram in flight.
+            return verdict;
+        };
+
+        let Some((&author_index, rest)) = dgram.payload.split_first() else {
+            warn!(%session_id, "empty media datagram payload — dropping");
+            return verdict;
+        };
+        // Reconstruct the exact on-wire frame the local fan-out uses:
+        // [peer_index][v2 header][Opus]. `rest` is [v2 header][Opus]; the
+        // prefix is the author's index. We hand peers the already-prefixed
+        // bytes and skip re-broadcasting to the author's own index.
+        let mut prefixed = bytes::BytesMut::with_capacity(dgram.payload.len());
+        prefixed.extend_from_slice(&[author_index]);
+        prefixed.extend_from_slice(rest);
+        let prefixed = prefixed.freeze();
+
+        room.deliver_prefixed(author_index, prefixed);
+        verdict
+    }
+}
+
+/// A sink that forwards a remote peer's fanned-out frames onto the mesh.
+///
+/// Constructed on the owner pod for each *remote* participant: the owner's
+/// `Room` sees the remote peer as an ordinary [`AudioPeer`] whose `audio_tx`
+/// feeds this task, which wraps each frame as a [`MeshDatagram`] and sends it to
+/// the pod that hosts that participant. Drops on a disconnected/oversize peer —
+/// realtime audio never blocks fan-out on one slow remote link.
+pub fn spawn_remote_peer_sink<T: RelayPeerTransport>(
+    transport: Arc<T>,
+    to: RuntimeId,
+    fenced: FencedHeader,
+    mut frames: mpsc::Receiver<Bytes>,
+) {
+    tokio::spawn(async move {
+        let mut seq: u64 = 0;
+        while let Some(frame) = frames.recv().await {
+            let dgram = MeshDatagram {
+                fenced,
+                seq,
+                payload: frame.to_vec(),
+            };
+            seq = seq.wrapping_add(1);
+            if let Err(e) = transport.send_datagram(to, dgram) {
+                // Disconnected peer or oversize frame: drop and keep going.
+                // The MTU case is the ship-gate's job to prevent; here we just
+                // never let one bad link stall the room.
+                debug!(%to, "remote peer datagram send failed: {e}");
+            }
+        }
+        debug!(%to, "remote peer sink closed");
+    });
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    fn rt(b: u8) -> RuntimeId {
+        RuntimeId([b; 32])
+    }
+
+    fn fenced(session: Uuid, generation: u64) -> FencedHeader {
+        FencedHeader {
+            session_id: session,
+            generation,
+            owner_runtime_id: rt(0xAA),
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn fence_accepts_first_and_equal_and_higher() {
+        let f = GenerationFloor::new();
+        let s = Uuid::new_v4();
+        assert_eq!(f.check(s, 5), FenceVerdict::Accept { advanced: false });
+        assert_eq!(f.check(s, 5), FenceVerdict::Accept { advanced: false });
+        assert_eq!(f.check(s, 6), FenceVerdict::Accept { advanced: true });
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn fence_rejects_stale_after_advance() {
+        let f = GenerationFloor::new();
+        let s = Uuid::new_v4();
+        assert_eq!(f.check(s, 10), FenceVerdict::Accept { advanced: false });
+        // A late frame from the superseded generation is rejected.
+        assert_eq!(f.check(s, 9), FenceVerdict::RejectStale { known: 10 });
+        // The floor is unchanged by a rejected frame.
+        assert_eq!(f.check(s, 10), FenceVerdict::Accept { advanced: false });
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn fence_is_per_session() {
+        let f = GenerationFloor::new();
+        let a = Uuid::new_v4();
+        let b = Uuid::new_v4();
+        assert_eq!(f.check(a, 7), FenceVerdict::Accept { advanced: false });
+        // A different session starts its own floor.
+        assert_eq!(f.check(b, 1), FenceVerdict::Accept { advanced: false });
+        assert_eq!(f.check(a, 6), FenceVerdict::RejectStale { known: 7 });
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn fence_forget_resets_floor() {
+        let f = GenerationFloor::new();
+        let s = Uuid::new_v4();
+        f.check(s, 20);
+        f.forget(s);
+        // After forget, a lower generation is accepted as a fresh floor —
+        // used on room-end/teardown so a rejoin isn't fenced by a dead session.
+        assert_eq!(f.check(s, 3), FenceVerdict::Accept { advanced: false });
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn router_drops_stale_datagram_without_delivering() {
+        let rooms = Arc::new(AudioRoomManager::new());
+        let router = MeshAudioRouter::new(Arc::clone(&rooms), rt(1));
+        let s = Uuid::new_v4();
+        // Establish a floor at generation 5.
+        assert!(matches!(
+            router.on_media_datagram(&MeshDatagram {
+                fenced: fenced(s, 5),
+                seq: 0,
+                payload: vec![0, 1, 2],
+            }),
+            FenceVerdict::Accept { .. }
+        ));
+        // A stale frame is rejected.
+        assert_eq!(
+            router.on_media_datagram(&MeshDatagram {
+                fenced: fenced(s, 4),
+                seq: 1,
+                payload: vec![0, 1, 2],
+            }),
+            FenceVerdict::RejectStale { known: 5 }
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn router_tolerates_missing_room_and_empty_payload() {
+        let rooms = Arc::new(AudioRoomManager::new());
+        let router = MeshAudioRouter::new(Arc::clone(&rooms), rt(1));
+        let s = Uuid::new_v4();
+        // No local room for this session: accepted by fence, no panic.
+        assert!(matches!(
+            router.on_media_datagram(&MeshDatagram {
+                fenced: fenced(s, 1),
+                seq: 0,
+                payload: vec![7, 8],
+            }),
+            FenceVerdict::Accept { .. }
+        ));
+        // Empty payload after a valid fence: dropped, no panic.
+        let s2 = Uuid::new_v4();
+        assert!(matches!(
+            router.on_media_datagram(&MeshDatagram {
+                fenced: fenced(s2, 1),
+                seq: 0,
+                payload: vec![],
+            }),
+            FenceVerdict::Accept { .. }
+        ));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/buzz-relay/src/audio/mod.rs b/crates/buzz-relay/src/audio/mod.rs
index 4725e1693..d9ee5ea8d 100644
--- a/crates/buzz-relay/src/audio/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/buzz-relay/src/audio/mod.rs
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 //! ```
 
 pub mod handler;
+pub mod mesh;
 pub mod room;
 pub mod wire;
 
diff --git a/crates/buzz-relay/src/audio/room.rs b/crates/buzz-relay/src/audio/room.rs
index d0a70fbe7..11e36bbc6 100644
--- a/crates/buzz-relay/src/audio/room.rs
+++ b/crates/buzz-relay/src/audio/room.rs
@@ -284,6 +284,24 @@ impl Room {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Deliver an already-`[peer_index]`-prefixed frame that arrived over the
+    /// mesh to every local peer except the one whose `peer_index` authored it.
+    ///
+    /// Used by the cross-pod media path ([`super::mesh`]): the frame is
+    /// byte-identical to what `broadcast_frame` produces, but the author is a
+    /// *remote* participant identified only by its (owner-assigned) index, not
+    /// a local peer UUID. Skipping by index keeps a participant whose own frame
+    /// round-tripped owner→back-to-their-pod from hearing themselves. Drops on
+    /// full — real-time audio never queues.
+    pub fn deliver_prefixed(&self, author_index: u8, prefixed: Bytes) {
+        for entry in self.peers.iter() {
+            if entry.peer_index == author_index {
+                continue;
+            }
+            let _ = entry.audio_tx.try_send(prefixed.clone());
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Send a JSON control message to all peers via the control channel.
     /// Separate from audio so control is never starved by audio backpressure.
     /// Control messages (joined/left) are state-bearing — the client's
@@ -340,6 +358,14 @@ impl AudioRoomManager {
             .clone()
     }
 
+    /// Look up an existing room without creating one. Returns `None` when this
+    /// pod hosts no room for the channel — the cross-pod media path uses this
+    /// so an inbound datagram for a session we don't participate in is dropped,
+    /// never materializing an empty room.
+    pub fn get(&self, channel_id: Uuid) -> Option<Arc<Room>> {
+        self.rooms.get(&channel_id).map(|r| r.clone())
+    }
+
     /// Remove the room if it has no peers. Returns `true` if the room was removed.
     pub fn cleanup_if_empty(&self, channel_id: Uuid) -> bool {
         self.rooms