diff --git a/backend/.env.example b/backend/.env.example
index c169cb2..739dff2 100644
--- a/backend/.env.example
+++ b/backend/.env.example
@@ -21,3 +21,7 @@ MIMIC_CORS_ORIGINS=http://localhost:5173
 # Logging
 MIMIC_LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG
 MIMIC_LOG_JSON=false
+
+# Storage pools (D-012)
+MIMIC_BLOB_ROOT=/var/lib/mimic/blobs
+MIMIC_EVIDENCE_ROOT=/var/lib/mimic/evidence
diff --git a/backend/src/mimic/config.py b/backend/src/mimic/config.py
index 6f47f07..052db46 100644
--- a/backend/src/mimic/config.py
+++ b/backend/src/mimic/config.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 from functools import lru_cache
+from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Literal
 
 from pydantic import Field, SecretStr, field_validator
@@ -45,6 +46,10 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     template_render_timeout_ms: int = 250
     output_blob_max_bytes: int = 10 * 1024 * 1024
 
+    # D-012: two on-disk pools.
+    blob_root: Path = Path("/var/lib/mimic/blobs")
+    evidence_root: Path = Path("/var/lib/mimic/evidence")
+
     @field_validator("cors_origins", mode="before")
     @classmethod
     def _split_cors(cls, value: object) -> object:
diff --git a/backend/src/mimic/storage/__init__.py b/backend/src/mimic/storage/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..79d2b6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/mimic/storage/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+"""Local file-system pools (D-012).
+
+Two separate roots, configured via env:
+- `MIMIC_BLOB_ROOT` (default `/var/lib/mimic/blobs/`) holds C2 polling output
+  blobs, content-addressed and gzip-compressed: `<aa>/<bb>/<sha256>.gz` where
+  `aa` and `bb` are the first two byte-pairs of the hex digest.
+- `MIMIC_EVIDENCE_ROOT` (default `/var/lib/mimic/evidence/`) holds user-uploaded
+  evidence files, flat layout `<engagement_id>/<evidence_id>.<ext>`, no
+  compression.
+"""
+
+from mimic.storage.blob import blob_path, store_blob
+
+__all__ = ["blob_path", "store_blob"]
diff --git a/backend/src/mimic/storage/blob.py b/backend/src/mimic/storage/blob.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c2d1a22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/mimic/storage/blob.py
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+"""Content-addressed gzip-compressed blob store (D-012)."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import gzip
+import hashlib
+import os
+import stat
+from pathlib import Path
+
+_SHA256_HEX_LEN = 64
+
+
+def _validate_digest(sha256_hex: str) -> str:
+    if len(sha256_hex) != _SHA256_HEX_LEN or any(
+        c not in "0123456789abcdef" for c in sha256_hex.lower()
+    ):
+        raise ValueError(f"invalid sha256 digest: {sha256_hex!r}")
+    return sha256_hex.lower()
+
+
+def blob_path(root: Path | str, sha256_hex: str) -> Path:
+    """Return the absolute path of the gzip-compressed blob `<aa>/<bb>/<digest>.gz`."""
+    digest = _validate_digest(sha256_hex)
+    return Path(root) / digest[0:2] / digest[2:4] / f"{digest}.gz"
+
+
+def store_blob(root: Path | str, data: bytes) -> tuple[str, Path]:
+    """Write `data` (gzip-compressed) under its sha256 digest path.
+
+    Idempotent: an existing path with the same digest is not overwritten.
+    Directory permissions are `0750` so only the owner and the `mimic` group
+    can read.
+    """
+    digest = hashlib.sha256(data).hexdigest()
+    target = blob_path(root, digest)
+    if target.exists():
+        return digest, target
+
+    target.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    # 0o750: owner full, group r-x, others none. The blob root is owned by the
+    # `mimic` system user; only the application and any explicit group member
+    # (audit / backup) get read access.
+    os.chmod(target.parent, stat.S_IRWXU | stat.S_IRGRP | stat.S_IXGRP)  # noqa: S103
+
+    tmp = target.with_suffix(target.suffix + ".tmp")
+    with gzip.open(tmp, "wb") as fh:
+        fh.write(data)
+    os.chmod(tmp, stat.S_IRUSR | stat.S_IWUSR | stat.S_IRGRP)
+    tmp.replace(target)
+    return digest, target
diff --git a/backend/tests/unit/test_storage_blob.py b/backend/tests/unit/test_storage_blob.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a5fa456
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/tests/unit/test_storage_blob.py
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+"""Content-addressed gzip blob store (D-012)."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import gzip
+import hashlib
+
+import pytest
+
+from mimic.storage.blob import blob_path, store_blob
+
+
+def test_blob_path_uses_two_byte_pairs(tmp_path) -> None:
+    digest = "ab" + "cd" + "ef" * 30
+    path = blob_path(tmp_path, digest)
+    assert path == tmp_path / "ab" / "cd" / f"{digest}.gz"
+
+
+def test_blob_path_rejects_invalid_digest(tmp_path) -> None:
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="invalid sha256"):
+        blob_path(tmp_path, "not-a-digest")
+
+
+def test_store_blob_writes_gzip_and_returns_digest(tmp_path) -> None:
+    payload = b"hello world\n"
+    expected = hashlib.sha256(payload).hexdigest()
+    digest, path = store_blob(tmp_path, payload)
+    assert digest == expected
+    assert path == tmp_path / expected[0:2] / expected[2:4] / f"{expected}.gz"
+    with gzip.open(path, "rb") as fh:
+        assert fh.read() == payload
+
+
+def test_store_blob_is_idempotent(tmp_path) -> None:
+    payload = b"same content"
+    digest1, path1 = store_blob(tmp_path, payload)
+    mtime_before = path1.stat().st_mtime_ns
+    digest2, path2 = store_blob(tmp_path, payload)
+    assert digest1 == digest2
+    assert path1 == path2
+    assert path2.stat().st_mtime_ns == mtime_before
+
+
+def test_store_blob_dedupes_distinct_payloads(tmp_path) -> None:
+    _, p1 = store_blob(tmp_path, b"alpha")
+    _, p2 = store_blob(tmp_path, b"beta")
+    assert p1 != p2
+    assert p1.exists()
+    assert p2.exists()