Saltmarsh

Saltmarsh is a nondescript fishing village tucked away on the southern coast of the Kingdom of Keoland. For several generations, Keoland was a formidable military power. Its superior cavalry and bold knights pushed the kingdom’s borders outward to the east and west. Each successful campaign increased both the crown’s wealth and power, and each one in turn drew the kingdom’s attention North across the seas. The eastern coastal regions of Keoland remained a backwater. The crown’s benign neglect allowed piracy and banditry to flourish. Saltmarsh and similar towns kept to fishing, content to maintain a low profile and avoid governmental entanglements. Decades ago, the pirates who prowled the waters off Saltmarsh grew strong enough to create their own realm, a loose confederacy known as the Hold of the Sea Princes, lorded over by the self-appointed eponymous Sea Princes. With the rise of that nation came increased raids on Saltmarsh and its neighbors. The Sea Princes’ raiding ships pillaged the coast for more slaves to support their growing realm, and Saltmarsh suffered heavily. The memories of those times loom heavily over the area, and the locals’ hatred of the Sea Princes runs deep.
In time, Keoland’s victories in the north gave way to a string of defeats in which its neighbors pushed the kingdom back to its original boundaries. With the world closing in, King Kimbertos Skotti looked to the south and saw unchecked banditry and a rising pirate nation. The crown struck peace treaties with its former foes to the north, raised a navy, and dealt a sharp check to the ambitions of the Sea Princes—but the conflict is by no means over.
King Skotti has decreed that the pirates must be put down, the sea lanes secured, and trade cultivated. If Keoland cannot prosper as a military force, it must grow mightier as a center of trade.
Saltmarsh, remote though it might be from the center of power in Keoland, is entering a new phase of its life as it reacts to the king’s plans. The crown’s agents want to expand the village’s port and make it a prime location for trade with the world beyond. In another recent development, a band of dwarves—bearing a decree from the king himself—have arrived and begun to excavate the hills and seaside cliffs near town, looking for precious metals. If their work bears fruit as expected, the mine stands to become a major factor in the village’s—and, indeed, the entire region’s—prosperity. Naturally, not all of Saltmarsh’s residents feel the same way about the recent developments in and around their community, which is the key issue that affects their lives and livelihood. Although the recent changes stand to bring new prosperity to the area, many locals don’t want to see their home changed and these issues are at the crux of discussions undertaken by the Saltmarsh Council.

Demographics

Predominantly human, with the dwarven mining contingent of about two hundred workers the largest non-human faction in town. Elves and halflings draw no special notice, since the Silverstand hosts a wood elf enclave and a few halfling villages are tucked in the hills around town.

Government

The Saltmarsh Council handles the governance and large scale issues facing the town. Day-to-day issues and crime are dealt with by the town guard.

Infrastructure

Barracks and Jail

Built on a low hill, the Saltmarsh barracks are also its jail. It is one of the few structures in Saltmarsh with an underground level.

City Gate

Saltmarsh was built on the ruins of a much older settlement, sometimes called Old Saltmarsh or the Old Harbor. One sign of this is that the town has a small stretch of wall and a single town gate secured by two or three guards. The wall is old, crumbling, and badly worn by centuries of rain and wind coming in from the Azure Sea.

Council Hall

This large brick building contains the offices of the town council and the chamber where they meet to discuss the town business. The hall is built from sturdy stone from the nearby cliffs and a variety of hardwood from the nearby Hool Marshes. A wooden sign depicting a net filled with fish hangs above the double doors leading into the hall. A small tower rises from the building, housing a horn at the top, which is blown to announce the beginning of a council session or other significant events. The town has a sturdy but weatherbeaten platform and gallows in front of the hall for use in the event of an execution.

Docks

Saltmarsh's docks serve as the lifeblood of the village. Fisherfolk set out early in the morning and cargo ships quickly move in to take their place. The docks are a bustle all day as workers hurry to unload the cargo ships before the fishing boats return with their hauls, ready to be carted to the fishmonger's plantas for salting and brining.

Green Market

A strip of open land that is the place for everything that isn’t fish, salt, or nautical wares, this market stretches among a dozen stalls down to the bridge.

Hoolwatch Tower

This 60-foot-tall tower was the first defensive building of Saltmarsh, and it still serves as an armory and lookout as well as the official base of the town guard.

Keledek Tower

This three-story tower is home to the town’s resident sage and wizard, Keledek the Unspoken.

Sharkfin Bridge

This single large bridge spans the river, with shops and homes along its length. The bridge predates the village and is large enough for laden carts to pass two abreast. Elves and fey folk feel vaguely nauseated when they cross the bridge, owing to an ancient curse placed on it long before Keoland rose to existence.

Weekly Market

Built around the first well dug for the fishers in the town’s early days is a large market square where merchants of all descriptions gather on the first day of each week to sell their wares.

Architecture

Buildings are a mixture of stone and wood from the nearby hills and forests. Both are in ready supply, though often dangerous to acquire. Many buildings also bear the signs of using repurposed wood, often from decommissioned fishing vessels.

Natural Resources

Fish are unusually abundant in the region around Saltmarsh, leading to its thriving fishing industry. The Kingfisher River feeds through the town into the Azure Sea, ensuring a supply of freshwater nearby.
The nearby Dreadwood, Drowned Forest and Hool Marshes can provide a steady supply of wood for shipbuilding and repair - although harvesting trees even at the edge of these regions can prove dangerous due to the beasts, monsters and bandits that dwell within. Crews forced to cut timber here often bring along armed mercenary escorts. For the Dreadwood in particular the Wild Flame Pact—an alliance struck between the elves, the kingdom of Keo­land, and the treants of the region—commits all three groups to repelling the monsters that emerge from the forest.
The Silverstand is another nearby wood, but most lumberjacks would tell you they'd rather face down a dozen angry owlbears than cut a single branch from the Silverstand. The forest is inhabited by several wood elf clans that dwell in elegant, wooden structures built among the forest canopy. Not a single creature enters or leaves the forest’s boundaries without the knowledge of the elves.
The hills surrounding the Saltmarsh region also have stone in moderate supply, though the process of harvesting and transporting it is cumbersome. Since silver was discovered in a mine nearby a few years ago the Dwarven mining contingent has continued to dig for that rare metal.
Farms, homesteads and small human and halfling villages dot the fertile land around Saltmarsh and east toward Seaton. Most are close to the road to take advantage of the safety provided by the heavy patrols that ensure trade can proceed along the roads.

Type

Town

Population

5000

Inhabitant Demonym

Salties

Location under

Seaton

Owning Organization

Council of Saltmarsh

Characters in Location

• Eda Oweland