Saltmarsh
Colonial smuggler's den
Saltmarsh is a sleepy town in the Southern Coast Colonies. It was made the site of some anicent ruins by the dwarven empire. Over the past century, imperial military expeditions east have left the southern coast colonies a backwater, allowing piracy and banditry have flourished. The pirates even formed a sovereign state, the sea princes, claiming a large island to the southwest as their own. Over the decades they raided the coast, including Saltmarsh, causing immense generational trauma with their pillaging and enslavement. Due to imperial losses in the east, Emperor Kimbertos Skotti made peace, raised a navy, and begun an assault on the Sea Princes.
Saltmarsh is now in a region of great crown activity. What’s more, dwarves from the imperial heartland have begun excavating nearby hills and cliffs for silver. Smuggling is a common and accepted practice in Saltmarsh and is seen as a victimless crime, but increased crown activity threatens that business.
Saltmarsh is but part of a larger group of Southern Coast Colonies implemented by the Empire over the past century, and as such has displaced and made treaties with the many indigenous inhabitants such as halflings and elves.
Demographics
Saltmarsh is mostly humans, with some dwarven inhabitants. It also has a small population of native halflings who have begun to meld with the imperial culture.
Government
Saltmarsh is ruled by a town council, primarily divided among the factions of the Traditionalists and the Loyalists
Defences
The town guard numbers a hundred soldiers, armed with a club in town and wearing studded leather armor. Their main guardhouse is on the road, and a smaller station operates from the docks. In town, they patrol in pairs. Out of town, the guards patrol on horseback in chainmail, weilding longswords and firearms.
If need be, five hundred of the town's residents can be raised as a militia to hold invaders off until Imperial forces can arrive.
The docks are also watched by a small force of marines who fought against the Sea Princes, and can take to sea to ward of Sea Princes or other aquatic threats. They are lead by Tom Stoutly and Will Stoutly, husbands and fellow veterans.
The town guard doubles as a police force, usually arresting criminals who pay a fine and are let go. If they cannot pay, they must work off their debt. If a trial is required, evidence is presented to the town council who decide the verdict. Crime is broken up into three categories:
- Petty Crime: public unarmed brawling, pickpocketing, and crimes causing up to 50gp in property damages are met with a small fee of up to 12gp or as many days of hard labor.
- Minor Crime: armed assault (nonfatal attacks made with a weapon) and attacks or property crimes that cause between 50gp and 250gp of damages are punished by a 100gp fine and 1 to 4 years of prison time or hard labor
- Major Crime: more severe than the previous two categories (i.e., murder), criminals found guilty of major crimes serve 2 to 20 years of imprisonment, or even suffer the death penalty. These crimes tend to be dealt with in Seaton, however.
Industry & Trade
Fishing
The largest industry in the town, fishing is the historic and present backbone of the community. Wealthy families own fishing vessels, and the poor work as deckhands on them. Fishing can be dangerous work, but prosperity can come from patience and determination. Newcomers are often seen as a threat to that by-your-bootstraps mentality.Trading
Being a colonial town, trade is integral to saltmarsh. They export foodstuffs and other locally harvested goods from upriver to the heart of the empire, while they import most manufactured goods (save for rope, nets, and other fishing-related goods that must be manufactured locally).Smuggling
An open secret, the locals largely see smuggling as a victimless crime, and given Saltmarsh's backwater status it is a prime locale for such activities. Pirates (affiliated with the Sea Princes or not), natives, and imperial nobles all use Saltmarsh and the surrounding coast & waters as a meeting ground to trade and transport illegal or tightly regulated goods, from rare spices, stolen magic items, and drugs to even slaves.Mining
A new development, the crown has chartered a mine outside town. While initially met with pushback, the silver mines have become rather succsefful - and some of the dwarves think the nearby cliffs have gold. If the mines take off, Saltmarsh could become a boomtown.Guilds and Factions
The Town Council
The Town Council is run by five people, the Captain of the Guard and four elected officials - of course, only three current members were elected, with the fourth being an imperial appointment. The council (and town at large) is divided along Traditionalist and Loyalist factions, with some members being unaffiliated or indepedent.Traditionalists
The Traditionalists are an alliance of powerful families who fear the Crown's activities will reignite conflict with the Sea Princes, and wish to return to their lives of fishing and smuggling. They are led by senior councilwoman Eda Oweland and the wealthy merchant Gellan Primewater.Loyalists
The Loyalists are newcomers and supporters of imperial activity. They prioritize the good of the Empire over that of the region, and have great faith in the rule of law and security. They are more informally lead by Captain of the Guard Eliander Fireborn and Manistrad Copperlocks, leader of the royal mining operations - and councilwoman by royal decree.Unaffiliated/Indepedent
The fifth council member is Anders Solmor, the youngest person ever elected the council. He inherited his family's fishing fleets when his mother tragically passed last year, and he has become a local celebrity by getting into the trade business. He is not particularly aligned with either faction, and has the support of the very prominent fishing industry - though the smugglers don't always appreciate his opposition to the Sea Princes.Native Peoples
While they have no formal representation on the council, Saltmarsh has many halfling and elven inhabitants. Some have been drawn to Saltmarsh as a nexus of trade, others moved in with colonial lovers, and still some were kept as slaves until that was outlawed due to the wars with the Sea Princes. While many colonists treat them peacefully, given they are colonists there is some unresolved tension - and many are outright racist. Some native inhabitants wish to see the colonial forces ousted, others merely want to prevent further expansion, and still more are fully for the loyalist colonist. Either way, the majority tend to support the traditionalists, as they know further crown attention will mean more loss of culture and land.History
Sitting on the mouth of the Kingfisher River, what is now Saltmarsh has long been prime territory. Long ago, a group of halflings and gnomes settled the region, creating a village and subsiting on fish - especially salmon - and some local berries. That village grew to a sizeable town, but with greater population came greater vulnerability to disease. When the Empire began to push into the coastal region, new diseases from the warmer south came with them, destroying the previously more isolated populations in the colder coastal plains. This left the large town on the mouth of the river deserted. Eventually dwarven ships found the location and, seeing the ruins made a defensible position, settled it. They named the town Saltmarsh after the salty Cobalt Sea and the nearby Hool Marshes.
The region grew, with Seaton becoming the seat of colonial power and Saltmarsh the staging ground for the forces that eventually formed the Wild Flame Pact and made the fort of Burle upriver. As time went on, the Empire was drawn to activity in the eastern plains, leaving Saltmarsh a backwater colonial town, neglected along with the other southern coast colonies. With this innatention, piracy and banditry flourished. The colonists, however, did not expand northward much - new colonists were mostly traveling to other, closer territories so there was only reproductie population growth - choosing instead to stick to fishing and keeping a low profile so as to maintain the relative autonomy.
The pirates, however, gained enough power they created a loose confederation known as the Sea Princes. They raided much of the coast, including Saltmarsh, which inflicted generational trauma on colonists and natives alike. Paired with a series of eastern losses, the Crown returned to the coastal colonies and has temporarily brought an end to the Sea Princes' raids after decades of raids, which included a total ban on slavery in the region. Now the emperor seeks to expand the colonies, and Saltmarsh has been deemed a prime port and near important mining locations.
Architecture
Built over a century ago, Saltmarsh is styled in the old colonial way, mostly being slightly run-down wooden structures built from the pines that once dotted the shores of the river.
Geography
Saltmarsh is situated at the mouth of the Kingfisher river, which is a stray braid of the much larger Silverstream River at it's delta. The town occupies both sides of the river, and docks are built along the coast where the cliffs permit.
Natural Resources
Fish, especially trout and salmon, are rich in the sea and Kingfisher river - though the Wild Flame Pact stipulates the colonists must leave a great deal of the salmon runs for the upriver Silverstand. In the seaside cliffs, there is silver, and gold is suspected to be in the region as well.
Maps
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Town of Saltmarsh Map
A map of Saltmarsh, from Ghosts of Saltmarsh page 15.
Founding Date
87 IA
Type
Town
Population
~5,000
Inhabitant Demonym
Colonists
Location under
Included Locations
Owning Organization
Vehicles Present
Related Reports (Primary)
Related Reports (Secondary)
- Session 02: The Haunted House Report
- Session 04: Interrogations Report
- Session 07: Aftermath Report
- Session 08: Danger at Dunwater Report
- Session 12: Seaton & Saltmarsh Report
- Session 16: Things Fall Apart Report
- Session 17: Return to the Isle Report
- Session 23: The Fortress Report
- Session 24: The Assault Report
- Session 50: Snapped Lines Report
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