Salt Side
by hughpierre
Geography
Neither totally dry land nor totally waterlogged, Salt Side's soil is saturated with salt water, just like the Brine Marshes, from where the salt rivers originate, but not to the same degree. By all rights, this land should be fertile from the many years of decaying vegetation and sea flesh from seasonal salt storms, but salt is similarly layered over the land every year.
The incoming salt induces a blurring effect which glitters the turf like rippling water and soft breezes infuse the scent of algae through the nostril. The atmosphere is generally hot and heavy with warm nights filled with frog chirps and the drone buzzes. It is suspected by a few that pungent smells permeate from the ground (disguised amidst the grassy odor) have a delirious influence on those who breathe it in high quantities. People report hallucinations that persist for a long time or see temporary illusions in salty air that might be blinked away. The latter is the more likely experience of the two, and as a result, both are called salt illusions within Salt Side.
Fauna & Flora
Moonlight Moth: Considered the antithesis to the obsidian butterfly, which may or may not exist. The Moonlight moth is a wondrous, luminous sight; especially in the moonlight.
Grey Worms: A dark skinned and tiny worm that filters through the brine soil. They are the hard working cousin to the spice worm that secretes excessive amounts of water-heavy slime to lubricate its surrounding as part of its locomotion.
Both animals and humans seek them for as a source of water and are as appetizing as you might expect.
Axayacatl: A small, lacustrine fly, with a fishy taste, collected with a net mounted on a wooden frame fastened to a long handle and pushed by a man walking through shallow water where the insects live and breed.
Salt-tolerant Plants: Orach, Codgrass, Sea Grapes, Limu, Lime, Lentils, Nipa Grass, Feather Weed, Maguey Cactus, Curly Line, Spiny, Sea Bubble and Turtleweed are the most profitable plants capable of thriving under the salty conditions of the land.
Mangroves: A shrub of a tree that stands with stilt-like roots which anchor sediment and help soil accumulate around them. They are also nesting sites for many variety birds.
Mace Turtle: An omnivorous turtle capable of growing to great size that often captured and tamed to ferry loads across lakes and rivers, in place of canoes.
Shellfish: Aquatic invertebrates including molluscs and crustaceans harvested from both the saltwater and freshwater environments.
Fish: Most fishes found in the salt rivers are also found in the sea; adapted to a restricted life after they or their parents were carried by the winds during storms.
Amphibians: Frogs and toads inhabits the mangroves and can tolerate brief excursions into sea water.
Reptiles: Turtles, snakes, lizards and crocodiles mostly bear their young in eggs who begin there lives in hidden freshwater places then emigrate to brackish water as adults.
Wading Birds: Gulls, terns, and skimmers are periodically found around the fresh and saltwater habitats.
Natural Resources
Springs: Small bodies of water emerge from the underground like gems in a quarry. They are azure blue or emerald green inland, and naturally clear from those along the Coco shore.
Peat: A valuable fuel cut and dried into squares to be burned for heating and cooking, or used to insulate buildings.
Tourism
Joi Salt State
Joi takes up the whole shores of the Mirror Breath which provides for their water and access to many foreign markets and visitors.Kuit Salt State
Kuit takes up parts of the shores of Lake Coco and the Shallows. It is the closest to the taulli's Dead Zone but is also the most secure against them thanks to the Hungry Plains and the higher than average water table.Krix Salt State
Krix sits in the center of Salt Side, with a mighty saltwater river flowing from Pink Creek and bisecting the land in half. While the banks are profitable around its major settlement; further downstream, the Rattles forks around an islet shared by Krix and its immediate neighbor for the continued conservation of the important mace turtle. Krix is the Salt Side state most dependent on the salt rivers as its connection to Lake Coco is only through the Rattles. This river also flows between salt rivers: Pink Creek, Cobalt Rill and Asma Meander; and perpendicular to the freshwater river: the Runnaways. These waterways combine give the centrally located state control of trade throughout this side of the valley.Cuit Salt State
Cuit is the closest permanent settlement to the dreaded Taulli and arguably sits in or close to what the taulli deem to be the "Dead Zone". Therefore, Taulli kings and generals have tried multiple time to assault the massive rock, on which Cuit is built, but never able to uproot them. The intensity of this "Eternal War" was scaled back significantly with the signing of the Paper Pact which guaranteed Tinged intervention under taulli aggression. Cuit is feed almost entirely by rain water from the Northern Range to be collected and stored within the rock's core. This rock, also called Cuit, is the mold bywhich the residence sculpt their homes and community. They are uniquely isolated as there is a certain amount of fear in leaving Cuit and the difficulty of climbing up and down.Gein Salt State
Gein territory contains a scattering of lowly populated settlements. Water is drawn and traded from the streams flowing from Hearts Mountain to other places without easy access to water. These settlements pay homage to Gein: the capital that is populated more like a modest town. In contrast to their immediate neighbours, Gein does not have much of a history of conflict.
Alternative Name(s)
Land of Exiles
Type
Wetland / Swamp
Included Locations
Included Organizations
Contested By
Related Tradition (Primary)
Related Myths
Related Materials
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