Salt in Wounds - Overview & Origin

The City of Salt in Wounds

Lawful Evil Metropolis

Statistics

Corruption +7; Crime +4; Economy +15; Law -6; Lore +3; Society +8
Qualities Plagued, Notorious, Cosmopolitan, Tourist Attraction, Prosperous
Danger +15
Government Oligarchy
Population 155,000 (Incredibly diverse)

Approaching the City

Everyone knows how the City of Salt in Wounds came about. But for those who have not visited in person, it is hard to conceive of the scale of the place. It is even harder for outsiders to understand how wholly the economic engine of butchering the bound Tarrasque has transformed the society of Salt in Wounds and reshaped the surrounding landscape.

Upon approach to the city, the first thing a traveler will note is the sounds of the monster screaming. Its roar echoes

Tarrasque-Fed Mutations

 

The essence of the Tarrasque bleeds out into Salt in Wounds and the surrounding landscape, reshaping the creatures that live there. These changes can affect both mindless beast and sentient citizen alike. Mutations are commonly gained through drinking Tarrasque blood tainted 'red water' and thus particularly common amongst the most impoverished citizens and wild creatures who do not have access to imported water.

Mutations can also be gained

The Ghouls of Salt in Wounds

Despite the more poetically minded chroniclers claiming that the entire city is comprised of ghouls and parasites, literal ghouls comprise only a small percentage of the population of Salt in Wounds. While the statecraft of 5th House has gained them begrudging legal acceptance by the legislators (aka the other meridian houses) they are still largely despised and feared by the general population.
The primary legal argument that 5th House presented to justify the legalized creation of ghouls is that issues of ghoul attacks/violence is driven by unsated hunger for flesh, which -they argued- would never

Coins of Salt in Wounds

While awash with foreign money, as a point of pride Salt in Wounds mints their own coinage. The currency of the city features several distinct features. First, these copper, silver, gold and platinum tokens do not sport portraits but instead are pressed with famous phrases, maxims, and laws spouted by the aristocracy: which phrase is selected for placement on this year’s platinum (and -to a lesser degree- other metals) is a source of much competition and political maneuvering by the Binder-Lords.

In addition, the center of each coin features a small conical point on one side with a small hollow that can accommodate another coin’s point on the reverse face. These are referred to as the ‘tip’ and ‘divet’ respectively. This construction makes Salt in Wounds coins easy to stack securely on top of one another (useful for quick counting and pushing stacks of coin back and forth across a table without risk of toppling). Coins are usually kept in neat rows within pouches with reinforced corners. Out of towners can often be identified by how they improperly shove coins into their pockets where they are liable to jut uncomfortably into flesh (or poke out of fabric). However, some especially cautious merchants are known to deliberately keep the tips of their coin stacks pressing into their skin to be aware if there’s a change in weight resulting from a visit by one of Salt in Wound’s notorious pickpockets or as part of a religious practice known as ‘merchant’s penance.’

Slang Related to Coins

To ‘know the pain of their stack’ refers to an individual with business acumen or is otherwise good with money.

When discussing transactions or jobs; commerce can be described as ‘tip’ which means ‘above board’ and can be discussed openly, while ‘divet’ dealings are secretive, under the table, and usually of dubious legality (if not wholly black market).

Slang Terms for the Denominations of Coin

Copper | Spike

Silver | Scale

Gold | Bone

Platinum | Horn

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Salt in Wounds Map

Inexpensive, poor quality maps like this one are mass-produced by slave-scribes and sold (or even given freely) to visitors and the curious the world over. They are usually further annotated with different taverns, merchants, and lodging locations claiming to be the best (but ultimately determined by kickbacks received by the map making shop).

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The Wyvern Siege and the ‘All Consumption’ Doctrine

In 67 AB, a human mercenary warlord named Segund the Wyvern King (so called for his command of two dozen of the creatures) set his eyes to conquer the booming town of Salt in Wounds. Leading an army of 10000 (bolstered by the aforementioned Wyverns and other magical support), the brilliant logician managed to scale the steep track to Salt in Wounds with only a minimal loss of life. Before him, he faced hastily conscripted forces of around 2000 militia, mercenaries, and irregulars and so –confident of an easy victory- the general was already plotting how to best leverage this conquest for further gains.
As the army grew closer, Salt in Wounds

11 Crimes and their Punishments

The city of Salt in Wounds tends to have extremely harsh penalties for infractions (although imprisonment or hard labor are almost never used). The most common punishments are fines (even for serious crimes for those who can afford it) followed by flogging,

Cult of Renesec: Lord of Mutation

Renesec is the obscure, largely unknown God of Change who is said to have no fixed appearance, house or location of worship. His/Her/It’s few devotees meditate on their god’s presence in the growth of crops, the aging of a face, the overthrow of a government. Renesec’s most ecstatic worshippers adopt radically different mannerisms, behaviors, and even personalities at an irregular schedule and hence are despised outcasts as individuals who are not able to function in society writ large or even writ as small as an adventuring party. However, Renesec has a thriving cult in Salt in Wounds who seek to understand and grow close to their God as the ‘Lord of Mutation’ whose power and majesty can best

Sage's Row

Sage's Row is a series of interlocking streets famed for its preponderance of alchemists as well as other researchers of the arcane and mundane alike. By city edict, every other building sports tall smoke stacks - venting clouds of colored fog and ash of variable toxicity. Most times, a breeze takes the offending miasma and disperses it harmlessly... though if

10 Delicacies of Salt in Wounds

Five-Roast Five-Roast is a stirge stuffed in a singing house-lizard stuffed in a hatchet beak stuffed in a juvenile remora flea stuffed in an axe beak. Before encasing it in the next layer, each animal is cleaned, skinned/plucked, coated in

Colors, Symbols & Iconography of Salt in Wounds

As a polyglot metropolis, Salt in Wounds is awash with color, symbols, and imagery imported from dozens of ethnicities and cultures. However, certain motifs carry over into the sigils, seals, and other identifying marks of the aristocratic houses, merchant guilds, and those belonging to high profile individuals.
Of course, imagery

Ramora Fleas

These gigantic vermin –roughly the size of a horse- are one of dozens of native species of parasite & symbiote that live upon or within the Tarrasque. However, they are one species that has managed to thrive even post-binding and represent a continued threat to the citizens of Salt in Wounds and its environs. Ramora Fleas resemble exactly a titanic version of an ordinary flea that can be glimpsed under a magnifying lens; all chitonous plates and oversized legs. When not feeding upon the Tarrasque, they can grasp a creature with their forelimbs before plunging their mouthparts into flesh, and their ravenous thirst can drain a man in less than a minute. They are also capable of leaping hundreds of feet, even whilst holding a screaming duergar.
Due to their mobility, Ramora Fleas represent a fast moving hazard to the entirety of the city and beyond. God-Butchers regularly scour the surface of the Tarrasque to kill these creatures and destroy their eggs; issuing city-wide warnings when they plan to disturb a patch of the things… anticipating that dozens if not hundreds will flee over the walls of the fortress Salzinwuun into the districts beyond. Certain individuals with racial or magical control over vermin prize these creatures as incredibly powerful servants and mounts.


(For some of my thoughts about the size of Salt in Wounds' Tarrasque/how horse sized creatures could hide on it - check out some of my design notes here.)


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Races of Salt in Wounds

These are the most common races in Salt in Wounds and what sort of place they make for themselves in the city.




Human Humans are the most common race of Salt in Wounds and dominate most power structures. However, given the incredible diversity of the city, it is important to note that they are not the majority, merely the largest minority. Notably, humans of dozens upon dozens of ethnicities live and work in the city. Common wisdom holds

Salt in Wounds and the Wider World | Synoma – The Fantasy Cold War

(Note: Salt in Wounds is designed to be largely standalone, isolated, and able –with relative ease- to be plunked right into your favored game world. Just select an out of the way valley amidst the mountains –preferably somewhere you can imagine daring heroes trying to lure and ambush the Tarrasque- and Salt in Wounds can easily fit there. The city’s unique features justify it as able to function more or less anywhere. However, Salt in Wounds is officially part of Synoma which is a fantasy setting in the midst of a ‘cold war.’ The post below discusses the world of Synoma in broad strokes as well as Salt in Wound’s place there.)

Synoma: The Fantasy Cold War

Built upon the ruins of empires of old,

Adventurers in Salt in Wounds

Every region and city of the world produces adventurers; those exceptional individuals who hunt monsters, recover artifacts, thwart (or enact) magical plots, and/or otherwise deal with the issues beyond the ken of the vast majority of the population. The unique features of Salt in Wounds however ensure that certain qualities (favored tactics, abilities, and even psychological quirks) are often found in the adventurers who hail from the land that exists in the shadows of the Tarrasque. These commonalities include (but are not limited to):

• Strongly Favoring Two Handed/high damage weapons With so many monsters and threats of Salt in Wounds having some capacity for regeneration or to otherwise shrug off minor lesser blows via damage reduction, a common adaptive tactic is to simply do massive damage capable of severing limbs or cracking through the toughest armor.
• Obsession with Recovering Organs, Teeth, and Other Viscera Moreso than most of the world’s adventurers, those of SiW see great value in the parts of monsters and will take great pains to collect glands, teeth, and more… most especially for rare creatures. Even if they have no particular interest themselves, experience has taught them that there *will* be an interested alchemist who will pay well for any hitherto unknown or rare biological samples. This quirk often gives adventurers from Salt in Wounds a reputation for ghoulishness or the ‘salt stink’ – a foul aroma  emanating from packs stuffed full of rotting, improperly preserved meat.
• Solo Tactics Given the moral outlook of much of the city, it can be difficult for adventurers originating in SiW to trust one another to the degree necessary to utilize advanced, team based tactics. Most adventuring groups are short term affairs driven by a ruthless mercenary calculus/ As such, most adventurers favor developing themselves to be as self-sufficient as possible. The exceptions however are notable (see below).
• Inhuman Loyalty Group Membership is the primary survival strategy in Siw and as such the members of the various factions (God-Butchers, Merdian House, Circle of Release etc.) are nearly inhumanly loyal to whatever they view as their ‘clan.’ Those rare groups of adventurers who learn to view their party as the primary group support are legendarily devoted to their fellows, recognizing that the success of their group is the only thing that is keeping them alive in a hostile city & biome.

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This post may make use of an Open Game Licence. Check out the OGL page for more information.

The Salt in Wounds Mindset

The culture and common mindset of Salt in Wounds is quite unique to the city. As one of (if not the most) populous cities on the planet, Salt in Wounds society is extremely insular and individuals tend to be focused on their own affairs. While traders

The Salt in Wounds Calendar

Salt in Wounds uses a simplified calendar based on seasons rather than month. The annual tracking of the calendar begins with the binding of the Tarrasque, hence the current year is 213 AB (After Binding). While the nature of the city’s unique weather removes most of the markers of traditional seasons the citizenry still count by them. Each season is broken up into 12 seven day weeks for a total of 84 days per season. A date might

Festivals of Salt in Wounds

The City of Salt in Wounds features hundreds of celebrations, block parties, and feast days ranging from local neighborhood affairs to events put on by obscure religious sects to bacchanalias that surge through the municipality sweeping up young and old alike. What follows are three of the largest and most significant festivals of the city.


Binder’s Glory Celebrated 10-13 Days into Fall Held to

The Church of the Monad

The Church of the Monad is one of three religions in Salt in Wounds that are largely unknown beyond its borders: the other two being worship of Macinfex - God of Butchers & The Holy Writ of Coin Everlasting.

THE CHURCH OF MONAD

The Church of the Monad is a religion favored by many of the intellectuals, alchemists, and monks of Salt in Wounds. While adherents can be found the world over, Salt in Wounds is most definitely the seat of its power, such as it is. Adherents to the

Salt in Wounds Alchemists: 5th Edition Version

The Alchemist class for 5th Edition was designed by the exceptionally talented Rich Howard and originally published on Tribality. A full fledged Alchemist supplement (featuring 7 total tradition options) is available now through Drive Through RPG. Information below posted with permission.

The Alchemist

Alchemy is the study of the fundamental physical and magical forces of the universe, and many believe the precursor to “true magic”. Like wizards, alchemists examine and experiment with the world around them, not only infusing potions with arcane and scientific power, but creating devices that make the world around them easier to survive. The ready availability of Tarrasque blood and magically infused viscera means that alchemists are extremely common within the the City of Salt in Wounds; and the unique economy of blood, body, and bone powers their craft in ways unique to the metropolis.

Of all Alchemist types, Metamorphic Alchemists