Salt
"We will sail East, and the islands will fall behind. The zee will be troubled by greater waves. The false-stars will pale, until the Neath-roof grows invisible above. New scents will prickle the air: something like spice and something like pine."[1]
Salt is one of the three gods of the Unterzee.
The Traveller
Of the three gods of the Zee, Salt is the most elusive, said to dwell beyond the horizon.[2] It is the god of farewells,[3] and may be the embodiment of the Zee itself.[4] Its speech is a light across the water,[5] a sea breeze,[6] a splash in the distance[7] - always from the East, calling fellow travellers toward it.[8][9] It is always approaching, but never arriving.[10][7] It can provoke an intense sadness as it passes,[11] or like Storm, it might drive its enemies to violence.[12]
Where its voice sings, a white zee-bat might follow.[13] Where its influence is felt, a message is often found: TRAVELLER RETURNING.[14]
Salt is feared and worshipped by zailors, who give it their stories and secrets,[15] and call its wrath upon those who wrong them.[16][17] It also punishes those who steal from shipwrecks.[18]
Who is Salt?
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Salt is a Judgment.[19] It is now in exile in the Neath,[20] but before it came here, the White asked it a favor:[21] to find what the sun had hid (probably his daughter Stone).[22] It promised a treasure at the end of the search, and perhaps something else.[21] Salt accepted because it sought something it could not find between the stars,[23] and entered the Neath, at a terrible cost.[24] It saw the light of Stone and found it appetizing, but she was too far away, so instead it sated its hunger by corresponding with her.[23] At some point during this time, but long before the Bazaar came to the Neath, it made a treaty with the Presbyterate.[25] Eventually it made the castle of Frostfound to record its story,[20][21] then forged the place we call Kingeater’s Castle by shedding its past and future,[26][27] and then it went East.[28]
Amid the forests and the mountains of the East,[22] it is now perpetually in movement and yet standing still,[7][29] calling those who wish to explore the last horizon.[9] One day, it will rise to fight the White[22] - but there is no happy ending.[20]
Salt is sometimes called the Sun-Beneath-the-Sea.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Sun beneath the Sea, Sunless Sea
- ↑ The Colonists will look East , Sunless Sea
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs named:9 - ↑ Break on through to the other side, Fallen London
- ↑ Their bandages will be soaked with tears , Sunless Sea
- ↑ A breath of air , Sunless Sea
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 The rewards of curiosity , Sunless Sea
- ↑ Eastern Wind, Fallen London
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 A brisk dinner, Sunless Sea
- ↑ Swim to the beach, Fallen London
- ↑ Tears, Sunless Sea
- ↑ Dark News, Sunless Sea
- ↑ A white zee-bat, Sunless Sea
- ↑ Not Helpful, Sunless Sea
- ↑ Lift Salt's Curse , Sunless Sea
- ↑ Strong words , Sunless Sea
- ↑ Gratitude... and curses , Sunless Sea
- ↑ A harrowing emptiness , Sunless Sea
- ↑ The Sun within the Sea, Sunless Sea
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 A Travelling Light, Sunless Sea
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 The Name-Which-Burns, Sunless Sea
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Green and Gold, Sunless Sea
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedcore - ↑ The Iridescence, Sunless Sea
- ↑ An understanding with the Presbyterate , Sunless Sea
- ↑ Give up your past, Sunless Sea
- ↑ Give up your future, Sunless Sea
- ↑ "There!" , Sunless Sea
- ↑ Look, Fallen London
