Editing Salt

{{Character|title1 = Salt|image1 = SS buoygaz.webp|caption1 = Restless|location = [[The Uttermost East]]|allegiance = Independent|relationships = [[The White]] (former master)
[[Storm]]<br>
[[Stone]]|music = [https://failbettergames.bandcamp.com/track/sunless-sea Sunless Sea]}}<blockquote>''"A zailor has grown fretful and disobedient, reluctant to go on deck, even in port."</blockquote>

<blockquote>''"There's a white zee-bat watching me up there. Salt's messenger. Salt's got its eye on me. I'll never see home again!"''<ref name = "zee bat arrives">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/A_white_zee-bat|Story description|Sunless Sea|}}</ref></blockquote>

'''Salt''' is one of the three [[Gods of the Unterzee]].

==The God of Farewells==
<blockquote>''"Out here, a captain needs all the help he can get. Even from sad strange gods of farewells."''<ref name = "permission granted">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/A_skilled_crewman|Permit it|Sunless Sea|}}</ref></blockquote>
[[File:Generic unterzee4.png|alt=A dark sea.|thumb|[[The Unterzee]]]]
Salt is the nameless god of farewells<ref name = "permission granted"/> and of the horizon.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/A_skilled_crewman|Event description|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> It is fond of change<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Your_Colony#Naming_Your_Colony|Aestival|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> and associated with travels,<ref name = "go east">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Corridors_of_Frostfound#The_Dark_Room|Fumble in the darkness|Sunless Sea|}} ''"Long ago, a traveller went East, seeking something [...]"''</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Carnelian_Exile#Speak_to_the_Carnelian_Exile|Bread and Salt|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> and may embody the [[Unterzee]] itself.<ref name = "shut off light">{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Shut_off_every_light_aboard;_full_steam_ahead!|Shut off every light aboard; full steam ahead!|Fallen London|}}</ref> Its domain lies in the [[The Uttermost East|Uttermost East]].<ref name="look east">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Irem#Tomb-Colonists_in_Irem|The Colonists will look East|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

Salt's presence may be marked by a light from the horizon or a sea breeze, both from the East.<ref name = "look east"/><ref name = "permission granted"/> It may provoke intense melancholy<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Tears|Event description|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> or convey prescient dreams.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Albino_Moray#You've_defeated_an_Albino_Moray|Rescue a New Jonah|Sunless Sea|}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Venderbight#Interactions_2|The New Jonah|Sunless Sea|}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Shadowy_work_in_Khan%27s_Heart|A blessing|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> Lost faces are sacred to Salt,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Salt_Lions#Interactions|Salt's Rites|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> and it is associated with the phrase <em>'''"TRAVELLER RETURNING."'''</em><ref name = "return">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Corridors_of_Frostfound#The_Dark_Room|TRAVELLER RETURNING|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> It can apparently transmute matter, such as flesh into salt, but this is rarely seen.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle#Interactions|The Sixth Witness|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>
[[File:Bat.png|alt=A bat.|thumb|A zee-bat.]]
'''White zee-bats''' are Salt's messengers. Being watched by a white zee-bat is an ill omen, as the subject may never reach home again.<ref name = "zee bat arrives"/> Feeding a white zee-bat incurs Salt's favor and may cause other strange occurrences,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/A_white_zee-bat|Feed the zee-bat|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> while harming one incurs Salt's wrath.<ref name = "shoot bat">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/A_white_zee-bat|Shoot the zee-bat|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

'''Salt's Song''', and its light, tempt travelers to venture East, especially if they lack a home.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Carnelian_Exile#Speak_to_the_Carnelian_Exile|Bread and Salt|Sunless Sea|}}</ref><ref name = "look east"/> Salt's hum<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Feel_the_soil|Feel the soil|Fallen London|}} ''"[...] something is humming, and you are humming with it [...]"''</ref> permeates the wind near the Eastern zee<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Eastern_Wind|Eastern Wind|Fallen London|}}</ref> and the sound of the zee's waves,<ref name = "shut off light"/> giving listeners strange dreams of its domain.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Look|Look|Fallen London|}}</ref> Anyone who zails too far East will find themselves under Salt's scrutiny, which silences all sound.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Sun_within_the_Sea|The surrounding light|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> Salt's light will bloom from the Unterzee, and any unworthy travelers will be forced to turn back.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Sun_beneath_the_Sea|The light below|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

Salt appears to be connected in some way to [[Irem]]<ref name = "look east"/> and [[Kingeater's Castle]],<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Kingeater's_Castle#Interactions|Allow the Gall-Eyed Engineer to go ashore|Sunless Sea|}}</ref><ref name = "lose your mind">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Kingeater's_Castle#Interactions|Lose your mind|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> though the exact reasons why are unclear.

=== Worship ===
<blockquote>''"The face of the northern sphinx is all but gone. Lost faces are sacred to Salt, they say. You are drawn there. To what end? Salt's voice is distant, but clear..."''<ref name= "salt rite">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Salt_Lions#Interactions|Salt's Rites|Sunless Sea|}}</ref></blockquote>
[[File:Dripstonetemple.png|alt=A temple near the side of a cliff.|thumb|[[Whither#The_House_of_the_Question|The House of the Question]]]]
Salt is worshipped by zailors,<ref name = "skilled zailor">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/A_skilled_crewman|Event description|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> who make offerings to it by dropping treasures,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Whisper-Locked_Puzzle-Box#Interactions|Throw the box in the sea, as an offering to Salt|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> such as moon-pearls, into the [[Unterzee]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Approaching_the_Pillared_Sea|Approaching the Pillared Sea|Fallen London|}}</ref> Zailors also maintain shrines<ref name = "skilled zailor"/> to Salt; these may be constructed of a circle of salt and an arrow of chalk.<ref name = "permission granted"/> The [[Whither#The_House_of_the_Question|House of the Question]] in [[Whither]] has a shrine to Salt with walls inscribed with stories. Providing stories for the shrine grants Salt's favor, but seeing where the tale will be written is considered bad luck.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_House_of_the_Question|Gain Salt's Attention|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

Salt's favor has varying effects. Beseeching the zee-god may grant strange revelations,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_View_from_Above|Prayer to the god called Salt|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> and its voice may hint of treasure near its hallowed places.<ref name= "salt rite"/> However, in times of crisis, Salt has its own ideas of "help." For instance, it might summon a [[Bestiary#Tyrant-Moth|Tyrant-Moth]] to accost the unlucky.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Desperate_Measures_(Fuel)|Make a sacrifice to Salt|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

=== Salt's Curse ===
<blockquote>''"You won't take me? Well, you'll take my curse! Salt, witness me! My curse on this captain without charity! Others will abandon you, as you abandoned me! Curse you! Curse you!"''<ref name = "leave here">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/A_Raggedy_Fellow|Leave him here|Sunless Sea|}}</ref></blockquote>
[[File:Nocturne.png|alt=A half-sunken ship.|thumb|The Nocturne. Beware.]]
Salt's curse is feared by zailors; they would rather sacrifice transgressors to the [[Unterzee]] than risk its effects.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Wreck_of_the_Nocturne#Interactions|Board this empty mausoleum|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> Its curse may be inflicted by harming white zee-bats,<ref name = "shoot bat"/> or stealing from partially-submerged shipwrecks.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Secret_of_the_Nocturne#Interactions|A little bonus|Sunless Sea|}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Wreck_of_the_Nocturne#Interactions|A mystery unresolved|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> Zailors can also invoke it upon others as punishment. Methods include a ritual of speech, blood, and spit,<ref name = "leave here"/> complex sign language,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/An_Exile_Aboard%3F|Refuse it|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> or written cursing-signs.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Man_who_Stole_the_Sun|Let him off with a warning|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

The effects of Salt's curse are dire: a victim may find their family gone upon returning home. They may receive the comfort of a farewell note,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Dark_News|A letter from the Dapper Chap|Sunless Sea|}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Dark_News|An official notice from the Foreign Office|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> or their loved ones might vanish entirely, leaving behind nary a trace besides Salt's mark.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Dark_News|Appalling news|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

Lifting Salt's curse is possible in the [[Whither#The_House_of_the_Question|House of the Question]]. The process is unclear, but a white flower petal appears afterwards to signal that the curse has been lifted.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_House_of_the_Question|Lift Salt's Curse|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

== The Traveler's Journey ==
{{Major spoiler small}}
<blockquote>''"Recall who sent you here. That fierce old thing in the dark."''</blockquote>

<blockquote>''"Find her, and you will find the treasures. Go down. You need only take a little. My aid is cheap. You will have what I promised."''<ref name = "letter five">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Name-Which-Burns|The fifth letter: the White|Sunless Sea|}}</ref></blockquote>
[[File:GleamWhite.png|alt=A star surrounded by snowflakes.|thumb|[[The White]]]]
Salt was once an exiled [[Judgement]] from the [[High Wilderness]].<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/A_Travelling_Light#Items_description|Items description|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> It visited the palace of the [[The White|White]]<ref name = "crystal palace">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Name-Which-Burns|The sixth letter: a palace of poisoned crystal|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> and was tasked with finding what the [[Sun]] had hid in the [[Neath]];<ref name = "return home">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Green_and_Gold|Once, you said… "The zee is wide, but I'll always return home."|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> this may have been [[Stone]] herself.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Listen_to_the_Mountain_tell_its_stories|Listen to the Mountain tell its stories|Fallen London|}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Dump_it_on_the_fire|Dump it on the fire|Fallen London|}}</ref> The White promised a treasure at the end of the search, and may have promised some other boon. Salt did not know anything about the Neath at the time,<ref name = "letter five"/> and feared it may never come back from the journey, but a "need" drove it to accept.<ref name = "crystal palace"/>

En route to the Neath, Salt was hunted down<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Corridors_of_Frostfound#The_Corridors_of_Frostfound|Enter the Amethyst Gallery|Sunless Sea|}} ''"You are the centre of hunters' attention [...]"''</ref> by beasts of the High Wilderness. Salt slaughtered them all, leaving their enormous carcasses to drift in space.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Corridors_of_Frostfound#The_Amethyst_Gallery|The Amethyst Gallery|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> Salt then entered the Neath in a painful process<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Corridors_of_Frostfound#The_Dark_Room|TRAVELLER RETURNING|Sunless Sea|}} ''"The third letter. When you came below, you knew it would hurt, but not this much."''</ref> that may have involved the [[Red Science]].<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Corridors_of_Frostfound#The_Cavity|Surrender to the traces of horror|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

=== The Castle of Ice ===
<blockquote>''"Long ago a hungry monarch built a castle. The monarch saw a light in the south, in the palace of the south's queen. In those days, hungry as the monarch was, that light provoked nothing but appetite. But she was too far to devour. Over time, their correspondence calmed the monarch, and when the time came for the monarch to depart, the monarch's appetite was transformed, like blood into tears."''<ref name = "fumbling">{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Corridors_of_Frostfound#The_Dark_Room|Fumble in the darkness|Sunless Sea|}}</ref></blockquote>
[[File:Frostfound port.png|alt=A castle of ice with two towers.|100px|thumb|[[Frostfound]]]]
When Salt entered the Neath, it rode a "dead wind" from the North. It built a castle of ice out of its memories<ref name = "lose your mind"/> that would later be called [[Frostfound]].<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Reach_out_and_touch_it|Reach out and touch it|Fallen London|}} ''"–a castle of ice for a hungry monarch–"''</ref> The once-star was famished, and saw [[Stone]]'s light to the [[The Elder Continent|South]], finding it appetizing. But Stone was too far to reach, so Salt corresponded with her instead. Their exchanges calmed Salt, and over time, its hunger was transformed, like "blood into tears."<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Corridors_of_Frostfound#The_Dark_Room|Fumble in the darkness|Sunless Sea|}} ''"Long ago a hungry monarch built a castle. The monarch saw a light in the south [...]"''</ref>

Salt also sent several messengers, including beings from [[Axile]], to communicate with [[Storm]], but Storm devoured them all. Salt then found Storm's true name, and Storm had to take heed. What transpired next is unknown, but it was not beneficial to either of them.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Corridors_of_Frostfound#The_Dark_Room|Fumble in the darkness|Sunless Sea|}} ''"Long ago a hungry monarch built a castle. The monarch sent messengers to the thunder-dragon in the roof [...]"''</ref>

It is implied that Salt made a deal with the [[Presbyterate]] before the [[Echo Bazaar]] came to the Neath,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Your_Colony#Receive_an_Embassy|An understanding with the Presbyterate|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> and it may have made a later deal with the Bazaar,<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/One_Last_Voyage%3F_(9_FATE)|One Last Voyage? (9 FATE)|Fallen London|}} ''"A Bazaar Permit has been affixed to the wall with a species of resin. In the section for 'Services Contracted', the notary has scrawled the words TRAVELLER RETURNING."''</ref> but neither claim is confirmed.

=== The Horizon's Road ===
<blockquote>''"Long ago, a traveller went East, seeking something that could not be found in the black and starry kingdoms of the High Wilderness, nor in the irrigo temptations of the Nadir. Not in the glow of the Forge nor the crushing silence of the Unterzee deeps. Not in the shapeling citadels, not in the light of the South, not of the Sundered Sea. The traveller went East, and others may follow."''<ref name = "fumbling"/></blockquote>

<blockquote>''"To travel is to change. Travel further; change more. This is the winnowing before the spring, the shearing of selves; the cold scarring of alteration. A stranger savours a warm breeze on a golden shore, and forgets all that they no longer are."''<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Release_your_Uttermost_Eel_into_the_waters|Release your Uttermost Eel into the waters|Fallen London|}}</ref></blockquote>

Salt wandered the [[Neath]] to satisfy its "need,"<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Carnelian_Exile#Speak_to_the_Carnelian_Exile|Speak to the Exile about the "Name's prison"|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> but no place it visited provided fulfillment.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Corridors_of_Frostfound#The_Dark_Room|Fumble in the darkness|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> But then Salt looked East, and it was fascinated by the horizon.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Green_and_Gold|Once, you said… "I cannot rest until I've crossed the last horizon."|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> In search of answers,<ref name = "go east"/> Salt changed itself completely and utterly;<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Corridors_of_Frostfound#The_Emerald_Vista|Peer into the depths|Sunless Sea|}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Release_your_Uttermost_Eel_into_the_waters|Release your Uttermost Eel into the waters|Fallen London|}} ''"To travel is to change. Travel further; change more. [...] the winnowing before the spring, the shearing of selves; the cold scarring of alteration."''</ref> it left behind the last remnants of its former self,<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Corridors_of_Frostfound#The_Dark_Room|Harvest a Star-Shell|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> and the '''Name-Which-Burns''',<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Letters_of_the_Name-Which-Burns#Quality_description|Quality description|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> in [[Frostfound]].<ref name = "return"/>
[[File:Worldsend interior.png|alt=A landscape with mountains in a dark sky, with a sea lit from below.|thumb|[[The Uttermost East]]]]
Salt's current status and future are unclear. They say Salt rests on the shore of the [[The Uttermost East|Uttermost East]], recalling the stars it left behind.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Irem#Location_description|Voyage of the Snow Child|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> They say it has forgotten all that it once was.<ref>{{Citation|https://fallenlondon.wiki/wiki/Release_your_Uttermost_Eel_into_the_waters|Release your Uttermost Eel into the waters|Fallen London|}} ''"A stranger savours a warm breeze on a golden shore, and forgets all that they no longer are."''</ref> They say it will sail onward, seeking new horizons.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Green_and_Gold|Once, you said… "The zee is my only home."|Sunless Sea|}}</ref>

They say the Traveller is always returning.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/The_Name-Which-Burns|The last letter: the East|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> They say that Salt will come to [[Kingeater's Castle]],<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Kingeater%27s_Castle#Interactions|The Sixth Witness|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> and the last of seven Witnesses will see something cataclysmic.<ref>{{Citation|https://sunlesssea.fandom.com/wiki/Secrets_Wrapped_in_Blood_and_Bone#Interactions|Ask the Sixth Witness' Question|Sunless Sea|}}</ref> And they say that one day, the Traveller will rise to face the [[The White|White]] in his palace of poisoned crystal.<ref name = "return home"/>

==References==
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[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Nonhuman]]
[[Category:Formatted]]
[[Category:Cited]]
[[Category:Zee-Gods]]