Saltmere

A fishing town on stilts and jetties. The sea fills the west; stilt houses stand out over the water along a plank pier, and on the dunes are the inn on piles, the fish market, net frames and drying racks. Under the Tidecaller the town pays tribute to the sea: shells and fish hung on a post at the pier end.

The town torch

Every town has a torch on its plaza. Light it with the staff and it becomes Wick's checkpoint: a fall ends here, resting at the lit torch heals, and a lit torch is also a stop for lantern travel. Resting heals Wick, but it wakes the land's creatures again.

People

• Mara the pearl diver: A pearl diver who knows the sea caves; gives a clue quest that leads to the Nautilus Grotto.
• Bryn, keeper of the Drowned Lantern: Runs the inn on the dunes; hears every boat come in.
• Nessa the fishwife: Sells the catch, half of which goes to the sea as tribute.
• Old Corrie the net-mender: An old fisherman in oilskins who mends nets and remembers the lighthouse lit.
• Rook the deckhand: A young deckhand who rows the boats out; a local who knows the shore.

Quests

• Mara's Pearl Knife (favour)
• Nessa's Nets (favour)
• Old Corrie's Float Lamp (favour)
• Rook's Diving Bell (town story)
• Corran's Ear-Trumpet (delivery)
• Nessa's Smoked Fish (delivery)
• The Great Nautilus Shell (choice)

Jory the peddler turns up in every town Wick reaches, always one town ahead or one behind, full of news from the last one.