Overview
The Viscounty of Salinmoor, located between the southeastern Dreadwood and the Azure Coast, is one of Keoland's most forlorn provinces. It was virtually abandoned following the Siege of Westkeep, which saw the Keoish Throne lose its former southern possessions to the piratical Sea Princes in the last century. This left Salinmoor and its nominal capital, the coastal town of Seaton, as the kingdom’s southernmost possession. However, lacking much in the way of natural resources or strategic importance to the Throne of the Lion due to its distance from Gradsul and close proximity to insurgent Monmurg, it was virtually forgotten over the years by the bureaucracy in Niole Dra, whose introversion is legendary.
Salinmoor was founded more than three centuries ago, prior to the start of the kingdom’s imperialist phase, as an adjunct possession of the Rhola of Gradsul. The land and its environs are often described as gloomy, helped in large part by the warm mists which waft off the nearby marshes south of Bale Keep and combine with the briny air of the sea to produce a persistent miasma. Fishing, including some whaling, dominates the local economy, which also sports small farms and some cattle grazing. The viscounty has seen more than its share of misfortune over the years, including a plague in the late 490s that wiped out nearly a quarter of the population. The frequent storms which cross the Azure Sea north of Fairwind Isle to strike the western coast of the Sheldomar Valley often seem to hit this region the hardest.
The people of Salinmoor have a complex relationship with the sea, viewing it as both source of life and bringer of death. These settlers, who are a mixture of Suel and Oeridian bloodlines, are very superstitious and are often described as overly anxious. It often appears to outsiders visiting Salinmoor that many families here act as though they have something to hide. But Salinmoor is not only a place of sinister secrets. It is often the destination of many seeking to avoid scrutiny in the north, making it a conduit of unwanted notoriety. Much of this portrayal is surely exaggeration by haughty northerners, but examples of this behavior are often cited. For instance, the part of the Dreadwood which constitutes the northern verges of the province is generally avoided, as it is believed to be haunted or cursed, depending on whom one consults. The marshes in the south, they say, are home to demons and other foul spirits which feed upon the souls of the living, often reaching out to them in their dreams.