Saltfolk
Few people choose to live in the Grey Salt Bayou, it is marginal land in every sense of the word. It only provides one thing in great quality, safety. None but lightly loaded flat bottomed barges are able to safely cross its dead waters and its vapors cause most fliers to drop from the air. The ancestors of modern Saltfolk were humans and gnolls fleeing elven aggression, for whom all other concerns were secondary.
They were among the communities least influenced by the Voices' arrival in the First Gnosis. They still live off the salt fish, crocodiles, and bog peat as their ancestors have for generations, always taking the long way around through the northern ocean for contact with the outside world.
Culture
Shared customary codes and values
Take It In Shifts- While they live primarily in mixed communities, the gnolls and humans of the Bayou rarely form double families as their kin on the Highlands do. Living space is at too high a premium when each house must be raised on its own stilts, to accommodate such large dwellings. Instead the nocturnal gnolls and diurnal humans contribute to shared workloads as night and day shifts, such that the swamp never truly sleeps.
I Got My Eye on You-With visitors such a rarity Saltfolk are extremely suspicious of outsiders and make a point of never leaving them unsupervised in the community
Art & Architecture
As with most swamp dwelling communities the Saltfolk live in small houses built atop raised stilt platforms. These stilts have downward facing spikes to prevent animals from climbing. The platform edges also typically have a hinged edge which is pulled up at night forming a short outward sloping wall. The houses themselves are generally one room and built around a central fireplace, fed with small peat blocks.
Foods & Cuisine
Bayou cuisine is famous for its ability to coax magnificent flavors out of very meager ingredients. Salt water fish, crocodiles, crawfish, crabs, and oysters are smothered or boiling in seasoning liquid for long low temperature cook periods that take little interaction from the chef until they are ready to serve.
Related Locations
Louisiana Swamp People
Media Inspiration
The west side of the river particularly the fishing village in Disco Elysium (video game)
The Mangrove College area in Sunless Sea (video game)
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