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Salt Crown

At a glance

  • World type. Deep ocean industrial world.

  • Main trade. Brine chemicals. Chlorine, caustic soda, bromine, iodine, industrial salts, anti-corrosion agents and desalinated water.

  • Ruled by. The Grand Council, through the Port Authority of Salt Crown.

  • Constellation. Vellari. Thalassa-Nine, Brinelight, Deepmere and Salt Crown.

  • Port. Crownlift Orbital, 180 berths.

  • Reputation. Hard work, bad air and the worst ice jacking in the Drift.

Role in the Drift

Salt Crown turns ocean brine into chemicals that the Mid and Core need for food, medicine and industry. It also makes desalinated water and sells it by the ton to Mid ports that have none. That water is cheaper than Vellari ice and tastes of minerals.

The Salt Crown corridor is the lane that carries this cargo, and much of the Vellari ice bound for the Mid. That makes it the favorite hunting ground of ice jackers. When Salt Crown slows down, prices for food, medicine and water go up across the Mid and Rim.

History

  • USD 0003. The Vellari haul fleets start regular ice runs. Salt Crown builds the first big yards on the Crown Ring.

  • USD 0023. The Vellari constellation forms, with Salt Crown making brine chemicals.

  • USD 0045. Private checkpoints and pirate tolls spread on the Salt Crown corridor. Convoys start using escorts.

  • USD 0082. The Salt Crown ice-jacking wave. Syndicates hijack Vellari tugs on the corridor, cut the ice loose and sell it to dry stations. The Grand Council answers with the biggest bounties it has ever posted.

  • USD 0100 to now. Escorts are normal, bounty hunters crowd the Crown Ring, and the jacking never fully stopped.

Geography

  • Crown Ring. A belt of linked platforms around the equator with the main yards, docks and housing.

  • Basin Pumps. Pump farms in the open ocean, with intakes deep under the surface.

  • Cracking Fields. Clusters of electrolysis stacks and bromine towers.

  • Tank Roads. Lanes of floating tanks, moved by tugs.

  • Weather. Salt mist, pressure squalls and spray that eats metal. A white salt crust covers everything.

Who runs it

  • Port Authority of Salt Crown. Runs the berths, pipelines and inspection schedules.

  • Chemical Safety Board. Tests parts for hot and corrosive lines, using Talarq Forge labels.

  • Chlor-Line Cooperatives. Run the biggest cracking stacks and fight about power prices.

  • Tank Consortium. Runs storage and tug towing on the Tank Roads.

  • Sealbar Channel patrols. Hunt ice jackers and tanker raiders on the corridor.

Economy

  • Main work. Chlorine, caustic soda, bromine and iodine, desalinated water, mineral salts and anti-corrosion coatings.

  • Side work. Pump and gasket making, pipeline repair, tank farming, training, and a lot of escort work.

  • Prices. Go up with bad weather, power shortages and ice-jacking season.

Places

  • Haloflow Works. Chlorine town. Home of the Chlorine Rest.

  • Bromelight Shoals. Bromine and special reagents.

  • Crownwake Yard. The big machine yard, run by Caraphex clade crews.

  • Desalt Meridian. Desal water plants and the relief pier.

  • Sealbar Channel. Patrol town and court piers that guard the corridor.

  • North Array. Big electrolysis stacks that load straight into chemical tankers.

  • South Intake Farms. Deep intake towers with debris screens.

  • Convoy Anchorage. Moorings where convoys wait for an escort into the corridor.

Visiting crews

  • Crownlift Orbital checks every chemical load. The hazard crews do not care how late you are.

  • If you use the corridor, hire an escort or join a convoy.

  • Everyone carries a gas mask. Buy one.

  • Bounty boards on the Crown Ring carry the Grand Council's ice-jacker bounties. The big ones pay enough to retire on.

Life on Salt Crown

Shifts follow the weather and the power supply. Work is hard and dangerous, and crews are proud of low loss rates and clean safety records. Everything is built to be hosed down. Food is preserved fish and greens from Deepmere. Bars are loud, and most of them have a bounty screen.

Languages. Vellari trade speech, Trade Common, and dock slang from every species.

Relations with other worlds

  • Thalassa-Nine. The Grand Council runs Salt Crown and sends patrols to guard the ice lanes.

  • Brinelight. Sends composite pipes, gaskets and cable trays for the corrosive lines.

  • Deepmere. Trades kelp fuel and stabilizers.

  • Kedra. Buys chemicals and hears the biggest cargo cases.

  • Slipwind. Keth beacons and storm warnings for the corridor.

Crime and danger

  • Ice jacking. Syndicates hijack haul tugs on the corridor, cut the ice loose and sell it at dry stations. Some crews are killed. Some are paid to look away.

  • Siphoning. Crews tap tanks during convoy staging and steal a little from every load.

  • Toll gangs. Unlicensed checkpoints on the corridor charge convoys to pass.

  • Punishment. Caught jackers lose their ship and go to prison on the Rim. Their buyers usually walk free.