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Saltern Harbor
September 21, 2026 at 06:17 AM
Initial version (2026-09-21)
Saltern Harbor is a map in development for Embers of the Uncrowned, previewed by NEXON on 27 August 2026 under the line "a land where even death is packed white." It is a salt-producing coastal estate ruled by Count White, a washed-up former admiral, whose people lay their dead in salt so the bodies do not rot and wait for them to rise. The preview shows four screenshots, a short lore text, and a spoiler section that ties the estate to Bella, the Royal Glaze, and the Elven Stakes. It is not one of the three regions of the Steam Next Fest Demo.
Field | Detail |
|---|---|
Type | Map in development (previewed 27 August 2026) |
Lord | Count White, once a navy admiral |
Industry | Salt; a fine grade in the past, later mostly a cheap grade sold for burials |
Burial custom | Bodies laid in salt so they do not rot, buried as mummies, believed to walk back one day |
Named places | The salt pans, the white pits, the Saltgrave, Lady White's coffin |
Antagonist link | Bella ran a secret rite on the salt pans and drove stakes into them |
Placement | Not stated: region, kingdom, Domain status and story position are unpublished |
Saltern Harbor once yielded a fine salt. When the grade dropped, the estate mostly sold a cheap grade for burials, and the custom the preview calls interesting grew out of that trade: the body is laid in salt so it will not rot, buried as a mummy, and the people believe the dead will someday walk back. The preview's screenshots show the dead, still uncorrupted, stacked in white pits. Its witness line runs: "They don't dig graves there. They just lay the body in a pit filled with salt. Come night, you hear something stirring under that white pit."
The lord is Count White, described as once a navy admiral who won an emperor's favor and is now a has-been left on the sidelines. He had a daughter late in life who carried a maternal hereditary illness from childhood and was not expected to live long. His hunt for a cure is what brought him to Bella. The preview also names Lady White, whose coffin is shut tight, and a torn-open Saltgrave, and it invites the player to guess what happened to the count's daughter and to see the cruel truth waiting for Count White.
The preview marks this part of its text as a spoiler. Bella came to Saltern Harbor for the funeral custom and the bodies that would not rot. She saw the girl's illness as the same sickness that strikes the women of the royal house, inherited generation after generation. Elves who wanted the Royal Glaze, which only royal blood can make, needed a test subject. Bella promised a cure, took the salt pans, brought in mages in league with the Velseize Elves, and ran a secret rite. She obtained a few low-grade Royal Glazes. The girl could not take the rites and died. What the Royal Glaze does has not been explained; see Magic System.
To the devastated count Bella offered a terrible hope: the girl could live again. She drove stakes into the salt pans, and corpses in that ground got up and started walking. The count saw it, believed his daughter would return, and went mad for the stakes. The preview quotes him: "If I have the stakes, my daughter comes back as many times as I want." The stakes are the same device the elves use across Rinea to absorb aether and raise the dead; see The Elven Invasion.
Where Saltern Harbor lies on the continent and whether it belongs to the Kingdom of Aldrein
Whether it is a Domain with a Domain Boss, a liberation target, a story chapter, or a field region
Whether Count White, Lady White, or the daughter are fought, and whether Bella appears there in person
What the Royal Glaze is for
When the map will be playable; the preview carries the studio's in-development caveat
