The Salted Brothers

The Salted Brothers is a traditionalist group dedicated to preserving the earliest customs, navigational practices, and seafaring traditions of early humans brought to House Mollusca. While most embraced House Mollusca's crystalline technology, pressure domes, and modern infrastructure, the Brothers chose a quieter path: one that values self-reliance, handwritten records only, and an intimate understanding of the sea itself.

Though often dismissed by younger generations as stubborn traditionalists, the Salted Brothers have quietly preserved skills that modern Molluscans increasingly struggle to master. During storms, equipment failures, and unexpected current shifts, their knowledge often proves indispensable.

Philosophy

The Salted Brothers believes that every Molluscan should understand the sea before relying upon the tools that tame it.

Their teachings emphasize that technology should strengthen existing knowledge rather than replace it. A navigator who cannot read the stars without a crystal compass, or predict the tides without an instrument, is considered dangerously dependent upon convenience.

Use every tool. Depend on none.

— an old saying

Way of Life

Members of the Salted Brothers generally reside in small settlements scattered throughout Zafforza Trench beyond the city's protective domes. Many earn their living as fishermen, navigators, salvagers, and long-range couriers, spending far more time beneath the open sea than within the comforts of Zafforza City.

Navigation follows a layered tradition passed down through generations. During surface voyages, Salted Brothers navigators chart their course by the stars, sun, and moon. Once beneath the water, they rely upon tidal rhythms, prevailing currents, whale migrations, water temperature, salinity, and distinctive landmarks along the trench floor. Together, these methods allow experienced navigators to travel vast distances without the aid of crystalline instruments.

These techniques are taught from childhood and practiced throughout life, ensuring that even the youngest members can safely travel should modern navigation systems fail.

The sky gives direction. The sea gives distance. The whales keep time.

— a Salted Brothers saying

Food & Sustenance

Meals within the Salted Brothers are simple, seasonal, and almost entirely sourced from the surrounding waters. Families rely on line fishing, shellfish gathering, kelp cultivation, and small floating gardens maintained near their settlements. Preserved fish, dried sea vegetables, smoked mollusks, and hearty sea stews form the backbone of their diet, while elaborate meals are reserved for the safe return of a voyage or the changing of the seasons.

Food is rarely eaten alone. Evening meals are regarded as an opportunity to exchange stories, compare navigation journals, and teach younger generations through conversation. Recipes are seldom written as precise instructions, instead being passed from one generation to the next through demonstration and shared experience, reflecting the Brothers belief that knowledge is best preserved through practice rather than convenience.

Family & Community

Life within the Salted Brothers revolves around close-knit communities where every member is expected to contribute according to their abilities. Children learn practical skills from an early age, accompanying elders on fishing trips, observing the movement of currents, and gradually taking on greater responsibilities as they mature. Rather than formal classrooms, much of their education takes place aboard working vessels and around communal tables.

Relationships are built upon trust earned through shared hardship. Reputation is measured less by wealth or status than by reliability—keeping one's word, returning safely from a voyage, and helping neighbors without hesitation. While outsiders sometimes mistake their reserved nature for aloofness, members of the Brothers are fiercely loyal to one another and are quick to offer shelter, food, or guidance to any traveler willing to respect the sea and its traditions.

Record Keeping

They insist on preserving their history, stories, and records in handwritten journals only.

While House Mollusca maintains vast crystalline archives capable of storing centuries of information, the Salted Brothers believes that writing by hand forms a stronger bond between memory and knowledge. Every voyage is recorded. Every storm documented. Every mistake preserved.

Their journals are considered family heirlooms, often passed through generations with new entries added by each successive keeper.

Relationship with House Mollusca

The Salted Brothers has always occupied an unusual place within House Mollusca. Many younger Molluscans view them as stubborn, impractical, resistant to change, and unnecessarily nostalgic. Older generations, however, often seek their advice before major expeditions, trusting experience over instrumentation when conditions become uncertain. Although their customs are rarely adopted wholesale, the Brothers are widely respected for preserving knowledge that might otherwise have been lost.

Cultural Significance

The Salted Brothers serves as a living reminder of House Mollusca's earliest years in the Zafforza Trench. Their customs reinforce an important cultural lesson: progress should expand knowledge, not replace it.

Their influence can still be seen throughout House Mollusca. Naval cadets are encouraged to learn basic celestial navigation, Information Specialists are trained in handwritten transcription before using crystalline archives, and even the most advanced expeditions typically include at least one navigator familiar with traditional methods.

While many regard the Brothers as relics of another era, few deny that their traditions have repeatedly proven their worth when modern systems fail.