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Saloondrian Short Stories, by Blake Propach  A Looming Danger by Michael Kuroda We didn't always fear the deep. In fact, it was only recently we even learned a reason to. Almost overnight, the city of Barrelmouth militarized into a fortress. The wooden buildings were reinforced with heavy stones, the docks welded with massive spikes of iron, the watchtowers armed and the windows facing the sea covered in metal bars. The dockworkers became our frontline soldiers in a war we never meant to enter, a now necessary force to ward away the darkness below.
A darkness summoned from our own greed. Barrelmouth was once no different than any other small town hugging the northern hills. Its position was economical, controlling the heart of the river. In times long past it was the trade hub for all of eastern Saloondria. But times change, and Crater River became less important, as dams were dug and reservoirs filled. The east inevitably fell out of favor. The seaside towns became the new heart of Saloondria, as the ocean was mapped and civilization advanced. And while it went unsaid, the added distance from the Plague Lands did much to ease the minds of civilians. Barrelmouth fell into disrepair. Investors, bankers, traders not dependent on the commerce of the hills, these people left the already shrinking city in droves. All those that remained were the small businesses, the loggers and the hunters, and any of those loyal to the land over their own prospects. For years this became the spirit of the city, and the people changed, or rather hardened. Sturdy, protective, but loyal to each other and with strong collective memories of what Barrelmouth once was, perhaps one day still could be.
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Saloondrian Short Stories, by Blake Propach  Kingdom of Saloondria by Michael Kuroda A curse was not always so common. Nor was it so evil. There was a time, long forgotten, when to curse was to create. To curse was to protect, to cure. That time is no more.
Once, there were no curses, and the Plague Lands flourished under some other name. The land beyond the plague was once connected to the lands of Saloondria, and great nations lost to our histories dealt with us, sharing technologies and culture. In the Plague lands themselves, farmers reaped bountiful harvests from healthy soil. Forests and rivers, plentiful wildlife, a paradise in a different world. The Cursed King changed this. And in so doing, changed our world forever. It began as evil often does. Quietly and from the shadows, creeping on the innocent and unexpecting. At first the reports were strange but not unprecedented. Horses and cattle began to come back fewer and fewer from the pastures. Strange lights and frequent fires emanated from the forests, but no search parties could find their sources. Some search parties lost men in the darkness, and some entire groups never returned. The townspeople had explanations for such occurrences. The wolves were more active that year. The native peoples had become bolder, pushed further into the lands of the civilized. But some things they could not explain. The cemeteries were emptying. A mass graverobbing had begun. But whoever it was that was responsible, they were not taking the valuables. Jewelry and finery were strewn across the stones as if they had been discarded by the unhappy ghosts. The bones, however, were missing. And the holes were not square, as if they were not dug out from above, but rather from below. Saloondria Reddit Exclusives, by Michael Kuroda and Blake Propach  This encyclopedia entry was created for and posted to Reddit, reposted below for better readability.
Saloondria Reddit Exclusives, by Michael Kuroda and Blake Propach
These newspaper clippings were originally posted to Reddit, reposted below for better readability.
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