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First Mark, Midreach, and Saltbone

Three towers in the middle of the silt. Don't skip one.

The three waystations on the Long Reach: sturdy stone towers on the firmest shoals in the open silt, and the only fixed stops between Balic and Raam. There's no signal out here, so read up before you go.

The three

In the order you'll meet them sailing north from Balic.

• Saltbone: the southern station, after the run up from Balic's quays. It's named for what the marker crews found when they laid its foundations.
• Midreach: right in the middle of the crossing. A rope-yard, a cistern, a barracks, and a beacon. The crews here are the most senior on the lane, and the most colorful.
• First Mark: the northern station, a day out from Raam's shelf. The busiest of the three: the last chance to turn back, and the first chance to fix whatever the crossing has already broken.

What's there

Every station has the same setup: a tower with a beacon fire on top, a cistern, a rope-yard for repairs, and barracks for the marker crews who maintain the lane. All Guild property, staffed year-round, and resupplied by the convoys that stop there.

Good to know

• Make every stop. The stations are a day's run apart, and overshooting one means a night out on the open silt.
• Beacons always get an answer from anyone who can see them. It's the one rule of the silt that even smugglers keep.
• They know you're coming. The stations always seem to expect your convoy before its sail clears the horizon. Ask how and you'll get a weather report.
• Chat with the crews. They see everything that crosses, remember all of it, and are bored enough to tell you about it. They won't talk about the northwest, though.