Vintage Story Wiki
Salt-stained Scrawlings (BR)
Lore section: saltstainedscrawlings
betterruins:saltstainedscrawlings
· from betterruins
Personal writings from trapped laborers, chronicling false hope, slow realization, and final farewells beneath a collapsing quarry.
Found in structures (1)
bookshelf: a lore bookshelf for this section; placed: this exact book sits in a container or on the ground; random loot: a loot roll in the structure can produce it. Read from the structure's schematics, so it shows where the game can put it, not a drop chance.
| Structure | Kind | How it is found |
|---|---|---|
| halitequarry | storystructure | placed |
Text
First entry
We expected Jackal to pull out every stop to get us out of here. We really did. He was one hell of a taskmaster but we knew in our hearts that he cared for us. He joined us in song and striking at salt. You just know he was a labourer once.
That’s why I wish I could say any of us are surprised by this outcome. Hale says he spent three days or so trapped inside a coal mine once and the only reason they freed him is because they wanted to get to the vein he was stuck with. But we’ve all heard the conversations between Jackal and that Svanmarck woman. The quarry isn’t turning a profit. They’re not coming back for us.
We expected Jackal to pull out every stop to get us out of here. We really did. He was one hell of a taskmaster but we knew in our hearts that he cared for us. He joined us in song and striking at salt. You just know he was a labourer once.
That’s why I wish I could say any of us are surprised by this outcome. Hale says he spent three days or so trapped inside a coal mine once and the only reason they freed him is because they wanted to get to the vein he was stuck with. But we’ve all heard the conversations between Jackal and that Svanmarck woman. The quarry isn’t turning a profit. They’re not coming back for us.
Second entry
The pumps were never turned back on, we don’t think. The water just keeps finding new ways in.
We can hear water running somewhere up ahead, after we heard a collapse from the same direction. It’s hard to keep time down here. Maybe we ought to have had more faith in Jackal. We’re going to pick up our tools and continue digging in that direction.
Elna is insisting he knows old Foster wouldn’t leave us if he had a choice, but Joren keeps saying that’s not his choice to make in the first place.
The pumps were never turned back on, we don’t think. The water just keeps finding new ways in.
We can hear water running somewhere up ahead, after we heard a collapse from the same direction. It’s hard to keep time down here. Maybe we ought to have had more faith in Jackal. We’re going to pick up our tools and continue digging in that direction.
Elna is insisting he knows old Foster wouldn’t leave us if he had a choice, but Joren keeps saying that’s not his choice to make in the first place.
Final entry
The sound led us true enough.
We broke into a wide hollow, lost two good people in doing so, and for a moment we thought we’d done it. The air actually moved here, and the water had places to drain into. There are bones down here. Old ones, piled and scattered, half-buried in salt and silt. Whatever this place used to be, it wasn’t a way out. Is this what they had sent us looking for?
The ceiling is too high to climb, and the walls are too slick, and we are all so exhausted. I am choosing to believe Jackal doesn’t know we’re here. I pray to God that the others will let me have this small comfort before this cavity becomes our tomb, as well.
Being the only one out of the four of us who knows how to write, I’m going to jot down what we’d want said, in case they realize we are missing and come for us too late.
The sound led us true enough.
We broke into a wide hollow, lost two good people in doing so, and for a moment we thought we’d done it. The air actually moved here, and the water had places to drain into. There are bones down here. Old ones, piled and scattered, half-buried in salt and silt. Whatever this place used to be, it wasn’t a way out. Is this what they had sent us looking for?
The ceiling is too high to climb, and the walls are too slick, and we are all so exhausted. I am choosing to believe Jackal doesn’t know we’re here. I pray to God that the others will let me have this small comfort before this cavity becomes our tomb, as well.
Being the only one out of the four of us who knows how to write, I’m going to jot down what we’d want said, in case they realize we are missing and come for us too late.
Farewells
This is for Elric and the boys.
I thought I would come home with salt money and sore hands and that would be all.
I’m sorry I did not. I love you more than I ever said.
Above anything, do not let them tell you I was careless.
Hale
For my sister Mara.
Keep the house if you can. Do not sell it even if they pressure you. I worked hard to get us a roof over our heads in Yarrowford. I only wish I could be buried there instead of here. And more than that I hope this text never has to see the light of day, and that rescue will break through these walls shortly.
Please tell Father I forgive him. I don’t think I was ever angry with him.
Elna
To my mother: I’m sorry to have worried you so much. I reckon I’m responsible for more than a few of your grey hairs, and I’d be surprised if you didn’t have a head full by the time you hear about the closing. I fear old age will have taken you long before we’re found, but I still find some catharsis in imagining you reading this someday.
Your bread is still the greatest thing that I’ve ever tasted, and the memory of it has carried me through the roughest of shifts with a smile on my face.
Joren
For Tomas
I just know you will be angry when you hear this. Put it to good use for once and fix the roof. Roland and the girls will appreciate it. The leakage is worse on the eastern side. You’ll find it easily after the thaw.
Lina
This is for Elric and the boys.
I thought I would come home with salt money and sore hands and that would be all.
I’m sorry I did not. I love you more than I ever said.
Above anything, do not let them tell you I was careless.
Hale
For my sister Mara.
Keep the house if you can. Do not sell it even if they pressure you. I worked hard to get us a roof over our heads in Yarrowford. I only wish I could be buried there instead of here. And more than that I hope this text never has to see the light of day, and that rescue will break through these walls shortly.
Please tell Father I forgive him. I don’t think I was ever angry with him.
Elna
To my mother: I’m sorry to have worried you so much. I reckon I’m responsible for more than a few of your grey hairs, and I’d be surprised if you didn’t have a head full by the time you hear about the closing. I fear old age will have taken you long before we’re found, but I still find some catharsis in imagining you reading this someday.
Your bread is still the greatest thing that I’ve ever tasted, and the memory of it has carried me through the roughest of shifts with a smile on my face.
Joren
For Tomas
I just know you will be angry when you hear this. Put it to good use for once and fix the roof. Roland and the girls will appreciate it. The leakage is worse on the eastern side. You’ll find it easily after the thaw.
Lina