According to the oldest coastal traditions, the pantheon formed when the first shore divided itself into six instincts: to remember, to shelter, to escape, to break, to wander, and to consume. These instincts became distant gods after the Saltmarch Coast was separated from the mainland by a sea that rose overnight.

The world is a bead of land strung between two endless waters: the Remembering Sea below and the Unlit Sea above. The gods dwell far beyond the horizon, communicating through weather, animal behavior, dreams, and the sudden failure of familiar landmarks. The Saltmarch Coast is believed to be the place where the two seas nearly touch.

The religion has no central church. Instead, every harbor, marsh village, and cliff settlement maintains a tide-house where six small shrines face different directions. Clergy are called Keepers, though each specializes in one deity. Seasonal councils settle disputes through ritual silence, shared meals, and the public retelling of local disasters. Most communities honor all six gods, but sailors, farmers, rebels, exiles, and scavengers tend toward different divine alliances.

The gods rarely manifest directly. Mortals encounter them through altered tides, impossible birds, recurring dreams, sudden fog, broken landmarks, and strangers who know intimate details of the dead. Priests serve as interpreters rather than commanders, and rival temples often cooperate during storms while disagreeing about what the storm means.

The dead arrive at the Drowned Mile, a gray strand beyond the Saltmarch where the tide never advances. The Salt Lantern counts their names, the Sedge Mother weighs what they carried for others, and the Crowned Gull chooses whether their memories return as birds, reeds, or drifting lights. Those denied all three judgments become distant figures seen walking beneath the sea.