<span style="font-weight: bold">This post is the one where the game starts! Posts after this are by default in-character unless they have [[square brackets]] around text. If you're not in the game, please do not post in-character text! OOC stuff like setting up rules and doing rolls should also go in [[square brackets]].</span><br/><br/>This far east, there aren't many sheltered ports for cargo ships to put into. There's also not much in the way of effective and organized nobles, which tends to also produce a lack of effective and organized guard forces. That made the semicircular bay gouged into the coast that this tavern overlooked a natural place for... 'independent' sailing ships of a mind to avoid customs, and independent sailing ships looking to relieve the first kind of ships of their cargo to both congregate. And so in time a town grew up, grimy, ill-policed, and not-quite-lawless by the bay. On the charts that show it, it's called Port Arthur. Located in the back end of nowhere, it's also a natural place for people who make their living on the fringes of society to make their home, especially those who gain their riches with assorted monster-slaying and adventuring in the hinterlands- it's weeks to the nearest castled city by land, but Port Arthur often has all the gear adventurers could possibly want at a surprisingly modest premium over the law-abiding world. The isolation also made it one of the few places where one person devouring another would lead to anything other than an entire city guard rushing out with pikes ready. Of course, since nobody was technically speaking in charge of the town, the only 'city guards' were private bodyguards and tavern bouncers.<br/><br/>The four- if not friends, acquaintances- knew it and had congregated in Port Arthur for their own reasons, most notably because a thief who'd worked with them in the past had tipped them off that there was something she wanted to offer them that was hot and worth piles of gold if used well. Probably it was related to the fact that everyone and their sister were talking about the rumors that the White Seraph's Spear had been spotted nearby- it was one of the holy weapons of the gods themselves, thought lost centuries ago the last time the Abyss tried to invade the mortal world and were beat back at savage cost. It was in its own right an incredible weapon, said to burn the infernal on touch, but more importantly there were people who would pay a castle's weight in gold to be able to style themselves its bearer. Motivated more by the second than the first, a half-dozen impromptu adventuring parties had set off from Port Arthur in the last week, all of whom were still out beating the bushes. If someone had the real scoop on where the White Seraph's Spear was, that kind of information would be better than hard currency in a place like this... and so the five had gathered in a five-chaired table around the corner, watching the festivities and waiting for their contact, Bella, to arrive. Just a human, Bella had carved herself out a profitable niche in Port Arthur for years, working everything from street level pickpocketing to brokering heists and fencing stolen goods for a nominal fee. She could afford to hire bodyguards, but usually didn't bother, trusting her charm and a couple poisoned blades to see her through any unpleasantness. She'd said she'd be in the Broken Staff for lunch, and it was almost that time... she could probably find them through the press of pirates and merchants that filled the Staff at this hour filling every seat in the house. Usually, the Staff was off-limits to most blood fights, if just because they had the best ale and best steaks in town and even hardened criminals tend to think twice before getting thrown out of where the best grub is.<br/><br/>A fresh round of ale is put down by the long-harassed serving wench, whose ability to spin away from even the fastest pats on the rear have made her one of the town legends; it's early enough that the tavern's lit by a noon sun through clear blue sky and less-clear windows, so at least it's not a particularly smoky place to wait for Bella to show.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Scene Aspects: Crowded Tavern<br/>Lawless Port City</span><br/><br/>[[Scene aspects can be invoked/compelled like any other; they are simply There for anyone to use at cost of a fate point when appropriate. So, to start with, we'll have a brief interlude in the hallowed classic of 'a tavern' to meet up with your NPC friend and, more importantly, explain how you all know each other. Every one of your five has an existing relationship of some sort with *at least* one other person, and have gone on adventurers or business dealings with them. I'll let you all sort out who's worked with whom yourselves, so just pass the time chatting until you're all connected and the NPC can then show up. If you have a really good idea for earlier adventures with some of the other PCs, you can add it as another Aspect; if not, no need, you can save that slot for something else that shows up in play!]]