Port Mast

Port Mast is the north-western, self-proclaimed ‘free’, port of New Terra. Almost as old as Sanctuary, the port was settled only a couple of years after The Relocation. Many of those who disagreed with the election of Sanctuary's founding council travelled together to the north-western bay and settled as best they could. In the early years life was very difficult; constantly besieged by monsters and a perceived easy mark for bandits, Port Mast struggled against the odds to survive.

As Sanctuary’s influence spread and order was beginning to be brought to the continent, Port Mast was finally able to focus less on survival and more on growth. They enlarge the port, traded with many smaller coastal towns and began to build a fleet of ships. The community erected a tall mast in the centre of town and flew a flag depicting a bird flying free of a cage. This is how Port Mast got its name.

The free people of Port Mast are strong, resilient and proud. They are proud of surviving where so many others died and proud of refusing the Sanctuary council. It was this pride that eventually put Port Mast and Sanctuary at odds. When Yulis Black attacked and held North Cove, Sanctuary requested the assistance of many of New Terra’s settlements; Port Mast refused to help. Because of this there has been no trade or any other interactions between Port Mast and Sanctuary. Each respect the territories of the other, no battles have been fought, but tensions between the two settlements have remained high.

Initially, Port Mast had a mostly human population; however, given its reputation for freedom and self-rule, many outcasts from other towns have slowly made their way to the coastal settlement. Now, half of Port Mast’s population is human and the other half is made up of dwarfs, gnomes, tabaxi, minotaurs, leonins and many other races that were once found on Faerûn.

Rich ex-adventurers
Around the year 63, a group of 3 adventurers entered Port Mast. Usually, members of Sanctuary's Adventurer's Guild are not particularly welcome in Port Mast, but this group stated that they had left the guild. Furthermore, they paid handsomely in gold and silver for a plot of land close to town and commissioned the best local craftsmen to build them a large, gated manor. The house and its occupants live there still to this day. Naturally, rumors about how the three ex-adventurers cameto be so wealthy. Some say they were brothers of a rich Sanctuary merchant who had been forced by their father to join the Adventurer's Guild. Rather than live a dangerous life of adventuring, the brothers had killed their father and stolen away with his wealth. Others say that they killed a group of bandits and, rather than returning the gold and silver to Mort Mine, took it for themselves. Of course, any speculation about the three adventurers is just that, speculation.