Sarton's reputation arrives before you do, carried on the smell — saltwater and the particular sweet brine of the bay crustaceans that have made this harbor famous across the region. The docks are well-organized in the way that comes from the Fishermen's Guild having set standards here for long enough that the dock operations function without visible management. Whitewashed cottages with blue shutters line the cobblestone streets above the waterfront. The Quinn River bisects the town's southern district on its way to Fraulen Bay, and the water sounds different here than in ports that handle bulk cargo — cleaner, and smelling of what comes out of it rather than what passes through.

Château de la Baie overlooks the bay from its hill position, ornate enough to signal prosperity and practical enough to have a private dock that Lord Ulric actually uses. His sons Einar and Rollo can be found at the waterfront most mornings with no formal authority and considerable social effect. Lady Gunnhild's charitable programs are visible in ways that the town notices — the orphanage, the winter provisions, the harbor-edge building whose official function is storage.

Sarton occupies the shoreline of Fraulen Bay, a naturally sheltered body of water whose specific ecology — the combination of bay depth, water temperature, and the marine biology of the Quinn River inflow — produces crustaceans of exceptional quality. The bay's several small islands provide additional habitat. The Quinn River enters from the south, providing fresh water, an inland connection, and the agricultural district that runs along its banks. Gentle hills to the north carry the town's upper residential areas and farmland.

The Château de la Baie estate sits on the primary hill overlooking the bay; its private dock is separate from the public fishing and trade docks that occupy the harbor front. Fraulen Bay's protected geometry means the harbor is navigable in most weather conditions that would close other coastal ports.

Predominantly human, with the fishing and maritime trades forming the majority of the working population. A small halfling artisan community operates in the craft quarter — ceramics, leatherwork, and the preserved-food preparation trade that the crustacean export requires. The McCabe family's governance style — present, direct, involved in the town's working life — has produced a community with more social cohesion than most towns of comparable commercial importance.

The Fraulen Bay crustacean fishery is the defining economic fact. The bay's ecology produces shellfish of a quality and flavor that commands premium prices in distant markets — the Fishermen's Guild manages quality and volume standards to maintain the reputation. Lord Ulric's trade agreements have made Sarton crustaceans identifiable as a specific luxury good across Irna's better dining establishments. Secondary income from the Quinn River farmlands and the artisan quarter provides stability when fishing seasons vary.

Obvious and excellent. Sarton's seafood culture is comprehensive and unselfconscious — preparation methods range from the simple and traditional to the complex export-oriented preparations the Guild oversees. The crustacean dishes available in Sarton itself are considerably better than what leaves the bay for distant markets, because freshness doesn't travel and the local cooks know it. The Château kitchen, managed by Elise, produces the kind of food that makes trade visitors request invitations to dinner rather than meetings in the office.

Sarton's culture is maritime in the literal sense — the tides and seasons govern everything, and the social calendar is organized around them. The Fishermen's Guild sets much of the practical calendar; the McCabe family's participation in dock life is a visible tradition that establishes the household's social legitimacy with the working community. Einar and Rollo at the waterfront are the most visible expression of this — their presence is social management that doesn't require a formal title.

Sarton's primary annual tourist-facing event. The original celestial occasion — a prosperous year followed a rare blue moon — was kept as an annual celebration even when the astronomical event doesn't recur. It draws visitors from across the region; the harbor is decorated; the Guild showcases its premium catches. The Château hosts a formal reception that is one of the more sought-after social invitations in southern Irna.

The formal commemoration of the trade agreement that established Sarton as a primary port — attended by the Guild and the McCabe household jointly, with representation from the trading partners whose commerce the Accord governs. Practical as much as ceremonial; the day includes renewal confirmation of current trade terms.

Sea-oriented folk tradition: fishing songs, navigation chants, and the ballads that belong to specific families and specific kinds of weather. These are not performed music but functional oral culture — the fishing crews use them; the dockworkers know them; they are not written down because they don't need to be. The McCabe household has occasionally sponsored visiting musicians from the interior; the town receives them with interest rather than enthusiasm.

Thulgard is Sarton's civic faith—keep the bay community intact, keep ships safe, keep homes standing.

Talbar is strong among merchants and the Château's contract culture; seals and ledgers are treated as sacred tools. Raphma and Zopha both find followers among navigators, clerks, and those who treat charts and dreams as twin instruments. Echo maintains an Accord hall for port mediation. Jula is invoked in guild disputes and peace-rites that keep competition from turning violent. Martus is ever-present in wagers, risky voyages, and the harbor's quieter games.

Sarton's mysteries tend to be maritime rather than devotional; secret cults are uncommon.

Sarton's origins are in a seasonal fishing camp whose founding families made the decision to formalize the settlement rather than follow the seasonal migration. The bay's ecology rewarded permanence — the crustacean populations proved not seasonal but year-round, and the Quinn River farmland was productive enough to support a permanent community. The maritime trade that followed the formalization produced the first Fishermen's Guild, and the Guild produced the quality standards that eventually gave Sarton its regional reputation.

Lord Ulric's ancestors negotiated the trade agreement that established Sarton as a primary port and opened distribution routes to distant markets. The formalization of the crustacean trade into a premium export economy — with Guild certification and documented quality standards — is what transformed a fishing community into a commercial one. The Accord remains the legal foundation of Sarton's most significant commercial relationships.

The coastal storms that have struck Sarton several times over its history are called Hurakons by the fishing community — the name is older than the formal settlement. Each major storm has damaged the harbor infrastructure and the dock operations; each has been followed by community reconstruction that the town takes as confirmation of its resilience. The most recent significant Hurakon was a generation ago; the harbor breakwater expansion that followed it was the largest infrastructure project in McCabe history.

Sarton is stable and commercially productive, and the crustacean fishery's reputation continues to grow. The current unresolved matters are: the bay ecology shift that the Guild has observed but not explained to Lord Ulric; Marcel's correspondence interception that has been ongoing for eighteen months; Lady Gunnhild's harbor-edge building whose official function is not its actual function; and the unregistered vessel that three fishermen have seen visiting a bay island at night.

House McCabe holds the Lordship by hereditary right and governs through a combination of direct commercial management and genuine community visibility. The Fishermen's Guild is the co-governing institution in all matters touching the bay; the relationship is collegial by design and by necessity. Lord Ulric manages the trade and production dimensions; Lady Gunnhild manages the social and charitable ones.

Human, Male — late fifties — tanned, broad-framed, blue-eyed, gray-bearded

The appearance of a man who has spent considerable time outdoors doing practical things is accurate — he participates in fishing runs rather than observing them, and his knowledge of the bay's operational realities is direct rather than reported. His management of the trade agreements that give Sarton's crustaceans their market position is sophisticated enough that his appearance sometimes misleads people in negotiations. He finds this useful and does not correct it.

Human, Female — mid-fifties — the civic and charitable heart of the household

Her attention to Sarton's internal welfare — the orphanage, the charitable programs, the winter provisions, the harbor-edge building whose official records describe it as storage — has made her genuinely beloved by the town's less commercially prominent residents. She is more aware of what moves through the town's informal channels than most of the population would expect from a lord's wife. This is not accidental.

Human, Male — mid-twenties — dock presence, social authority

The elder son. Tall and broad and present on the waterfront daily. His authority with the fishing community is social rather than formal, and it works because it is demonstrably earned — he works alongside the fishermen rather than managing them from a distance, and the fishermen know the difference.

Human, Male — early twenties — dock presence, Einar's counterpart

The younger son, operating alongside his brother. The specific division of labor between Einar and Rollo on the waterfront is not formally defined; the result is that the dock community has two approachable McCabe faces rather than one.

Human, Male — sixties — the household's administrative and institutional memory

Has served the McCabe household long enough to know where every significant decision came from and what it produced. His confidentiality has been the household's most consistently reliable professional quality. He has been intercepting one category of Lord Ulric's correspondence for eighteen months — opening it, reading it, resealing it, and delivering it unaltered. He has not acted on what he's read.

Human, Female — fifties — the kitchen's authority and the estate's culinary reputation

Manages the Château kitchen with a thoroughness that reflects both professional pride and awareness that the quality of the table reflects on the household's commercial relationships. Her crustacean preparations are the specific reason trade visitors request invitations to dinner.

Human, Male — forties — the estate's security operations

Manages the household guard and coordinates with the Guild's dock authority on harbor security matters. His information about the unregistered vessel observed near the bay islands has not been delivered upward.