“Captain Drovo Sandflea strode happily down the pier. The game hadn't been a complete success, not by a long shot -- the Half-Masters had lost, for one thing. Numerous players had performed quite badly, with One-Eye Brandywine and Ned Stoutbarrel at the top of the list. (He knew both of them didn't want to return to the sea... could they have thrown the game? If so, Ned actually hurt himself pretty seriously out there... joke's on him, then.)

But not all was lost. His men definitely gave the merchants something to think about -- especially Barnacle Bilbo, who ruined the hand of the Wanderers' alleged star blitzer just minutes before he stabbed a clerk through the heart. (How much of a joke IS this team, he wondered, sending a clerk out to play Blood Bowl?)

But all of that was of lesser import... the real success of the day was in his hand. He hailed a bearded man at the end of the dock, waving the bag he had brought. It was time... to pay the first installment on the new ship. ”