System: Whendyll system, Port Haven
Starport Type: Landing field
Traffic: Rare
Control: None
Landing: None
Docking Areas: Landing beach
Docking Fee: None
Customs: None
Services: Food, lodging
Capsule: Port Haven is the site of an abandoned colony now used by spacers on the run. It's a place to recuperate from injuries, affect repairs on their ships, or hide out until the Imperial heat cools off.
Port Haven offers few services other than food and shelter, and few viable commodities other than animal skins, raw meat, and the cool Haven water (which some consider to have healing properties). However, the port's real value lies in its remote, hidden location. When smugglers want to disappear, they come to Port Haven — as long as spacers mind their own business and don't interfere with anybody else's, Port Haven is a peaceful retreat.
The port's two denizens really don't care who lands there, as long as they don't cause problems. Hallomar, a rugged hunter and the closest Port Haven comes to a leader, is either out in the jungle tracking prey or busy curing meat and skins. Mister Mxil is the Mon Calamari "owner" of the port's only cantina, Haven's Water.
The only reason a character would be given this location was because they were in some sort of trouble or were on the run AND trustworthy enough to keep it a secret. All are sworn to secrecy as to its location and existence.
You reach the Whendyll system through the carefully guarded astrogation coordinates provided by your colleagues, navigating to the third planet of seven in the system. Port Haven is covered in wide azure oceans and broad continents thick with verdant jungle foliage and mountains.
No landing beacons direct you to the starport landing bays, as the port doesn't have any beacons, landing bays or even much of a starport. You were told to find the largest continent and the inland sea in it's center. Following the eastern coast of the inner sea at a very low altitude, you use your eyes to find it.
The settlement's landing facility consists of the broad beach nearby. Packed hard by pounding waves, it's as good as any duracrete landing pad as long as you know where to set down. Land too close to the existing tide line and a starship will end up like the buried ship which rises halfway out of the moist sand on the southern end of the port. Land too close to the meter-high sandy embankment which separates the beach from the grassy settlement soil and you'll get blast backwash and a cloud of sand up your vents.
But generally, there's plenty of room on the beach for everyone to land. At a remote hideaway like this, "everyone" usually means no more than five ships.
The settlement itself is just upland a bit to the east, where the sand turns into a sandy soil held together by thick jungle weave-grass. Most of the buildings are constructed of stone, although there are some fabric tents with wooden supports.
Only four structures seem to be used with any regularity — the other 10 or so buildings are abandoned, originally homes and businesses for a few colonists who came here 250 years ago. The four structures in use are a stone shack, a long curing tent, the Haven's Water tavern and a large technical hangar. All the other buildings, made of stone and only one story each, are empty husks. Surrounding the settlement on the jungle side is a three-meter high, five-meter wide heap of trash — mostly compost and waste from Hallomar's tanning work. The heaps are always warm and steamy, but don't give off any offensive odors. There are two breaks allowing access to the seemingly-impassable (but for the two paths) jungle beyond.
Needless to say, getting the astrogation coordinates from a colleague is pretty much like graduating from the University of Byblos with a High Degree in Smuggling. It's an acknowledgement from your peers that you're a smuggler of good standing who can keep a secret. It also shows that your peers deem you worthy enough to use Port Haven to save your skin — if they want you around a little longer it must mean you're doing something right.
But smugglers familiar with the secret of Port Haven are also extremely protective of it. We thrive on our own twisted sense of honor and duty — mostly to ourselves and those individuals, places and institutions which we rely on. We're not above killing a colleague who we know is going to sell out Port Haven. Sure, it's ruthless, but it's necessary to preserve one of the few true sanctuaries people of our profession have.
Smugglers come to Port Haven for any number of reasons. But perhaps the best reason is to come relax here while things are too hot in your market. Grab a cool drink at Haven's Water, find a comfy spot of sand on the beach, and watch the sun set into the waves of the inland sea.
Port Haven is the closest place I've come to a resort world for smugglers — no firefights, no crooked deals, no bounty hunters and no Empire.
Although he doesn't seem very friendly, Hallomar is everybody's best friend in Port Haven. Behind the scenes he protects the settlement from the jungle beasts. He even provides some smugglers who need a break some of his best animal skins and some cured meat so they can sell them for a small profit and get back into business.
And, just in case some brash spacer violates the good hospitality that pervades Port Haven, Hallomar is there to break up disputes. Not only can he pry two brawling smugglers apart, but he's extremely accurate throwing knives and axe. Despite his seemingly moody and dark nature and his immense strength, Hallomar insures peace in his tiny settlement.
Ownership in Port Haven is a forgotten concept, possibly a holdover from the colony's early days. The port's two citizens and its many visitors abide by the tacit rule that nobody owns anything in the port — spacers can make a home in any of the old colony buildings as long as nobody else is using them, and can rummage through the burried rip-ship or the technical hangar for whatever starship parts they need.
Sometimes smugglers leave their destroyed starship parts behind (even if it's a few burned-out wires and c-boards) — somebody down the track might have some use for the junk. Mostly all that Hallomar and Mister Mxil ask is that spacers don't raise trouble and respect the rights of everyone in port. It's little to ask in return for a safe port and no Imperial entanglements.
If only the rest of the galaxy worked on those principles, it'd be a much happier place.