Im probably going to need atleast a little bit of everyone's history, for story bits.  

also [@lunarius] do you have an image or description of their appearance.

What I'm thinking for our starting location.

The Floatilla
[img]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bazNfgRPMx4/UTZ6JMieVpI/AAAAAAAAAn8/nxkodGuvM5c/s1600/ArmadaVista3.jpg[/img]

Basically its a city of ships, lashed and planked together.  It travels a circuitous route throughout the sea as a type of by water caravan, trading at one port for spices and gemstones in desert markets and selling them to the ice covered lands for blocks of ice and pelts, stopping at every other land in between.  All kinds of folks take advantage of the sea city to travel and trade and regardless of race, there is a community effort to feed the hundreds of sailors and their families and provide profit to the Guild Lords that fund its voyages.

Your characters could be on their own journey, coincidentally taking passage on this floatilla, or you can already know eachother, perhaps having a bit of shared history.