[quote=@Garth]
Do our characters know each other or are we just meeting for the first time? I know a couple worked on backstory or something.
[/quote]

I'm assuming all the clowns know each other, at least, and Arthek has been hanging around the clowns for at least a couple of months. They are the subject of his next novel after all. He's even donned a costume and partakes in their antics from time to time, as part of his research.