Transcript:
Hello everyone!
Goblins used to backstab and fight each other over who got to lead their people until they came up with a better system. Cartels were formed and their battles were fought in the economic arena.
When war broke out on Azeroth with the first orcish Horde invasion, the goblins were quick to make a profit and throw their support behind the Horde only to realize that it’s a lot harder to make moolah if your team is the one that loses. Neutrality was a far better option. Gold is gold, after all, doesn’t matter if it comes out of the pockets of orcs or humans. By the end of the third war, goblins were providing weapons, vehicles, and devious services to both the Horde and the Alliance.
Today we’re gonna be talking about some of the cartels within the Undermine, get you up to speed as to who they are, what they’re about, who’s leading them, what they’ve done, why we should care…
Bilgewater
Run by the ruthless Trade Prince Gallywix, the Bilgewater cartel is the most powerful trading company on the isle of Kezan. From their headquarters at Bilgewater Port, the cartel dominates trade all over the south seas. That description is in need of an update, Blizzard, as the Bilgewater cartel is now led by Monte Gazlowe. The Bilgewater Cartel has had more ups and downs than most, but no one can build and invent like they can. From cities to pool toys to , Bilgewater builds it best. They’re the ones you go to when you want something to go BOOM, while they’re also good at building stuff! Innovation, engineering, construction, you name it, the Bilgewater got you covered!
Gallywix managed to secure his position as Trade Prince by outplaying the previous one, Maldy, in true goblin fashion. Ya know, earn more moolah, bribe the right people, get yourself in charge, and exile/murder those who came before. His employees on the isle of Kezan were digging deep for Kaja’mite, so deep in fact, that maybe, perhaps, it was not Deathwing that caused their volcano to erupt and destroy their home but rather Gallywix for digging too greedily and too deep. Who’s to say?
It did get Jastor early access to Azerite but that’s neither here nor there. The incredibly clever Trade Prince used the destruction of the Cataclysm to overthrow his upcoming competitors, and we were so close as well. Eventually, we get into contact with former Warchief Thrall who, despite Gallywix attacking him, despite Gallywix enslaving his own people, still lets the Trade Prince stay in charge.
Now the goblins of Kezan, the goblins of the Bilgewater cartel are proud members of the Horde, transforming the lands of Azshara into the Horde symbol, defacing the landscape with Gallywix’s pleasure palace, and setting up a massive canon to just never use it, tease the playerbase with till the end of time.
I’m telling you, Blizzard, all is forgiven if this cannon will be the thing to take out Gallywix!
While under his rule, the Bilgewater goblins of course supported the Horde in all the expansions that followed from the start of the Cataclysm till the end of Battle for Azeroth, for the right price of course. Support Warchief Garrosh Hellscream until the tides turned and Vol’jin’s rebellion was the profitable one to stand behind. After Vol’jin came warchief Sylvanas Windrunner who had no real love for the Horde. We almost saw another warchief overthrown, but Sylvanas decided to step away herself and Gallywix went right along with her. We’d see him during the goblin heritage armor quest, trying to steal inventions from Hobart Grapplehammer but we stopped him of course. And then randomly he showed up in the Shadowlands, which hasn’t been mentioned in the promo’s by blizzard so I’m going to assume that won’t really play a part going forward.
Thrall then asked Monte Gazlowe to take over as leader and this goblin has a much better reputation than his predecessor. In his mind, you can actually treat your workers right, give them proper working conditions and you don’t have to squeeze every bit of profit out of your customers. This lands him big jobs like building Orgrimmar, fixing Orgrimmar, setting up our garrison on alternate Draenor, supporting Baine Bloodhoof and so much more.
For the Bilgewater in general, they’re a bit all over the place. In Tanaris you’ll find the crew of a fleet gone mad. In the Twilight Highlands, they’ve set up a sort of town in a box and are not fighting off the Wildhammer clan. They made sure to inform Garrosh about the discontent with his leadership and fought with him in the battle of Theramore. They scoured Pandaria for powerful relics, eventually finding the heart of Y’shaarj. Holding the line in Legion and grabbing as much azerite as they could. Where the Horde goes so too does the Bilgewater cartel but they’re still able to run their own operations… as long as it’s up to goblin code of course because again, Gazlowe does things a bit differently than Gallywix. Setting up honest trade negotiations, paying his personnel fair wages and even convincing his long-time friend Noggenfogger that perhaps there is a different way for goblins to lead their lives…
Steamwheadle Cartel
Which brings us to the Steamwheadle cartel, one of the oldest and largest of the cartels.
Steamwheedle has had their hands in almost every industry spanning Azeroth and beyond. They’re currently led by Gazlowe’s close friend, Marin Noggenfogger whose last name should ring a bell to all you Classic players out there. The goblin earned his fortune with his famous Noggenfogger Elixir, which he created with the help of Sprinkle who supplied him with Violet Tragan powder, which he combined with liquid from the glands of dew collectors. Floating, shrinking, or being turned into a skeleton, the effects are random which made them all the more fun and earned Noggenfogger all the more gold. He would marry his business partner Sprinkle and fun fact, she and Gazlowe used to be a couple as well. All that moolah allowed Marin to climb the ranks and become Baron of Gadzetzan with his baroness Sprinkle at his side. Baron Noggenfogger found enough spare time to help out the rogues of the uncrowned with the biggest Legion invasion Azeroth had ever seen. Not a lot of profit to be made when the world’s been destroyed by the demons. With such a Trade Prince at its helm, it’s no surprise that the cartel is best known for its specialization in potions, chemicals, alchemy, fuel, you name it they can get it.
In Classic, we’d see the Steamwheedle help operate the zeppelins shipping heroes across the world. With the re-opening of the Dark Portal, they’d set up fighting rings like the Ring of Trials in Nagrand and the Circle of Blood in the Blade’s Edge Mountains. Maintaining fighting rings and zepelin transportation would be their primary job during many of the expansions but during Warlords, we’d see them expand into new territory with the Steamwheedle Preservation Society which seeks to liberate relics from the ogres of Nagrand with the noble intention…of selling them to the highest bidder. For quite a while the Steamwheadle cartel has done whatever it took to make a profit and Noggenfogger has looked the other way once or twice when his work sites were not up to code. But Gazlowe wants his close friend to come along with him into an exciting future where goblins do not have to die horrible explosive deaths just to fill the pockets of others and Noggenfogger is willing to listen.
The Blackwater Cartel:
From the oldest to one of the newer cartels we have The Blackwater Cartel made up of the Blackwater Raiders. For a very long time, they operated under the Steamwheedle umbrella but now they formed their own cartel under the leadership of Baron…I mean Trade Prince Revilgaz. You probably know them best as the pirates that hang out in Booty Bay.
Operating primarily out of the bay, Revilgaz maintained the town’s independence to encourage trade with both factions as well as serve as a haven for his fellow pirates. Quite frankly, they were and still are a bunch of dirty raiding pirates, but still considered good men. Respectable as pirates go with an important rule of only killing when necessary. Quite the opposite of what the Bloodsail Buccaneer pirates are all about which obviously led to some good old brawls. Fleet Master Seahorn has ever been at Revilgaz’s side, defending Booty Bay against any blood-thirsty pirates that dared to attack. They used to spend most of their time hassling, shipping, and receiving but now they ARE shipping and receiving. Trade, transport, and tourism is their area of expertise within the Undermine. They can move any cargo, anywhere, any time, legal or otherwise.
Anyone that has leveled in Stranglethorn Vale knows that the area is no joke. Tigers, panthers, raptors, crazy dwarves trying to write their book and losing their pages. Cornels, jungle trolls, giants, apes, zombies and pirates. You name it, most likely the jungle has it to kill you with so the ones able to hold up a safe haven amongst all of that are either crazy, ruthless, powerful, or all of the above. Fitting that those who want to earn the Insane in the Membrane achievement would have to attack Booty Bay. but not even the Blackwater Raiders were crazy enough to force the blue dragon Zeros to pay what they thought he owed the baron. That particular debt would have them fight Senegos and ya know, that just wasn’t worth it.
Venture Co
Then finally we have the Venture Co which is not really a cartel but will play as one of the major factions. The Venture Co is the one you call when you need something dug up, chopped down, or blown out of a mountain. Venture Company doesn’t have the best rep in town, but no one harvests, mines, or drills faster. You want nice? Find a book club. You want raw material? Venture’s got you covered. They will prize profit over everything else, if they can dig it up or cut it down, they’ll make some money off of it. That also means their machinery is some of the best but their leadership is a bit up in the air. It used to be Mogul Razdunk, but you might remember taking care of Mogul in the Motherload dungeon. Back during Battle for Azeroth, they were busy mining the isle of Kezan as it was brimming with Azerite. They’d made a deal with Gallywix over Azerite refining techniques but made the foolish choice to double-cross the at-the-time Trade Prince. Then the Alliance was pissed off with Venture Co because they’d dared to attack the dark irons and steal the hammer, Ironfoe.
Seeking to make a fortune and stake his claim to the title of Trade Prince, Mogul Razdunk has focused the Venture Co’s efforts on weaponizing azerite and selling it to the highest bidder. Making enemies out of both factions meant that his dreams would never come true. With Mogul out of the way, no real Trade Prince around per se, but Grimla Fizzlecrank is handing out jobs these days and she…she’s alright in anyone’s book. The Venture Co’s higher-ups sent her to see what kind of prospects there were to be had on the Dragon Isles, but the beauty of the land seized her and she decided “not this time.”
That’s pretty much what you’ll see the Venture Company do over the years. Find a resource to be gathered and take over the area, be it on Kalimdor or Eastern Kingdoms or Northrend, alternate Draenor, or wherever really. When you don’t throw your support with any faction, you can take and make enemies wherever you go. No moral objections as long as there’s moolah to be made.
Secret Cartel
There is one more cartel we’ll be dealing with in the Undermine but that one will reveal itself as we go through the patch so this is where we’ll end the video for today. Hopefully, you got a better understanding of what the cartels are about, what they’ve done, and who’s leading them. Say that you want to read the transcript for today’s video, then check out the related Wowhead article in the description below anddddd until next time….see ya!!!
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