Ratchet

Of all the Goblins, Rend had the greatest fondness for Gazlowe. He had built a home for the newborn Horde and supplied the impoverished Horde with materials. Though he did it for gold, he could still be considered one of the Horde's old guard, someone who had truly watched it rise. No one knew how much Gazlowe loved the Horde deep down.

Unlike Gallywix, who had joined the Horde under Thrall's military pressure, Ratchet had never joined the Horde but had always supported it. Wherever the Horde was active, Ratchet Goblins could be found. Gazlowe himself had accompanied the Horde into many battles in his personal capacity.

The builder of Orgrimmar, the maintainer of the Horde navy, the force that twisted the Horde's commerce—though he had never joined the Horde, he was one of them. In the hearts of most Horde players, he was the kind Goblin who could selflessly support Baine, who called players "Commander" at every turn, and who was among the few willing to pay compensation for Goblin casualties.

It could be said that the reason Gazlowe had not become a Trade Prince was that he was not ruthless enough. If he had been as ruthless as Gallywix, his trade with the Horde would already have given him the capital. But because of his kindness, he had not charged prices dozens of times higher than they could have been when Orgrimmar was built, nor had he laughed, "Ha ha, one less share to pay out," when followers died. Instead, he paid compensation, though he did skim a little off the top.

The pursuit of money was in a Goblin's nature, but Gazlowe was less like a merchant and more like a Goblin tinkerer. His Goblin identity determined his love and desire for money, yet he had not lost himself in it.

Rend rode Gyth and led a small group of personal guards on the Horde's few flying mounts toward Ratchet to meet this old friend.

The richest force in the Horde now was the Blackrock Clan. Although Thrall had had the foresight to haul away the wealth of the human nobles at the internment camps, knowing that the newborn Horde needed gold, he still could not compare in wealth to Rend, who had looted the treasuries of the Black Dragon Prince and the Dark Iron Dwarves.

After learning of Rend's purpose, Thrall handed most of the gold in his possession to Rend and had him handle the trade with Gazlowe.

Holding such an enormous sum, Rend felt rich for the first time. With the Horde's wealth, they could build a complete Orgrimmar reinforced with steel instead of the primarily wooden Orgrimmar built to save money. This time, they had money to burn.

Following the route Vol'jin had provided, Rend found Ratchet without incident. To avoid unnecessary trouble, he landed outside the city in a safe location before entering Ratchet.

The once-familiar small town had become a bustling commercial metropolis in the real world. Ratchet in the real world did not have merely simple defenses like the one he knew. As a commercial city with a population of more than a hundred thousand, it also had to guard against harassment from savage centaurs and quilboars. Under the construction of master engineer Gazlowe, Ratchet had numerous walls and defensive installations around its perimeter, while Goblin guards patrolled constantly.

"Orcs? Ratchet welcomes anyone here to do business." A Goblin guard spotted Rend's group and approached them. Goblins did not care why Orcs had appeared in Kalimdor. Ratchet welcomed all intelligent beings. Of course, savage centaurs and quilboars had to undergo thorough questioning, but other races received a much warmer welcome.

"I have a major deal to discuss. Take me to see your city lord, Mr. Gazlowe." For some reason, Rend had always found these cunning Goblins rather endearing. They had a tacky sort of charm. He directly tossed a small pouch of gold into the Goblin guard's hands. In a Goblin city, gold was the best pass.

"That must be a major deal, esteemed Orc sir. Follow me, and I'll take you to the city lord's residence." Feeling the weight of the gold in his hand, the Goblin guard eagerly welcomed Rend's party. A middleman in a transaction could receive a commission based on the scale of the deal. If it was a major transaction, he would surely make a great deal of money.

The other Goblin guards watched the lucky fellow, now acting like a fawning lackey as he led the way, with envy. They lamented that they had not been the ones to question them and earn such a generous reward.

The Goblin guard first arranged for Rend and the others to stay at Ratchet's finest inn, providing Gyth and the other flying mounts with the best care and food. The Goblins did not know what a prismatic dragon was, but they knew it was a dragon. Any guest who had a dragon for a mount clearly possessed an exalted status.

At the Goblin-style inn, Rend was assigned the finest room. Kalimdor specialties had already been prepared inside, along with an abundant variety of drinks, including the elven fruit brew Rend enjoyed. With such rare delicacies before him, Rend savored the food at the table while the Goblin guard rushed to Gazlowe's residence to announce the Orcs' request for a meeting.

"What? You're saying that Orc was black-skinned, rode a drake, and said he wanted to do a major deal with me?" Gazlowe received the guard's report and connected it with the recent news brought from the Eastern Kingdoms. This person was very likely Rend Blackhand, chieftain of the Blackrock Clan. That meant the Orcs had truly come to Kalimdor, and they should not be far from him.

Gazlowe felt a tremendous business opportunity beckoning to him. He held no prejudice against Orcs. To Goblins, whoever had money was the boss. A long-term trading partner, a Horde with millions upon millions of people—Gazlowe could practically see countless gold coins waving at him.

"Take me to meet this guest who has come from afar, quickly! Why didn't you bring such an honored guest straight to my residence? Hurry, hurry, take me there. I hope you haven't disappointed our guest. Make sure he feels Ratchet's hospitality." Gazlowe reprimanded the Goblin guard. In truth, the guard had done nothing wrong; he simply did not know how big this deal could be. It was big enough that Gazlowe would not have minded going to Orgrimmar himself to seek Rend out.

When Gazlowe arrived at the inn, he was relieved that the Goblin guard had arranged the best inn and room for this honored guest. Otherwise, if the guest felt slighted, it would be disastrous. That was not how Goblins treated major clients.

"Good thing you didn't mistreat our guest, or you could forget about your wages. Off you go. You won't be short on a reward." The Goblin guard had not expected Gazlowe to be so agitated. Fortunately, Rend's tip had been generous enough for him to arrange the most luxurious accommodations for them. Otherwise, he might have been punished by Gazlowe. Having narrowly escaped punishment, the Goblin guard happily left to wait for his reward after the deal was concluded.

He first took the considerable tip Rend had given him and decided to enjoy himself, inviting Ratchet's prettiest Goblin girl to drink with him.