Steamwheedle Cartel

The Steamwheedle Cartel is one of the largest and most successful of the goblin cartels in the Undermine. It is a neutral organization that controls several cities and towns around the world, and has allied themselves with a number of other groups such as the Blackwater Raiders in Booty Bay.

The Steamwheedle Cartel has made a great deal of profit from maintaining neutrality in the conflict between the Horde and the Alliance. Their services are always available to the highest bidder, employing anyone regardless of their affiliation if they can produce results.

Great Wars
Prior to the First War, the goblins of the Steamwheedle Cartel managed to drive out the trolls from a small port town inhabited by humans which had been overrun. They claimed control of the immediate area and the shores of the cove for their new center for operations in the Eastern Kingdoms &mdash; Booty Bay.

During the war, the goblins witnessed the Old Horde's arrival and the conquest of Stormwind. With more conflicts on the horizon, they were determined to profit from it. Trade Prince Steamwheedle allied his cartel with Orgrim Doomhammer's Horde and offered aid in form of new technologies, maps, and other useful information to the orcs for the right price. Orgrim treated his new allies as equals and paid them gold from Stormwind's coffers. The Warchief also hired them to oversee the construction of the Horde's fleet. The cartel also sold them the employs of their alchemists, sappers and zeppelins, also providing the watertight pilot-shacks for use on the enslaved giant sea turtles. However, following the war, the Steamwheedle Cartel and other goblins realized that it was much better to remain neutral due to thriving trades.

Approximately four years after the Second War, the goblin city of Gadgetzan had already been built in Tanaris on Kalimdor, as it was visited by Greydon Thorne.

World of Warcraft
The Horde in various points of the world, notably Durotar, the Undercity and Stranglethorn Vale, built zeppelin towers. Operating them and their zeppelins are goblins from the Steamwheedle Cartel as evidenced by the presence of Steamwheedle Bruisers. They, along with the staff, are tagged with the Orgrimmar faction.

The Cartel tasked Security Chief Bilgewhizzle‎ with teaching the Southsea pirates in Tanaris a lesson.

The goblin Harrowmeiser was ferrying men and supplies for the Horde on his zeppelin the Lady Lug but was later captured by the Alliance. The goblin and the vessel were ultimately freed by the True Horde.

Cataclysm
Despite the Bilgewater Cartel - the new playable goblin race in Cataclysm - joining the Horde, the Steamwheedle Cartel maintained its neutrality.

According to a quick line in the Bilgewater Cartel reputation bar, the Bilgewater Cartel now has the title of the most powerful cartel on Kezan (though it's not known how exactly literally this should be taken).

They have a footbomb team called the Steamwheedle Sharks. They later leave their cartel to join Gallywix.

Playable goblin death knights appear to originally be part of the Steamwheedle Cartel, as evidenced by Gally Lumpstain in A Special Surprise, although they later join the Bilgewater Cartel. It's also possible that they may have just helped Gally join the Steamwheedles, and stayed as Bilgewaters themselves.

The Cartel expanded as they have established new towns such as Fuselight in Badlands, Bogpaddle in the Swamp of Sorrows, and an unnamed goblin resort in the Steam Pools.

Warlords of Draenor
Ever looking for new ways to make a profit, the Steamwheedle Cartel has traveled back to the alternate thirty-five years in the past. They make their base at the Ring of Trials and surrounding parts of, with their main problems being the local saberon.

A new group within the Cartel known as the Steamwheedle Preservation Society focuses on archaeology and wishes to bring valuable artifacts and antiquities back from Draenor to Azeroth to sell to the highest bidder. One member of the Society, Bing Zapcrackle, can be found at Warspear on the island of Ashran, where he is arguing with members of the Reliquary over the price of artifacts the Horde wishes to purchase.

In the Spires of Arak, the Steamwheedle goblins have built two towns: Pinchwhistle Gearworks and Pinchwhistle Point. When Pinchwhistle Point is overwhelmed by invading fungus and its citizens zombified by fungal spores, the goblins of Pinchwhistle Gearworks ask for aid from the Alliance and Horde to save their brethren.

Legion
During the Burning Legion's invasion, Steamwheedle Cartel's holdings in Northern Barrens and Tanaris came under attack by the Burning Legion. During the attack on Ratchet a group of Ratchet Bruiser's were controlled by one of the nathrezim until they were rescued, while others united under Gazlowe to defend the town. Meanwhile, Gadgetzan was defended by Marin Noggenfogger and its inhabitants. Both towns were ultimately saved by the combined efforts of the Steamwheedle Cartel, the Horde, and the Alliance.

Battle for Azeroth
Despite declaring its neutrality, the Steamwheedle Cartel city of Ratchet secretly funneled supplies to the Horde. The Alliance were beginning to become suspicious about it, but the Horde was determined to keep their operations a secret. Gazlowe and his crew of Greasemonkeys actively take part in Horde's campaign on Mechagon Island, and Gazlowe is referred to as a member of the Horde by his rival Tinkmaster Overspark.

Despite this, the Bilgewater Cartel was still economically competing with the Steamwheedles.

In the aftermath of N'Zoth's death and the end of the Fourth War, Gazlowe full threw his support behind the Horde by becoming the new Trade Prince of the Bilgewater Cartel, taking over from Jastor Gallywix who had abandoned the Horde. Steamwheedle Cartel's reaction to Gazlowe's defection is unknown and as is how they intend to handle the void of leadership in Ratchet.

Towns run by the Steamwheedle Cartel
They also control Smokywood Pastures.

Arenas
The Steamwheedle Cartel also ran the Arenas, with most of the battlemasters having been goblins.

Adamman was once a famous arena gladiator until the Cartel caught him rigging fights and took away everything from him.

Reputation
In patch 3.1.0, a new Feat of Strength has been added. Insane in the Membrane which when with the four Steamwheedle Cartel cities,  with Bloodsail Buccaneers, and  with Ravenholdt and Darkmoon Faire will give the player the title " the Insane".

Go and kill the Southsea Swashbucklers, Southsea Pirates and other related mobs in Tanaris around Lost Rigger Cove (the area to the east of the Caverns of Time). Each mob gives 5 rep with Gadgetzan plus 2.5 rep with each of Booty Bay, Everlook and Ratchet.

Rebuilding lost reputation
Each of these quests gives 500 rep with the Steamwheedle Cartel faction listed next to it and 250 rep with the other Steamwheedle Cartel factions. Each turn in also gives -500 to Bloodsail Buccaneers.


 * Mending Old Wounds (Linen Cloth) Ratchet
 * Traitor to the Bloodsail (Silk Cloth) Booty Bay
 * War at Sea (Mageweave Cloth) Gadgetzan
 * Making Amends (Runecloth) Everlook

These quests do not work once.

In the RPG
During the Second War, a Horde ambassador met with a single trade prince and convinced him and his subordinates to join the Horde (while the rest of the goblin race stayed neutral). This may have been Trade Prince Steamwheedle. Some Horde members have tried to improve relations with the Steamwheedle Cartel. Perhaps with enough persuasion, the goblins could be convinced to rejoin the Horde for the first time since the Second War. This is unlikely to happen, however, as the trade prince realized his mistake and left the Horde, and the goblin race remembers the mistake and remains neutral to this day.

Naming
It was likely named after Trade Prince Steamwheedle.

Neutrality
It is interesting that both Trade Baron Silversnap and Marin Noggenfogger, rulers of Bogpaddle and Gadgetzan respectively, make a point to address the neutrality of the Steamwheedle Cartel. It is possible that this reinsurance of their neutrality could be due to the Bilgewater Cartel joining the Horde and that members of the Steamwheedle could be worried that their customers may incorrectly believe that all goblins work on the same side.

Possible settlement

 * The goblin settlement of K3 in the Storm Peaks could be part the Steamwheedle Cartel.
 * Any eventual relationship with the Braintrust of Orbital Operations and Mechanics is unknown.

Relationship with the Venture Company
The Steamwheedle Cartel runs Ratchet. The Venture Company has also been said to run Ratchet. The Venture Company may be the cartel's parent company. If so, some fans speculate that the Steemwheedle Cartel has some members with internal conflicts of interest. Members of the Cartel sometimes give quests that go against some Venture Company's operations, and also are not as hostile as their parent company. However, in the RPG the Venture Co. is not as hostile as it is portrayed in the game, and is an independent group that has its hands in almost everything including a sizeable ownership of Ratchet, and Undermine. However, even in the RPG, it also has branches in various locations that are hostile to other groups (or rather other groups are hostile to it), usually in Horde lands. It is also quite possible that the Venture Company's ownership was a note from an early draft of WoW.