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The Story of Gazlowe with Nobbel87
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Paryah
Gazlowe has played a part in our adventures for a very long time. But who is he, and where might he be heading next? Nobbel87 answers these questions and more in the Story of Gazlowe.
Transcript:
Hello everyone!
Monte Gazlowe has replaced Gallywix as leader of the Bilgewater Cartel Goblins, the goblins allied with the horde. The man has been around for a really long time. From the foundation of Orgrimmar back in Warcraft 3 all the way to joining us into Khaz Algar with the War within. Before we talk a bit more about his actions and role within the story, let's first dive a little bit deeper and talk about the history of the goblins: their cartels, their capital, and the vision Monte Gazlowe has for their future...
“My friends call me: The Master Blaster.”
The early goblins were not goblins at all, not until the primitive race that roamed the forestlands near Ulduar were taken by Keeper Mimiron who was busy experimenting with a substance called Kaja’mite. This stuff greatly enhanced their intellect and turned them into the industrious breed of goblins that we know...but that’s about where the history of their evolution ends. It doesn’t really explain why Mimiron was experimenting, was it just for fun, just to see what would happen or did the keeper have other things in mind and once the experiments were successful, what did he do with the goblins? That’s not really recorded in the history books, perhaps one day we could ask him...
What we do know is that many years later, we’d see Goblins serve the mad dragon aspect Deathwing in the days of the War of the Ancients. 10.000 years ago, the Burning Legion trying to come into Azeroth and Deathwing betraying them all as he listened to the whispers of the old gods. With the aid of the goblins, he forged a powerful relic called the Dragon Soul which allowed him to cause massive devastation to the legion’s army, but also Azeroth’s defenders and his fellow dragons. The corruption from within would burst to the surface and so adamantium plates forged by goblin smiths were needed to keep his body together. Then the history focuses on the Sundering. The end of the war of the ancients where the land of Kalimdor split apart with the maelstrom in the middle.
Now the goblins found themselves cut off from their supply of Kaja’mite and in just a few generations, their heightened intelligence vanished. I wonder if that means that goblins would continue to devolve if no new source of Kaja’mite is provided or if their baseline evolution is permanent and just that extra heightened sense of intelligence is lost. Either way, the goblins on the isle of Kezan would completely forget about the role Kaja’mite had played in their old society and this left them vulnerable to the Zandalari trolls. They were exploring this brand-new sundered world and all its little islands. The trolls knew about Kaja’mite and used its vaporized form to heighten their senses, get hallucinations going, and increase their intelligence as well. It was a sacred component in their rituals and ceremonies. For centuries they would mine the numerous Kaja’mite veins running close to the surface of the island themselves, occasionally employing the goblins to work for them in exchange for shiny but cheap trinkets that the small creatures prized. Things changed when the trolls discovered an unimaginable deposit of Kaja’mite buried deep underground – more than they would ever need. Rather than dig it up themselves, they enslaved the goblins and forced them to mine under abysmal conditions. For thousands of years, the goblins suffered under the yoke of troll oppression, too weak to resist. Only 100 years before the first opening of the dark portal would they rise up and liberate themselves. The Kaja’mite they had been forced to dig up would prove their salvation as the mines were covered in a cloud of the stuff, the goblins constantly breathing in the dust. It awakened their intelligence and craftiness. In secret, they plotted the overthrow of their slave masters, using what materials they could find to fashion traps, explosives, and other ingenious weaponry. The troll overseers were caught off guard when the goblin masses stormed from the mines, armed with technology beyond even what the Zandalari possessed. The revolution shattered the trolls’ hold over Kezan, laying waste to their mining operation and leaving behind untold destruction.
The surviving Zandalari fled, and the goblins celebrated their new liberation by turning on each other in a mad scramble to fill the void of power. Amid the chaos, countless factions and allegiances formed. The most powerful of these groups were known as Cartels. When no clear winner emerged from the fighting, these cartels brokered an uneasy truce. Conflict would never really end between the various goblin factions, but for decades, they waged most of their battles in the economic arena.
That’s goblin society for you, whoever has the most moola makes the rules. The cartels ultimately turned to trade to sustain themselves and used their profits to amass ever more wealth and power.
Where once they were enslaved, the goblins now ruled setting up their capital of “Undermine” which was a concept they were thinking about adding all the way back in WoW classic but that never came to be. The motherload dungeon from Battle for Azeroth held the name Undermine for a bit, building up some potential hype of seeing the capital with our own eyes but again that didn’t become a thing. Once more with the war within, the name Undermine has been dropped so fingers crossed we might visit the capital city of the goblins.
Supposedly located beneath and within the Isle of Kezan, it's the center of goblin civilization. Tunnels of thick glass connect the volcanic caverns. Passing through these tubes means walking along the ocean floor and looking out to see the colorful fish and hungry sharks nearby.
You’ll find the Tinkers Union, which deals with technology and the construction of gizmos, weapons, and mechanical monstrosities. Picking goblin engineering always promised an explosive time.
There’s also the headquarters for the trade coalition, ruled by the trade princes, this is the goblins' merchant empire. It commands their trade fleets, smuggling operations, and the coming and going of goods throughout the world runs pretty much through this coalition.
Each of the cartels also has a section in the city itself so say that Undermine is added, the goblins of the Bilgewater Cartel could finally move out of Orgrimmar and get themselves a capital city, but also other cartels like the Steamwheedle or Venture Co would have a section of the city.
On the one hand, there’s the disgusting reeking slave pens on the other side you’d find the lavish palaces. It should scream goblin in every nook and cranny but a lot of this is taken from the Warcraft RPG so not a lot of solid canon information to go with when it comes to Undermine which also means a lot of creative freedom. The motherload showed us that despite the volcano erupting with the Cataclysm, some of the area is still accessible, so I wouldn’t write off the potential of visiting the Undermine.
“Time is money friend and you’re wracking up quite the bill.”
The goblins in the story have for the majority been neutral for that’s where the most profit can be earned but that also means that you’d see them deal with some of the more shady people in the world. Whoever has the deeper pockets will earn their loyalty. They have a reputation of making a profit no matter the price. They’d sell their own mother if it meant getting ahead. Even their shamanism, their control of the elements is based on the idea of fun and making profit. That lack of morality, that ‘whatever it takes attitude’ is something that people really love about being a goblin and is what makes them stand out a bit more above the crowd. The bilgewaters former leader Gallywix had the goblins of Kezan enslaved, nearly drowned, and even attacked former Warchief Thrall yet still he was chosen to be the best goblin to lead them within the Horde. Much later we’d find out that the destruction of Kezan and the eruption of Mount Kajaro was just because of the cataclysm and Deathwing showing up. Gallywix having his people dig so deep that they struck Azerite, the blood of Azeroth far before Sargeras stabbed the world with Legion and it erupted all over the place. That digging might, just might have contributed to the volcano erupting. “Sylvanas regarded the trade prince with newfound awe at the depths of his avarice and selfishness. IF Gallywix was right, he’d cheerfully destroyed his own island and a goodly number of innocent – well, comparatively innocent – goblins along with it. All for a piece of some kind of marvelous ore.”
And touching Azerite had some interesting effects. Sylvanas felt powerful, Anduin felt energized, others became more alert, stronger, sharper, more intelligent. This resource was going to...
“Change evertything.
Huehuehue I told ya.”
Kaja’mite and Azerite.... could there be a connection? Is that why Mimiron was so interested in experimenting with it? Perhaps, but while the loss of Kezan might have disconnected them from that huge source of Kaja’mite that brought them freedom, other vein locations have shown up like in Zandalar where the local apes also became incredibly intelligent.
And the goblins' intelligence has been put to work for engineering marvels which often put them at odds or competition with the highly intelligent gnomes whose origin is also closely connected to keeper Mimirion while they were still mechagnomes. You might remember having Gazlowe join us to the fabled mechagon where they had become obsessed with reversing the curse of flesh and upgrading their parts. Their king put them on a path of world destruction, but thankfully their prince saw reason, would even join the alliance as an allied race while Monte remembered how profitable it could be to work together with the Alliance. The goblins' intelligence and focus has mainly been on making that profit, no matter what, but some are beginning to wonder if that no matter what attitude shouldn’t change. If there are more important things in life then squeezing the last cent short term is worth it long term, this is especially true for someone like Gazlowe.
“Ah new guy huh? I’m Gazlowe, chief engineer around these parts. But enough about me. We got work to do, buddy!”
Recruited to help the Horde with the founding of Durotar and building up ogrimmar, we met him during Warcraft 3 where he asked Rexxar to help him and his crew out. A big profitable job well done too which he decided to hang out in Ratchet where you might recall questing with him during Classic.
“You know what the best part about being boss of Ratchet is? 'Caus I'd love to know. Seriously it’s so boring.”
Not trying to extort the maximum amount of profit, being fair and reasonable while still keeping an eye on the bottom line, landed him future big projects like rebuilding Orgrimmar after the devastation of the Cataclysm.
When Cairne was slain by Garrosh due to Magatha Grimtotem’s betrayal, Gazlowe was there for the son of the honorable tauren, providing him with ships and bombs at bottom costs so that Baine could retake his city.
Even traveling through time and alternate realities is no problem for Monte Gazlowe and his crew, helping the Horde set up their garrison and aid during their adventures with Warlords of Draenor.
“Hahey somebody call for a fixer?
You’re entrusting a goblin to be your foreman?
Gazlowe here oversaw the construction Orgrimmar.
Orgrimmar! The impenetrable fortress!
He, wasn’t it recently sacked?
Yea yea oke pfff one little sacking.”
Even in the books, Gazlowe is the goblin you want for the job as he helped in the traveler series. This story is a bit specific and if nothing changes, I doubt we’ll see it play out in-game even though I’d love for it to become part of the main story. A need-to-know version would be that we have the traveler on a quest to collect shards of a sword, the crystal and through his journey he ends up in Thousand Needles where the tracetrak due to flooding has turned into a boat race. Gazlowe had sponsored the racetrack when it was still on solid ground and now did the same when it was done on water. The traveler needed Gazlowe's help with excavating one of the shards and Gazlowe could use their help winning a race. Then he helps them get safe passage into Gadgetztan by recruiting the help of his old flame and lover, Sprinkle Noggenfogger, now married to Baon Noggenfogger of Gadzetstan. Of course she helps dear old Monte and his dealings with the Noggenfoggers would not end there. Recently they’ve done a short story in which Gazlowe inspects a work site from Noggenfogger and discusses the future of the goblins. He’s always been one providing aid but at fair prices for those in need, building a good reputation for himself and in turn, goblins want to work with Monte Gazlowe as he’ll compensate them fairly, hook them up with unions and health insurance and hazard pay. He doesn’t extort his workers to squeeze every dime out of a project and that shows in the quality of the work and the quality of his teams.
One could easily draw parallels to the inner workings at Blizzard Entertainment over the last few years, Gazlowe replacing Gallywix. Gallywix was working closely with former Warchief Sylvanas Windrunner and so when the Warchief bailed, so too did the leader of the goblins. He did make the most random weird cameo during the Shadowlands where he just showed up in Tazavesh, rubbing shoulders with the brokers with no explanation given. Maybe something that could come into play, but either way... Gazlowe's mentality of better working conditions and a better long-term reputation is something he envisions for all of the goblins. Noggenfoggers worksite is clearly not up to standards and they discuss what life could be if they didn’t put their workers' safety and happiness in the second spot. If just making profit was not the only thing on their minds and while Noggenfogger has a hard time believing that this would be accepted by all goblins, that this is going to be their future, Gazlowe makes such a good case that he’s willing to give it a try. Imagine if we do go to the Undermine and deal with the other cartels, could Monte and Noggenfogger carve out a new path for all goblin kind? Should they even because I have also heard the feedback from goblin players that really like being on the more shady side of things? That it makes the goblins somewhat unique...
Time will tell I suppose. For now, Monte Gazlowe is right there in the thick of it, at our side during the war within. He came down to Azj-Kahet with a group of pathfinders and a contingent of Horde Defenders planning to use a tunnel they’d found against the nerubians. Before they got the chance, they were already ambushed and dragged all the way to Siegehold...
“Shhh I’m hiding here.
I know you’re alive, the question is... are you useful?”
Sure enough, the leader of the goblins helps us with causing a bunch of trouble and freeing some of the prisoners taken when Dalaran was invaded. He then parties with Faerin and stops a nerubian invasion on Hallowfall while also checking out what the goblins of the Venture Company are up to in Az-Kahet. They’ve unknowingly removed some incense that kept nerubians at bay while also dipping into polluted waters. We help them, nothing like a bit of spider extermination to get some friendly chats going and that’s where Jenni Boombuckle drops the line about Undermine.
So where will the future story take us with the goblins?
Well if we’re following the parallels, then there could be an interesting storyline in which Gazlowe and Noggenfogger team up to go against the grain. Fight for a better work situation for goblins everywhere, which could lead into politics and intrigue within their capital of undermine. People are unionizing at Blizzard, perhaps that’s a story they want to tell with the goblins but again the question is...is that where you wanna take the goblins as a whole. This is all speculation of course, who knows what they got in mind and I’m curious to see.
Next to that we do have a bit of dialogue from the PTR which is a little bit spoilery, so if you absolutely wanna go in without knowing anything then please turn off the video. For those sticking around, apparently, there is a crystal on an island which has been calling out, similar to how there was a vision of Beledar. Ricket tells Skaggit about it, how when they arrived it was eerie and abandoned. There was nobody at the end of the call besides this big crystal at an abandoned mine. Before they could take anything, clouds were rolling in, and seeing how her gang was already on edge, they decided to book it out of there. If they heard it loud and clear out to see, they’re sure others have heard it as well. The Arathi are obviously interested in another crystal like Beledar and who knows what other forces heard its call. Gazlowe will provide us with zeppelins while the grease monkeys will see if they can get there faster.
Another crystal, another island with storms. The last crystal played a big part in Xal’atath’s plan of absorbing the Black Blood through the Dark Heart while at the same time, it had also called to the Arathi of Hallowfall and someone like Anduin Wrynn could hear a song from the crystal.
Is this new one going to be similar to Beledar? Where do they come from? What is their purpose? There’s speculation that Beledar was Xal’atath’s vessel that brought her over, could there be others like her? Or is it related to the Naaru, perhaps the adventurers of the travel? Could it be tied into the story of the Ashbringer?
So many questions left to be answered but for now I hope you’re a bit more up to speed on the history of the goblins, undermine and Monte Gazlowe so thank you very much for watching everyone! Say that you want more details on all the things we talked about today, then check out the related Wowhead article in the description down below.
Subscribe if you like my videos, leave a like if you enjoyed this one aaaand until next time....see ya!
... Could it be tied into the story of the Ashbringer?
A small update to this as this week's memory disc questline actually gave a bit more insight.
“Then began construction of the Coreway, a direct channel to the heart of Azeroth that would allow the Titans to study the Worldsoul without harming it. However, as we delved deeper, we encountered certain obstacles – colossal crystals which we came to realize were calcified chunks of the Worldsoul’s essence. They are of great power, and I wonder how many yet remain undiscovered beneath the earth, all over the world.”
Anduin was the closest with answering what Beledar is, similar to Azerite but not the same. Calcified chunks of the worldsoul’s essence, a great source of power again similar to Azerite but that doesn’t explain yet what role the crystals are going to play and what we’re going to do with them. Is this a situation of we need to collect all of them to make Azeroth whole again or are the crystals hurdles along the way, objects of great power that can be used or misused? Why are they calling out now, what things have Xal’atath and Azeroth been planning and putting in motion?
... So many questions left to be answered
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