Opening Gambits

Jonathan Chess was very familiar with both ends of the Deeprun Tram, which was a long, fully enclosed, underground (and partially underwater) set of double tracks upon which rolls two sets of three wagons that transported all manner of people and things from its terminal in Ironforge to its terminal in Stormwind.  Its existence, the result of the brilliance of gnomish engineering, made both Stormwind and Ironforge immune to attack by siege, as either city could supply the other with food, water, reinforcements, and a way to evacuate civilians.

When Jonathan had left the Stormwind Orphanage, he had earned money by hunting rats in the Old Town quarter of that city and supplying the meat to the brothers Monty and Nipsy, who transformed them into rat kabobs, and sold to travelers at the Stormwind end of the tramway.  Granted, most of his sales were to gnomes coming from the other end after reaching Stormwind, but coppers were coppers after all.  Jonathan had himself developed a taste for the kabobs, and a friendship with the two brothers. 

Nipsy rarely ventured out of the Stormwind terminal, and so when the gnome walked into the common room of the Pig & Whistle in Old Town, it took Jonathan by surprise.  Jonathan was well-known at the Pig & Whistle, as it had proved a convenient place to meet his clients, many of whom lived amidst the squalor and poverty of the neighborhood. 

"I was hoping to find you here, Jonny!" the gnome exclaimed.  "Got a minute to palaver?"

"Sure, Nipsy - what are you drinking these days?" replied Chess as he turned to Elly Langston, one of the tavern's barmaids.  "Whatever he likes, and my usual.  Put it on my tab."

"I don't know why Tillman allows you to run a tab, a no-good layabout like you!" she sniped at Chess before turning to fetch their order from behind the bar.  The gorgeous redhead had never forgiven Jonathan for dating her older sister Jenn instead of her.  When Jenn had dumped Jonathan, she had tried to get him interested in her, but Jonathan had left Old Town for the Trade district instead, working for Elling Trias.  Elly had never, and likely would never, forgive Jonathan for the unintended snub; she had both a temper and a long memory.

"...because of my charming personality, of course,"  Jonathan mumbled to himself.  The fact that he had struck a deal with Maegan Tillman, the innkeeper of the place, to keep the sleeping rooms relatively rat-free didn't hurt matters, either.  Elly snorted with disgust, but put the drinks - a flagon of Dwarven Mead for Nipsy, and a bottle of Hearthglen Ambrosia for himself - on the table under the stairs, which was Jonathan's preferred "office".

"Jonny, I have a friend who needs some help," the gnome began, taking a deep draught of his mead.  "Oh damn, but that's good mead."

"Yeah, Firestone Brewery in Ironforge," Jonathan said.  "Now, you were saying?"

"Oh yeah, my friend.  So, I have a friend..."

"I am stunned at the news."

"...yes, now stop that.  Anyway, my friend is a fellow named Goldgears, MacLhir Goldgears.  His daughter went missing about a month ago, and his wife Vallira is quite besides herself with worry.  And when Vallira worries, MacLhir worries - if he knows what's good for him.  So the daughter, she needs finding, which is the kind of thing you do, right Jonny?"

"Sure, Nipsy, it's the kind of thing I do.  Why doesn't Goldgears go ask the Ironforge Guard for help?"

"Well, he asked them about it a few weeks ago, but they just sit on their stone-cold asses and say she probably got lost in Gnomeragan again."

"Again?"

"Well, she and the crowd she hangs with has been known to down there and recover things for some quick cash - lots of the more adventurous gnomes do, y'know.  A little coin, a little payback... kinds these days!"

Jonathan chuckled - he was probably the same age as these "kids". 

"It'll do me no harm to talk to them, I suppose," Chess said.  "I have some friends who might have heard something if nothing else."  Jonathan was casual friends with a gnome agent of the Gnomeregan Special Ops team, who took care of covert operations and intelligence gathering for Gelbin Mekkatorque.  She and Jonathan had often exchanged favors when he had worked for the Azeroth Ale Society, a merchant company which fronted for the Kul Tiras intelligence operation. 

"Good, good... I'd hoped you'd say that!" exclaimed Nipsy happily.  "Mac lives in  New Tinkertown."

Jonathan nodded.  "I'll find him.  New Tinkertown isn't that big, so it shouldn't take much time."

"Good enough.  I'll leave you to it, then - and thanks, Jonny."