The private investigator commonly known as Jon Chess felt strangely more comfortable in the town of Freehold, even more so than he did in Boralus. Located in the southern part of Tiragarde Sound, Freehold was not within the jurisdiction or rule of Kul Tiras; it was a self-proclaimed "free people's port", with no rules or regulations about what vessels are allowed to dock. Privateers, mercenaries, pirates, smugglers - all were welcome.
The change had come when the Irontide Raiders, under the command of Harlan Sweete, had seized the town and demanded that any freelance crews swear loyalty to him; he had been in the pay of Priscilla Ashvane in her plot to overthrow the Admiralty of the Proudmoores and take control of Kul Tiras for herself. Sweete had armed the pirate raiders with Azerite weapons and deployed them to various plots; he sent Richard Tornsale to forcibly take over the smugglers cove of Anyport in Drustvar, he had sent Captain Leadfist to establish a base at Chandlery Wharf and raid deeply into House Waycrest lands, to keep them from coming to the assistance of the Proudmoores.
Sweete had been killed in Freehold, but the Irontide Raiders had continued to serve Priscilla Ashvane, and had attacked Boralus at her command during her final gambit to control Kul Tiras. They had been largely neutralized, but while their main force had been captured or destroyed by the Kul Tiras fleet, there were still plenty of ships that had been deployed elsewhere. Freehold had recovered somewhat from the Irontide occupation, but the survivors still held a great deal of influence.
Anything was available in Freehold - if you had the gold or the steel.
Except for cheese. Which was why Jon periodically "borrowed" the identity of Matt Fieler, a seller of cheese based in Boralus. As Master Fieler he could visit the dens of inequity and vice of Freehold, being almost invisible in the leathers of a less-than-wealthy merchant. Fortunately for Jon, his natural hair color of silver-white took hair dye fairly well, and Jon Chess, private investigator became Matt Fieler, seller of cheese, a subject about which Jon knew... far too much. As Matt, he had built connections in the "best" taverns in Freehold - the Stranded Rats, home of the Bilge Rats crew, the Blacktooth's Grin, watering hole of the Blacktooth Brawlers, and even supplied Rummy Mancomb, the bartender of the hall where the pirate captains met to discuss strategy.
Since Jon had been made aware of the counterfeit Kul Tiras coinage in circulation, Jon had found large amounts of the coin in the pockets of Irontide Raiders, but also carried by employees of the Ashvane Trading Company, both in Vol'dun at Redrock and in Boralus.
He had traced some of the newer coins to the Kelp Club in Boralus. The Kelp Club was a nightclub in the rougher part of Hook Point in Boralus, and was the place where rich scions of Boralus gathered to prolifically spend their allowances in drink and recreational narcotic use, riotous dancing, whoring, and gambling. The place was owned by Don Adams, the leader of the Scrimshaw gang, and the place was lousy with the criminal members of the Scrimshaw gang. Jon had traced a particularly new set of the counterfeit currency to their gaming tables, and it had occurred to Jon that a gambling hall was the ideal place to spread counterfeit coin = take in the legitimate coinage in exchange for gambling tokens, and then redeem the tokens in the fake coinage. Unfortunately, that path of the investigation had not worked out; it turned out that the Scrimshaw smugglers had stolen Azerite dust from the Alliance ordinance supply depot, and had sold the illicit material to the Ashvane Company for several chests of the stuff.
Well, it had not all been bad news - Jon had been able to work over quite a few Scrimshaw operatives before he learned the truth, and for Jon that was something of a reward in and of itself.
Still, when that trail had gone cold, he had stumbled across another
The Isle of Kezan, rent asunder by the eruption of Mount Kajaro, was now festooned with Azerite in the aftermath of Sargeras' assault on Azeroth. Mogul Razdunk, to no one's surprise, had focused the Venture Company's efforts on weaponizing Azerite and selling it to the highest bidder. Jon had hired one of the few trustworthy - well, mostly - goblin colleagues he knew, a goblin named Noxblade, to take a look; Jon's agent had found the fake coinage all over the Venture Company base of Crapopolis. Noxblade had sold Jon several samples, and they seemed to be the work of the same engraver.
All roads seemed to head back to the Ashvane Trading Company.
Lady Priscilla Ashvane, as far as Jon knew, was rotting in a cell in Tol Dagor. Jon had, unfortunately, had a great deal of experience with "impenetrable" prisons, and did not doubt that someone with her resources would be able to continue to direct operations from durance vile.
And what better place to keep an ear to the ground that Freehold? The Ashvane Trading Company had been allowed to continue operations because a large portion of the Kul Tiras economy was still intertwined with the fortunes of the company, but they were under scrutiny, although by whom Jon was not quite sure. Any agents of hers would be able to operate much more freely in a place whose lifeblood was illicit activity.
Jon sighed. He suspected he would be spending a lot of time in Freeport...
The change had come when the Irontide Raiders, under the command of Harlan Sweete, had seized the town and demanded that any freelance crews swear loyalty to him; he had been in the pay of Priscilla Ashvane in her plot to overthrow the Admiralty of the Proudmoores and take control of Kul Tiras for herself. Sweete had armed the pirate raiders with Azerite weapons and deployed them to various plots; he sent Richard Tornsale to forcibly take over the smugglers cove of Anyport in Drustvar, he had sent Captain Leadfist to establish a base at Chandlery Wharf and raid deeply into House Waycrest lands, to keep them from coming to the assistance of the Proudmoores.
Sweete had been killed in Freehold, but the Irontide Raiders had continued to serve Priscilla Ashvane, and had attacked Boralus at her command during her final gambit to control Kul Tiras. They had been largely neutralized, but while their main force had been captured or destroyed by the Kul Tiras fleet, there were still plenty of ships that had been deployed elsewhere. Freehold had recovered somewhat from the Irontide occupation, but the survivors still held a great deal of influence.
Anything was available in Freehold - if you had the gold or the steel.
Except for cheese. Which was why Jon periodically "borrowed" the identity of Matt Fieler, a seller of cheese based in Boralus. As Master Fieler he could visit the dens of inequity and vice of Freehold, being almost invisible in the leathers of a less-than-wealthy merchant. Fortunately for Jon, his natural hair color of silver-white took hair dye fairly well, and Jon Chess, private investigator became Matt Fieler, seller of cheese, a subject about which Jon knew... far too much. As Matt, he had built connections in the "best" taverns in Freehold - the Stranded Rats, home of the Bilge Rats crew, the Blacktooth's Grin, watering hole of the Blacktooth Brawlers, and even supplied Rummy Mancomb, the bartender of the hall where the pirate captains met to discuss strategy.
Since Jon had been made aware of the counterfeit Kul Tiras coinage in circulation, Jon had found large amounts of the coin in the pockets of Irontide Raiders, but also carried by employees of the Ashvane Trading Company, both in Vol'dun at Redrock and in Boralus.
He had traced some of the newer coins to the Kelp Club in Boralus. The Kelp Club was a nightclub in the rougher part of Hook Point in Boralus, and was the place where rich scions of Boralus gathered to prolifically spend their allowances in drink and recreational narcotic use, riotous dancing, whoring, and gambling. The place was owned by Don Adams, the leader of the Scrimshaw gang, and the place was lousy with the criminal members of the Scrimshaw gang. Jon had traced a particularly new set of the counterfeit currency to their gaming tables, and it had occurred to Jon that a gambling hall was the ideal place to spread counterfeit coin = take in the legitimate coinage in exchange for gambling tokens, and then redeem the tokens in the fake coinage. Unfortunately, that path of the investigation had not worked out; it turned out that the Scrimshaw smugglers had stolen Azerite dust from the Alliance ordinance supply depot, and had sold the illicit material to the Ashvane Company for several chests of the stuff.
Well, it had not all been bad news - Jon had been able to work over quite a few Scrimshaw operatives before he learned the truth, and for Jon that was something of a reward in and of itself.
Still, when that trail had gone cold, he had stumbled across another
The Isle of Kezan, rent asunder by the eruption of Mount Kajaro, was now festooned with Azerite in the aftermath of Sargeras' assault on Azeroth. Mogul Razdunk, to no one's surprise, had focused the Venture Company's efforts on weaponizing Azerite and selling it to the highest bidder. Jon had hired one of the few trustworthy - well, mostly - goblin colleagues he knew, a goblin named Noxblade, to take a look; Jon's agent had found the fake coinage all over the Venture Company base of Crapopolis. Noxblade had sold Jon several samples, and they seemed to be the work of the same engraver.
All roads seemed to head back to the Ashvane Trading Company.
Lady Priscilla Ashvane, as far as Jon knew, was rotting in a cell in Tol Dagor. Jon had, unfortunately, had a great deal of experience with "impenetrable" prisons, and did not doubt that someone with her resources would be able to continue to direct operations from durance vile.
And what better place to keep an ear to the ground that Freehold? The Ashvane Trading Company had been allowed to continue operations because a large portion of the Kul Tiras economy was still intertwined with the fortunes of the company, but they were under scrutiny, although by whom Jon was not quite sure. Any agents of hers would be able to operate much more freely in a place whose lifeblood was illicit activity.
Jon sighed. He suspected he would be spending a lot of time in Freeport...
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