The Seeds of Ashenvale

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The last few days had been nerve racking. Night elves gazed with baleful, suspicious stares at the goblins who had — much to their own distress — entered the Ashenvale forests without the aid of shredders or even much weaponry. And only two goblin-made trikes rode with them. Razboom hadn't liked it any more than his men had, but the Shadow Trader had assured him that without giving them much reason to attack, they surely wouldn't. 

His team made their way to the sites of battle where the Horde had pressed deepest into Alliance territory before being fought back… where the forests were now barren and trees reduced to stumps in combat. He and his men moved slowly, carefully. Night elves and their nightsabers were everywhere, just out of plain sight, and the goblins felt naked. 

But, as the Shadow Trader had promised, not one shot was fired. After all, they had't done any harm to the forest and had little anything with them which they could harm the forest with even if they tried. He hoped the Trader wasn't about to double cross him, but that hope was practically all he had to go on. If the night elves did attack, he was as good as dead. But the promised pay had been generous, even by the Trader's standards. 

He opened the latest letter again, just to be sure. "He says if we let the night elves see what we're doing, they'll ease up," he mumbled to himself. His men had their books with them and several carried seedlings, while the two trikes were loaded with containers of rich soil from the Valley of the Four Winds.

When they reached the middle of a clearing — the location the Shadow Trader had specified — there were great tree stumps everywhere and night elves peeked out from the edges of the forest. 

"All right, fellas," Razboom ordered, loud enough for the night elves to hear, "you know what to do! We've got dozens of these suckers to plant!"

As the other goblins set to work with hoes and tills, all done manually without the aid of machinery, Razboom took three saplings…one in each hand and a third in the crook of an arm, faced the trees…took a deep breath, and started walking toward the edge of the clearing. 

The things I'll do for good gold, he thought. But he reasoned it out: if the Shadow Trader wanted him dead, there would have been no need for a ruse like this. He was certain he'd have been dead already. 

He made eye contact with one of the elves, who looked out from behind a tree and held his gaze sternly but cautiously. She eyed him up and down, looking at the saplings he carried with utmost suspicion. 

"That's far enough," she suddenly said. Razboom noticed her bow in her hand with an arrow nocked, but aimed at the ground for the moment. "This is Alliance territory. What are you doing here?"

Razboom set the saplings down carefully, and backed away several paces. "Courtesy of the Shadow Trader," he said, just as planned. He opened his mouth to continue, but…

"Who the hell is the Shadow Trader?"

"He sends his good will to contribute to rebuilding Ashenvale. We have three dozen saplings with more to come later. The Shadow Trader requests the saplings be examined and cleared of suspicion by one of your druids."

"Does he now?" She turned to look behind her, then pointed with her bow. "I'll move back. Set the saplings — all of them — right over here. Once they're all there, we'll check them out."

Her tone did not sound grateful in the least. Razboom nodded, and turned to get more of the plants as his men tilled the soil. Razboom grimaced inside…why was he doing this? Especially if the night elves weren't even grateful for the risk he was taking…

He brought several more saplings, continuing his back-and-forth trek alone. As he set some of them down for the night elf, he heard her voice call out again. "You brought soil… We want to check it too."

He hadn't thought of that. Some enterprising goblin — a warlock especially — could easily corrupt the soil, ruining the saplings that would be planted in it. The result of such sabotage would probably look a lot like Felwood. The Shadow Trader was going to pay overtime for this… He turned back to the others and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Boys! Bring those soil wagons over here!" It would only take two goblins to do so…as long as he himself returned to grab more saplings, that should be enough to keep from spooking the elves.

Soon, everything was delivered. Razboom and the others waited in silence. Clocks and cash registers ticked and dinged in his head. He could be remarkably patient as long as he kept the latter in mind. But it would still allow him less time to devote to his project in Quel'thalas. Even his other goblins didn't know about that one. It wasn't like they could help anyway. He spent a lot of time with his nose in books there…researching. And even the Shadow Trader's 700-gold tip toward that hadn't really been anything more than a gesture to tip his hand…to show Razboom that he'd known about it. It wouldn't help, wouldn't offset the cost of expenses, and Razboom even doubted that it would result in profit anyway. It was just…something he wanted to do. 

A shiver ran down his spine. How had the Shadow Trader known about that anyway? Often, his couriers would just show up out of the clear blue with a message… He had begun to suspect that those were more than just couriers… Spies maybe. 

The night elf who Razboom had spoken with stepped out from the trees, a whole contingent following her. Razboom's heart jumped to his throat. He knew it…he was dead meat, and so were all his men… 

But then he noticed they weren't holding their weapons, but the saplings and sacks of soil. One among them was clearly their druid. They all looked as nervous as Razboom felt. "You sure this is a good idea, Nilari?" one of them asked. 

They set the saplings down, not getting too close, and kept their hands near their weapons, just in case. The one who had spoken to Razboom, apparently Nilari, nodded her approval, though her eyes still darted about warily. "We've personally examined all of them. Feel free to plant them here. I don't know what you're up to, but…this is…an unexpected gesture. Our druid has blessed the saplings and the soil." She and the others began to back away. "We'll still need to examine the saplings that are coming in later, of course."

Razboom nodded, grateful to not have an arrow through his throat. "Of course. Thanks."

Nilari shook her head. "Thank you…whoever you are. Which cartel are you with?"

Razboom perked up. "I'm Trade Prince Razboom Crankshaft, CEO of the glorious Razboom Cartel! We're an independent trad–"

"So you're not with Bilgewater. You're…not with the Horde. Interesting…" She narrowed her eyes, studying Razboom. "You're no ordinary goblin."

"I just work for the Shadow Trader," Razboom confessed. "He's no ordinary goblin."

"Clearly," Nilari retorted. She disappeared behind a tree, and the conversation was over. 

The goblins set back to work. They never thought for a second that they were alone, but it was even sooner than Razboom expected that he saw the night elf again. 

Nilari strode toward him, in the open, an envelope in her hand. 

Razboom broke away from the group to meet her. "Your Shadow Trader has some connections," Nilari said flatly, handing him the paper. "I'm told this is from him."

Razboom, bewildered, accepted the paper and before reading it, asked, "who gave it to you?"

Nilari was already walking away. She turned her head and answered over her shoulder, "My commanding officer."

Razboom's mind spun, his mouth agape.How? HOW?

He opened the letter. 

Greetings, Trade Prince Crankshaft.

I have enclosed a list of supplies and resources. Please import whatever is necessary from our various teams and have it brought together in Durotar. I've attached a map to the precise location. There will be a camp there already, distributing resources to aid those wounded or displaced in the siege of Orgrimmar. You may see caravans or ships delivering to the camp as well. Do not hinder them… They are all part of the same operation.

Thank you for your continued work.
The Shadow Trader

Razboom felt the blood drain from his face. Nilari had already departed into the forest. Was this whole operation in Durotar the Shadow Trader's work too? Who WAS this guy?

Caravans?! Ships?!

Suddenly Razboom didn't feel like a Trade Prince at all, but a very, very small cog in an enormous machine… If he was a Trade Prince, the Shadow Trader must be something of a Trade King. Was it Gallywix? Couldn't be… Gallywix would never be so low-key and covert…nor would he take any interest in helping the night elves with their forest, unless he saw profit potential in it…

No, Razboom was convinced he was missing something important. But one thing was for sure…he knew danger when he smelled it, and whoever this Shadow Trader was, he was capital-D dangerous if he could put together an operation of this size. He'd need some way to stay safe amid the Trader's schemes… Otherwise he could never be sure when the Trader would deem him no longer useful, and put an end to him. He needed some insurance policy, some kind of bodyguard. And his goblins wouldn't do. No, he needed a big gun… He needed to revive an old friendship, and he knew just which one.

Yes, he had just the right person in mind… Now he just had to get in touch with her chauffeur. That, of course, meant finding the bronze dragon Tock.