Barony of Blackneedle

Blackneedle is the Sparkcog Cartel's top oil producing town, though was only founded in the months after the Third War. Led by the enigmatic Baron Ryypo, a troll, the oil town enjoys a stable albeit limited existence; most of Blackneedle's oil must be traded within the Cartel, due to contracts made upon Ryypo becoming Baron.
==Blackneedle History==
===Founding===
Blackneedle was founded by Ryypo, a supposed veteran of the Third War, shortly after its end. The town allegedly began with a single oil rig, ontop of a rich deposit, and a camp surrounding it, controlled by Ryypo and several goons from Gadgetzan. This oil rig was located in a mesa on the Thousand Needles, where the town would later be constructed around. Blackneedle's original goal was to sell oil to Gazlowe and other Ratchet officials to aid in the construction. With a single, rented zeppelin, Ryypo made the short trip from the Thousand Needles to Ratchet, selling oil for cheap prices in Ratchet. At first, Ryypo himself sold the oil, though other merchants joined in as time went on.
Word of a good oil site in the Thousand Needles eventually spread as Ryypo made continued visits to Ratchet, and in increasingly large numbers, goblins desperate for work ventured to Blackneedle to find jobs. Blackneedle's foundation was laid on the labor of these original hard-working goblins. As they arrived to work in the oil fields, other goblins arrived to feed and sell to them. To house the merchants and workers, Ryypo built proper houses from local sandstone, earning the admiration of some goblins working for him.
As more wars were waged in Azeroth, Ryypo was able to purchase more zeppelins, and sell to locations other than Ratchet, such as Gadgetzan, Orgrimmar, and even as far north as Everlook. Despite being a troll, and possibly a former slave, Ryypo proved to be rather intelligent and cunning, able to keep dozens of goblins in line, and look to him as a leader. In the early days of Blackneedle, Ryypo tried to keep close trade relations with the Horde, trying to make the residents of Blackneedle believe that there would be trouble if Ryypo, a troll and supposedly a former member of the Horde, was overthrown. To add to this, ogre and orcish goons protected Blackneedle in its early days, supposedly warriors of the Horde, though in reality just hired muscle. 
===Growth===
Blackneedle could be called a proper settlement after a few years of trade and relative prosperity. Although Ryypo was far from rich, he was able to keep Blackneedle under control. Originally Ryypo did not keep much law or regulation in Blackneedle; he allowed anyone to open a shop, dig for oil, or export goods, so long as a small cut was paid to him. Ryypo controlled more of the oil rigs in the area than any other executive, though his laissez-faire attitude kept him from warranting too much disdain from local goblins, who might not have been happy being bossed around by a troll. 
Ryypo seemed to have a fair bit of ambition or at least foresight; most of his excess profits went towards Blackneedle, building roads, infrastructure, and finally culimnating in the construction of a factory; one to produce oil barrels. Although small, the factory proved to be valuable to Blackneedle and more importantly Ryypo: it churned out barrels faster than any goblin could by hand, and made exporting far cheaper. Baron Ryypo's control over Blackneedle increased, with nearly all exporters in town eventually relying on his factory for barrels. 
Exporting materials and workers from Kezan, Ryypo later constructed his own villa, one of the few major constructions that did not contribute directly to Blackneedle. It was the largest building in Blackneedle after the barrel factory, and served as a symbol of Ryypo's wealth and increasing power. 
===The Independent Barony of Blackneedle===
As the Alliance and Horde forces marched towards the Dark Portal, it became clear that a major conflict would be at hand. Ryypo focused most of his effors to export to the Horde and Alliance war machines, though his duplicility soured Ryypo's relations with the Horde, and it soon became clear that they had no interest in protecting Ryypo, if they ever did in the first place. Clever executives in Blackneedle began to realize that.
Ryypo profited much off of the war in the shattered world of Draenor, his grip on Blackneedle's infrastructure and production allowing him to outsell any of his competitors. When it became clear that the Horde and Alliance would only keep fighting each other, as well as external threats, Ryypo decided it was time to make a move.
Hiring nearly all of the mercenaries in Blackneedle, Ryypo publically declared Blackneedle to be an independent barony, with himself as the ruler. This naturally caused a very large stir of controversy to the point that some executives outright rebelled, hiring their own mercenary forces. Ryypo was able to buy off most of the executives with money, or promises of positions within his new regime, though some still marched for Ryypo's villa. In a brief scuffle, Ryypo's larger army was able to crush the forces of his competitors in a single battle, an event that later became known as the Rebellion of Blackneedle. 
All oil rigs in Blackneedle were now subsidized by Ryypo's company, deemed Blackneedle Oil Company. For most people in Blackneedle this had little-to-no effect on their daily lives, as Ryypo was still fairly liberal in his rulership. For those that owned a large amount of oil rigs, it meant Ryypo now dictated who they traded to and when. Ryypo kept most of his promises, deciding to keep his former enemies close. Unrest followed for some time to come, though after several weeks Blackneedle was stable, a trading city of some renown by now. 
===Sparkcog Territory===
It did not take long for the nearby Steamwheedle Cartel to realize that Blackneedle was going to be a significant competitor in oil trading. As a result, one of the moguls of the Steamwheedle Cartel offered to buy the city of Blackneedle, as well as Blackneedle Oil Co., from Ryypo, with the intent to add it to his own domain.
Ryypo, unwilling to test the patience of a mogul far more wealthy and powerful than him, decided he would accept the deal and retire in peace as a wealthy troll. However, while the talks were still taking place between Ryypo and the mogul, he received another message from another Cartel.
This message, from Trade Prince Zimirvox, leader of the Sparkcog Cartel, offered Blackneedle a place in his Cartel. This would make Ryypo one of the few non-goblin barons of any Cartel, as well as provide him protection from any outside threats, including that of the Steamwheedle. This option was naturally far more appealing to Ryypo, who cut contact with the Steamwheedle mogul and began the process of intergrating Blackneedle into the Sparkcog Cartel as a barony. 
However the Trade Prince's deal did not come without its losses. Seventy-five precent of all oil produced in Blackneedle had to be traded internally within the Cartel, meaning Ryypo could only effectively trade with other Sparkcog barons, moguls, and executives. This would solidify the Sparkcog Cartel's oil supply, and keep Blackneedle wealthy though not too powerful. Still, Ryypo accepted the deal without hesitation. As a symbol of the agreement, Ryypo gifted Zimirvox the very first barrel of oil produced in Blackneedle, which Ryypo had previously been keeping as a trophy; the Trade Prince himself supposedly keeps the barrel in the lobby of his villa. 
There are some rumors involving Blackneedle's joining. Some speculate that Ryypo used to be a servant of Gastro Zimirvox, while others suggest that Sparkcog's Bureau of Investigation was originally going to assassinate Ryypo and stage a coup before Gastro intervened. Ryypo's being a troll is also theorized to have been a tactical move on Gastro's part; the presence of a troll as a wealthy Baron of Sparkcog would inspire various troll "workers" to drive themselves harder. 
===The Two Wars===
As it became clear that the Alliance and the Horde would launch an attack on the frozen continent of Northrend, Gastro agreed to a temporary deal with Ryypo: he would be granted permission to sell large amounts of oil to the Alliance and Horde, so long as a generous cut was given to the Trade Prince himself. With the increasingly industrial war machines buying up as much oil as they could, Ryypo made quite a bit of profit, even with the restrictions set forward by Gastro. Blackneedle continued to grow, by now having dozens of oil rigs, plentiful zeppelin towers, and proper structures for all establishments. The town's single factory continued to grow as well, having several extensions and buildings that were all attached. 
Before long the Argent Crusade was invading the Frozen Throne itself, and to the disappointment of many a goblin, it was obvious the war would be over soon. Ryypo prepared to ramp down exports to the Horde and Alliance, but before everything could be set in motion, the second Shattering occured. The Thousand Needles was flooded, though miraculously the mesa Blackneedle was based on was well below the waterline. 
Though to say Blackneedle was untouched would be wrong. The teutonic shifting interfered with the oil wells, requiring many to be re-dug, temporarily slowing down Blackneedle's production. Furthermore, north of Blackneedle, the apocalyptic cult known as the Twilight's Hammer erected an outpost. 
As the war between the Alliance and Horde reignited and extended to Kalimdor, Ryypo saw great profits in the future for Blackneedle. Ryypo requested that Gastro continue his deal and allow Ryypo to sell to the Horde and Alliance en masse; the Trade Prince agreed. The Bilgewater Cartel joined the Horde, the first major cartel to do so in over twenty years. As Gallywix's men began to carve Azshara and build their port, Ryypo began to sell oil to the Bilgewater, who needed all the resources they could afford to undertake such a massive project.
Blackneedle Oil Co.'s  customers would not be limited to the Bilgewater, as a large warfront soon emerged in the Barrens. To Blackneedle's delight, a large portion of the Alliance forces would be made up as dwarves, who fielded gas-guzzling siege tanks. Ryypo and his city profited much off of the Barrens conflict, though it was not without its controversies and trouble. Several dwarven supplies accused Baron Ryypo of sending them watered-down oil, the usage of which caused their warmachines' engines to fail in battle. At least a dozen dwarven tanks were destroyed because of this supposed sabotage before the dwarves began to inspect their fuel before battle. 
The oil barrels Ryypo sold to the dwarves were unmarked, against Ryypo's usual practice, so the watered-down oil could not be directly traced to him. Ryypo shrugged off his accusers attacking him because of his race, dismissing the watered-down oil as sabotage by the Bilgewater.  In the end, deals between Blackneedle and the dwarves in the Barrens were cut off, though Ryypo continued to sell to Theramore (in marked barrels) for the remainder of the war.
Eventually the dragon that started the whole conflict was killed, the war between the factions slowing down. In the end Blackneedle managed to grow from a conflict that damaged most of its neighbors like Gadgetzan and Skyport. 
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==Important Figures==
Ryypo could not run the city of Blackneedle on his own; from the start he has kept trusted, intelligent individuals close by to aid in governing and trade like.
===Keezno Fuelob===
Named after the late war hero and Trade Prince of the same name, Keezno was one of the first well-educated goblins to move to Blackneedle. Once executive of a fuel company that failed after the Third War, Keezno head to Blackneedle to work with familiar territory. Ryypo was able to spot Keezno's potential, offering him a place in Blackneedle Oil Co. to ensure his loyalty and put his skills to good use. Before long Keezno was the leading executive of the oil company. For many goblins, Keezno was the face of Blackneedle; he made far more public appearances than Ryypo and negotiated many of his contracts in-person. The executive's shrewd diplomacy and silver tongue helped alleviate the fact that Blackneedle, at the end of the day, was lead by a troll that many suspected of being a former slave. 
Keezno was loyal to Ryypo and the two developed a mutual partner and friendship. After Ryypo declared himself Baron of Blackneedle, Keezno was appointed president of Blackneedle Oil Co., managing most day-to-day affairs though still ultimately answering to the Baron. A Sparkcog-born goblin, Keezno strongly encouraged Ryypo to accept Zimirvox's deal, and no doubt played a large role in Blackneedle's intregation into the Sparkcog Cartel. 
Today, President Fuelob still holds his Position in Blackneedle Oil Company, as well as being Ryypo's most trusted advisor. 
===Otto===
Not much is known of Otto's past, save for the fact that he was born in Krazzenburg. Some say that Otto used to be in the Boltkrieg Stormtrooper Corps; if this is true it would make him one of the few rogue stormtroopers to desert and tell the tale. Regardless of his past, Otto left Boltkrieg lands to become a mercenary, forming a large company consisting of goblins from various cartels, called the Red Bombers. 
The Bombers eventually took the voyage to Kalimdor to find work in Ratchet, and were later contracted by Ryypo to work in Blackneedle. When the Rebellion happened, most of Ryypo's forces were members of the Red Bombers, and Otto was appointed commander of Ryypo's combined forces. Otto proved his worth in the single battle that ended the Rebellion, and Ryypo was impressed with his work to the point that he offered Otto a permanent position in Blackneedle, as bruiser chief.
Deciding it was time to settle down and this was of good as an opportunity as any, Otto accepted the position, the Red Bombers absorbed into Blackneedle's bruiser force. Otto did not care much for the politics surrounding Blackneedle joining the Sparkcog Cartel, though he is often at odds with Chief Executive Gruck. Ryypo, a friend of Gruck, manages to keep the two from starting any trouble, though bad blood still exists between them. 
The Red Bombers never broke a contract and that sentiment seems to extend to Otto's position as Bruiser Chief; he has been unquestionably loyal to Ryypo, though often advises the Baron on military and police related issues. His Boltkrieg heritage has caused some controversy though if he were a spy or sleeper agent it's likely the Bureau would have discovered it by now.
Category:The Sparkcog Cartel
Category:Back story
Category:Goblin