The Boltkrieg Cartel

**Secondary Leaders**
 **Races**
 **Status**
 **Capital**
 **Affiliation**

## Overview

The Boltkrieg Cartel is a member of the Great Cartels, the five most powerful cartels that dominate the majority of the goblin world. Unlike their brethren, the Boltkrieg are a xenophobic bunch. They have no love for the other four of the Great Cartels, and especially not for any non-goblins. The Boltkrieg share their brethrens lust for wealth, although instead they seek power and authority over shallow materialism. They forsake merchantry due to their xenophobia, and have generate a much lower income from trading than any other cartel. Instead, their largest source of income comes from their armaments industry and booming mercenary economy. Boltkrieg are vastly culturally different from the rest of Kezan, mostly due to their isolation by mountain range and the one instilled by their xenophobia. They speak a dialect of Goblin that is much more similar to ancient Goblin than the dialects spoken in modern times. This has led to the distinctive "Boltkrieg Accent." The Boltkrieg are renowned for having the undisputed most powerful military of goblinkind.

## Boltkrieg Territories

The Boltkrieg are mainly situated in Kezan, although they do possess overseas territories, not for the manner of mercantilism, however. These are often military fortifications, mercenary and weapons sale depots, or some sort of resource harvesting operations, such as lumber mills or mines. The Galzik Strip Company is infamous for contending against the Venture Co. in their quest for exploiting the natural world.

* **Undermine**

Undermine is home to all the goblins and thus the Boltkrieg have a presence there. With the eruption of Mount Kajaro, it was damaged by tremors and lava spills which required heavy reparation. Though salvagable, repairs are still being undergone to this day. The destruction has shifted the center of goblinkind from Undermine to the city of Ratchet, another city inhabited by all of the Great Cartels.

* **Keizigg**

Keizigg is the capital of the Boltkrieg Cartel and sometimes nick-named "Upper Undermine." This is for multiple reasons. One being its expansive size and urban development, which is compared to the enormous scale of Undermine. Secondly is it's actual connection to Undermine, where a dozen trams and hundreds more tunnels and elevators connect it directly to the Undermine. Keizigg is a remarkable city as for the hard-nosed and bitter nature of the Boltkrieg, it is in fact quite a glamorous and lively city. The buildings soar high into the sky and the city is one of the largest urban centers on Kezan. Lights keep the city glowing from night to day and it seems to never sleep. Tram lines run through the entire city as well as complex roadways. All sorts of entertainment are to be found, from street preformance, to theatre, to debauchery. It is also houses Shellshock Stadium, home of the Boltkrieg Blitzers.

* **Krazzenberg**

Krazzenburg, also known as the "Fort-City", is one that lives in constant infamy for it's military history. The city is more a massive fort that has developed a self-sufficient economy, than any sort of a city. It has served as the border between Boltkrieg and the rest of Kezan, as it is bordered by mountains on both the east and west. A massive wall, known as the Great Krazz, runs through the entire center of the city. Beyond the Great Krazz is where the highest amount of military fortifications are located, while behind the Great Krazz rests the more civilian sectors of the city. It is most known for it's victory at the Battle of Krazzenburg, known to the rest of Kezan as the Krazzenburg Disaster, where the Boltkrieg crushed a coalition of armies attempting to march on their home soil.

* **Port of Meznich**

Often abbreviated as simply Meznich, the city is one of the few centers of overseas trade for the Boltkrieg. Although it is nothing in comparison to Crezdin, which is the Boltkrieg's greatest link to the outside world. However, it is home to the largest shipyard in the entire world, being able to dock three entire fleets, and four if one dangerously tried hard enough. The city has in recent times evolved a large shipbuilding industry. At first it was mere local business which created non-lethal ships such as cargo boats, although during Trade War Two these resources were turned to construct warships. After the war, it retained this industry, becoming a large battleship producer.

* **Crezdin**

There is a saying, that nothing comes into the Boltkrieg Cartel without going through Crezdin customs. It is the largest port in the Cartel, as well as the largest source of overseas trade. It is infact the only location, save for smaller forts along the coast, that any overseas goods may pass into Boltkrieg lands. Crezdin Customs is housed in a massive building, that seems almost unrealistically large, yet every inch of the structure is teeming with activity. Crezdin is known for being much more liberal than the rest of the cartel, likely due to it's greater exposure of outside ideas.

## History

### Ancient Boltkrieg

The Boltkrieg are one of the oldest cartels, and it is known it was one of the first organized groups to form prior to the Great Rebellion and the liberation of the goblin race. Little else is known, besides the decrepit ruins that dot the thick jungles of Kezan.

### The Long Isolation

The Boltkrieg would become so xenophobic at one point they shut off all communication to the outside world to an absolute minimal and would remain this way for almost a stunning thousand years. This event was known as the Long Isolation. The Boltkrieg had even completely shut down parts of Undermine to prevent any outsider access. This isolation would lead to the phenomenom coined the "Boltkrieg Accent." As the rest of Kezan progressed together, the Boltkrieg progressed in their own way, developing a society much different than the rest of goblinkind. And, as it's namesake describes, they developed their iconic accent which is starkly different from the common goblin accent.

### The Return

The Boltkrieg would return to Kezan society under Trade Prince Ruemitz, who finally uplifted the Long Isolation. The Boltkrieg's reassimilation was far from peaceful, and a wave of disgust and Boltkrieg ultra-nationalism swept over the people, who disdained their "lower" brethren. Ruemitz had actually supported these sentiments and contributed largely to the indoctrination of these ideas into Boltkrieg society.

Eventually, long after Ruemitz had been deposed, these feelings, as well as a variety of political issues caused by them, would culminate into the First Trade War, one of the most devastating conflicts Kezan had seen in centuries. The war would begin with Boltkrieg aggression on the Bilgewater Cartel.

### Bullies of Kezan

The Boltkrieg would go on to directly cause the Second Trade War as well, which was much more devastating than the first. They did not have the capital however to keep expanding, although their rivals did not have the capital to keep pushing them back. The war would end in stalemate with the current borders drawn as they were.

### The Modern Period

The Boltkrieg would aggress their final Trade War, the third, although the ultra-nationalist era was dying and a new wave of liberal Trade Princes usurped power and put an end to the Third Trade War. By the end of the war, the Boltkrieg returned some of it's territories that it had taken during the Second Trade War, although it retained most of them. A fourth one would be fought, which the Boltkrieg surprisingly did not take part in, save from mercenary organizations.

Today the Boltkrieg are still a xenophobic and cold people, but realize the need for cooperation for survival. Their specialty has become what they love the most, all things war. They have surged as leaders in the warship, armaments, and mercenary industries.

## Products and Industry

* **Mercenaries**

The mercenary industry is so well ingrained into Boltkrieg culture that it is even sponsored by the army, who have their own mercenary company that employs military-grade technology and soldiers. This is known as Redcog Operations. Other than this, thousands upon thousands of private mercenaries organizations exist, from small bands to sprawling corporations.

* **Footbomb**

To the Boltkrieg, Footbomb is just another extension of the military. They take it extremely seriously, and as a result the stoic, stone-like discipline of the Boltkrieg Blitzer always serves to bring their rivaling teams unease. Riots have been started over Footbomb games by Boltkrieg fans, who are infamous for their violent passion of the sport.

* **Shipbuilding**

The Boltkrieg Cartel posseses a large sea vessel industry, and produced a wide array of ship designs. They range from massive battleships and dreadnaughts, to submarines for various tasks such as drilling or exploring, and then to mere fishing and rowboats. Their naval industry was built up during Trade War One, and to this day it has remained in heavy competition with it's only equal, the Steamwheedle Cartel. While the Steamwheedle focus on quantity, and usually do not work with warships, the Boltkrieg focus on quality and combat ships.

* **Arms**

 All things to do with combat are proud staples of the Boltkrieg Cartel, and thus they have been pioneers in weapon technology for the past centuries. The greatest military innovations have been of Boltkrieg origin, from the Goblin Juggernaut to the Dreadshredder. They are also known for their high quality guns and artillery weapons.

## Military

When one thinks of the Boltkrieg, the first thing to come to mind is their fearsome military. Much of the Boltkriegs economy is infact centered on arms and military. It is always equipped with the best of military technology, which are constantly being improved by arms scientists. The Boltkrieg has an expansive army, so large that it was able to handle multiple cartels alone in wars of past. Every Boltkrieg citizen is required to take a year of military training any time between 10 to 20 years old. In times where extra numbers would ever be needed, they are required to take up arms. The Boltkrieg has such an extensive supply of soldiers that fourty percent of the Trade Coalition peacekeepers are of the Boltkrieg Cartel.

The long military tradition of the Boltkrieg has bred some of the best goblin generals and admirals, who are encouraged by constant competition to become better and better. The Boltkriegs are famed for their Stormtroopers, a sect of the military were only the most elite of soldiers are admitted, and even then they must go through rigorous training and maintenance through their whole life. They are most recognizable for their iconic helmets, which are said to be bulletproof. It is said a single Stormtrooper is worth a thousand of the any other low-payed slackjaws any other Cartel could muster up. The Boltkrieg are attributed to starting three of the four Trade Wars, although this period of violence has since passed and now they focus on internal development and amassing wealth.

The Boltkrieg cannot claim the title of having the largest navy among the Great Cartels, that is held by the Steamwheedle. However instead of an armada of converted junkers and cargo boats, the Boltkrieg navy is composed largely of dedicated battleships. Over the past few decades the Boltkrieg have become pioneers in warship design, their most famous being the Juggernaut, a design which was mimicked by the Steamwheedle and popularized during the Second War. A Boltkrieg ship has almost become synonymous with any high quality warship.

The intelligence branch of the Boltkrieg Cartel is the M.I.D, or the Main Intelligence Directorate. It covers a wide umbrella of covert operations, from spying, to recon, to assassination. They are highly secretive and the identities of every member is a complete secret. The Head Director is so well hidden that any fragment of his identity is not even known by rival intelligence organizations.