02 - Iron Kingdoms W.. - Captain Spud Is Amazing

108.1.141.197
84 Iron Kingdoms
Thurian by upbringing, Grimgrave’s loyalty and
service to Ord grants him some unusual rights. He has
expanded the operations of Dragon’s Tongue Trade
from a simple smuggling operation to full-blown
piracy on the open seas. His approval to carry on these
acts is a Letter of Marque signed by King Baird II, and
Jack hands over a cut of his profits to the kingdom’s
coffers in order to maintain this right.
Although Dragon’s Tongue Trade is known for
piracy at sea, it does provide some legitimate river cargo
services inland. For a fee the guild offers protection to
other vessels, which usually means they will not raid
boats or kidnap crew. They also transport valuables,
people, or things from one place to another, so if
one needs to get somewhere on the Dragon’s Tongue
quickly and quietly, he can arrange for transport with
the Tongue Traders. They will give passage to just
about anyone willing to pay their excessive prices.
Hearthstone Clock and Alchemy
This small but crafty mechanika trade house
produces exotic wares and goods for sale. Run by
Echias Hearth (male Thurian Amk6), Hearthstone
ensures that all manner of potions, novelties, and
mechanikal curios make their way to the rest of Ord
and Cygnar. Echias is known for his incredibly intricate
clockwork devices, most especially his ornamental
Hearthstone windup pocket watch (street value 250
gp), which is quite the status symbol among the well
to do.
Hearthstone Clock & Alchemy also makes
custom precision alchemical laboratory supplies and
mechanikal goods for wizards and other scholarly
types. The trade house does quite well since most
of its items are expensive and fragile. The cost of
transporting these goods tends to be excessive, but the
prices fetched for some of these wonders make it worth
the care and effort. Since Khador’s absorption of the
Order of the Golden Crucible, Echias’ operation has
seen a considerably increased demand for his wares
and he is struggling these days to keep up with the
requests.
Mateu Merchant House
If any group in Ord could be said to rival the
authority of the throne, it would be the powerful
Mateu family. Many whisper that behind closed doors
Castellan Izabella Mateu (see pg. 294), matriarch of
the family for over fifty years, holds as much power in
a whisper as the Baird does in a kingly roar. The Mateu
family has its fingers in everything at some level or
another, and as far as trading influence and monetary
wealth is concerned, it is a direct rival of the Mercarian
League in Ord.
Poor decision-making and outstanding debts had
once upon a time presaged the demise of the Mateu
trading empire, but Izabella’s genius for business and
politicking has changed all of that. Over the years, she
has spread her influence and ingratiated her family
into every industry, merchant house, and trading
partnership in Ord, either by coin or even more
persuasive measures. This ruthless desire for success
and willingness to employ relatively draconian tactics
quickly gained her a reputation as a wicked woman—
not within earshot, of course—but anyone who deals
fairly with the Mateu family will be the first to tell you
that they are strictly businessmen, pure and simple.
The almighty golden royal holds sway over the family
second only to Izabella herself.
The Mateus are old Tordoran traders, but unlike
most castellans of their ilk, they do not discriminate.
Employment with the Mateu family is one of the
only ways a person of Thurian stock can become as
wealthy as any Tordoran. The family rewards loyalty
extremely well; outsiders know this, and association
with the Mateu family carries benefits that are not
always based on coin. True, the Mateus are rumored
to be thieves, cutthroats, and murderers especially in
earlier days, but now the family devotes itself to more
legitimate means whenever possible. Still, in Berck,
Carre Dova, and Five Fingers, there are blocks of
shops that pay protection money to Mateu enforcers.
In the grand tradition of organized crime, the old
ways of doing business are hard to leave behind, and
stepping out of the old ways into legitimate business
can be a thorny endeavor.
Izabella’s husband has long since passed, and
she has a son in Carre Dova, another in Merin, and
another in Five Fingers. There are rumors of a fourth
son who left the family to become a Morrowan priest,
but Izabella does not acknowledge this “silly rumor.”
Izabella’s five daughters are her truly coveted prizes;
she keeps them near at hand and has refused thus far
to see any of them wed. Lately King Baird’s grandson,