The Everwind Exchange

The Everwind Exchange
Flag of the Everwind Exchange
Affiliation	Neutral (Alliance-leaning)
Current Leader(s)	Venture Captain Ithelien Summersong Court of Directors
Type	Trade Company with Adventure and Criminal Themes
Base of Operations	Port Everwind
Flagship	The Everwind Tide
Areas of Interest	International trade, insurances, investments, arms dealing, anti-slavery vigilantism
Known Antagonists	Schnottz Reclamation Initiative Lord Percival Munroe

The Most Honourable Company of the Everwind Exchange for Trade and Acquisition in Lands Foreign and Domestic was chartered in Stormwind, Orgrimmar, and Gadgetzan in the Month of April of the Year 33 after the Opening of the Black Portal, incorporated upon the pre-existing Everwind Investment Company.

Run by its founder and current Venture Captain Ithelien Summersong along with the Court of Directors representing the main stakeholders and supervisors, the Exchange operates from its base of Port Everwind, in Dustwallow Marsh, maintaining a series of trading ports, colonies, and assets across Azeroth. Overtly a trading company with vested interests in goods such as silk, pelts, and dyes, the Exchange maintains are sizeable network of illicit operations in fields such as arms dealing and artifact smuggling, as well as dedicating a considerable amount of resources to secretly fighting against slavers.

Through its investment arm Everwind Enterprises, the Exchange also runs a multitude of smaller businesses of varying degrees of legality.

<The Everwind Exchange> is an Alliance, Heavy-RP guild in Moon Guard.

Guild Themes

The Everwind Exchange is a chartered company-themed guild, loosely based on real-world trade consortiums of the XVII and XVIII centuries, such as the British East India Company and the Spanish Casa de Contratación, while also maintaining a broad array of less overt interests in the occult, the exotic, and the unusual. As such, the roleplaying stories and themes it often involves itself with include:

• Merchant caravans sent to open lucrative trade routes with distant realms.
• Expeditions into the unknown to discover new goods or make contact with exotic civilisations.
• Military operations to protect its trade posts and defend its many interests spread across Azeroth.
• Diplomatic embassies to regale foreign dignitaries with gifts and to ensure their favour.
• Covert operation meant to both thwart the competition and procure valuable information.
• Dangerous delves into forgotten temples to retrieve priceless -and quite likely cursed- artifacts.
• Explosive weapon-testing displays to make sure the Exchange stays on the bleeding-edge of technology. Or music. Because our engineers probably make their gramophones run on rocket fuel.
• Smuggling weapon crates to discident militias seeking to overthrow a local lord.
• Running blockades in war-torn regions to both help the beleaguered locals and make a profit out of it.
• Infiltrate slave-trading businesses to take them out from the inside.
• Stealing priceless works of art and liquidate them amongst fanciful aesthetes willing to pay a fortune.

Roleplaying System

For some of its more structured roleplaying events, the Exchange uses a custom-made system developed by Tremendo [US Moon Guard], which takes inspiration from games such as Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition and FATE. For more information, see the article The Everwind Exchange Rules Compendium.

Neutrality

The Exchange considers itself neutral in regard to the faction conflict. While it is Alliance-leaning due to the nationality of its members, it keeps close connections with many Horde citizens, actively trading with Horde-aligned realms, and cooperating -and competing- with organisations all across both Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. The Exchange maintains contracts and close relationships with the also neutral, but Horde-leaning, Grand Company of the Blackheart Battalion.

While the Exchange won’t force its members to openly embrace the Horde, it does not tolerate overt hostility towards its citizens, as this could severely damage the already difficult to maintain business charter to operate in Horde territory. The Exchange does not involve itself directly in conflicts between the factions, and is equally happy to trade spices, information, and arms to either side.

Membership Profile

The Exchange makes no distinctions based on nationality, faith, race, social class, place of origin, or tendency to summon demons while asleep. If anything, the Honourable Company actively seeks people from the most varied roads of life, for in such diversity opportunity may arise.

Founders of the Honourable Company of the Everwind Exchange, breaking ground on the construction of Port Everwind. From left to right: Karnaum, Lumi Amell, Tremendo the Great, Pepe (on top of Tremendo's head), Ithelien Summersong, Vesper Bloodsorrow, Sadie-May Gladstone (sitting), Sondredelyia Suncrest, Eraelaana, and Buruzu. Vesper Bloodsorrow can be seen sporting the colours of the Blackheart Battalion, a close ally of the Company. Art by XephonDP.

Personal Enterprises

All members of the Exchange are allowed to maintain their own personal businesses unrelated to the Honourable Company, so long as they don’t conflict with those of the organisation, such as by competing with it or forcing the member to shirk away from their responsibilities.

Practical Morals

While the Exchange likes to maintain a public image of propriety and even engages in charitable contributions, it does what it needs to do to achieve profits, protect its members, and stay ahead of the competition. As such, sabotage, smuggling, espionage, robbery, forgery, and even a bit of arranged accidents may, on occasion, happen. Always with plausible deniability, of course.

Restricted Businesses

Despite the above, the Exchange does not involve itself in dealings relating to slavery, child labour, or any form of exploitation of intelligent beings. Indeed, some of its covert operations are actively aimed at seeking and sabotaging such endeavours with as much aggravation as possible. It would almost seem as if someone in upper management has a personal cause to settle here.

Non-Affiliated Members

As a large organisation with interests in many fields and places, the Exchange keeps a healthy relationship with other groups, allowing them to post permanent representatives in Port Everwind; it also allows free agents who regularly involve themselves with company business but are not otherwise under its employ to circulate unencumbered and make use of its assets, vessels, and facilities. OOCly, this is represented by the Envoy rank, which allows members to be in the guild while ICly having allegiance to other organisations or to no one at all.

Rank Structure

While the Exchange maintains a sizeable operation, game limitations require that distinct ranks are kept to a maximum of 10. Below is a quick explanation of what each rank entails. Do note, however, that even if a character is assigned a specific rank, the breadth of story options does not stop there; a character awarded the Merchant rank, for example, may also very well participate in the guild as a skilled cook, a daring fencer, or a ruthless interrogator. Ranks are merely expressions of their main areas of involvement with the story of the Exchange.

Venture Captain (GM)

The head administrator of the Exchange, in charge of setting out the Honourable Company’s long-term goals, elected by the Court of Directors. The title is currently held by Ithelien Summersong, who is like so nice, you guys.

Directors (Officers)

Members of the Court of Directors of the Everwind Exchange, the main stakeholders and supervisors of the company, in charge of both assisting the Venture Captain and keeping their power in check. Amongst the directors, six of them further oversee one of the six main operational arms of the Honourable Company, and thus may carry secondary titles:

• Chief Explorer: Director of the Expeditionary Force, oversees Trailblazers.
• Chancellor: Director of the Chancery, oversees Emissaries.
• Lord/Lady Marshall: Director of the Distant Shores Legion, oversees Legionnaires.
• Grand Proveditor: Director of the Merchant Ventures, oversees Merchants.
• Spymaster/Spymistress: Director of the Veiled Chamber, oversees Operatives.
• Headmaster/Headmistress: Director of the Ateneum, oversees Savants.

Trailblazers

The spearhead of the Exchange’s Expeditionary Force, these are the brave souls cutting through thick jungles and delving into forgotten tombs to get the rare artifacts and ancient secrets that bring prestige and power to the Honourable Company.

Emissaries

Representatives and delegates, members of the Chancery, who make sure the Exchange builds and retains strong bonds with noble houses, distant realms, petty warlords, and other organisations. They are the face of the Honourable Company, and sometimes also its hidden hands and eyes.

Legionnaires

The stalwart units of the Distant Shores Legion, these men and women keep the many operations of the Exchange well-protected. They are the bodyguards of merchants and emissaries, the caretakers of savants, the wardens of trailblazers and, when the need arises, the muscle of operatives.

Merchants

The profit-makers of the Exchange, merchants travel the world seeking to open new trade routes or strike a deal for exotic spices. As part of the Everwind Merchant Ventures, they are both out there finding sources of revenue, and at home tending the Exchange’s Emporium of Wonders, where it sells its many accrued luxuries.

Operatives

Agents and sleuths, part of the Veiled Chamber, working from the shadows to keep the Honourable Company safe and profitable. Sometimes they may be required to watch, others to steal, and perhaps on occasion to terminate. Almost an entirely separate organisation unto itself, their actions are hard to scrutinise.

Savants

The sages, arcanists, historians, and technologists of the Ateneum work tirelessly to keep the Exchange on the cutting edge of new discoveries, while also trying to avoid the entire organisation from falling under the curses of some of the artifacts they uncover.

Recruits

Fresh-faced recruits wishing to take part in one of the Exchange’s many operations, watched over by the Directors and other members to see where their talents might be best put to work.

Envoys

As a wide-ranging organisation with interests all over the globe, the Exchange makes sure to keep healthy relationships with other groups, consortiums, and associations, allowing permanent envoys to be posted as liaisons and ambassadors. Envoys represent members who, while OOCly members of the guild, are not ICly affiliated to it, or maintain bonds of loyalty to other organisations.

Trading

The Exchange’s principal source of income is international trade.

Dyes

Bought from traders hailing from the Echo Isles and, more recently, produced in company-owned sites in Southern Stranglethorn, dyes, particularly indigo, represent a significant source of revenue for the Exchange. 

With the opening of trade lanes in and out of the Broken Isles, the more exotic magically imbued varieties preferred by the Kirin Tor have quickly risen to be a star product for the Exchange.

Mana Crystals

Map of the Exchange's main trade routes, outposts, and assets.

Although the legal situation of the extraction of mana crystals from the Azsuna region is still dubious -attempts to negotiate a permanent treaty with the local blue dragons have proved exceedingly difficult-, the profit margins more than enough justify the more-or-less regular raids and not-insignificant loss of life incurred by company workers. 

The multiplicity of uses and the ever-increasing demand in markets all over the world have made this operation especially attractive, with the Court of Directors pushing for further expansion of the extraction sites.

Pelts

Hunting lodges maintained by the Exchange in the Winterspring, Grizzly Hills, and Borean Tundra regions provide a steady production of high-quality pelts. Though these are then sold in a multitude of markets, Horde cities are the primary destinations.

The exchange has encountered some issues with the Night Elves over the alleged trading of Wintersabre pelts, though our official position is to maintain these have been collected from already dead specimens. D.E.T.H.A. agents have also been known to attempt to meddle with our Borean Tundra hunting operations, requiring us to put additional security detachments there.

Salt

Acquired from the centaur clans of Desolace, a sizeable volume of salt is transported by the Exchange to the ports of Orgrimmar and Stormwind.

Saltpetre

Extracted and refined in company-owned operations in northern Tanaris, salpetre is a critical component of gunpowder, with the Exchange’s chief customers being the state armouries of Stormwind, Durotan, and Kul Tiras. Nearly a third of the company’s entire salpetre production is destined for fertiliser, however, being packaged and distributed from its facilities in Westfall and Redridge.

Silk

Primarily obtained from Pandaren merchants from the Jade Forest region, the high-quality bolts of local silk are sold as raw material for clothiers in the markets of Stormwind, Gilneas, Suramar, and Orgrimmar. Attempts by the Exchange to operate its own silkworm farm are underway, with the recent acquisition of a sizeable plot in the outskirts of Dawn’s Blossom opening the way for a local manufactory.

Spirits

Though trading in spiritous drinks began merely as a way to keep the Exchange’s own stock supplied, this has become a specialty source of income of its own. Rum -and the molasses required to produce it- are often included in most voyages and sold in the markets of Booty Bay, Gadgetzan, and Boralus, while various types of wines, whiskeys, and cognacs are now part of the catalog.

The recent acquisition of a small vineyard in Redridge -where the rocky terrain makes for the hardiest and sweetest of grapes- has allowed the Exchange to start making its own varieties under the Rosethorn label -with the aim to turn it into a premium brand of vintages.

Silver

The Exchange operates silver mines in the regions of Redridge and the Blasted Lands, assigning almost the totality of the production for trade with the Pandaren, by whom the metal is highly sought after. The remainder is used for alchemical applications, particularly the manufactory of silvered weapons.

Tea

Farmed in company-owned plots in the Valley of the Four Winds (though some varieties have proven difficult to produce in a profitable fashion and are instead bought from local growers), the Exchange moves considerable amounts of tea leaves into the markets of Stormwind, Boralus, and Gilneas.

Businesses

The Exchange operates a series of legitimate business, managed from Port Everwind by its subsidiary Everwind Enterprises. A significant number of these are, however, used to launder money and practice fiscal evasion. In the words of Venture Captain Summersong: “If the Forsaken can avoid death, then we surely can avoid taxes.”

Anvilspark Armaments

Originally a family business owned by Clan Anvilspark of Thelsamar, it came under control of the Everwind Exchange after a series of unsavoury disagreements and unfulfilled contracts forced the company to liquidate the deal -and the management. The second generation of Anvilsparks proved far more amenable and were put in charge of the company in representation of the Exchange. 

The subsidiary runs a series of armouries and foundries in both Thelsamar and Ironforge, producing a relatively humble amount of nonetheless high-quality arms. Instead, its main purpose is to maintain a credible operation to obtain arms-selling licences from the Ironforge senate, which are essential to the not-so-legal arms smuggling deals the Exchange runs in secret. 

Goodhearth Lodging & Holstery Co.

As Everwind operations expanded across Azeroth, the multitude of lodges, hospices, and residences scattered across the globe became a nightmare to manage. By creating the Goodhearth Lodging & Holstery Co. and transferring these assets to the new organisation, the whole catalogue could be administered as an actual hotel business.

Ostensibly for the lodging of the many Everwind agents, merchants, and emissaries, as well as providing different levels of comfort to weary travellers, Goodheart Lodging also serves as a convenient cover for the many safehouses and black sites the company maintains. It is also a key component of the Underwater Fleet, sheltering the slaves and refugees rescued by its operatives before they can be issued new identities and definitive residences.

Fairweather Indemnity Co.

With offices in Stormwind, Gilneas City, Boralus, Orgrimmar, Gadgetzan, and Booty Bay, Fairweather Indemnity is the Exchange’s insurance arm.

Its specialty are insurances for expeditions, merchant ventures, and maritime vessels; the company itself began as both an initiative to reduce the cost of insuring Exchange trade voyages, and to quietly launder money by arranging intentional shipwrecks.

Some Fairweather Indemnity agents operate under alternative names, as a way to sell insurances to Everwind competitors, thus providing intel on their dealings, cargoes, and risk assessment -valuable information that is then used by Sunmeadow Investments to speculate in the stocks market.

Rosethorn Vineyards

Though legally under control of the Rosethorn Family Estate -see Illicit Operations, below-, the Rosethorn Vineyards are nonetheless managed and operated directly by Everwind employees, providing liqueurs of the finest quality. A significant portion of its production is reserved exclusively for Everwind consumption, but friendly connoisseurs are granted access to some of its bottles from time to time.

The vineyard itself has proven to be an excellent place to bury bodies that need to disappear swiftly, too. 

Illicit Operations

Not all the Exchange’s operations occur in broad daylight.

Arms Dealings

The Exchange’s position as a neutral organisation means it has not been granted the credentials to legally sell weapons in either Alliance or Horde markets. While this keeps it away from the formal business, it has also made it an incredibly attractive trading partner to non-aligned factions, insurgencies, and local lords wary of their monarchs; a few criminal operations trade with the Exchange, but the Court of Directors keeps away from those actively involved in overt hostilities aimed towards civilians. 

The company manufactures part of the arms it sells, but most of it is bought from Goblin producers.

Artifact Smuggling

Under the guise of the Everwind Historical Society -formally registered as a “non-profit foundation for the fostering of knowledge in matters historical, geographical, and natural” in both Stormwind and Orgrimmar-, the Exchange actively participates in the illegal trading of artifacts, relics, art pieces, fossils, and treasures otherwise considered banned or restricted. Many of these are recovered by the company’s own archaeological expeditions -though some of them could be considered rampart tomb raiding, if one were into semantics-, though certain specialty requests are fulfilled by outright stealing from private collections.

Despite the illegal nature of the operation, a surprising amount of these end up in museums, which are willing to pay a pretty penny for some of the rarest items. The Thalassian Reliquary and Ironforge Explorers’ League are two of the Society’s main trading partners.

Money Laundering & Tax Evasion

The Exchange moves scandalous amounts of money in and out of important centres of population, and to avoid the authorities from peering too closely -and to make sure the least amount of taxes are paid-, the Honourable Company has set-up an extensive network of shell companies to hide its real assets and exploit fiscal loopholes, and operates multiple legitimate, highly-liquid small businesses to launder the income derived from illicit operations.

The Rosethorn Family Estate

Wilford Maynard Rosethorn was a successful vintner, art collector, and banker, who died without any registered kin whom to bequeath his fortune; by ways of some rather creative legalese and thaumaturgical accounting, Venture Captain Summersong managed to create an entire manifest of non-existing family members, putting a well-trusted barrister in charge of managing the now suddenly very real Rosethorn Family Estate.

The Estate is notoriously used by the Everwind Exchange as a way to move and negotiate valuable works of art and other items of luxurious nature away from prying eyes; the Rosethorn Collection, held in the Stormwindian manor once belonging to Wilford, is a well-guarded secret by art dealers, fanciful aesthetes, and artifact smugglers. 

The Underwater Fleet

Owing to a very personal crusade instituted by the Venture Captain (and inherited from her own previous efforts on the matter), a substantial amount of Exchange resources are quietly assigned to a widespread network of refugee- and slave-rescue and relocation known as the Underwater Fleet. For security reasons, only select few members of the Exchange are fully aware of the size and scale of the operation, but those who are in the know would realise that it almost seems as if the entire company exists solely for the purpose of funding and fuelling this effort.

The Fleet does not only deal in rescue and relocation, however. Through a multiplicity of shell companies and confounding legal mazes, it burrows itself deep into slave-trading businesses, pretending to participate in the trade of people as a way of eating these organisations from the inside-out. Of course, the Fleet is not always so stealthy -if the situation calls for it, its agents will starts breaking skulls.

The Fleet does not seek profit, but many of the individuals saved through the network insist on paying back in one way or another. Information, thus, has become the Fleet’s most important revenue, with some of the rescues becoming loyal eyes and ears scattered across the globe.