Pongo's Under the Table Trade

With the onset of the Silkstone War and the following increasing hostility between the Dominion and the rest of Aegeron, the NGTC was quick to cancel all its trade deals with any and all dwarves connected to the Dominion. Pongo, being a Moradin cleric from Dominion lands, was among those whose contracts were cancelled, leaving Pongo suddenly without the means to sell his goods. When the party returned from their trip to the Dominion, Pongo started to look for other trading partners to whom he might be able to sell his wares - a dwarf's got to eat, and ultimately he needed the money to pay for his ongoing project. The party had hardly seen Pongo since they got back, except the times Vistra went to the forge. He seemed to have holed himself up in his workshop again working on something, although he never said what (and the party has learned to not ask, since the only answer in return tends to be a smile followed by "you'll see!").

Failure with the Golden Lance
Given the current situation, Pongo had heard that the Golden Lance had lost most of their funding but still needed armaments, preferably at cheap prices. Pongo went to the Golden Lance encampment in Stoneharbor hoping that maybe he could sell some of his goods to them. Pongo met with the quartermaster and offered his wares at 60% of the market price, which he thought was really quite a good deal! Unfortunately, the captain hardly thought so knowing that he could buy in bulk from Dominion Metals at a much cheaper price. Pongo tried to reason with him, saying he can provide Dominion Metals quality goods without the slightly tarnished reputation of the Dominion, but the quartermaster wasn't buying it. As Pongo was leaving he knocked over a nearby workbench causing quite the mess! Seeing the quite deadly stare from the quartermaster, Pongo quickly left the encampment and decided maybe it was best to not go around that part of town for a while...

Pongo spent quite some time considering what to do for money - he desperately wanted enough to be able to finish his new masterpiece!

Under the Table with the Reatons
Pongo had heard that the Reaton Reds were suddenly desperate for weapons. They were waging a war (although part of that fighting was at the ongoing siege of Pongrad by the Dominion on the other end of the continent, so it was unlikely any of the weapons he would make could find their way there). Since Dominion Metals outright refused to sell to them, Pongo felt he had an opportunity to make a good deal. Pongo met with Comrade Joe in secret at the Happy Axe, finding a nice quiet corner to discuss business. Pongo started with the same initial offer, but the Reatons clearly could not afford much. After some back and forth, and a large amount of beer, in friendship Comrade Joe offered 25% market price for any products Pongo could offer, but the arrangement would have to be secret for political reasons (the Reatons were not exactly on friendly terms with dwarves in general).

Pongo agreed and they set up an under-the-table deal: Pongo would have goods dropped off at a warehouse and Comrade Joe would leave the money. No goods would be stamped and no names given. To separate himself a bit more from the transactions, Pongo had his assistant, disguised as best as possible with no clan insignia showing or any identifying emblems, do the drop-off and pick up. Although he wasn't entirely happy selling to the Reatons, he understood that it was a necessary exchange (plus, the Reatons ARE causing more trouble in other Kingdoms than the Dominion) in order to finish his masterpiece.

Pongo spent the next 4 months holed in his workshop - although the party saw his assistant coming in with huge amounts of scrap metal and leaving with filled crates. The party estimated that it was around 1400 gp in market value in weapons leaving the manor every week - enough to potentially arm a small army with dwarven steel. Only time can tell what the Reatons will use all these arms so far from the front lines...