Ketek Ketshire Automotive Technologies
Ketek Ketshire Automotive Technologies, or simply "Ketek", is a Goldshirean automaker based in Wintergleam. Its name, Ketshire is a portmanteau of Ketsire (no h!), its original location, and "-shire" as in 'Goldshire'. Ketek is a manufacturer of vehicles aimed towards the Masses of Goldshire and the proletarian castes of Shireroth (and even Benacia) as a whole. Their commercially available automobiles can be reliably identified by only using three wheels; a practice which saves time and money in acquiring raw materials and in manufacturing. Another staple of the brand is their use of processed wood gas-run engines.
History
Shortly after the return of Wintergleam to Goldshire, ex-convict and Timothean businessman Johen Rinsly Brines moved to Ketshire in hopes of taking advantage of the disorder and upheaval of Elwynnese systems as they transferred to their Goldshirean analogues. After running out of funds, Brines found work in a Benacian Railway Construction and Redevelopment site where he met an engineer for the project, Dr. Harl R. Kinner. Kinner had lived in Wintergleam under the Storish regime once worked in repairing and rebuilding the impressively garish car collections of the local aristocracy before the Auspicious Occasion, thus leaving him without a client-base and, therefor, a job. After some months of planning and discussion, Brines and Kinner came to realize just how much money the Kingdom was spending on either foreign or expensive custom-made personal automobiles and decided to propose a business opportunity to King Ryker Everstone. The proposal included giving Brines and Kinner access to scrapped military blueprints regarding small landcraft designs in exchange for significant control in the company and a Royal Contract. The King, seeing this as a clear way to further his dream of a more self-sufficient Goldshire, agreed and provided capital for the venture. Ketek was founded in 1661.
