The carriage moved slowly along the rugged mountain road of the Rocky Mountains. Balin sat in the carriage, clutching the world map tightly in his arms, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
The admiration and awe he felt when leaving Alda had now turned into a heavy anxiety. He had brought back not only his observations, but also a warning about the future of the entire dwarf race.
The carriage stopped at the entrance to a valley. Balin bid farewell to the coachman Paul had sent to see him off and ventured alone into the depths of the Rocky Mountains. As the familiar stone walls of Forge Citadel came into view in the distance, he took a deep breath, suppressed his surging emotions, and continued forward.
Forge Citadel remains exactly as I remember it: huge furnaces and chimneys belch black smoke, stone houses are built against the mountainside, and tribesmen carry ore through the streets. But in Balin's eyes, this homeland that once brought him immense peace now exudes an indescribable sense of insignificance.
As soon as he entered the castle, a guard came up to him and said in a loud dwarven voice, " Balin, the young chieftain is waiting for you in the council hall, and the elders are all here as well."
Balin nodded and followed the servants through several stone-paved paths into the front hall of the stone building where the lord resided.
Barash was sitting on a stone bench, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the armrest. When he saw Balin enter, he immediately stood up, his voice filled with urgency: "You're finally back! How's Alda doing? Can our joint military plan with the other clans still proceed as originally planned?"
Barash's barrage of questions instantly made Balin sense the clan's urgent curiosity and anxiety about humanity's strength. He didn't answer immediately, but gently placed the world map he was carrying on the table, looking at Barash with a solemn expression: "My lord, this matter is of great importance and cannot be explained in a few words. What I saw and heard in Alda is far more shocking than Dain described before, and may even change our understanding of humanity and the world as a whole."
Balin briefly recounted the information he knew, and Barash's initial anxiety gradually subsided. He stared at the unfolded map on the table, then at the complex emotions in Balin's eyes, and vaguely realized the seriousness of the situation. If humanity's strength was indeed as unexpected as Balin had said, then the previously discussed joint military action plan would probably have to be reconsidered.
He immediately turned to his attendant and instructed, "Quickly inform the elders to assemble in the council hall immediately. Tell them that Balin's envoy has brought back important news about Alda, and to convene an emergency elders meeting." After the attendant left, Barash looked at Balin again, his tone solemn, "Thank you for your hard work. Once the elders are all here, explain the details to them properly. This concerns the Iron Hammer Clan, and even the future of the entire Rocky Mountains dwarves; there's no room for carelessness." Balin nodded in agreement, and the two went to the council hall together.
Before long, the elders arrived one after another, and the atmosphere in the hall gradually became heavy as people gathered. Most of the elders knew about the joint military plan that had been discussed earlier, and seeing the serious expressions of the young clan leader and Balin, they vaguely guessed that there might be bad news.
Balin walked to the center of the hall. "Young Chieftain, elders, what I saw and heard on this trip to Alda has completely overturned my understanding of humanity." His voice was deep and serious. He began by talking about the trading market in Lakeheart Town, about the high-quality and inexpensive metal products and the "credits" that could be used as money; then he talked about the huge furnaces of the ironworks, with a daily output of nearly ten tons, compared to the "playing house" scale of the clan workshops; he also talked about the lead chamber acid production process in the chemical plant, and the huge ships in Port Franklin that could carry thousands of tons of supplies, and the circumnavigation of the globe that proved that the earth is round… With each point he made, the gasps in the hall grew louder.
"Their ironworks, a medium-sized one, can produce in a day what our entire clan does in a month; their ships can cross vast oceans to reach other continents; they can even draw maps of the entire world and know that the earth is round." Balin's gaze swept over everyone present, his tone carrying a warning. "The gap between our strength and theirs is not just a little, it's an insurmountable difference. The joint military action you all discussed to rescue the Stonemason Clan seems to me like suicide. If we were to take military action against humanity, given their strength, we would not only fail to save the Stonemason Clan, but we would also bring about the destruction of the entire Iron Hammer Clan, and even all the dwarven clans."
"Destruction?" an elder couldn't help but speak, his voice filled with resentment. "Are we dwarves so easily defeated? Are our forging skills and our warriors inferior to those of humans?"
"Elder, I'm not trying to boost their morale while diminishing our own." Balin shook his head, but his tone was firm. "I've seen their workshops, their ships, their weapons with my own eyes. Their strength is all-encompassing, from daily production to exploring the world; we are far inferior to them. Now that the Stonemason Clan has submitted to them, it might not be a bad thing. At least it allows us to see the gap between ourselves and humanity, so we won't blindly and impulsively head towards destruction."
He hung the world map on the wall. "We've been stuck in the mountains for too long; we have no idea how vast this world is. Look, this is the Rocky Mountains where we live..."
Barash sat there, staring at the thin curve on the map, remaining silent for a long time. The council hall was quiet, and the previously high-spirited pro-war faction had lost their former confidence.
The council hall remained silent for a long time. The elders who had previously advocated for a joint military intervention all hung their heads in silence. The disparity in strength between the two sides was too great, and the warning of destruction struck everyone's hearts like a heavy hammer. No one dared to mention the word "force" lightly anymore.
Barash finally turned his gaze to Balin: "Since armed confrontation is not an option, we cannot continue to live in mutual suspicion with humanity... Perhaps establishing peaceful commercial relations with humanity is the way out for now." These words made many elders look up, but some also showed doubt.
Barash frowned as he turned to Balin and expressed his concerns: "But as you said, human technology far surpasses ours. They have advanced workshops and ships. What can we offer them in exchange? We can't let the dwarves suffer a loss for nothing."
Balin had already considered this. "Don't worry, humanity's advantage lies in technology, but their industrial development cannot be separated from a large amount of raw materials. I've seen it in Alda's ironworks; they consume countless ores every day. The Marquis of Glaeman's territory will only have an increasing demand for iron ore, copper ore, and even coal."
He emphasized, "And our Iron Hammer Clan territory happens to contain high-quality mineral deposits! Those high-purity, easily mined ores are exactly what humanity desperately needs. Trading these minerals for their tools, cloth, or even some technology, oh, and fine wine, is entirely feasible."
Barash's eyes lit up. He looked at the elders, and seeing that no one objected, he turned to Balin and asked, "What do you think we should do to take the first step? Send envoys directly to Lakeheart Town to discuss trade?"
Balin nodded: "The sooner we make contact, the better. It will show our sincerity and also help us understand the bottom line of human trade. I've been to Alda and am familiar with the situation there. If you trust me, I'm willing to go there again."
Barash didn't reply immediately. After a moment of thought, he said, "You alone aren't enough. Dain has been to Alda before. If the two of you go together, you can discuss things."