I took fifteen days to ensure that we had everything we needed for the trip before we headed out. After all, in addition to the large crystal and its transport container, we had all the various trade and supply agreements that we had made previously that we'll want to discuss. Sure, there will be a few days grace period for Kao to get settled in, but it's time for us to start working out the actual details on repayment for everything we've already given, and attempt to set up long term trade treaties moving forward. While they may not need weapons at as rapid of a pace as before, they'll probably want to fortify their island more thoroughly moving forward.

This war went on for more than a decade and devastated a large amount of the dwarven continent. If the next invasion occurred on the shorter end of when they occur, and happened to land on the dwarven continent, I doubt we'd be able to bail them out before they would capitulate, meaning they need to dig in and get their defenses up. That means its actually a prime opportunity to get them to assist us in building our port city.

As we've built more and more industrial facilities around our island, I've realized that while mana is plentiful around our large mana crystals, it isn't infinite. Local areas can be overtaxed resulting in low mana areas. That means, ultimately, that there are only so many manufacturing facilities we can put on our islands before we run into issues. So, I'd like to establish specific manufacturing processes in our port city on the mainland, if only to reduce the burden for us on the island. Specifically, I want to use it for certain assembly processes and refining.

There are a handful of manufacturing processes for civilian goods that could mostly be completed there, using dwarven produced metals, with specialty components being shipped in from our islands. For example, we could make all the items necessary for trains, save for the boilers and steam engines themselves, which we could ship in. That would save us large amounts of shipping steel to and from the mainland. We can build out the mechanical components for machine guns there as well if Kao will give some concessions. The bullets and primers will still be made on our island, for obvious reasons.

We'll have quite the narrow window to actually make it to the dwarven capitol in time for the coronation. We'll actually be split into two groups as well. Myself, along with a decent chunk of our military will be arriving in Ostark, and we'll be utilizing one tank to pull a special cart for the crystal. Given our extra travel distance, we're going to have travel for 18 hours a day to make it in time. We've requested 3 additional tanks from Kao as additional protection, and we've built special troop wagons that they'll pull to allow some degree of rest on a rotation schedule as we travel.

The second group will be comprised of most of the dwarves alongside Zaka, and they will be arriving much closer to the capitol, and will only take a few days to make it there. As such, they'll actually have quite a bit of time to spend while there before the actual coronation occurs. Shasta said that there will likely be festivities occurring all over the city at the time, so there will be plenty to see. Given that is the case, I talked an idea over with Zaka, but in essence, we'll request some of our payment in dwarven coin be payed out when we reach there, and we'll distribute it among the dwarves who we've brought so they can enjoy the festivities.

While that coin represents our trade value, it also represents the work the dwarves did on our island. I think by going about it this way, we'll not only build trust among the dwarves who actually worked on our island, but also with Kao and the mainland dwarves. As long as we explain that we intend to give the payment we're asking for back to dwarves to spend in the capitol, I doubt there will be much of a problem. In essence the money just ends up back in circulation, with the only real issue being if they literally don't have the coin to provide.

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The trip to Ostark was thankfully peaceful, and we quickly got everything unloaded after a total of 7 days. In addition to our own personnel, a dwarven group was assigned to be escorts for us, and large flags were attached to the tanks to indicate we were friendly. Despite the war having largely died down, the defensive positions with artillery are still on tight schedules ensuring no new excursions occur, and a bunch of demons travelling over land could obviously make a spotter nervous.

We passed quite a few such defensive positions as we travelled to the capitol over the course of 20 days, which let me get a firsthand look at more of the interior of the dwarven continent. Most of the positions were repurposed forts, where they had constructed a tall stone tower with rangefinders we supplied on top. Usually there were only two or three machine guns visible on top of the walls, but it'd be enough to hold out against even a medium sized attack force.

There was also a lot of evidence of what I assume were demon encampments. There were areas where trees had been uprooted and what I would describe as lean-tos were built but abandoned. The path to the capitol of Korsask was a long one from Ostark, and involved traversing multiple tunnels and valleys to cross through the mountainous center of the continent. While a trip along the coast would be much easier, it'd also have taken an additional six days, and we were already only set to arrive two days before the coronation.

As we got much closer to the capitol, we started to interact with other travelers on their way there as well. Many were shocked and slightly fearful, though the flags, our dwarven escort, and our demeanor seemed to put them at ease. They were mostly dwarves on their way, but we did run into a human envoy as well that had a wagon breakdown earlier in their trip, leading to them being behind schedule. Overall, however, I was quite pleased by how uneventful the trip was.

When we arrived at the capitol, two days before the coronation, it was quite the sight. Shasta had described it in the past, but it's centered in an exceptionally large valley, with tall peaks surrounding it. Eagles would previously have been seen all over the area, but they're gone now. Hopefully, they'll return before too long with the new crystal. Behind the capitol, two large rivers flow downhill and merge before entering a large building that then leads to multiple engineered streams out of it.

I can only assume that the building used to house ParTor. The rivers both stem out of two higher valleys branching out from behind the capitol, and from what I know, smaller valleys branch off them, and are a large reason that this is the seat of power for the dwarven nation, being a natural fortress protecting fertile inland valleys.

The city was absolutely packed with people, and we were escorted to one of three total diplomatic quarters in the city. Apparently, they have entire miniature cities for dedicated diplomats of different races. We, however, were put in the dwarven quarter, which was fine. It'd be odd if they actually had a quarter for demons. Despite the festivities, there is still evidence of the battle that took place not that long ago. Some areas are still under repair, and if it wasn't for the handful of windows that still had intact glass, I would have assumed that they didn't use glass at all.

Rather than wait until the coronation proper to hand over the crystal, I felt the safest course of action would be to deliver it immediately. Regardless of any ill intent or not, there is the possibility that something could happen in a warehouse and the crystal would end up broken. It likely wouldn't go off in the same way as ParTor, as the crystal should be relatively uncharged currently, but it would still be a problem.

In monetary terms, if I were to consider what some dwarves paid for much smaller crystals than this, which had led to a civil war, the price on this crystal would be astronomical. Realistically, I'd probably be able to get about the same rate I did back then. Over a years worth of our entire island's economic production. Now, however, our island's production value is hundreds, if not thousands, of times higher than it was back then. I think it'd be fair to say the price is probably higher than an actual king's ransom.

I was told that I'll get a chance to see Kao for a short time tomorrow. Rather than allow any potential accidents, we're guarding our gift all night, and since I don't need to sleep, I'll be on guard. Everyone's exhausted from the travel, but at the very least we'll be able to deliver the gift tomorrow.

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