Twenty-third day, Fifth Moon, 267 AC (+1 days)
The creaking of the wheel dominated the clearing.
"As you can see, my lord, work continues at a steady pace, but I do worry that we are always sending less to the Exchange than what is demanded," said Tren, my mining manager.
"Ah, don't worry about that, Tren. People will always want more than they can have," I replied, chuckling.
The water wheel continued to turn, crushing ore and washing away the excess, leaving behind the valuable iron ore. From there, it would move to the outskirts of Ironhome, where bloomeries were set up to smelt the ore, before being brought to Redbridge and the smiths there. Originally, the bloomeries were in Redbridge, but it didn't make sense to transport the ore all the way to Redbridge rather than the final product. It was things like that that showed me how my plans could still go wrong sometimes. Luckily, I was surrounded by smart people, and it was Tren who pointed out this specific issue.
"The latest group of miners has settled in nicely, my lord."
"Excellent! The houses were ready for them?"
"Yes, my lord. We still have a few empty ones left, too."
"Did they mention why they left Silverhold?" I asked.
"Their kids kept getting headaches, my lord."
"Ah, from the height of the mountains. Understandable."
We walked over through the small town and made our way over to one of the bigger mine shafts. Mules walked around a winch and pulled up the ore in minecarts from the shaft that were loaded by men who were cramped deep within the earth. More men waited outside, unloading the carts and hauling them off to the next stage in the process. It was dirty work, and the townspeople were in a constant state of war, fighting off the dirt and grime. It didn't help that with the bloomeries working constantly, there was always smoke in the air.
Not as bad as the photos I had seen of factories in the early 1900s, but it was unpleasant. And I wasn't sure how to fix that.
"This mineshaft is among the most productive," said Tren. He led me a short way away to a more vertical shaft. "This one," he said, pointing, "has a great concentration, but the amount of men we can have working it is much smaller."
"Can't we just have more horizontal mines?"
"Unfortunately, not, my lord. We have to go where the seams lead us. We are having more issues the deeper we go. Risk of flooding and all that – especially in the spring."
"Is there any danger in running out of iron ore?"
Tren shook his head. "A miner can never say for certain, my lord, but there seems to still be plenty here. We are struggling with coal shortages, though, my lord."
I nodded. "Coal and salt are our biggest issues right now. The salt works we have on the coast of high cost and low productivity, but they are all we have. I have some surveyors out in the mountains looking for a possible salt mine, but they haven't found anything. Have your surveyors not found any more coal?"
"No, my lord. We've found old places where coal was mined from, long ago, in the Age of Heroes, maybe, but all the coal is long gone. The few places that we are getting coal from are usually near those old pits, but we'll run out soon enough."
I had been lucky so far, with Evelyn discovering how to find metals. She had found a few smaller silver veins near Silverhold, as well as a few zinc and copper as well in the same area. She had even found a copper mine for the Tallharts – as well as a salt mine, but that was more accident than anything.
That salt mine was able to help, especially with Silverhold and Osend's salt needs, but there was still a huge demand in Redbridge. In Redbridge, we used solar evaporation to get sea salt, but it was a slow process not suited for moving massive quantities of salted products. The Flints had brine springs, but the distance to Redbridge was far, as were the Stark's famous salt mines.
"Where do you plan to search next?" I asked.
"Southwest of Bear Pass, my lord. There seems to have been less people in that area than here, long ago, so I hope that there will still be coal deposits. But I doubt that we will ever match the coal deposits of the east coast."
"Oh? Is there plenty over there?"
"It seems when the gods placed coal everywhere, they put it all over on the other side of the mountains. The Boltons have some of the most, but the Karstarks are known for it, too."
"Hmm. Interesting." I rubbed my chin in thought. I wish I knew more about geology. "Well, put some more men to work on finding coal. Charcoal is a lot of work and not as efficient, so I want us to use more coal."
"Coal, my lord? I thought we needed iron ore the most?"
"We do, but the Ironborn have begun to trade more iron and steel and have been bringing it here, which helps somewhat. Truthfully, we need more iron and coal."
"I understand, my lord. I will send some more men."
"Excellent!" I said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Come, let's meet the newest family."
Tren led me over to the homes of the village. The houses here were single-floor homes, with large cellars beneath them. Each had an enclosed backyard to allow for each family to keep some animals if they wanted, as animals weren't allowed to roam freely in the village – just like in Redbridge. With 370 people, Ironhome was the third largest town in Iowa, following Redbridge and Northshore.
The house the latest additions lived in was bright green and had been recently cleaned. Two young children were playing at the front door, both of whom ran inside as we approached. A moment later, two adults came out and bowed. "Milord," they both said.
"How is your family settling in?" I asked.
"Well, milord," mumbled the man.
"Are your children feeling better?"
The man nodded nervously. I stifled a sigh – it was always difficult to talk to someone from a different region. Their expectations of Lords made it a chore to get anything out of them.
"Whereabouts are you from?"
"The Lonely Hills on Lord Bolton's land," the man replied.
"And what did you mine there?"
"Iron, milord. The village I am from always mined iron."
"Then you will be quite at home here! What made you consider the journey?"
The man shrugged. "I dunno, milord. Just something everyone always talks about. They have for a long time."
I nodded. "I have had people coming from that area for many years now, so I'm not surprised. Still, it's a long journey."
"Aye, but we heard it was better out here. There's always someone in the tavern talking about it. Either someone wishing they could go, or some traveling merchant that know about the Stoney Shore."
"Traveling merchants?"
"Oh, whenever one of 'em would pass through and stay the night in the village, they would always tell stories in exchange for some beer. The last few years, you milord and your land were always popular." He shrugged again. "Wanted something better for my children."
I smiled easily. "I can understand that!"
With that, I said my goodbyes, not wanting to impose on the uncomfortable family.
I finished my tour of the rest of the village before letting Tren get back to work.
Every step brought new challenges, but my people and I were up for the task.