The Talas River rushed southwest, flowing past Atoyac Lake, where the reflections of long sails lingered, until it reached the estuary of the Western Sea. Billowing black smoke rose ceaselessly day and night from the workshops of the Black Rock Mountain iron ore district. The newly constructed smelting blast furnaces, like giant whales, devoured iron ore and charcoal, then spewed out streams of scorching, dark red molten iron!
"Chief Divine's blessing! Open the furnace!..."
To keep these furnaces running continuously, over a thousand able-bodied men, part of the mining district, worked tirelessly thirty miles from the iron ore site, chopping wood and burning charcoal, nearly stripping a whole mountain bare. Every few months, high-quality coal from Reagan Town on the Northern Continent would be transported by merchant ships in tons.
