In the time where I was getting ammonia production set up, the tunnel was fully outfitted with it''s sewer and bathroom stops, and one of the teams began digging the new tunnel I''d designated for them. As I''d previously discussed, they continued using the level and other tunneling tools, but they dug upward and out from the central area, perpendicular to the existing tunnels. Ultimately, they transported stone down to the central area out of their tunnel, and Zeb hired on other demons to haul the stone from the central area out to our city.
They''ve been making quite good progress with two 2-foot crystals and a handful of crystal trays at their disposal, but only one team using them, they''re able to work at a faster pace than I expected. Some of that can also be put on Zeb having the opportunity to send different construction teams to grind for levels every so often, meaning they generally have more workers with improved stone shaping and larger mana pools on any given construction team.
They''re still only about half of a mile from the central area, but I''d figured they''d be about half that distance in this time, so it was a pleasant surprise. So, I took a few days to use tectonic sense to see if there was anything of note, and unfortunately the answer was no. They hadn''t made it to layer change in rock yet, so I''m not really surprised that we didn''t find anything.
Following that, I went back to the research lab to do some designing for fertilizer sprayers that the other demons can use to spray ammonia on the fields as a fertilizing agent. While a simple watering can could work, I figured that we could make the process a little easier for the goblins by using spray nozzles and backpacks. I''d like for the ammonia to get spread onto the fields when the spring rains start.
<hr>
I took a month getting the spray systems designed as well as the molds for the various parts that were necessary for them, so we should have a few systems ready before the new year, which is ten days away. I''ve started to notice an appreciable problem with my own memory lately related to information from earth. I shouldn''t be that surprised given I''ve lived here over three decades, but a lot of the detailed information that I would have previously known is mostly just approximate knowledge now.
For example, I can recall the three major strong acids, nitric, sulfuric, and hydrochloric, but I can''t for the life of me recall any precise numbers for things like enthalpy of formation of various compounds. Rediscovering those sorts of lists of data would take multiple lifetimes, which unfortunately means proper chemical engineering is basically out the window. Any project I work on will either need to be reactions that I do remember working, or I''ll have to tinker with them for some time to find a working model.
I''ve sort of started to alleviate some of that work for myself, but I really do need to step it up a few notches. I have a few goblins collecting and monitoring celestial bodies with the telescope and collecting atmospheric readings, others collecting information on the population''s prestige traits, and Tiberius is doing some amount of military research. I had previously intended the lab area to be dedicated to research, but it really has ended up as a military-industrial park where we do strategic value research.
Technically speaking, all research is strategically valuable, even the study of celestial bodies, since it could give us insight into upcoming solar phenomenon. However, if we try to monopolize all information, not only does that drive a wedge between us and other countries, it also makes them less likely to share with us. Unlike some people, I''m not opposed to the concept of brain drain either. If we actually formed a true research university that attracted talented individuals from other countries, it provides us some amount of protection, as long as their research is publicly available.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
Obviously, right now it''s practically impossible to reach our island from the mainland safely, but in the coming years that will change with the completion of the extra large mana crystal. There are many examples of things that I''d like to have data researched and tabulated for me that could also potentially attract the best and brightest from other nations.
We''re two relatively simple processes away from having access to hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide, and nitric acid. Add on our ability to already produce small amounts of sulfuric acid, and ammonia, and we''ve got the workings for a lot of data collection and testing related to minerals and chemistry. Being on a volcanic island is mostly downsides resource wise, meaning we need to take advantage of what we do have access to effectively.
Thankfully, what we do have access to a lot of is sea water, atmosphere, and to a lesser extent mana. Those are really all we need to produce hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide, and nitric acid. I can easily make some more stirred mills to be used in a lab space, and essentially just let loose some researchers mixing away at various powdered rock samples to see what they can produce. While the majority of the rock on our island is basaltic, there are obvious flows that occurred at different times which had other compositions. If I live to the point where true tectonic research can be done, I''m very interested in what sort of tectonic process formed this island chain to allow these different kinds of rock flows.
Beyond mineral research, just straight chemical research can be useful, and having strong acids and a strong base can help with that. For example, I do recall that some amount of modern gunpowder is made by using nitric acid and sulfuric acid on cellulose to make an explosive, and that is further treated to make it more stable. From that as a starting point, it''d probably be possible in a few years time with a skilled team to produce a facsimile of modern gunpowder.
Physics data could be properly collected and tabulated, meteorological research could be done, mathematics developments, zoological studies, all sorts of areas of research could be done but I just don''t have the time to do it. What I can do, however, is give valuable insight that can encourage rapid breakthroughs, while leaving the individual research to others. At this stage, that''s probably one of the best things I could do. Finding a proper location for such a grand multi-discipline research facility will be it''s own challenge, though perhaps the port city could also support it.
Though, there are two far more pressing matters that actually need to be taken care of in the next couple of years. First, we need a much larger bathhouse area for housing our new crystal when it''s finished. The old bathhouse''s crystal housing is actually too small to even handle the gargantuan beast we''re growing, and with a much larger population, having a large bathworks to utilize it even more effectively seems like a good idea.
The second problem is something that I''ll want to ask both Karsh and Shasta about. In all likelihood, when we install such a large crystal, we''re going to get eagles back on the island. My concern is that we''ll attract a lot of eagles, and it could be very bad if we attract a lot all at once. Our previous crystals on the island were 8-foot crystals, and we attracted an eagle or two a year for some time until things stabilized with a single eagle, which eventually left in search of a mate. Once our crystals were gone, so were visits from eagles.
Besides the coastal region on the dwarven continent, many eagles settled around the dwarven capitol where Par-Tor sits. From descriptions given, Par-Tor seems to be around 14 feet in size. If our crystal is bigger, I''m worried that we might attract a large group of eagles to our small territory, and they''ll fight, and what sort of message that might send back to the dwarves if suddenly a large amount of their eagles leave, and a few come back after a month or two heavily wounded.
Basically, I need to know how territorial the eagles really are, and get an estimate of their population size. Dependent on the information I gather, we may need to do some prep work for handling the eagles as well. Despite our initial interactions with them, I''d prefer that we didn''t have to kill more of them.