The Western Confederacy will adopt red as a colour, if we are choosing colours for diplotext.
Spring. Soon the snows would melt on all but the highest peaks of the Western Mountains and the river would grow fat having gorged itself on meltwater. This was always the signal that it was time for the dwarves and orcs of the Confederacy to venture forth from their burrows into the world once more, but always hesitantly, as the world was always an unfriendly place and generally had little to offer those who dwelt in the mountains. As always the first priority was to ensure surface security, and the council readily agreed to an almost traditional programme of rolling improvements and reinforcements to the valley mouth perimeter defences that led into its territory, with a particular focus on the river snaking through its territory...
Ensure all border forts are in a good state of repair, well supplied, well equipped and well defended - especially river forts
... as the river was the primary means of entering and crossing the Western Mountains. Few were willing to cross the mountains on foot on by pack animal for good reason. The Confederacy was always keen to strictly control what traffic was allowed along the river, and would only allow a barge along it if it was worth their while. In practice, this meant that only barges carrying anything interesting or useful to the confederacy would be allows through, and only once suitable tribute been offered to grease the wheels of commerce . Those unable or unwilling to pay (or maybe not able to offer anything of interest as tribute) would either be turned away, or else find the river in the mountains rather... treacherous. Nobody was ever allowed to pass on foot into Confederation territory without good reason, as by foot nobody could bring anything of interest in enough quantity. From time to time, brave or foolhardy groups had tried to force their way in on foot, but to this date no force had made it more than a few thousand paces into the hills before being repulsed, surrounded and wiped out, or changing their mind and sensibly turning back after deciding it was too much effort. The Confederacy knew it would be safe and secure as long as it could keep a stranglehold on the river.
Standing orders for river forts - police river traffic, turning away anyone unwilling to offer suitable tribute for transit.
Standing orders for border forts - as always, no outsiders are allowed access. Unusual circumstances are to be brought to the immediate attention of the council of representatives.
Now the snows were melting, it was also time to ensure that there was food for another year. Underground farms, fishing and ranching could meet most of the needs of the Western Confederacy, but its citizens at times had the need for more than just cave yak bred on mushrooms washed down with cave wheat whiskey. To this end, small narrow fertile valleys were intensively cultivated using melt-water for irrigation, with hardy mountain livestock grazing on higher slopes. Mountain streams (when dammed, and netted or fish-trapped) and the river could also be a handy source of fish. Any surface wild animals in Confederate territory had long since been hunted into extinction. There was no record in the Confederacy's history as there being too much food, and such aboveground efforts brought a veneer of luxury to what food could be shared amongst the populace.
In addition to underground agricultural practice, (re)start aboveground farming of crops in limited number of fertile valleys as described, herding of mountain goats as described, and small scale fishing as described.
A dwarf (or orc, for that matter) could grow fat on food, but such excess would mean little without wealth to back it up. Wealth in the Confederacy was a "shared" concept, and either everyone had plenty, or everyone went without. This rise and fall depended on the industrial output of the burrows, which in turn depended on the mineral output of the ore seams. The main limiting factor on what could be produced was fuel, as the mountains provided at best scarce numbers of trees for wood. The dwarves and orcs of the confederacy were not great at cultivating the trees that grew aboveground, and space limitations prevented underground tree farming on anything but the smallest scale. One of the most prized discoveries an explorer could make in the Confederacy would be a form of coal - as the old saying went, such an individual would be "worth his weight in coal". It was a trivial matter for the council to agree on enacting a plan for searching out yet more ore seams, while continuing to exploit and process what was already known. At times, during particularly good mining seasons, the Confederacy had even sold excess ore (within the confederacy, describing someone as having "excess ore" was to describe them as rather wasteful...) to those who arrived on barges along the river, seeking to barter for "profit", but the Confederacy always drove a hard deal in this regard - especially if there was wood or fuel on offer. The dwarves and orcs of the confederacy had long since shunned the idea of venturing down from the mountains into the jungle in order to harvest its wood, partly out of tradition, partly out of fear, and partly out of stubborn arrogance. This would never change, and nor did anybody want it to
Send out small parties of experts to all corners of the Confederacy (both surface and underground) in order to seek out now ore seams ready for exploitation. All existing mines furnaces and forges are ordered to maintain production at maximum efficiency, with first priority on ensuring the armed forces have the best equipment at their disposal before meeting as many of the needs of the population as possible.
The council dismissed and dispersed, ready to spread the will of the representatives. Tholin retired to his office, and thoughtfully looked at the various maps of Confederate lands strewn over his large low desk, stroking his beard all the while. "The mountains will provide... the mountains have always provided. Whatever is out there, can stay out there" he grumbled, to nobody in particular.
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