"It is common knowledge that anyone in search of unblemished landscapes should head for a dwarven nation, for their preference to build their cities underground meant that the landscape above ground sees far fewer alterations compared to other nations." - Garth Wainwrought, Professor of socioeconomics in the Levain Institute of Higher Learning.

As Cal looked back at her journeys so far, she realized how Knallzog was the most barren land she had ever tread so far. While the lands were somewhat more fertile near the borders and the ocean, the center portions of Knallzog territories could rightfully be called a wasteland. It was not quite a desert, with the soil still anchored by the hardy shrubbery and grasses that managed to survive even in the barren conditions, but it wasn't far off either.

With a general lack of large trees, other than some hardy specimens that looked more like overgrown shrubs than proper trees, there was not much cover to be had from the heat of the sun, nor anywhere near enough vegetation to support larger plant-eaters.

The vast majority of life she saw in the barrens were multitudes of insects, as well as small rodents that preyed on those insects, who were in turn preyed upon by predatory birds which probably made their perch atop the higher trees in the barrens. The heat of the day stifled her, since she was used to life in a notably colder climate, whereas the nights, which locals claim could freeze them to the bone, were actually comfortable for her.

Where above the ground laid only barren wastelands however, beneath the ground lived thousands of people in three large underground settlements. One major benefit of underground settlements was how it retained temperature well, and as the dwarves liked to boast, it was comfortably cool in summers, while also pleasantly warm in winters.

Cal basically leapfrogged her way from one settlement to another as she spent a good couple of months in the barrens. Past the barrens was the Ángrbödsēe, the largest inland sea in Knallzog, a sharp contrast to the barren lands behind her with how it just teemed with life.

Ángrbödsēe itself had salty water, but its salt content was far lower than the ocean, which allowed the people who chose to live by its shores to use it as a source of water. They desalinated the water with a simple method. The sea water was first boiled, and the steam that resulted was collected and funneled to a cooled container, where the water recondensed into a liquid, minus its salt content.

The salt content of the waters was also low enough that it was not uncommon for the inhabitants of the shores to have soup made with it instead of freshwater, in order to save time and salt for the soup. Cal sampled some local seafood soup made in that exact manner, and if anything, she thought the soup tasted better than most she had tasted before.

After a couple of months with the climate so warm and humid she felt stifled, Cal naturally did not miss the opportunity and cooled herself with a dip into the sea. It helped that the villagers who lived by the shore were not scandalized in the least when the foreign visitor went for a dip with only strips of cloth wrapped around her chest and another strip that served as a loincloth, secured by a twine. That same outfit got her some scandalized looks when she swam in the lake south of Paradise, and she had thought she was already dressed modestly enough, for back in the empire most everyone just swam naked.

Aideen laughed her ass off at that incident, and said she'd consider an imperial style bathhouse in the future, to be built after relations with the empire had been established properly.

The underwater scenery of the inland sea was quite a sight to be had, with colorful growths of corals that lent the seabed a lively impression. Shoals of fish swam merrily here and there, and from what Cal saw, not many large predators inhabit the inland sea - most had likely been hunted down, and the population of the fish they preyed on kept in check by fishermen instead -, where the largest she spotted was a shark that barely measured three meters in length.

Most of the sharks seemed to fear the fishermen, and stayed away when they noticed human activity. Yet some seemed quite curious and less fearful of human presence. Cal herself had at least a couple sharks that tried to nibble at her, only to be sent away after a forceful punch that sent many of their teeth scattered into the waters.

From what the locals told her, there was even a small merfolk settlement at the deepest area of the seabed. Cal refrained from a visit there, however, as while she could likely have held her breath long enough for a trip there and back, there would be little to do that deep under the sea, unless she brought a water affinity mage along with her.

Cal stayed by the inland sea for another month, and enjoyed the hospitality offered, and made doubly sure she ate more than her share of the plentiful seafood offered. She had missed the flavor of good seafood since she departed from Ur-Ank earlier this year, which was somewhat bothersome, for she, much like anyone else who grew up in the empire, was used to seafood as their common meals.

She also enjoyed the local festival, held when summer turned into autumn, where the local men and women of the villages gathered together and celebrated. One of the events they held was where many men and women who earned their living as pearl divers raced one another on the backs of the bottle-nosed dolphins they had partnered with. A partnership where the dolphins accompanied and escorted the divers, and drove away sharks for them, in exchange for fish from the grateful divers.

Cal departed from Ángrbödsēe a month into autumn. She had even swam across the sea from one shore to another just because she felt like it while she was there, and was quite fond of the place. The next steps of her journey would lead her eastwards, towards the foot of the Baelorn mountain range, where the royal capital of Knallzog, Knallgant, stood.

Her plan at the moment was to spend the autumn and part of the winter that followed in Knallgant. She planned to head back to Paradise a month before spring, so she would be there when the Al-Shan delegation arrived by teleportation gate. Some old friends would likely be part of them.