Stride mining was a mining technique used by a variety of humanoid and other races. It had much higher yields than standard hard mining.

Technicalities

The world featured many locations in which there were large networks of tunnels and caves beneath the earth. The most characteristic such area was the Caverealm under Oshmondu and the tunnel networks close to the surface above it. These corridors and open areas were often natural creations of the stone breaking around a certain area, meaning that the minerals contained within - metal ores, gems - were easily accessible.

Stride mining fully exploited this fact. A miner using this technique would just travel along unexploited corridors, digging out any interesting deposits they came across. This method was far more effective than hard mining because miners didn't have to dig any stone to get to the deposits.

The limitations of this method were mainly that it could only supply a limited amount of deposits before they were all mined away. This problem appeared mainly for surface settlements which could only go a few kilometers deep into the sparsely distributed tunnels. Caverealm settlements had vastly more area to explore, but for them, too, the resources were eventually exhausted. For this reason, Caverealm stride miners could march huge distances to work. The main way this was dealt with however consisted of exploiting all tunnels within reasonable range before switching over to traditional mining, using the tunnel network as a base from which to dig mining nets.

Additionally, this method was very dangerous. While the normal dangers of cave-ins, lack of air, suspended dust particles, and gas explosions all existed, the main thing were the dangers to travelers in the Caverealm. There were many predators, deadly oozes, and a variety of poisonous fungi that could threaten a miner's life.

Method

A stride mining group at its most basic unit consisted of about five miners equipped with excavation tools, self-defence weapons. a source of light (if necessary), rations and water, and a pack animal, often rothé or bithe. The miners marched along mapped but unexploited tunnels, stopping at any valuable ores, removing them from the walls, and packing them on the animals. Exactly what was removed where, and which smaller veins were left, had to be minutely recorded so that the miners could keep an overview over resource stocks in the precious accessible tunnels and fall back to them later in case of need.

While they mined, these groups also used the occasion to collect any other useful things they came across, mainly rarer wild fungi. The pack animal, which always remained close by, also served as an early warning method in case of danger.

Although it did happen that miners worked alone, they were often part of a larger group called company. A company moved together through a single tunnel, or through parallel ones within easy reach of each other. This centralized the tasks of planning and mapping the work, and made the decisions as to which veins to excavate and which to leave behind better. Larger groups could also work longer, with teams switching out the pack animals for supplies and removing produce. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, companies could find strength in numbers, making the Caverealm's danger so much smaller. Some companies even had a couple full-time soldiers along with them which took up perimeter guards.

Usage

The stride mining technique was most famous for most "lighter" Caverealm races, notably the deep gnomes and drow. They usually dispatched small groups of miners, accompanied by pack rothe, to gather both veins and other wild resources.

Dwarves weren't advocates of stride mining and much preferred to dig their own mines directly beneath their enclaves. They did need some resources such as wild fungi from outside, however, and couldn't let slip the cheap and easy way to gather much ore. Thus, enclaves regularly mounted stride companies, often no less than 100 men, to scour carefully planned and mapped areas, bringing back all the larger veins. These companies' guard units were known for being unforgiving and shooting first, taking absolutely no risks for the sake of preserving the miners' safety.

Historical Appearances

A famous example of humankind using stride mining techniques was Ochebana's Shortstone Mine, around 550 b. OW. Facing a shortage of metals, the empire dispatched some 150 people into the near Rathgaunt mountains, where they set up a base in a larger cliffside cave. Large groups of miners, often about 20 per team, excavated essentially all usable ores from the surrounding Caverealm tunnels, strapping them on mountain rothé and other surface animals not adapted to the mines. This work was deadly and resulted in many accidents, but it did grant yields much higher than hard mining would have, considerably boosting the empire's rise.¹