Ok, hope I am not derailing anything or being stupid here, but this one for once I would like to know more about, because the more I think it over the less it feels like it should work that way.
Are Dwarven mines really so much more efficient and cheaper that they are preferable even with the relatively astronomical transport costs of moving so much metal at the time? Including the huge caravans and not only the Dwarven tariffs but also the tariffs of multiple noblemen in between if you live further in the Empire? (From what I understand, you do not have to pay the elector counts, but the guys they tax, so the more fiefs you pass though the more you have to pay). I can maybe see it for Elector Countships that border the Karaz Ankor, but it feels like costs would ramp up fast without modern technology and economic freedom of movement agreements (where you only need to pay countries you pass though, and even then only sometimes, and use mostly ships that can not only carry more with less manpower and livestockpower but also skip many inbetween countries) , and the mining cost decrease at some point becomes, pardon the pun, dwarfed.
