The Crucible
The Crucible is the pride of Rannock Reivasa, and the pride of The Reivan Clans as a whole, even to those Reivans who have never laid eyes upon it. This impressive and advanced facility is a massive steelworks built deep into the mountainside beneath Reivasa, the Great Mother. The most important economic product of the the Reivan Wastes is the peerless steel produced in the great Crucible of Rannock Reivasa.
Purpose / Function
The Crucible is the largest and most advanced facility in Arenia for the smelting of ores and production of steel and other alloys. It is here that, most importantly among the many feats of metallurgy achieved by harnessing the power of the Great Mother's lava, the Reivans produce their mighty steel. The full details of the process to produce the unique Reivan alloy is a closely-guarded secret of the Elders, but it is known to require the magical ash of the Wastes as a flux, and the incredible heat of Reivasa’s lava.
The Crucible’s steel output feeds the many forges of Rannock Reivasa, and surplus steel is sent to other reivas to supply their smiths and builders. Steel is also produced and smithed in much smaller quantities in many reivas, but the finest steel comes from the Crucible, and most iron is sent here.
In addition to producing steel, the Crucible also handles the smelting of iron, copper, and any other ores mined in the Reivan Wastes. The mountain dwarves in the Mother's Shield also ship some ore to be processed in the Crucible.
Architecture
The Crucible is an expansive complex consisting of a series of corridors, towering caverns, and massive chambers carved deep beneath the Great Mother. This network of stonework construction interacts and coexists with flowing rivers of lava, carefully diverted into channels directed into chambers where it powers immense furnaces and crucibles. These work facilities are built in carefully chosen sites, where natural fissures connecting to cave systems allow toxic gases and fumes to vent to the surface.
