Thermal Corite | Véwíuf Zalgaer

To the average person living in Talnor, the people of the extensive mountain city of Terror’s Landing seem alien and strange. They dress unlike anyone has ever seen, they appeared out of nowhere 150 years before the present day, and they wield weapons so strange that they also refuse to share with the outside world, jealously guarding the reality of them with some sort of shared, but silent, agreement.
But one of their greatest discoveries is something that they readily share with their neighbours. They call it Thermal Corite, while everyone else calls it by its Talnorine name—Véwíuf Zalgaer (vay-wee-oof zahl-gayr), the ‘heating core-stone’.
Thermal Corite is a translucent orange-red crystalline ore that radiates heat in the form of energy that is not harmful to biological life. It emits enough light that they are used in place of lamps and the candles or oil in street lamps. It is used primarily in its uncut state, as jewel-smiths find it too warm to hold for long enough to carve anything out of it.
Terror’s Landing actively trades Thermal Corite with their neighbours, the Taenorhar in exchange for information of the tundra, goods like leathers and furs and crafted items. Through this trading they have cultivated a healthy relationship between their cities.
Yet, the presence of Thermal Corite hasn’t spread farther than Mîllagéc and Terror’s Landing. In truth, it is not really needed to keep the settlements south of these two warm due to the lower latitudes and warmer average temperatures.
It is simply not needed at lower latitudes and thus it is never asked for in trading deals.
Thermal Corite was discovered a month or so after Terror’s Landing was settled. The city was settled during summer, but they knew, by how cool it became at night, that winters would be brutal, and since they were so disoriented and weak from the experiences they had just been through, they knew that they wouldn’t be able to migrate to warmer climes before winter set in.
So, they decide to find a home in the caves they found in the mountains where they would go on to build Terror’s Landing. They quickly set to work carefully widening the caves in order to better accommodate all the survivors.
While the cavern that would become the sleeping area was being widened by those who still had the strength to do so, they suddenly began to notice that the air was growing warm—warmer than the air of a cave should have been, even in the depths of winter (with how the air in caves is either several degrees cooler or warmer than the air outdoors depending on the season). Taking this as a good sign for the coming winter, they continued to dig, ignoring how the growing warmth made them sweat.
Eventually, they broke into a small cavity and discovered the source of the heat. The Thermal Corite presented itself to them in the form of a massive, house-sized geode. It was almost as if they had come face-to-face with the blazing surface of the sun and they found the heat almost unbearable.
They soon brainstormed the uses for the Thermal Corite and soon the cave conversion was abandoned. They began to use the stone they had removed to start building homes and streets. They waited for the coolness of fall before they began to mine the Thermal Corite. The warmth-producing ore was placed in homes and on the tops of lamp posts. Soon, there was enough Thermal Corite spaced about the budding city that the temperature zone was raised from merciless arctic to a more temperate boreal zone.
Snow that fell on Terror’s Landing would melt into rain at roof-level and the only time it actually snowed was when the surrounding area fell to temperatures of -40 degrees C/F or lower.
In the spring and summer, around April to May, the Thermal Corite is removed from the city and taken out to the fields where they are buried and placed around the fields in order to warm the soil and air enough so crops can be planted. Where perennial plants are planted, like berry bushes and grape vines, Thermal Corite is left overwinter.
Thermal Corite can also be ground up and used as a source of fuel, like coal that heats water into steam (though Thermal Corite is never lit as that would cause it to emit a toxic gas), but this is only used to heat the city’s water and keep it warm in the cold. This water is used for bathes and washing clothes.

Type

Ore/Mineral

Rarity

It has so far been only found in the rock beneath Terror's Landing.

Odor

Odorless

Color

Translucent orange-red

Common State

Large translucent orange-red crystals.