Heart of the Mountain

Too few children of Kazan remember the sound of the mountain's heartbeat. Fewer still know its power.

The ancient power that radiated from the deepest cores of the Dwarven kingdoms has dwindled to nothing but faint myths and dying embers. But once, every dwarven mountain had a heart and their cities were powered by the immense energy of every pulsing heartbeat.

Ancient Power

The legends will say how the Copper King found the heart of his kingdom, how it provided so much power that it killed the unwary. To harness this power, the Copper King created machines to refine and direct the energy of the heart. Many dwarves sacrificed their lives to achieve this, but the benefits of the Hearts were unmatched.
The Before Fall cities of the dwarves had everything from lights and trains, to forges and weapons all powered by the heart of the mountain. Heart Tenders would maintain the machines that harnessed this energy. And the ever-present heartbeat protected the cities from creatures and vermin that abhorred the sound.

Dying Hearts

After the Fall, many of the dwarven cities were damaged or completely destroyed. And their hearts were destroyed with them. What few remained slowly degraded as the knowledge to tend the hearts was also lost. Some few hearts still beat, but the dwarves struggle to learn how to maintain and save them. The potency of the hearts is still strong enough to kill those who don't know how to properly maintain them. So the hearts have been sealed off with the desperate hope that they will continue to beat until the dwarves can find a way to save them.
The effects of the heart's energy on living creatures is intense. It can cause minor issues such as mild nausea or irritation, but as exposure builds, it can cause loss of hair and teeth, internal bleeding, and death. So the dwarves have resorted to sealing the hearts in thick caskets of lead.

Type

Ore