The Heart of Thairono

The Heart of Thairono, also known as Artifact Tha-2-1-4, is an artifact from before the founding of Aruël and up until recently was stored in the Archives beneath the Great Library of Frenia. While much of the function and history still remains unknown, this article compiles the filled in pieces and fragments still available to posterity.
The artifact is of black colour and strangely shapeless, while still conveying a geometric origin. The texture is soft, almost akin to flesh, and it is rodlike in structure, with the long sides almost seeming regular, but without any hard corners and edges. The height of the object is about 25 cm, while the other two dimensions are about 10 each. If extended out to sharp edges, the crosssection of the item would most likely be hexagonal.

Borne of the Distant Past

Despite this nondescript appearance, the location where Tha-2-1-4 was discovered in addition to its strange properties, it is obvious that the artifact is of dwarven make, which in turn poses a conundrum: When it was discovered by Aruëlian explorers and brought to Frenia, the dwarves had not yet been reborn to the surface of the world and reclaimed Thairono as their own Thairon. This in turn means, that the artifact must be from the second dwarven generation instead, a civilisation that died out over 20 millennia ago.
For a frame of reference, Human activity can at best be tracked back in time and the memory of the elves of Vasylana to slightly less than five thousand years ago, which means that this artifact is by far older than anything human on the old continent. This in turn, like anything left over from before the collapse has captured the curiosity of Norian scholars since the reignition of civilisation across the continent.
What has this item seen since it was last picked up by a sapient being? How did it end up here? More generally, What was life like during the days before the dwarven extinction? Did they have the same dreams and ambitions? How did they gain the knowledge to make things that lasted much longer than their own culture?
All of this and more are questions artifact Tha-2-1-4 could answer and since the few elves who live to remember the this past don't often share things about this past, studying things like Tha-2-1-4 is the one and only way Aruëlian scholars could potentially understand the true history of their home.

Discovery in the Ruins of Time

During the Aruëlian expansions eventually people started claiming the ruins of the now long thought extinct dwarves of Noria. In a painstaking process, daredevils of much renown delved deeper and deeper in the ruins, systematically clearing traps and hazards so common folk could move in, while also less systematically stripping the ruins of anything that looked remotely valuable.
During one of the final delves, the adventurers of Thairon came upon a room that looked important. The dwarven script still remained a mystery to them at the time, so they could not know what it was they had found, but the way the room was set up seemed like it was designed to hold many mystical artifacts. Indeed, much later in time when they could translate it, they discovered the sign above the entrance read "Power", but not much more was translatable.
Inside they found the artifact itself and dubbed it "The Heart of Thairono". It was sold to a local collector under the story that it was the magical curiosity that had kept the many mechanisms in the city running. This collector then took it home before donating it to the great library of Frenia near the end of his life. The Sages there gladly took it in, but more years would pass before they would actually look into it.

Investigations

When it was brought to Frenia, the Heart of Thairono laid resting in a stuffy archive for many years. During the early expansions into the ruins of Dwarfkind, new artifacts were plentiful and as such the more readily interesting artifacts were investigated first. However, when the wise of humankind finally tried to coax some truths out of the artifact, they found that the Heart guards its secrets jealously.
Any normal physical investigations of the material quickly revealed that the surface of the Heart could not be pierced by any method the scholars could conceive of, no matter how hard they dared strike, cut or tear at the surface without threatening damage to the inside, the "skin" of the item withstood it all. Pinching and squeezing into the malleable texture beneath only gave some unhelpful information, beneath the upper, soft layer of the artifact, there seems to exist a second, hard layer (or hard core), which can be roughly estimated to be about half the total volume.
Additionally, the artifact seems to be heavier on one side, though the reason for this is not fully known. More vexingly though, even magical investigations reveal nothing about the artifacts insides. Divinatory magic shows the item as completely white, indicating that either the item is completely made out of magical energy (unlikely), or that no form of magic may enter it (far more likely).

The Third Dwarven Generation

With the reemergence of the Dwarves from the depths below in their new clay forms, a new era in Tha-2-1-4's life began. The dwarves, starting from Thurkand, began reclaiming the halls of their forebears and eventually evicted the Norians from Thairono, reinstating the dwarven halls of Thairon in the process. Upon discovering that the Aruëlian researchers had moved many pieces from the halls of Thairon to their archives, efforts began at reclaiming the relics for their own use.
Over the last century through rigorous diplomatic work and political effort many of the once scavenged dwarven relics from the Halls of Thairon have now returned to the dwarves. However, the Heart of Thairon, still remains in the hands of the scholars in Frenia. Despite the lack of information gained from it, or perhaps exactly because of this, the wise of Aruël still refuse to relinquish their hold of this specific artifact.
However, because of the increasing pressure by dwarven parties, a compromise has been reached, with which both parties can live:

The Agreement of Frenia and Thairon

Artifact Tha-2-1-4 is to remain in the care of the Great Library of Frenia, where it can be preserved for posterity. With respect to the cultural importance for the dwarves of Thairon, unlimited access is granted to the scholars of Thairon to study this artifact within the safety of the Library

Tensions and Potential Future

Did I say a compromise was reached? Was is the key word here, because just this year, diplomatic relations threaten to worsen once more. Without warning, the Library of Frenia withdrew the promised access to the Heart, without justification. This in turn angered the already cantankerous dwarves of Thairon in turn placed trade sanctions on Frenia.
Will this be the final straw and will the good relations between humans and dwarves break down? Only time will tell.
The Tennet Herald writes the following about the current state:

Breaking news! Relationship between the Kingdom of Aruël and the Free Dwarven City of Thairon worsens.

As the dwarven ambassador Golhend Swiftspear in Tennet revealed today, the Free Dwarven City of Thairon is withdrawing their support for the pan-Norian council under the leadership of King Felipe IV, and is also placing further sanctions on trade between Thairon and the city of Frenia.
Thairon, which formerly was called Thairono and part of the Aruëlian realm, was claimed by the dwarves about a hundred years ago. Although the crown now recognises the sovereignity of the now primarily dwarven settlement, relations with between the two powers have always remained tense, with some calling Thairon the hardliner of the Free Dwarven Cities. The ambassador explained to the press that Thairon made the decision after the great library of Frenia stopped allowing dwarven researchers access to the Heart of Thairono, a dwarven relic from before the dwarven rebirth.
Frenian researchers came into possession of the relic centuries ago, when humans first settled in Thairono and, after the dwarven return to the surface, refused to relinquish control of the artifact. Ambassador Swiftspear went on record before the press that he could not understand the new Frenian decision to no longer allow dwarves access to the relic, especially considering that relations between Thairon and Frenia had recently begun to improve their relationship and discussions of formal trade treaties had been making the rounds.
At the time of printing close, we had not received a statement from the crown, which is expected to arrive in the morning hours today.