Ezdhûlian Worldforge
The roaring central hearts of the mountain citadels, where the greatest craftsmen in the world dream of going
Purpose / Function
To the Ezdhûlian people who created them, the Worldforges' purpose is nothing short of defining much of the key aspects of their culture as a whole - their purposes are many, but chief among them is to act as the single and only source in all of Zheng-Kitar where the sacred Skymetal known as Adamantine may be smelted, to act as the literal flaming heart of each of the Ezdhûl mountain citadels to power them, provide heat, and to serve as the focii for all crafting escapades in a given citadel.
In addition, they also serve what is arguably their most important purpose - providing a consistent measurement of time for the Ezdhûl people to measure the passing of time by, as they so often dwell beneath the earth where sunlight cannot reach. To the Ezdhûl, the thirty-six hour increments of time that correspond to the surging and dimming of these Great Forges are the standard by which they measure the passing of time and keep track of the passing of hours, days, and years - furthermore, these thirty-six hour periods are broadly divided into three twelve hour "Shifts" worked by the Ezdhûl people: The First Shift(Seen as the hardest to work, as it is when the forges are at their hottest), The Second Shift, and the Third Shift(Seen as the easiest to work, as they are when the forges are at their dimmest).
It is here, in the bowels of the great Worldforges, where all of the greatest and most important of all crafting projects for a given Citadel are given form and created, where the citadel at large is provided heat by the roaring magma-fueled flames of the Worldforge at its heart, where the citadel as a whole recieves much of its power from(Whether from Geothermal, Steam, or other forms of power), and where countless Ezdhûlian smiths, crafters, workers, and more toil around the clock to keep the beating heart of the Citadel alive and well - for to let a Worldforge extinguish is said to be a calamity of the highest order due to the extreme difficulty involved in 're-lighting' a Worldforge(Typically a process done only once a year on the Summer Solstice), such that a Citadel will often do and sacrifice anything to keep their central Worldforge operational.
Alterations
Altogether, the designs for the Ezdhûlian Worldforges are an unfathomably ancient design that has changed little since they were first pioneered by the earliest Ezdhûlian ancestors untold thousands of years ago, since even before the Advent of the Spirit Kings - the designs wrought to allow the ancient Ezdhûl people to smelt the ancient Skymetal Adamantine have remained solid and efficient after thousands of years of operation as testament to the engineering perfection of the Ezdhûlian people.
However, that is not to say they have not changed at all - over the Millennia since their original creation, the designs of the Worldforges have undergone some changing, though the changes have mostly been quality of life or safety changes in nature. These changes have largely taken the form of things such as(but not limited to) installing blast shields around the central Worldforge furnaces to protect against the fierce Ultraviolet Rays that radiate out during their operation(long term exposure to which can induce a darkening and leather-ing of the skin as well as more serious and life-threatening diseases such as skin cancer), more efficient heat shielding on the magma tubes that funnel the molten magma within the mountain's interior and deep down into the Worldforge furnaces at its heart, and more effective cooling systems involving Uttercold, Ice, Water and more to prevent cataclysmic meltdowns and runaway reactions that would, if not stopped, produce so much rampant energy that many Ezdhûlian Forgemasters theorize that the resultant reaction would likely collapse the entire mountain the Worldforge was located in.
Such inventions and upgrades and additions to the Worldforges have been pioneered by the brave and ingenious master craftsmen of the Ezdhûlian Citadels over their centuries of operation - though each Citadels tend to 'specialize' their Worldforges for certain goals, objects, and the like such as specialized Golem Forges, Armor Smelters, Ore Smelters, and such that match the needs of the Citadel they power.
Architecture
The Architecture of the Ezdhulian Worldforges are things of unbelievably colossal beauty and magnificence, as only things created by the Ezdhûl and Dwarven people can be - truly titanic things of size and scale built within the hearts of the mountains in which the Ezdhûl Citadels are built.
The Worldforges are truly titanic things built at the deepest and most central point of the mountains in which the Ezdhûl mountain citadels are built, where all the mine carts and ore conveyors, as well as where the magma and cooling pipes and channels lead to, funneling the magma and icy water in massive flows that pour from massive stone statues of Ezdhûl heroes of ages past into the central forges and blast furnaces dozens of times bigger than the creatures that man them, where anvil and workshop awaits the master craftsmen of the citadel's attentions and the walls tell the tales of the untold centuries of the forge's honorable and glorious past.
Built in massive stone opulance and gilded with all the precious metals that the oft-rich Ezdhûl people can acquire, the Worldforges are breathtaking in a way few things can be - showcasing lines of Adamantine gilding and reinforcement, golden statues and trim on the walls, statues, and cieling, and beautiful tapestries hung hundreds of feet in the air with the clan-banners of the Ezdhûl Citadels and their people. And in the center of it all lies the central anvil of the Worldforge - the mightiest and most durable forge made out of solid Adamantine upon which the High Forgemaster, master of the entire Worldforge, sits and commands his domain.
History
The history of the Worldforges is a simple one - through designs pioneered by Ezdhûl ancestors thousands upon thousands of years ago by creators who have since been lost to time, the Worldforges were based off the initial, breathtaking prototype installed in the ancient Ezdhûl citadel Vulgrunthiad, first and ancestral homeland of the Dwarf and Ezdhûl people that has since collapsed and been lost to time - and ever since, have been refined and perfected in the construction of the subsequent Mountain Citadels.
However, due to the extremely massive expense in both time and resources needed to construct another Worldforge, one has not been built in centuries and even millennia.
Tourism
The Worldforges are not places for tourists - they are often highly critical and thus highly classified locations in Ezdhûl Mountain Citadels, such that almost no-one is allowed inside outside of native crafters and those who have jobs that require them to work within.
Founding Date
The oldest worldforge is unfathomably ancient, believed to predate the Advent of the Spirit Kings by nearly a thousand years.
Alternative Names
The Stjorzada, The Magma Forges, The Mountainhearts, The Great Forges
Type
Room, Special, Forge
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