Ember of Hyrrhorn

The forge sang with the rhythm of their hammer falls. I watched in rapt awe as they worked, turning and striking in perfect unison. It seemed impossible for eight arms to work in such concert, but the two dverge moved as though they were all one organism, transforming a plain lump of metal into a blade before my very eyes. When to me it seemed they had nearly a perfect blade, my guide Erirlk turned to me and said.
"Now, we make it steel."
I had heard of dverge iron, but I had never known it was called steel. I watched as the pair took the blade and summoned flame to their mouths, billowing it out over the blade in long, low exhales. They did this in turn several times before depositing the blade in the forge, pushing it as far back as they could reach. Erirlk then took out a long hooked pole and made sure their work was in the center of the forge. When I asked why, I was given a simple reply.
"Is where the steel grows."
When they soon removed the blade, it was changed, layered with crystalline patterns and infused with a dull red hue. Dverge iron - steel, I knew now, had just been created in front of me, and I had no idea how. I pressed my guide about the process, and he pointed at the center of the forge, doing his best to respond in broken högmíc.
"Ember of the Forge Father. Gift from creating. Gives us steel and safety, strength to survive the long war."
I received no further answers and was sequestered for the remainder of my visit, but I was determined to learn more.
~an excerpt from "A Treatise on the Nature of Embers Employed by the Fortborn Dverge," recovered from the ruins of Kena Lanu.

Embers are powerful sources of elemental energy most commonly utilized by the dverge. Believed to be divine gifts left for them by their patron god, Hyrrhorn, they used the embers to forge steel, fuel powerful wards, and commune with their god during the war. Once the war ended, Hyrrhorn fell silent, and many dverge fortresses fell to infighting, their embers scattering to the wind along with their garrisons.
One powerful example of an ember is the Oakenheart, an exceptionally large ember contained within a special chamber in the depths of the Great Oak in Hardhaven that enables several wards and the use of a large dverge forge within the city.

Properties

Material Characteristics

Embers are large stones, simultaneously forming jagged crystalline patterns and incredibly porous. Within the many perforations in an ember burns an intense glow, ranging from dull red to white hot. The size of an ember can range greatly, with the smallest being no less than several feet in diameter, and the largest ever record measuring in at upwards of a hundred feet across.

Physical & Chemical Properties

Embers of every size give off an intense warmth that grows to the point of searing flesh if any foundling other than a dverge attempts to touch one directly. The dverge have been using embers as the hearts of their forges for centuries because of this, utilizing the power of the ember to create peerless weapons of war. They alone know the secret of creating steel - to the point it is known in the realms as "dverge iron" to those uneducated in its nature.

Origin & Source

Embers are believed to be shards of the embers that were used in the forge Hyrrhorn used to forge the world tree and all the realms. It is said that as he worked, sparks and shards rained down on the realms from his forge, leaving behind scattered embers for his children to find.

Life & Expiration

Embers are not known to fade naturally. Powerful beings aligned to Eldr have been known to combine the sparks of two disparate embers, thereby enhancing one and draining the other.

Type

Elemental / Molecular

Odor

Embers give off an intense odor of charcoal, which lingers and leaves a faint taste of metal in the back of the throat.

Taste

Tasting an ember is a one way ticket to not having a tongue anymore.

Color

Mottled dark gray and black on the outside, streaked through with glowing red-orange cracks.

Common State

Embers are always solid chunk. Reducing one to a liquid or gas has never been accomplished.