Essence of Thunder

The Essence of Thunder is one of the most sought after and valuable materials found in Tal'Lyra. It is used primarily in difficult smithing processes, but is also sometimes utilized in dwarven mechanical constructions.

Discovery

The essence of thunder was first discovered during the age of dragons as the dwarves slayed the first thunder dragon. They extracted the life force of the drake, storing it in glass vials. While they didn't know at first how to use the essence, they went to work trying to figure out how the power of the dragon works. After a few generations the dwarves, and more slain thunder dragons, finally they began to understand the essence of thunder and learnt how to utilize it in their endless fight against the beast.

Source

In earlier ages the main source of the essence of thunder were the big thunder dragons, being an mortal enemy of the dwarves anyway. But after the last of the drakes was slain at the end of the age of dragons, the dwarves began to look for other sources of the powerful material. By chance, they discovered that it is also found buried deep under the mountains.

Usage

The biggest application of the essence of thunder were and still are mechanical construction being powered by the magical material. It can be used to power cranes, to move heavy objects or even to light up cities. Also it was utilized to build and power great siege machinery during the war with the humans.
Another usage, which is even done today if new essence is found, is the smithing and enhancing of weapons and armor. Weapons smithen forged with it are empowered by thunder, striking their enemy down with electricity. Armor enhanced with the essence is stronger and some masterpieces could even pick arrows out of the sky before they hit the wearer.