The Soul of the City (Thergerim “Morongetyr”, short for “MorsekOngzetyr” lit. "Dark Heart of the City") is the common name for the largest black diamond carved out of the Zharkanion Mountain range, which is the great mountain chain of Nybelmar.

It is said that the jewel was discovered by dwarven miners on the same day that Menemronn, the evil wizard from the east, struck the Nybelmargerim with all his fury. As the Kormor Toltrumerim – the greatest dwarven mine of that time – collapsed, the roof of the tunnel, in which the diamond was discovered, also fell in. It was locked up under the council-area, in Tyr Faerath, in a vault with a thick door. It was guarded by soldiers and locked in with seven locks.

Magic only the dwarves know of was used to seal the door so that it could only be opened if several conditions were met: First, that all seven locks were opened at the same time; second, that the person opening each lock was the rightful owner of the key he was using; and third, that each person was opening the lock of his own free will.

The Soul respresents the strength of the Kiingerim and their city. As long as they have the stone, Tyr Faerath will never fall, so the legend tells us.

Appearance. The stone is one of the most impressive jewels in all of Caelereth. The dwarves of old used all their skills to perfect the stone and it seems flawless to the eye. The Soul of the City has the shape of an orb and its surface is smooth and the black colour is very deep. Its size if roughly a palmspan in diameter and it is very heavy for its size compared with other diamonds.

The few Kiingerim that have had the pleasure to hold the stone in their hands said that it is "warmer than one might expect". Some people insist that they can see things moving inside the orb, much like the Orb of Bluestride. But this is probably just a trick by the colour that fools the eye.

Usages. The Kiingerim do not practically use the Soul of the City, it is more an item of belief and to guarantee comfort for Tyr Faerath.

As the stone is seen as a sign that Tyr Hthom still has faith in the Kiingerim, the dwarves will think upon the perfectness of the stone and find strength. Any dwarf you meet, with some knowledge of history, will tell you that the stone couldn’t have been found by anybody else than the Kiingerim. It is common belief that their god gave their city a Soul with the stone.

The stone also makes the Kiingerim proud. No one in the known world holds such a grand black diamond.

History/Origin. When the dark wizard Menemronn brought the War of the Chosen to Nybelmar he needed eight stones to build his throne. The Morongetyr that the dwarves kept in their capitol was one of them. Menemronn stole the stone from the dwarves just before he laid waste to their mountain kingdom.

When Menemronn finally was defeated, the elves knew the stones were powerful and dangerous. When all eight stones were together they were a great pool of power so the elves took the four Lightstones and hid them in their Emerald Forest.

The Return of the Stone. Thousands of years after the end of the War of the Chosen, the dwarves heard of the Lightstones of the Emerald Forest. It were the Ifer’hém who told the dwarves that their jewel was among them. The Kiingerim were once again strong behind a high wall and wanted their god-given stone back. On the other hand the elves didn’t want the stones anymore. They had caused many bad things. Even the “good” stones, the Lightstones were still part of an evil pool of power. Even so, the elves thought they were the only ones wise enough to keep them and refused to give it back. The fact that the elves dislike the dwarves didn’t help either.

The dwarves answered by cutting off the traderoutes as a first action. The elves laughed at that. They could do without the trade to the west. This made the dwarves angry, and for the first time since the War of the Chosen, the dwarven army was ready for war. At this time they didn’t really want to go to war. They thought the rattle of their axes would make the elves give in. Still more than 4.000 dwarves sharpened their weapons.

The Kaýr elves, tired of their civil war, still refused. They were not scared of the dwarves and they had yet lost a war in their own forest. So, the dwarven army started their march to the east toward the Emerald Forest, but the only battles they fought ware with elven scouts. When the army reached the forest they were surprised that they could enter without an elven counter-attack. They marched as fast as they could towards the nearest Kaýr city. The elven lords sent archers to slow them down. And they did slow the dwarves down, but the Kiingerim army still kept marching. At this time the Kaýr gave in and offered peace talks.

At these talks the Kiingerim assured the Kaýr that they only wanted the stone to keep it locked in a vault. That made the elves more calm and the stone was given back to the dwarven tribe it belonged to.

A myth then sprang to life. If the Soul of the City were again lost for more than one month the city would be doomed.

The Theft of the Morongetyr. Perhaps the most fascinating story about the Morongetyr is the one that tells of how it was stolen. For more than 2.500 years it held its place within the vault. The stone was considered a myth by many of the common dwarves.  The stone was said to be impossible to steal, as you need the approval of all seven council members to open the door - that is if you don’t have powerful magic backing you up.

The fact that it’s so hard to steal has created a saying among the Kiingerim. “Certain as the Morongetyr is still in place” means that something is undeniably certain.

This belief was torn by the theft of the stone in 302 b.S. How the thieves did it is not precisely known, but one day, when the new guards came down to the vault to relieve the old ones they found the guards dead, the vault opened and the Soul gone. The shocked guards called for the council and the seven members immediately convened. No one of them had lost his key and all had good alibis even though the door had not been broken up and the locks were intact.

Speculation abounded; some wondered whether it was an act of an enemy of city, a mighty wizard or if Tyr Hthom had lost his trust in them. They all agreed not to spread the word as that would worry the population too much. The military leader, the Hthom, was given the order by the council to find the Soul and take it back. He had one month to complete the task or, according to the myth, the city would be doomed. Usually a military leader would seize the opportunity to reinforce his army and start a massive search operation. But Tyrilin Opolin knew better. He knew that the soldiers would not be able to keep quiet so he turned to those who always kept quiet: the thieves of the city. He could not approach them directly, as thieves and militaries rarely like each other, so he got in touch with his chief of spies. The chief arranged a meeting with the seven thieves whom he believed to be the best.

The Underground's Mission. Although the crimes committed in the city were few, thieves still existed; and the thieves of Tyr Faerath were more civilized and calm than most thieves. Murder happened only once every ten years. The seven of them were sent out to find the Soul with the promise that they would be richly rewarded. They all went in different directions at first.

Thirteen days later the Hthom heard that the first had come back. Apparently he had given up. He also said he had seen two of the others fall when fighting Chyrakisth warriors and he had heard that two more had given up and were now settled in Kormendale. - That left two to hope for and still the council and the Hthom were the only ones who knew about the theft.

One of the them returned on the very last day of the month. He was coming from the east and sand and dust covered him from top to toe. His eyes were damaged from the bright sun and he limped due to a cut in his leg. But he had the Morongetyr with him, wrapped up in an old piece of cloth. He fell to his knees as he entered the Main Gate and had to be carried home by his friends.

The Soul was taken back to its vault. Then the council spread the word that the Soul had been lost but that the Searcher Dolo Groilin, son of a thief, had brought it back. When the council went to the thief’s home to give him his reward he had died from the infection in his leg. The funeral was the most impressive in the history of the city.

Every dwarf came to witness the procession as they took the dead body of Dolo to the vault where he was laid to rest with the Soul of the City. He was honoured so because he had saved the city at the cost of his life.

They found two journals, later called “The Forgotten Journals”, on Dolo. One was his and the other belonged to the leader of the thieves, a Kavogerim named Huinin. So the names and race of thieves were told. They were dwarves of the Kavogerim tribe.

The Aftermath of the Theft. In 302 b.S. after the recovering of the Morongetyr the Kiingerim did not look favourably upon their cousins of the plains who had tried to steal it. The council shut them out of the trade agreements and all Kavogerim living inside or outside of the city were considered outlaws. Many Kavogerim had to move out of the city and live as refugees. This caused much death among them.

There were also talks among the army, who had friends murdered in the theft, to declare war on the Plaindwarves. The reason this was not done was due to the decision of Tyrilin Opolin, the military leader. He knew of the capacity of the Kavogerim when it came to warfare and that the Kiingerim-army was nothing without their walls. Once again, his wise mind saved the city.

In 301 b.S. a group of twenty Kavogerim sought a meeting with the ruling Traders-Council of the city. They were the ten most respected Mothuttelerons and the ten most respected Denirimerons and they said they spoke for all of their tribe. Mothuttelerons were Clan Mothers of the Kavogerim and the leaders of the different clans. The Denirims were the priests of the tribe.

The Council did not turn them down and a closed meeting was held inside the council-area in the inner parts of the city. After three days they all came out and the Council president declared that they had accepted the apologies of the Kavogerim and that a new trade agreement was made. In this agreement, the Kavogerim went down from 1/7 of all the taxes and tarifs to 1/10. That was a mighty blow to the already poor tribe, but better 1/10 than nothing.

The Morhuttelerons told the Council that the fifteen dwarves who stole the stone were renegades and outlaws. They acted upon their own will, or that of someone else, but not their Morhuttel. Who had aided them in opening the vault they did not know. One Mothuttel said “they got what they deserved. We found the bodies in the desert. Whoever did that was indeed skillful.” (Read the “Journals” for more information.)

The Kavogerim who were recently considered outlaws were now taken back under the wings of the city and the Council paid them a nice sum for their suffering.

In 285 b.S. a second meeting between the Council and the leading Kavogerim was held, this time in a Holtyr (a small city dug into the desert). At that meeting it was decided to go back to the old agreement. The Kavogerim would get 1/7 of the income from taxes from the caravans in addition to the money that was paid by the caravan-owners for protection.

They also decided to have these meetings every fifth year. The next would again be held at Tyr Faerath. The theft actually made the relationship stronger between the two tribes. 

Myth/Lore. The Kiingerim believe that their God, Tyr Hthom, created the jewel as a token of his protection and love for the tribe. They say that he forged the stone under supervision of the Eternal Lord Trum-Baroll in the forges of Trum Dispor’Baroll, the Realm of the Lost Father. Tyr Hthom, the first Head of the City, is the God of the Kiingerim and the protector of the tribe. He is the brother of Hunyeh Hthom, Head of the Mine that is the protector of Kavogerim and before that the Toltrumerim. It is said he ancestors trained with Trum-Baroll as apprentices.

Tyr Hthom also poured his protection, his love for the dwarves, into the stone. As he was not a strong god, his strength would only last as long as the stone would rest inside the walls of the city. Legends tell us that if taken outside of those walls the powers would only last one month. After that the tribe would begin to diminish.

When Menemronn, the dark wizard in the times of the War of the Chosen, started his attack on the dwarves, crushing them inside the towns and mines, he first stole the stone to use it in his throne.

When Menemronn later fell the elves took all the lightstones to the Emerald Forest. They believed the stone could do good things. But they were proven wrong. The stones only led to mistrust, crimes and war.