Phlogiston Theory

""Phlogiston"", coming from "burning up" in the Dwarfish language, is a fire-like element. The gas was first collected in Khaz Modan by dwarfish tinkers from molten iron when it played an integral part in the Second War. Today, the element is behind most technological advancement.

Alchemical Properties
Phlogiston is weightless and virtually undetectable. The element is found in all combustable objects which are said to be phlogiston-rich.

When a phlogiston-rich material (wood, oil, metal) is burnt or rusted, the material is deplogisticated, and the phlogiston is sent into the air, leaving only dephlogisticated material (ash, byproduct, rust). Air only has the capacity to absorb a certain amount of phlogiston; therefore, combustion of a phlogisticated object ceases in a closed space. Phlogisticated air cannot support life.

Extraction
Though the first phlogiston was collected from phlogisticated iron and oil, tinkers have since turned to phlogiston-rich atmosphere. The element is extracted from the air using wagon-sized phlogiston collectors.

Collectors employ a large in-take valve to bring air into a reserve over a glowing crucible. Once the device separates and purifies the phlogiston, it bubbles it into a mixture of refined oil and water to concentrate the phlogiston. The machine then siphons the oily fluid into glass vials for use in inventions.

Application
The help of phlogiston fluid plays a tremendous part in war technology from the Second War, where the Horde and Alliance quarrelled over oil fields for the phlogistication process, to the present day when oil and steam technology changes the face of the battlefield. Vials of liquid phlogiston contain a precise mixture of oil, water, and phlogiston gas. Liquid phlogiston allows smaller boilers to burn at tremendous temperatures and pressures that make steam technology practical for use in tinker technology and large, steam-operated vehicles. Alchemists combine phlogiston with explosive gunpowder as an accelerant for efficacious weaponry. Master tinkers can create weapons of mass detruction with the help of phlogiston-fluid.