The Heart of Corruption

The Heart of Corruption is known to be a part of the "The Greatest Quest on Illyriad!/Race-Specific Craftables" quest-line. Whether or not it is also attached to other quests is still a mystery.

When the Heart is not beating, players can send units to it to "feed" it - all units sent are completely destroyed (including commanders, which cannot be resurrected). Once enough units have be fed to the Heart, it awakens and begins to beat. The exact number of units it takes to awake the Heart is unknown, but it is speculated to be in the billions.
*Note: There are also some who suspect is is not the number of units sent that awakes the Heart, but rather the frequency in which they are sent, or even the number of different accounts which they are sent from. It is still largely a mystery

System wrote:As your diplomatic mission from [CITY NAME] moves deeper into Melder territory, the vegetation becomes twisted, wildlife scarce. As your traders approach [-994|-824] in Kumala they can see trees twisted out of shape, their trunks split by fungal growths which have erupted from within, and dark vines strangling their branches. It seems that the creepers ensnaring the trees are moving slowly, perhaps blown by the wind. Or perhaps it is not the wind.

Your units press on, moving closer to their destination. But you hear no more from them.

Your diplomats have vanished without a trace.

Rumour reports that after your units disappeared in the Corrupted Lands, more land became twisted and dark. Verdant jungle has become infested with putrid fungus and dark creepers, as though the destruction of your forces had fuelled the spread of the corruption to nearby lands.

If, while the Heart beats, a player sends units - military, diplomatic, or harvesters - to the Corrupted Temples (aka Place of High Sacrifice) around the Heart, it will send Corrupted units back at you, equal to the amount you sent, to attack your city.





If you defeat these Corrupted units, there is a chance they will drop a Corrupted Tentacle (estimated 5% or less drop-rate) specific to their race. These items are used in the above mentioned quest-line, as well as tend to sell for decent amounts in the trade hubs.

System wrote:In the aftermath of the attack on you, your troops and advisers pick their way through the carnage, turning over the broken remains of the attackers. Slowly, they start to assemble a collection of trinkets which they recognise. On the bodies of the attackers are the remains of boots – although now split and tattered, and engulfed in fungus, pierced by vines – which were favoured by your own armies. From the bark-blistered claw of one attacker they take a ring, which one of your townsfolk gave to a soldier immediately before your army left for the Place of High Sacrifice. Embedded in the fungus around the neck of another is a lucky charm... of a type sold in your market.

When they look closer, they begin to see features that they recognise on the corpses. An unusually coloured eye. A tattoo. A missing finger. A few hanks of distinctively-coloured hair.

The attackers were once the troops that you sent to the Corrupted Places of High Sacrifice. They were friends, family, loved-ones.

The Corrupted Temple locations are: -985|-826, -990|-817, and -989|-817
They each have unique names as well: The Temple of the Shapeless, The Temple of the Nameless, and The Temple of the Outsider



Whether or not it's note worthy is unknown, but each unit/group sent to the Corrupted Temples causes two separate incomings to appear in the Military Movements screen, though only one of these inbounds actually contains units - the other is just for show, or a purpose yet unknown.

Freyja's old profile wrote:
What does it take to feed the HoC?

  It has been estimated that it takes apporximately 250,000 attack to corrupt 1 square, but this has not been proven.
  Diplomatic units do not seem to cause squares near the HoC to become corrupted.
  Escaped Elemental units that were tournament prizes years ago are immune and are the only known unit that will return from the HoC or a corrupted square.
  All other units/items/anything will NOT return from the HoC, including commanders. They are gone for good and cannot be resurrected.

Some discussions involving the HoC on the Official Illyriad forums can be found here:
http://forum.illyriad.co.uk/the-greatest-quest-on-illyriad_topic5771.html
http://forum.illyriad.co.uk/heart-of-corruption_topic2004.html
http://forum.illyriad.co.uk/feeding-the-corruption_topic7037_page1.html