I stood and watched as the geezer rambled on and on about mana and The First Emperor.
"Mana was not something that we originally used, as far as the records state. Primitive sources of energy such as wood and some combustible substances were used in the past. But that was when mana crystals were discovered, or rather, rediscovered."
"After our ancient technological society was destroyed, we lost the capability to power the few remaning implements from those times. For a while, we were forced to return to the old ways of living."
"But when some random mine owner found a mysterious mineral in his mine, it was the start of our rise back to prominence."
"That mineral was termed mana crystals, and the energy inside them mana. Using it as a base, mages and Dwarves were able to reverse engineer those machines remaining to able to use mana as a source of energy."