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Nauthiz – “Not-this” – Literally: “Need-fire” or “Necessity” – Esoteric: Constraint, Friction
Name: Niðheimr
Capital: Kalastadr
Monarch: Jorúnnr a Ríkólfr's Kyn
Climate: Arctic
Population: Roughly a hundred thousand
Land area: 338.424 km²
Language: Niðmál, Niðkyrr
Currency: Marglóð (gold)
Religion: Polytheist -
Niðheimr is a cold and unforgiving country. It's filled with snow and ice all year around, leaving its inhabitants at the mercy of nature. Winter is long and harsh, often claiming the life of those unlucky enough to get lost. The people of Niðheimr, the Niðliónar, have found ways to adapt, though. Before they settled there, dwarves living mostly under ground inhabited the country. They've found ways to co-exist and learning from each other, both parties having realized that they can benefit from each other.
Kalastadr, the capital
Kalastadr as seeing from the outside is a rather disappointing looking city if one could call it that. Located in the western part of Niðheimr, the city is shielded by a mountain range. The outside of the city consists of perhaps thirty-forty houses cluttered closely together roofed with either gable roofs or hip roofs, to make sure the snow doesn’t crash through the building’s roofs one day. The houses are built of a mix of stone and a type of wood native to Niðheimr called Járnskíð (ironwood).
There is a plaza in roughly the middle which is simply called Kaupstefna (the market). There are small shows located around it, as well as the longhouse where the royal family residents when dealing with diplomats and other guests, as outsiders usually aren’t allowed into Kalastadr itself.
The city is surrounded by a tall and thick stone wall with two gates. One at the south and one at the east. The wall itself is crude looking with little to no real finesse to be seen architectural wise. The gates to the city are usually kept open and are constructed out of Járnskíð. Years of wear and tear has weathered the wood so the carvings that initially were to be found on the wood, are long gone.
At the very north end of Kalastadr is a gate carved into the mountain side. Passing through that, and one enters the city itself. It’s an impressive network of tunnels and open halls carved in the mountain itself, shielding its inhabitants from the harsh weather. It’s a stark difference from the outside. The architecture consists of clean and sharp lines, using both the raw stone from the mountain but also different kind of metal and precious stones to decorate with.
The city is home to several guilds consisting of dwarves and humans. Each guild has a district in the city for their creations and crafts. Each guild also has a patron god attached to it, and have shrines build in their district. There are currently 14 guilds in Kalastadr today. As the supply and demand for things changes, the guilds adapt if their product is no longer sought after. Some guilds have also joined together under a common name, though still retain their own specialized craft.
guilds
Blacksmithing (járnsmiðr)
Carpeting/woodworking (viðrsmiðr) – Masoning (steinnsmiðr)
Gold/Silver (eyrirsmiðr) - Gems (gimsteinnsmiðr) - Jewelry (skartgripir)
Ink/dye (litarefni) – Paper/Bookbinding (bókabinding) – Printing Press (prentvél)
Weaving (vefnaður) – Tailoring (klæðast) - Leatherwork (leðurvinna)
Painting (málverk)
Apothecaries (jutirmaður)
The people are mostly able to sustain themselves, having invented a way to farm underground in a more temperate and controlled climate. They are experimenting with animal pens, though rely more on hunters bringing home meat or on fish traded from the eastern towns.
The east side is mostly coastline with bigger but more scattered towns. The sand is dark grey, close to black, as Niðheimr is home to several volcanos. Though none of them are active anymore, they've done their fair share in shaping the land. The main source of income here is fishing. The second biggest city is located on the coastline and is called Ægirby.
The country is divided into several regions. A region has its own jarl who answers to the ruler of Niðheimr, but who are mostly left on their own. The jarl is usually picked by the people in their respective region in an attempt to further their people's interests. While being a jarl does hold some prestige, they have very little influence over all. It is not unheard of that a jarl challenges a current ruler, in an attempt to take their place. -
Isa – “Iss-ah” – Literally: “Ice” – Esoteric: Stasis, Stillness
Niðheimr is a country heavy on tradition. Things are done the way they always have been. Life is too short for them to experiment too much with alternative ways of living. Hospitality means a great thing to them, and it is something they take serious. Invite a guest into your home, and the guest is treated as family. It is not uncommon for parents to pass down their professions to their children.
All Niðliónar wear braids and beads in their hair that signifies their social status and kyn line. Family - kyn - is something very important to the Niðliónar. Family is view as one of the most important things to have, either family by blood or by choice. Only royalty and jarls are allowed to get the side of their heads tattooed as a sign of hierarchy placement. Hair is also seen as something extremely personal, and only family and close friends are allowed to touch it.
Most of the Niðliónar are hunters and a very few of them are farmers.
The spoken language in Niðheimr is called Niðmál. They use a rune-like alphabet called Niðríta for writing. Even throughout Niðheimr the langauge differs a lot. A huge amount of dialects have been born over the past thousand years, making it at times difficult for even the Niðliónar to understand each other perfectly.
Niðkyrr is a language spoken with hands, working as a kind of sign language. While not every Niðliónar can speak Niðkyrr, they can understand it to a certain degree.