Nurgroth Nor

The Council of the Moons makes the decisions for the city. It is composed of tribal and religious leaders from each of the races that have settled the island as well as the city's General and Archmage. There are currently fourteen members of the Council.

In addition to a decently sized standing military, Nurgroth Nor's citizens hold the right to form a militia, and militia members often practice with the professional soldiers. Stockpiles of weapons are hidden around the island in the event of invasion.   The archways that define the city's architecture are full of murder holes and arrowslits, and the walls are marked with ballistae. The city's military is specialized in aquatic cavalry and trained in the rapid boarding of a ship in the event an invading force is able to get past the ice gates.

Arctic radishes are so easy to grow in the Singing Islands that citizens often grow small gardens of them in a small portion of their kitchen, and this produces so much excess that the city is able to export the durable vegetable to Ter Eira. The furs of seals and whale oil are sent south with shipments of tusk ivory in exchange for Imperial luxuries like coffee and citrus.

The city is made entirely of ice and filled with wide canals between carefully built double-tiered streets. Buildings are built over the canals and roads with arches and stretch to the sky. Each building will often serve as many as fifteen families and businesses. Building tall like this allows the city to remain wide-open for mounts, vehicles, and shipping.

Thanks to the efforts of the city's School of the Arcane and holy orders, Nurgroth Nor has food stores to outlast a siege or particularly brutal famine. The City Militia maintains weapon caches around the island, and the Vault Under The Ice holds the city's wealth.

In addition to the Council of the Moons, the city is primarily influenced by the military and the School of the Arcane. None of the major Illirian guilds maintain a permanent presence here save the Iron Shadow, though members of the Order of the Eye often visit the school. The presence of the Iron Shadow is felt by many on the Council, but so far no one has been able to prove the Thieves' Guild operates here.

Nurgroth Nor was built by the Orcanos Orcs three thousand years before the Empire was founded. It took centuries, but the ice city eventually stood tall and led to Orcanos domination of the region before the Acundi Elves led a coalition of tribes against the city. The Elves did not provide their allies with the plunder and land they had been promised, however, and eventually a bloody cycle of conquest became the norm for Nurgroth Nor. It changed hands from species to species, tribe to tribe, destroyed and rebuilt many times. Eventually, the Sylvan War made it's way North, and with the help of Skaldoran troops, the Orcanos and Yaunuk Humans were able to wrest control of the city from the Acundi and drive the remaining Elves from the islands to the frozen wastelands of what is now Ter Eira, agreeing to maintain joint control of the city. However, once word reached the Singing Islands of Skaldor's genocidal campaign against all Elfkind, Nurgroth Nor became the focal point of a new coalition of tribes, united against the influence of Southerners. The Caronorn Halflings were invited to the city as well, and the Council was formed. Nurgroth Nor was established as a peaceful city, where all the Northern tribes could live if they so desired, so long as they left their grudges outside the walls. Over the last fifteen hundred years, Nurgroth Nor has been improved on be each generation, leading to ever-bigger walls and more efficient defenses.

The entire city is made of magically reinforced ice, carved or cast. Giant archways are the most identifiable feature of Nurgroth Nor, though the round nature of it's smaller buildings also stands out. The massive towers that dot the landscape are the subject of numerous paintings, popularly portrayed with the aurora going between the buildings or skywhales in the background, or both.

Nurgroth Nor is built on a massive flat rock in the middle of the northern oceans. Deep pockets of freshwater wells fill holes beneath the icy surface.