Peshtera Ňaz L'da (pesh-TAIR-uh NAHZL-dah)
Peshtera Ňaz L'da is an ice cave system created by Gifteds that has been used as a city for years.
Winters here are nothing. I lived in Peshtera Ňaz L'da when I was young. Narthican winters are nowhere close to that cold.
Geography
Peshtera Ňaz L'da rests in the mountains of northern Nuskia in Rushlinna. It is a system of caves and tunnels that stretches on for several miles. The entrance to the underground city is located at the base of the southernmost mountain, Ivan's Face, where it is sealed with doors made of solid ice. Fifty feet inside these doors, the tunnel dips into a stone staircase, believed to have been made by Earthing. This staircase leads into a stone chamber with carved details filled with ice.
While finding your way may seem impossible to outsiders, the inhabitants have several tricks up their sleeves. Their primary means of navigation is memorizing passages from a young age, but all residents are taught that taking left turns at every main junction will eventually bring them to the city's central meeting cave, a large hollow space with small buildings made of ice and stone. The hospital/healing complex is located in this cave.
by Lilliana Casper
Several passages lead away from this chamber and deeper into the mountains. All the tunnels are lit by strings of glowing lanterns. Most of these lanterns fade into darkness during the night cycle of the inhabitants. The many tunnels of the city twist carefully around each other, with openings to meeting and residential caves set into the walls. There are an estimated 1,900 tunnels throughout the mountain range, although no exact number has ever been named and there are likely even more than that.
There are no sectors, districts, or separations between classes in Peshtera. Important officials generally have their residence caves close to the center of the system, but so do Healers and maintenance workers. Because of this, Peshtera is considered the most equal-opportunity city in Nuskia, if not the entire continent of Rushlinna. However, its perpetual cold and occasionally claustrophobia-inducing passages turn away many possible denizens.
History
Peshtera Ňaz L'da was built hundreds of years ago. It is unknown who exactly decided to build a city out of underground tunnels, but the plans were eventually put in motion. Thirty-seven Frosters, forty-nine Icers, and various other Gifteds were employed to create the tunnels. They accomplished this task with a combination of frost wedging, mining, and stone shaping with Earthing. Historical records of the city claim it took over ten years to create new caves and widen existing ones. Residence caves were formed precisely and carefully.
There are currently about five thousand people living in Peshtera, most of them Gifteds with a particular resistance to cold. Two of Nuskia's most prominent Gifted Houses live there (a Frosting House and a Plantity House). While the city is ruled by the leader of Nuskia, citizens rarely have contact with the outside world except for tourists and traders.
People began to live in the caves almost immediately after construction was completed. As the number of inhabitants rose, so did their skill at modifying the existing cave system. Originally, the tunnels were made completely out of stone and lit by candle lanterns, but a family of Light Wielders that moved in helped to create the string lanterns powered by Light Wielding that are used today. Walls were also built to separate rooms in residence caves and the central meeting cave had buildings added.
Over the years, the Frosters and Icers who took up residence in this underground city added to its uniqueness by carving the walls and filling the gaps with ice. Fire was quickly banned from everywhere except the residential caves and the buildings of the central meeting cave. Families cook meals over carefully contained fires inside their homes (or eat them cold) and the hospital building must be heated to take care of patients.
by Lilliana Casper
Tourism
Because of its unique creation, Peshtera is often visited by tourists wishing to experience the caves for themselves. There are several caves set aside for visitors to stay, but few remain there longer than a day or two. Traders also make routine trips to the city, bringing supplies that the inhabitants could not easily get otherwise. These goods include fabric, meat, and spices. Peshterans trade for these with the minerals, vegetables, and stone they produce in their city.
Alternative Name(s)
Caves of Ice (in the local language)
Type
Cave System
by Lilliana Casper
Climate
Because it is located in northern Nuskia, the coldest part of the coldest country in Rushlinna, the temperature is almost always below freezing. Despite the caves offering shelter from wind and rain, fires and torches are not allowed in the caves. Too much heat will melt the delicate ice that holds several of the passages together. This is a major problem for many people who would otherwise choose to live in it. Only those with a particular resistance to cold reside there.It's cold but it's beautiful. You haven't seen beauty until you've seen Peshtera. Every tunnel is decorated with ice carvings, every cave is lined with tapestries. Every inch of the city shows just how beautiful winter can be. As long as you can handle the cold, you won't regret visiting.
Natural Resources
A city completely underground might seem to have no resources, but Peshtera does. Several openings to parts of the mountain range allow workers to collect snow and hunt for mountain creatures. Caves deep in the system are temperature-regulated to allow for the production of various vegetables. Passages even deeper in the mountain range are used as mines, where the Non-Gifted residents as well as Earthlings search for minerals. These materials are traded to merchants who visit the city.Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
I love the idea that there are designs carved into the stone and filled with ice. It must be beautiful. I would only want to visit for a short while, though - I'm not very good with cold. Love this article.
Explore Etrea | Summer Camp 2025
It is a great wonder of the world, I imagine. Thank you for reading!