Niook

Overview

Niook is a towering, multi-leveled city built upon a foundation of immense quartz and amethyst crystals. The city has risen gradually over 3000 years and is powered by electricity that is harvested from perennial lightning and thunderstorms. These storms sweep northward over the city in spring and summer, blowing in with 20-30 mph winds and torrential rains, which the city sheds from gutters and overlooks down upon the meadows and fields that stretch out in all directions from its base. The excess water drains into streams that flow northeast into Lake Tassilveer and its marshlands.
 

Politics

Seven Noble Houses

Seven noble families, known as Houses, have in essence ruled Niook for close to 500 years. These Houses all sit atop the highest elevations of Niook, the districts of Highcliff and Upper Reach. Access to these districts is guarded closely by the Arcligh, the official city patrol, officers of which are appointed by City Council—who of necessity operate under the influence of the Noble Houses.

House Arcade is heavily involved in the local entertainment industries of gambling, theater, and music. They are a gregarious bunch, and tend to be affable and approachable by most citizens, seeming to have plenty of leisure time. They do get bored easily, though, and a variety of family members can be seen flitting from social engagement to social engagement most days.

House Charon has a sinister reputation. Local legends speak of necromancers and vampires deep in the family history—some of whom may still be active today. House Charon’s property is a veritable castle, walled behind dark stones of ebony, onyx, and obsidian, colored sparsely with crimson minerals and gold. The four gates leading to the interior rooms are guarded at all hours by intimidating figures, called Charon Knights. Occasionally, Charon Knights can be seen stalking heavily through the city, bent on some terrible errand. Folks give them plenty of room, as they and their masters seem to be completely outside the law.

House Everbloom has, over the centuries, declined from a prestigious role as a family of noble soldiers and scholars into a stale sort of decadence. Many folks believe that the complacency and stagnation of Everbloom makes the House irrelevant. Very aware of this perception and criticism, the current patriarch, Draven Everbloom, intends to return the House to its prestigious origins. To this end, he engages in heavy-handed politics and negotiations within local government agencies and businesses. Many think him arrogant and that he has overextended himself. Lord Everbloom doesn’t care because he knows them to be wrong. A very traditional and certain man, Lord Everbloom harbors a bitter disappointment in his two children, both of whom seem hell-bent on a life of adventuring. His overbearing and controlling ways are largely perceived, in the general population, to be the direct cause of the recent and ongoing absence of his wife, the charismatic Gwedolyn Everbloom. While few truly believe Draven Everbloom to have murdered her, people do enjoy talking about all the possibilities.

House Icarus is a family of inventors and engineers who continue to play significant roles in the development and maintenance of the power grid of Niook, from the lightning rods and cloud harvesters of the district of Storm Harvest down into Cogheart and the Crystal Labyrinth in the Understories of Niook. The extended Icarus family includes skilled diplomats and business brokers, who delve into dwarven politics and gnomish intrigues in order to secure family business interests; and arcane scientists, who tinker and experiment in private labs in the Overstory.

House Matara is a family of regional diplomats, facilitating broad trade agreements with other cities of Rumorring, especially Rose and Aubygren. They have occasional dealings with cities bordering Rumorring, such as Dreer and Oragina. Ravicia Matara, the elder of the family, has begun to shift and delegate more of her responsibilities to two of her daughters, Coerva and Cuernica--the oldest and youngest of her five children, respectively.
 
House Wisteria is a hermetic house that spends a lot of time tending to the city garden of Flowertop, reachable from the Overstory. They are diplomatic liaisons to druids within and without the city, and a few family members are druids themselves. The Wisterias have andyrrakeenish blood running through their veins, and their features reflect this: the family members tend toward delicate bone structures, deeply soulful eyes, and auras of amused serenity. House Wisteria is very selective about who they socialize with, and marital unions are approached with caution and negotiated carefully over years; a Wisteria engagement is a rare, celebrated event, and the bonds created in this way are enduring are strong.
 
House Stella is a house of economic and structural planning. Two brothers, Jurdoon and Durvahl, are the most prominent members. In their 50s now, they are assisted by their wives and children in maintaining tax codes, zoning laws, and many other bureaucratic, legalistic, and financial details of the city. The family is heavily invested in influencing and manipulating city council members, and the politics of that consume three of the younger Stellas--Durjane, Janith, and Timberly--to a great degree.
   

Street Houses

  As the interests of the upper classes of parts of Central City and the Overstory are shaped and cared for by the politics of the seven Noble Houses, so the interests of the lower and middle classes of Central City and the Lower City are responded to and cared for by many Street Houses. The Street Houses are family houses that may share one or more bloodlines, but are just as often organized around a common cause or characteristic--in essence, they are families of choice and affinity.