Nidavelir
Ervenian Era, 1051 AB
Nidavelir is Ysgard’s third reach, a world of root-caverns, iron seas, and singing stone that runs beneath Asgard’s oaken fields and Muspelheim’s ember ranges. If Asgard is the hall of oaths and Muspelheim the back-forge of becoming, Nidavelir is the work beneath the work: a honeycomb of vaulted galleries, lava-lit arteries, and ink-black lakes where communities bind themselves by guest-right, maker’s mark, and hearth-law. Here craft is covenant. A blade lies if the hand that made it lied.Nidavellir is Ysgard turned inward: a world of tunnels and vast warm caverns where life thrives without sky. Here, the plane’s drifting earthbergs grind against one another not lazily but constantly, and only the cavities between them are habitable. Steam, geysers, and hot springs keep these hollows temperate, feeding sunless forests and forge-cities that never sleep. Law and chaos wrestle at close quarters. The earthbergs move with relentless, lawful cadence, yet the corridors they create and crush are the very essence of change. Light comes from forge-glow, glowstone, phosphorescent lichen, and the pale canopies of woods that need no sun. Sound carries in strange ways—one hammer-blow might echo for miles while a shout dies at the next bend, so miners mark “quiet lines” as carefully as fault lines.
Customs
Justice in Nidavellir is measured in iron and salt. Guest-right is claimed by sharing bread, salt, and passing a warm nail barehanded; under the smoke of such a hearth, no blood may be drawn until the next shift-bell. Promises are etched into oath-stones or struck as a maker’s mark, for any tool forged with a false mark chips and rings off-key when struck, exposing the lie. Disputes are judged by the tolling of three bells: the Stone bell for evidence, the Hand bell for trial by craft, and the Word bell for witness and oath. To win two is to win the verdict.Geography
The layer is like a river of mountain drifting in the dark, their flanks rasping together until they open vaulted chambers, then sealing those spaces again decades later. Warmth wells up from aquifers and magma capillaries: geyser-basins mist the air; stone lungs breathe steam through stalactite organs; and entire valleys are roofed in root and basalt. The great caverns host towns and tree-masses of nightwood and ironbark, while the tight “squeeze lanes” between bergs form miles-long alleys used by couriers and skirmishers. Collisions, which are called kisses to surface-dwellers—here are shears and scrapes that can slide a whole district sideways by a dozen paces.
Notable Locations
Mount Angradd
The mountain of Angradd, which exists both in Abellio and here.The Honeycomb
The Honeycomb is a labyrinth of infinite vaults carved by magma and memory, where basalt rises into cathedral arches, glowmoss spreads into living forests, stalactites grow into tiered cities, and iron seas ripple like sheets of black glass. Light comes from emberstone veins, crowns of molten smelters, fungi that glow when sung to, and quicksilver mirrors catching the far-off fires of Muspelheim.Stone-Song Veins
Crystal strata run through the stone, carrying a low, thrumming hum. A steady hammer rhythm, when struck with skill and timing can ride the song to signal allies a mile away, while bards who master the pitch can unlock hidden ward-doors sealed against strangers.Memory Geodes
Memory geodes hold echoes of time itself. When carefully cracked and read with magic, they reveal past scenes to the one who peers within. But if mishandled, they burst in psychic backlash, leaving nearby minds reeling with confusion as fractured memories flood the senses.Iron Seas
The Iron Seas are vast lakes of oxide-rich water that carry the tang of pennies and starlight. These strange waters buoy metal rather than stone, so those armored in steel find it easier to swim, but they leach away warmth relentlessly, leaving non-metal gear brittle and weakened after a day’s exposure.Root-Roads
The Root-Roads are natural highways carved between the earthbergs, braided with ancient petrified roots. Caravan stones mark the safe echo-lanes, those rare stretches where tremors seldom strike and travelers can march with steadier steps.Access and Travel
Travelers in Nidavellir move by resonance and ritual. Hidden doors answer to Bell-Keys, plates that open only when struck with the right three notes, especially when played on one’s own marked hammer. In the rare halls that echo with Muspelheim’s working songs, quenching a blade in both realms within the same hour opens a one-time ember bridge of flame and iron. Twisting Root-Ascents climb upward toward the soil of Asgard, opening only to living wood, green sprigs offered with respect for a household name.Inhabitants
Dwarves and gnomes dominate the layer. Despite old grudges, they work shoulder to shoulder where it matters most: at forges, pump-stations, and timber-yards grown from sunless woods. Their pact is pragmatic, steel before pride, and their crafts rival anything on the surface. The drow of Svartalfheim are a different breed than their Prime cousins: quiet, warded, and insular rather than cruel, intent on being left alone beneath their silver-leaf groves and mirror-pools. Myconids, cave bears, blind stags, and echo-bats round out the ecology; salamanders and azers visit through fire-rifts under treaty.Trait Type |
Description |
|---|---|
| Gravity | Objective, down to the nearest surface. In open shafts and great wells, gravity can “tilt” toward the dominant wall. |
| Time | Normal. |
| Shape & Size | Infinite. |
| Morphic Traits | Resonantly morphic to tool, song, and honest labor. Continuous work in chorus can calm tremors, seal hairline cracks, or coax a crust over lava. |
| Elemental Energy | None Dominant |
| Alignment | Strongly Chaotic, mildly Good. |
| Magic | Earth, metal, creation, transmutation (stone/metal), sound/sonic, and Rune Magic, Divinations that touch stone (e.g., stone tell, locate object with a chiselled sigil) are enhanced while deceptive glamers that falsify craft, lawful compulsion that isn’t freely accepted and cold effects that target molten flows are impeded. |
Alternative Name(s)
Dark Home
Type
Dimensional plane
Location under
Included Locations
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