Niflheim
Kingdom of the Water Elementals
Home of water in all forms, snow, ice, mist and clouds, mist spirits and ice elementals, ice giants and more. Mountain valleys carved by glaciers soften to rivers, and waterfall-crushed moss clinging to cool rocks give way to mist and a long fall toward the open sea.
Niflheim is quite a bit smaller than the vast reaches of Jotunheim to the northeast, but it has a range of environments, from cliffs of waterfalls along the coast to dense veils of fog that cover the land to lofty towers of ice and mountain ranges.
While mortals could conceivably walk some parts of Niflheim, it is treacherous enough in both terrain (some places have no "ground" to speak of, rather various densities of water vapor) and temperatures that would freeze ordinary flesh solid.
Culture
- Social Organization: *
- Social Norms: *
- Food: Water itself is the source of energy for Water Elementals, but some of Legacy heritage, especially in the more temperate lands, enjoy the fruits of the sea and landbound water creatures.
- Fashion: Most elementals are "clothed" in the same materials they are made of (ice, seafoam, laced waters of different salinities, etc.), if at all, but armor is quite elaborate.
- The Arts: The arts in the elemental lands are not dedicated to pretty paintings, but to the craft of great palaces, magic weapons, talismans and artifacts. In Niflheim, there is a great appreciation for dance, music, storytelling and oral history, some of which is employed by the royal houses of Asgard.
- Religion: Aside from water and magic themselves, Water Elementals consider places holy or sacred, not other beings or deities.
- Languages, Proficiencies, Skills: One of the few places in the Realm where Common Gaardic is not particularly common, favor falling to Old Gaardic, although Primordial is the official and most widely spoken language of the kingdom. In areas in more contact with the godlands of Asgard, Celestial is widely spoken as well.
Geography
Niflheim measures 90 miles in each direction, a mix of solid land, towering grey mountains, pinnacles of ice, dense fog obscuring the lack of solid land in disconcerting layers.
Climate
The climate in Niflheim is constant, seasons do not touch the godlands of Shavehalla. Within the kingdom, the eastern and southern edges are slightly more temperate and can be withstood by most elementals without specific water elemental blood, but the western borders are icy cold, and the northern less than solid.
Natural Resources
Unlike the other elemental kingdom, Niflheim does have some natural resources, from the wood, nettles and seeds of trees along the coasts, to the nutrient rich and medicinal herbs and lichens that grow. Stone and can be found from the northeastern mountains, gemstones and crystals are found all over, and both the sea and land itself are rich with water dwelling creatures.
Conjure Niflheim on the River Peak Apothecary Webshoppe
Niflheim Kingdom Traits
FOR BUILDING YOUR IN-REALM D&D CHARACTERS
Ice Touched: Proficiency in the Arcana (Int), Medicine (Wis) or Nature (Int) skill, and you can speak either Primordial or Celestial.Water Friend: You have always had a way with animals, especially this one kind. While you cannot speak to or understand the language of them, you have a nonverbal way of communicating thoughts, ideas and concepts with animals from your chosen group: Surfacers (sea mammals), Scalehides (marine reptiles), Fishtide (fish), or Flotsam (ocean invertebrates). At the 5th level, you CAN speak to them.
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Overlay illustration by Brian Busch Studio
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