Nibelheim
Nibelheim is a bizarre and cosmopolitan metropolis located on and beneath an isolated volcanic archipelago named the Spine of Yorm, somewhere east of the Broken Empire and west of Khayyam. It sits almost exactly on the border between the Beta and Gamma Quadrants of Waking Materia, 180 degrees from Stargrave.
Nibelheim is highly unique in the sense that it exists partially within The Duskscape, thanks to a series of magnificent magical structures known as Yggfyrtårn (called Audularia in High Juran), which keep the Veil at bay. It is rare for civilized areas to have a weak or absent Veil as its strength tends to be bolstered by certain elements of Waking Cognition, like empiricism or worship of a Material God. The only other well-populated location on Materia known to overlap both realms simultaneously is the Yawning Spiral beneath Oloraan.
Nibelheim is a magically and technologically advanced place, far beyond the plane's surfacer cultures, and even rivals the most advanced planes in the Lotrimin Crux.Geography
Description
See also: Image Gallery: Fashion & Scenery of Nibelheim (External)Society
Nibelheim is a closely-guarded secret by the host dwarves, with a strict ban on interfering with Materia's relatively primitive surface cultures. The Oath of Non-Interference has been broken only thrice in the plane's history, the third of which was the building of the marvelous Holy City of Calm in Jura, seemingly as a favour(?) to the Juran Emperor and likely demigod, Olcadan of Dhund. The Nibelheimer engineers and builders immediately disappeared after the city was complete. Some bards whisper that they returned to a vast and advanced society beneath the eastern ocean, most not even realizing this is rooted in truth.
Nonetheless, Nibelheim is a vast place and difficult even for its cleverest artificers to hide, and so the odd brave adventurer or very lost individual stumble upon it. Most are "put to work": a polite way of saying they won't be otherwise punished, but are not allowed to leave either, so they had best integrate. The population of Surfacers rarely reaches more than a dozen in the whole metropolis.
There are nonetheless a small handful of surface-born who are known (or strongly rumoured) to come and go as they please. A short and very much incomplete list:
- Lakodalmas: Lichlord and Sultan of Furia, in far Voidwestern Khayyam
- Various Duskscape Regents; accounts most often feature Behemoth and Tallari-Anaviri-Irallat (rumoured)
- The Dragon Knights of Tallarax
- Merlinkainen (rumoured)
- Morrigan (rumoured)
- Olcadan of Dhund: God-Emperor of the former Holy Juran Empire (deceased)
- Oronaga Sachiko: Chief Kannushi of the Oronaga Clan of Lowlands Marai
- Hildegard van Elmdor: dhampir, former monster hunter and influential smuggler of occult materiel, based out of Fauregand
Demographics
The scattered cities, trade outposts and surface fortresses of Nibelheim are run primarily by the dwarves of Waking Materia, but one could theoretically find any race in the Known Universe here, both Material and extradimensional.
Dwarves make up a large part of the administrative, judicial and military branches of Nibelheim's government, and about half the general populace. Other major races, in descending order by population, include drow (who are also permitted roles in government), wayangs, ratfolk, Near Umbral demons & fae, estrié, true goblins (as opposed to the wildling or tiefling-aspected halflings of Materia), extraplanar elves/humans, subterranean Hecath and more.
There is usually a tiny population of surface races at a given time, though a vanishingly small percent of the populace.A Waking-Twilight Crossroads
Pictured above (Banner image) is an outpost city of Nibelheim, relatively abandoned due to its peoples’ overall shrinking population, but still home to a regiment of Fyrvokter guardians assigned to protect the site’s Yggfyrtårn (one seen Top Right). It is one of a network of artifacts collectively keeping the Veil at bay, effectively making the metropolis a free crossroads of sorts between Waking Materia and the Duskscape. This makes Nibelheim one of only two major Material “ports” for Umbral merchants, ambassadors and other visitors (mostly demonic but occasionally fae or intelligent undead). Its existence is known to only a few select outsiders.
The various cities and outpost towns are connected via mysterious "shadowpaths", anchored on each side by a sophisticated arcane gateway, that makes travel between the two points rapid and uneventful.History
Though the First Empires of Man are thought to be the first arrivals of non-indigenous species, this is untrue. Long before the Kelpeaters traversed the Void to Waking Materia, an ancient group of dwarven Duskscape travelers known as the Wanderers of Nod found a "back door" to Waking Materia via a weakness in the Veil between realms, and their first outpost would become Nibelheim. Due to the metropolis' secretive nature, this is known only by a vanishingly small number of surfacers.
The Elite Guard of Nibelheim are tasked with the elimination of some of the multiverse's most dangerous monsters, as it's more than Umbral tradespeople that take advantage of the open border between the great metropolis and The Duskscape.
Profile art credit: Manuel Castañón
Banner art credits: Shenyang 37 (background), Blazan Alex (left), Eoghan Kerrigan (right)
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