Nakkiga is no longer the city it once was - now, nothing more than a pale reflection of the glorious City of Pillars, the City that Once Was, the Lost City.
When the Sithi kindred split there was no loss of love between the two factions to begin with. Indeed, the Sithi completely understood the ideals to which near one third of their number assigned themselves. And indeed, even to begin with, that thirds intentions had been good and peaceful. But times change. Now that third is called ‘Norn’ in the old Norsh tongue, ‘Those that Seek to Control Fate’, and their number is greater than the number of the Sithi.
When the Great War came upon the Sithi the northern tribe, the Dark Host, the Norn, fled to a nearby volcanic abyss. Their intention was to defeat the Northmen at all costs - but found the Northmen had found ways around the Sithi technology and many Norns still found themselves reluctant to kill except in defence. This caused them to be continually pushed back - and eventually to the desertion of Nakkiga. This deep crack in the land was the perfect hiding place from the Northmen tribes, and perfectly defensible. However, the Northmen destroyed Nakkiga in the process, and now nothing remains of that once great and beautiful city.
Instead the Norns decided to rebuild Nakkiga inside the volcanic canyon, and over it constructed and artificial mountain. This mountain became known as the Stormspike, for the heavy storms that are forever about its peak. The Norns found the canyon perfect for living - and constructed vast alchemic machinery to stabilise the fault-rift and the other environmental conditions. This new Nakkiga is heated by the thermal heat of the volcanic flows under the surface of the earth, and kept cool by the changes in ice pressure from the glacier above. Vast quartz repositories were grown, tall enough to reach the surface. These crystal feed Solar Fae and light into the fault-rift, meaning the Nakkiga under the ice experiences ‘day’ and ‘night’. The crystals are never covered in snow as the quartz is heated quickly by the sun. The Fae thus trapped is tapped by the Norns to illuminate inside their homes - now carven from the living rock. Vast swathes of ever-green trees and other winter flora were brought from far and wide to grow life-sustaining gardens inside the rift. Now the city extends far into the deeps. Earth Fae and Dark Fae surge throughout the rift, enabling the White Foxes to have a constant source of Fae-power.
The Stormspike itself is riddled with chambers and vast caverns, each organised much like the rift below - filled with artificial light and the power of Earth and Solar Fae. The storms about the peak are probably brought about through the vast Fae discharges from below and from within the Stormspike.
The Houses of the Nrons constantly vie for the Queen’s attention, and the most worthy are granted the honour of living deeper within the rift. Slaves and the Humans and Ogres that serve the Norns directly live in the Stormspike - the first line of defence for the Dark Host. Next is the Norns living at the edge of the rift, barely heated by the warmth of the volcanic flows, the least worthy of the Norns Houses. After these come the Norn Militia, a part of the army where Norns vie for respect between themselves to pass up the ranks to become part of the standing army. Below the inner rim is the citadels of the actual Norn army - the Talons, Fang and Claw towers where the second line of defence is trained. Below these in the rift are the Shade Keeps, the places where the magisters of the Norns are taught. Further below still are the Noble Houses, the rich, powerful and most influential Norn. Further down still in the deepest depths, is the House of the Devourer - a massive edifice on the glacier floor, where the Priestess-hood controls the Norn race.
Deepest of all is the Well of Dreams, cut into the glacier itself. Here Ereshkigal herself sits upon a throne carved of ice, unmoving and uncaring. She still wears the Silver Mask, and looks deep into the future in the reflections of the many-man-sized ice crystal before her. Each year hundreds of mages are brought to her chambers and slain - their blood a sacrifice to grant Ereshkigal the visions in the ice. Each year she grants the House of the Devourer more influence as her life and power wane - but the Norn are her tool still, and she rules them with a will of iron.
