Nidavellir
| Ysgard Layer | |
|---|---|
| Order: | Third |
| Realms: | Svartalfheim |
The third layer of Ysgard is Nidavellir. It is an “underground” realm crisscrossed by warm tunnels, heated by hot springs and geysers. The wild regions are crowded with underground forests of strange woods that need no sun, only heat, to grow. Vast caverns run through veins of clear quartz, and deep holds are studded with shining mica and pyrite. Precious and semiprecious minerals are strewn across the floor of some lengths of runnel and even entire caverns. Dwarven and gnome kingdoms divide up most of Nidavellir. Most of the layer's inhabitants are mortals, but petitioners are common as well. It is a place of fiery furnaces, ringing anvils, and constant striving for perfection in the crafts of smithing, runecrafting, and magic. Its halls resound with the chanting voices of dwarves and the lilting songs of gnomes. Though the two races are rivals often given to war, they unite when confronted by their underground enemies: dark elves.
Svartalfheim: Drow have their own realm in Nidavellir. Though the gnomes and dwarves think the worst of the dark elves, the allegiances of these particular drow are not as evil as many travelers might think. Like others of this layer, they merely wish to be left alone and they don't take kindly to unannounced visitors or trespassers.
| Ysgard Layers |