Noidyr Longhouses

The Noidyr are a people who rarely settle, but when they do decide to settle, their dwellings are particularly interesting.

Purpose / Function

Because Noidyr culture developed on steep, cold land that often experienced snowstorms and was close to the sea because they lived mainly off of fish, it was vital that their houses were sturdy, cold-proof, and weather-proof. And they certainly accomplished all of these things.

Design

Most houses have a fireplace and chimney located at their center, although the smaller houses will sometimes have a hole in the center of their floor with a fireplace in the ground underneath the house.

Entries

Because the upwards curve of the edge of the roof usually keep snow and water from accumulating too greatly, doors are usually located right next to the stilts where a ladder leads down to the ground. Some different variations will have a trapdoor in the corner with a ladder or sometimes stairs leading down. Houses built into steep ground will often have an exit in the attic to the ground above the house.

Sensory & Appearance

During most months except for the summer ones the windows are closed because the Noidyr did not have the means nor the knowledge to create glass and thus had to close all openings to conserve heat. The windows would usually be sturdy squares of wood hinged at the top so they could be propped open by a stick to air out the house during summer and more pleasant weather. Therefore, the house are usually dark and pungent, although the stench is often lessened by a type of hardy lavender that grows in the North.

Architecture

The smaller houses very much resemble Viking houses because of the carvings of animal heads on the peaks of their steep roofs. However, larger houses are multi-leveled with lower rooves resembling Japanese architecture with animal head figures on the upward-curving corners of the rooves. The houses are built of strong water-proof wood coated in a layer of water-proof tar-paint, but the insides of the houses have no wooden walls; all walls are dividers or curtains made of wool and sometimes painted or embroidered with pictures. Houses are typically erected on tree trunk-thick stilts to avoid water damage but stay strong against harsh winds. If the land a house is erected on is steep, than the front end of the house will usually be supported by stilts, but the back end is usually on the ground or even running straight into it into an underground cellar. The roofs of houses like these have spines that run straight from one end of the house to the other. Houses constructed on flat ground are similar to these except that they are entirely freestanding on their stilts, and will sometimes be square with a single-peaked roof with upward-curving corners that resemble Japanese architecture more than Viking.

Alternative Names

Nyrdat (Noidyr word for house)

Type

House, Large