Issteinn Marble

Deep within the fastness of the geosphere, deeper than the rivers carve, deeper than the dwarves will mine, lies a silent, frozen world. Rather than getting warmer as one goes deeper, as with most most deep tunnel systems, the temperature drops as you get deeper into the rock. It is the home of blind monsters, strange plant-like growths, and the pale humanoids known as Ice Elves.
The cold is due to Issteinn Marble, a durable white stone, laced with veins of blue, grey, and gold colored minerals, suitable for decorative stonework or sculpture. The marble lies in vast beds deep beneath the earth, shot through with caverns and tunnels. The magic of the stone pushes away the heat from the core of Liggjavard, leaving the air in the dark under-realm cold and causing broad plains of ice instead of underground seas. This gives the Ice Elves, natives of the sphere of Skadivard, their best chance to survive on this hot (to them) world.
Issteinn marble carves beautifully and the Ice Elf settlements include many accomplished sculptors. They believe that spirits of objects grow upset if they are not being used for their purpose. Ice Elves who can afford it will have storage sculptures carved to serve as racks for their clothes or weapons - sculptures that look like Ice Elves wearing the clothes or using the weapons. For an Ice Elf noble, a closet looks a marble gallery lined with sculptures wearing her wardrobe. It is said this satisfies the spirits of the possessions and the spirits of the sculptures at the same time, which brings a satisfied household.
The Ice Elves will trade issteinn tiles and carved chests to the Rothilimion on the surface under a formal treaty that dates back centuries. The Rothilimion use the stone for food preparation and storage, as well as some industrial purposes. (Very old Rothilimion families might even have some closet sculpture.) In exchange, the Ice Elves import surface delicacies like spices, tea, and aurochs meat.
Some scholars have suggested that it is unreasonable for the cold to be "pushed away" by the stone. They have observed that it does not get hotter in the area near the stone. They wonder if issteinn marble isn't instead moving the heat somewhere else. If so, they wonder, where is it going?

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/* Gallery of Silence */

/* Isskjoll */

People of the Ice

The Ice Elves are well aware of the power of the Issteinn marble, and do not go into warmer limestone caverns or volcanic tunnels lightly. They prefer to stay where it is cold enough to keep out the riff-raff and they can quickly travel between settlements on their Isskjoll skiffs.

DRAFT

This article is currently a work in progress and may be incomplete or subject to change.