Nikkal-at-Scarsend
Nikkal-at-Scarsend, often shortened to Nikkal, is a highly unique, partly subterranean town built into the cliff walls of the mighty Worldscar separating the continents of Gondara and The Lorent in the Broken Empire. It is the largest of the three settlements of the Lírmenach peoples, a once mixed diaspora who—with the help of the great heroes-turned-demigods Ronom, Ranarim and Laila By-the-Sea—escaped the sprawling work camps and undead conversion fields of New Rozsa during the Valamo-Rozsan Wars of the First Age.
In addition to Lírmenach, resident demonyms include Nikkalese and Scarsfolk.Geography
Nikkal-at-Scarsend is located near the Voidward end of the mighty Worldscar, where the immense gorge widens and the river rapids calm.
Located at the Worldscar's base just above water level, it is nearly 2 kilometres below the nearest clifftop settlements, leaving it extremely isolated. The lands above the base may be reached either by a perilous climb directly up the cliff face or by sailing out and around to where the land meets sea level, either in Ket or Nurin at the closest. There are also rumours of secret passages behind the township that wind their way up to the surface through the stone and earth, though the Lírmenach do not entertain them.Culture
The Nikkalese survive primarily on a combination of fishing, kelp farming, collecting of eggs from cliffside waterfowl, and trading of minerals for produce with the neighbouring Kettites and Nurinians. With the help of the Kettites in particular, who also live a cliffside lifestyle, they also engage in extensive breeding of nutritious, cliffside vines and subterranean fungus. Advanced stonesculptors, they have not only created vast indoor warrens for living, but also terraces for orchards, which are irrigated with ease due to the vicinity of the water below.Language
The Nikkalese language is a highly unique blend of ancient Rozsan, Valamonian and Kettite with a strong focus on hand and body signals due to the sometimes roaring volume of the local river.Nikkal-at-Scarsend
Region
The Worldscar, Gondara
Established
Late First Age, Valamo-Rozsan Wars
Founders
Ronom, Ranarim, Laila By-the-Sea
Economy
Mineral & fishing trade
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