Svartalfheim & Nidavellir - 4th part

The Hall of Durin - Those it sound familiar? Tolkien did not choose this name for a very important Dwarf, from whom the great dwarvish kingdoms came, for no reason.
In the Norse mythology, Durin is one of the oldest fathers of the Duergar (dwarves). Many were the deeds of this great dwarf along with his friend Dvalin. Durin was chosen as the first chieftain of the Duergar, and his memory is still loved and revered. His hall is one of the grandest cavern-mazes in Nidavellir, but rather than keeping it as a private hall or passing it along to the next chieftain, his relatives decided instead to open it to the public as a place of respite and peace. His hall is one of the few places were one might find peace of mind and spirit in Nidavellir.

As I have already mentioned it, Durin had a powerful companion, Dvalin, one of the most powerful Duergar there is. His father was the famous Mimir and his mother Lovar. Both had four children, Dvalin, Alfrik, Berling and Grer. These are the brothers who made the famous necklace Brisingamen, the same that Freyja wears.
It is said that he (Dvalin) is one of the four deers that guard Yggdrasil and the way to the spirit world, shapeshifted along with the other three, a Jotun, and Alf and a Man.

One of the few surface areas of Svartalfheim where Duergar can be found, is in Joruvellir, in a particular area called Aurvangar, where a great grave mound was built and where Lovar and her Duergar lover, Svarin, rest in peace. This place also has underground areas of course, but it is unique because of the grave mound that towers above the flat plain. This place isn't hard to find, for it lies near the only wetlands in Svartalfheim.

The mountains in Svartalfheim hide many secrets, one of those is Byrgir, an empty well standing on a mountaintop. It is said that from this well at one time it poured forth magical waters that gave the gift of poetic power and ecstasy, but Ivaldi magically emptied it, which stopped its flow and ensured that it was in limited supply, and thus more valuable. Ivaldi's brothers, Fjalar and Galar, came to him with Kvasir's blood, Ivaldi lent them enough water to mix the blood and thus creating the Mead of Poetry, intending on a share of it. However,they fled with the Mead of Poetry and Ivaldi's cursed them, that they would not live another six turns of the Moon. It would  be true, as Sutting hunted them down and killed them soon after for the murder of his parents.

Svartalfheim & Nidavellir - 3rd part

As I have written in the first part of this post about Svartalfheim, Nidavellir isn't a location nor the name of the entire realm of the Duergar (Dwarves) and Dokkalfar (Dark Elves), nor is it a city. Nidavellir is in fact a labyrinthic complex of underground territores. There are thousands of corridors that lead somewhere, into houses, villages, halls, etc from Duergar that may or may not belong to a specific group.

It isn't hard to find and visit Nidavellir, there is a huge trading area where one will certainly find members of each race of the Nine realms of the Norse cosmology, doing trading with the Duergar. However, one should not venture further than that, the trading area is easily memorized after a few times there in the company of a guide, but beyond it, as I have written, Nidavellir is a labyrinthic complex and it is easy to be lost there and even harder to find the way back.
Most come to Nidavellir to shop the many things that other races may also have and make them, but the Duergar make them even better. The underground territories of the Duergar is filled with the shops of all tpe of crafts and the Duergar are masters of whatever craft in existence.
They are a very skillful and talented race, and the thought of them making poor work, less skilled and cheaper, or trying to cheat someone, will be easily vanished as soon as one is able to see this race working and competing with each other to see who makes the best piece of a specific order. You may be certain that whatever you see being sold at their shops, is of high quality.

Svartalfheim & Nidavellir - 2nd part

Little is known about the conflicts and the great war between the elven kind, but it is certain that a group of elves were exiled and came to Svartalfheim when they were expelled from their homeland in Ljossalfheim. It appears that this race of elves weren't welcomed anywhere else, only in the dark lands of the Duergar (Dwarves).
The Duergar granted shelter to these elves and since today, a tenuous peace and reasonable harmony lingers. The dark elves, or Dokkalfar as I have written on the previous post, couldn't live any other way, the Duergar outnumber them and control most of their homeland. There are many terms and conditions for both races to live in the same realm, however, none knows for sure which of those are.
As it would be expected, there is trade between the two races, but not as much as anyone might think.

Few are the deities that live in this dark land, one of those deities is the goddess Niorun, the goddess of dreams. Despite from being a goddess little-known to many, both the Duergar and the Darkelves honor her a great deal. As I have written on the previous post, Svartalfheim is a dangerous place to travel into or dwell during the day, and at night its impossible to be safe. However, the hall of this goddess, Niorun, is one of the few places (if not the only one) that a travel might take shelter, be safe and not being bothered by any of the outside realm. Apart from being a relatively safe place, it isn't beautiful, the very sight of it often makes people uncomfortable and the sense that it isn't safe at all.

Svartalfheim & Nidavellir

Svartalfheim or Svartheim is a dark, inhospitable and cold land, the atmosphere itself is grey and gloomy. The Duergar are the inhabitants of this realm. Most of them live far below under the mountains, underground caves and rocky grounds. They claim ownership over this realm. Above live the dark elves, dark Alfar so called Dokkalfar or Svartalfar. Their origins are not from this realm, as such, they are considered immigrants.

There was a great deluge that broke many lands apart. This was the realm where the Duergar made their home and excavated their realms below.
This mountainous, dark and windy realm has woodlands, but the Duergar care little for them. Instead, they made amazing and great halls under the earth, carved on rock. The Svartalfar invaded their homeland, but these two races made a truce deal and both live in this realm to this day, in separate territories of course.
Some times people get confused and call this realm Nidavellir. That is a very common mistake, because the territories of the Duergar are so vast, that it looks like a different realm. Nidavellir is in fact the name given to the territories of the Duergar, but the realm is Svartalfheim. Most of Svartalfheim is Nidavellir, the rest is just territories controled by the dark elves.

As I have written, this is a very dark world and there is little variation between summer and winter, and there isn't spring or autumn at all. It rains as much as it snows during winter. That kind of weather lessens with the coming of summer, which is more windy at that time. Days are slow, slower than any other realm of the Nine Worlds. However, the sun is barely seen in Svartalfheim, even during Summer. The inhabitants of this realm have a nocturnal existence, such as the fauna. Although, the Duergar venture out of their tunnels during the daylight only, it is safer. But their lives are spent underground in their cavernous cities.

Svartalfheim unlike the other realms, is very easy to enter. The Duergar care little about the business of wanderers and travelers, and it is likewise with the Svartalfar, however, the latter, are more difficult to persuade (but still, easier than the elves of Ljosalfheim). Once you are in Svartalfheim, few are those who will bother you, perhaps it is because they might think in isn't worth to bother with adventurers, if they entered Svartalfheim, they must know what they are doing (or not) it is a very dangerous place to wander about, there are few shelters and it gets dark too fast, so people are on their own.

Muspelheim

Muspellheim is one of the nine realms of the Norse cosmology, the Land of Fire. It is one of the first two primal worlds created around the World Tree, and the collision between Muspellheim and Niflheim or fire and water/ice, created the energy that formed the basis for the other seven worlds.

Muspelheim is one of the realms of the spiritual world a spiritual worker can visit while in a state of altered consciousness. We have to take into account, that the worlds of the Norse cosmology aren't just myth, they are actual realms connected with each other.

Muspelheim being a volcanic, filled with flame, dust and magma, a traveler doesn't have the perception if it is day or night, the sun and the moon are completely veiled by smoke, but it doesn't really matter the kind of season or day time in Muspelheim, everything will look just the same the entire year, and the sky in a constant red and orange light. It is a hostile place and none live there, naught remains alive in such place with the exception of the Fire Etins natives to the land, everything else is a vast landscape as far as the eye can see with just molten rocks, lava, dust and scorched land. However, there is a part of this world that is less hostile and it can be visited with caution, where the land meets the ocean, black sanded beaches with hot springs and houses made of melted back rocks pilled together here and there, the homes of some of the natives of the land. The black sanded beaches are far away from any safe border that one might go through, safe in a manner of speaking, because all the borders to this land are well protected, such as Myrkwood to the West and the mountainous passages of Svartalfheim to the Southwest, mountain chains that form a natural barrier.
The only vegetation one might ever find, are some scorched trees and burnt grass of the Myrkwood Eastern part already in Muspelheim.


This is the land where Surt reigns, the great Fire Giant, older than memory and the Lady Sinmora.

The Goddess of Dreams Niorun

Dreams are an important part of our lifes, the realms of fantasy, the places where our most wildest dreams come true. In dreams we are free, such as the shaman is when freeing his/her soul in a altered state of consciousness, sometimes all of us do the same, but we aren't aware of that and most of the time we can't perceive or distinguish what is a dream and a journey of the soul, it all seems the same, nonetheless dreams helped us understanding the world around us, they give us the imagination to create art, they even give us clues to understand the most complex scientific matters, when we reflect on something and fall asleep with those questions in mind. As dreams are an important thing is our daily lives, there is a Norse goddess for dreams, her name is Niorun.

From the old Norse lore, practically nothing is known about this goddess, actually i had a difficult time trying to search something about her, for i am a dreamer and personally i have lots of great stories and journeys to talk about since i was a baby, but this post i will dedicate exclusively to this goddess and a special thanks to Raven Kaldera, whithout him, i wouldn't get much of the information i have about this goddess and i wouldn't share with you how important she is.´

Niorun or Njorun, lives in Svartalfheim, and she is an important goddess of dreams and of the night to the Duergar ( the dwarves ) and to the Dark Elves, from whom most of the knowledge about this goddess, comes. Svartalfheim is a dangerous realm, if one must cross it, there aren't much places to hid, or get shelter, a safe place.. traveling fast, straight to the destination is the best thing to do, however, where Niorun dwells, is the only place one might find peace and stay without being chased, haunted or stalked by anyone. They might find protection there, although, as soon as anyone leaves the place, that protection is over and they must carry their journey on their own again. Her face is seldom seen, she walks in her halls as a shadowed figure, she speaks with people of course, but most of what she says, no one can remember ( for me that wouldn't be a surprise, most of the deities i speak with, i can rarely remember what they told me, fortunatelly i remember everything else and i learn valuable lessons just with the things and places they show me ) it is like living a dream inside those halls, and it can be dangerous to fall asleep. She can be called to have prophetic dreams, to find answers while you sleep, but those dreams might not be clear, but at least you might learn something new, something that might prove useful in your life, the dreams can inspire you in all the you do.

Working with the gods: Andvari

As you all may know, the Duergar are the race of beings from Svartalfheim, but people know them better today as Dwarves. There is one particular spirit of the Duergar called Andvari, which i want to refer here as an important being. He is a great crafter and Smith so his teachings go directly with craft and money and also the worth of things. Blacksmithing has always been a profession with great value throughout human history, the forging of weapons, armour, tools, and all the things we need by working with fire and metals, so Andvari is the right spirit to work with if you love the art of making something, crafting it, the sound of the flames and the hammer beating the hot metal in the anvil.

There isn't much lore about Andvari, only the stories with Loki and how he stole Andvari's hoard and a cursed ring, or about Andvari being different from other Duergar, a dwarf very fond of humans, also being a traveller, wandering to and fro between realms. But he has many valuable lessons to teach, especially nowadays. We live in a world where most things lost their worth, our societies are filled with wastefulness, we consume everything we can get our hands on, and things seem to be granted, objects you get so easily today, we dont give them the proper worth, things that in ancient times were so valuable, we were careful not to ruin or break those things, even today there are lots of people in need of so many tools for their daily needs but they dont have the chance to get them and most of the times is because of money, and because we take everything for granted, and we lack of consciousness and we are so ignorant when it comes to the worth of things, we spent money in objects we don't really need, in a world of overconsumption. These are the things Andvari teaches us, and we in turn must teach our children, the worth of money, mindful consumption, the importance of things and how we benefit from them, the making of things and crafting them, the value we must give because some one had the work and the trouble to make them, and we must preserve these things, for exemple the tools to help farmers in their hard works, which in turn without those tools they wouldn't have food for themselves, their families and to the people they sell those products, and also those who buy the vegetables and fruits, must have conscious in where to spend their money, in what kind of things, would they rather spend the money in a television than in food for their survival? This is a very trivial exemple, just to make sure you follow the logic of Andvari's teachings. Having an appropriate resource management. never wasting food and other resources, always keeping in mind the worth of things and your money, buying and exchanging what you really need, balancing things, exchanging a pack of cigarettes for fruit, applying your money in the education of your children instead of buying a very expensive boat and so on...

We are all consumers, but most of the time we forget to give the proper value and worth, and we end up spending money on things that we do not really need.

Svartalfheim & Nidavellir IV Part

Durin's Hall

Durin was one of the Eldest of the Duergar Fathers. He built the World-Mill to create fertile soil in Svartalfheim, but it did not work for him, and was eventually bought by Frey, who is far more skilled at using it. He (along with his friend and partner Dvalin) was also the crafter of the cursed sword Tyrfing of Germanic legends. Durin was chosen as the first chieftain of the Duergar, and his memory is still loved and revered. His death is considered unlucky to speak of for some reason, unless you are one of his close relatives, and even they are closemouthed about it. His hall is one of the grandest cavern-mazes in Nidavellir, but rather than keeping it as a private hall or passing it along to the next chieftain, his relatives decided instead to open it to the public as a place of respite and peace.
To stay in Durin's hall is quite possible, but rather expensive unless you are a friend of the family. The atmosphere is somewhere between a high-class hotel and an ashram, with bubbling hot springs and quiet, peaceful, beautifully carved caverns glittering with lights and mica mosaics. Don't disturb the quiet by making a ruckus; if you want to do that, getting a room at a local tavern will give you plenty of noise and partying.

Dvalin's Hall

Dvalin is one of the most powerful Duergar in Nidavellir, and the most skilled runemal in that world. He is actually half-Jotun, as his father was the famous Mimir, who had an affair with the famous Duergar-woman Lovar, and sired Dvalin and his three brothers, Alfrik, Berling, and Grer. Dvalin's daughters (for he had several wives) became the progenitors of the Lovar family of dwarves. The four of them are a sort of corporation, creating beautiful items on commission. Their most famous creation was Brisingamen, the fairest necklace in the world. Freya desired it, and paid for it by spending four nights making love to the brothers. Even though they didn't get a single piece of gold for it, they still consider it to be their greatest sale.
At first, Dvalin was just a powerful Duergar-lord in Svartalfheim, and then through a miracle of near-death at the moment of Odin's torment on the Tree, he received the Duergar-runes into his hands. He taught them only sparingly, to a secret society of hand-picked Duergar, and eventually he mysteriously vanished, only returning home a few times during the long Svartalfheim year. His family know where he is, as do many of his people, but it is considered bad luck to speak of it. What happened is that he - along with a Jotun, an Alf, and a mortal man - shapeshifted into one of the Deer of the World Tree, who guard the paths of energy so that no one else can rip open Ginnungagap and bring in what they choose.
It is very rare to find Dvalin at home, as he does not answer pleas for aid that have to do with Duergar matters - he considers his other work to be more important, and figures that there are enough of his people around who could answer any ordinary question quite handily. If your problems are issues relevant to his other job - which would be very serious issues indeed - you won't have to travel to Svartalfheim to talk to him about it. Indeed, he would more likely show up no matter where you are, accompanied by his three co-workers. None of the others - Dain the Alf, Duneyr the Midgardian, and Durathor/Asvid the giant - bother to keep earthly halls or realms any longer; Dvalin was the only one of the four who had an extensive family to keep his hall going, and so he visits his descendants periodically. Among the Duergar, he is treated with quiet reverence, rather like a living saint - the first and greatest of the Duergar runemasters. If you catch him at home, don't bother him with petty issues; he is busy with greater matters and would rather spend his precious home time playing with his great-great-grandchildren. Pay your respects, leave a gift (which he will probably pass on to his family, as alone among Duergar he has rather gone beyond a need for material objects) and go.
His hall is administered in his absence by his three bachelor brothers, who are still acclaimed as some of the best master craftsmen among the Duergar, and are decent runemasters as well. They have extensive workshops in the hall, with many apprentices learning under them. If you have questions about craft, it is better to approach them, as they are still very much in the family business. Don't ask them rude questions about their nights with Freya; they consider it a sacred subject and will not have their memories degraded by lewd gossip.

Aurvangar

Aurvangar is the place in Joruvellir (an area of Svartalfheim's surface claimed by the Duergar) where grave-mound of Svarin and Lovar is found, from which came the Lovar family of Duergar. They were the first Duergar couple to mate and have a child together, although both often took other lovers. Aurvangar refers to both the above-ground and the underground areas. The great grave-mound towers in the midst of the flat area; theirs is the only above-ground grave of a famous Duerg. It is usually covered with offerings, and is guarded - a hidden door to Nidavellir, with guards who watch over the grave, is nearby in the mountainside.
The grave-mound lies near Juruvale Marsh, the only place in Svartalfheim with wetlands, and the only sacred bog. It is used by both races to drop offerings. The Duergar generally drop in items, and the Dokkalfar generally drop in freshly murdered bodies. They try to make their visits not coincide with each other.

Ivaldi's Hall

Ivaldi is the Emperor of the Duergar, also called "Vidfinnar" and "Svigdar", both nicknames referring to his ability as a champion drinker. His children by his first (Duergar) wife are the champion craftsmen Brokk, Eitri, and Sindri. With his second wife, the Aesir Valkyrie Hildegun, he sired Iduna, Bil, and Hjalfi. Hildegun was captured coming off of a battlefield by Ivaldi and his men, who took her as an inadvertent prize of war. The story is unclear as to whether she stayed with him so long by force or choice, or first one and then the other.
Ivaldi is a tall (for his race) Duergar with dark skin, long black hair, and a long jet-black beard that he is quite vain about. He is handsome, in a hook-nosed, craggy way, and he is quite brilliant; he did not get to be the emperor of his canny, fractious race through accident. He holds the title of Emperor - a rather pretentious title, given that the Duergar hold only one world - by wealth, bribery, force of arms, and general charisma. He is also one of the greatest sorcerers among the Duergar. He is the son of Svarin and Lovar, and thus of Lovar family descent, and the half-brother of Dvalin.
He lives surrounded by a court full of his kinsmen, including his umpteen Lovar brothers and sisters - Draupnir and Dólgthrasir, Hár, Haugspori, Hlévangur, Glói, Dori, Ori, Dufur, Skirfir, Virfir, Skáfidur, Ái, Eikinskjaldi, Frosti, Finn and Ginnar. His brother Andvari has his own hall, and his brother Yngvi fled to Niflheim where he is the custodian of Fenris. His remaining two brothers, Fjalar and Galar, were the infamous pair who were exiled due to their habit of murdering people, and eventually killed Kvasir the Vanir in order to make the Mead of Poetry from his blood.
Ivaldi's Hall is located high in one of the mountains; it is not difficult to get in, but seeing him personally is less easy. If you speak to Ivaldi, make sure that you gift him as the King that he is. He is canny, and his first thought about anyone he meets is how he can best use them to further his ends, if it is possible. However, he is not an unfair man, and will return fair service with fair accounting. Like many skilled leaders in the Nine Worlds, he is good at telling when someone is lying to him, so don't blow yourself up or exaggerate your powers or abilities. He will just look right through you with those cynical dark eyes and you will feel like shriveling up. His courtiers enjoy a good song or story, but he is more interested in news of the outside worlds, any of them.

Byrgir
This is an empty well standing on a mountaintop in Svartalfheim. At one time it poured forth magical waters that gave the gift of poetic power and ecstasy, but Ivaldi magically emptied it, which stopped its flow and ensured that the holy water was in limited supply, and thus more valuable. When Ivaldi's brothers Fjalar and Galar came to him with Kvasir's blood, he lent them enough water to make the blood into the Mead of Poetry, intending on a share of it. However,they fled with the Mead of Poetry and Ivaldi's price on their heads and curse at their backs, saying that they would not live another six turns of the Moon - which was true, as Sutting hunted them down and killed them soon after for the spiteful murder of his parents.
While their mother, Hildegun, was still a prisoner at Ivaldi's court, her three children were hostage to her safety. The eldest, Iduna, escaped to Asgard where she became the gardener-goddess there. The younger two, Hjuki and Bil, a daughter and son, had the job of bringing back buckets of holy water from Byrgir, a job which Ivaldi would not entrust to anyone else. He thus slowly emptied out the well and sold its contents bit by bit to the Aesir. On the last trip, however, when the children were dredging up the very last bucketful, the Moon-god Mani (whom the Duergar name Nepur) seized them and the bucket up to the sky. (This story is said to be the basis of the "Jack and Jill" rhyme.) The Moon-god had a history of attempting to rescue children from mortal parents who abused them, but he had not counted on their father Ivaldi, the Emperor of the Duergar and a determined and powerful sorcerer.
The tale goes that Ivaldi chased the Moon across the sky through many worlds in pursuit of his children, and finally caught up with him under a mountain. He fought Mani withsingleminded wrath and a great axe, and the frightened Moon-god (never much of a warrior) fell back before the Duerg-King and yielded. Ivaldi reclaimed his children and his holy water, and returned to his hall in Nidavellir. There, with an empty well and weeping children, he reconsidered, decided on mercy, and allowed Hildegun and their children to go to Asgard. Bil later renamed herself Saga and became the goddess of lore, and one of Frigga's handmaidens. Hjuki, on the other hand, returned to his father's side where he lives mostly at court, and is Nidavellir's ambassador to Asgard.
The empty well is something of a shrine to the Duergar, and they throw offerings down into it. They also throw in gravel and sand and concrete, in order to discourage people from climbing down and stealing the offerings.

Andvari's Hall

The Duergar Andvari is one of the top ten smiths in Nidavellir, and one of the few who will actually take commissions from non-divine people, if you are willing to pay his extremely high prices. He specializes in jewelry, although he is quite capable of forging anything from pots to armor. Andvari seems to be fonder of humans than many other of the Duergar. Indeed, he is an odd sort of Duergar, much given to wandering about in his earlier days, and he used to hole up in a pond by a waterfall in Jotunheim, where he would change himself into a salmon. His treasure was hidden behind the waterfall. The Duergar have many tales about their folk doing such things - temporarily hiding out with one's hoard in a paranoid fear of being robbed - and it is referred to as "dragon disease", in memory of the half-Duergar Fafnir who turned himself into a dragon in order to better guard his hoard. Generally it is considered a kind of temporary insanity that one outgrows, with the implied idea that the powers of Wyrd will set you up to lose such hoarded treasure anyway, as is what happened with Andvari.
Currently, Andvari keeps a hall in Nidavellir with his several grown sons. Narvi, the eldest, is a fine smith in his own right. He has close ties with Loki, who named his own ill-fated eldest son with Sigyn for him. He drives a hard bargain for work, so be careful and stay sober when negotiating with him.

Hall of the Four Directions

This is less a hall than a temple. While the Duergar have few buildings that could be considered temples or shrines - their worship is more of a homely sort of thing, done in privacy by families - the biggest exception is the Hall of the Four Directions, a sort of ongoing architectural artwork dedicated to the Dwarves of the Four Directions, who guard the far corners of the World Tree. These entities are not actually Duergar - at least according to the Duergar themselves - but greater deities invoked into the Nine Worlds by Odin, who set them to guarding the four directions.
According to Duergar myth, they looked down at the various races inhabiting the Nine Worlds and noticed that the Duergar seemed to have gotten the worst of things. The Aesir, the Vanir, the Alfar were all powerful and beautiful, with lovely worlds near the top of the tree. The Jotnar, for all they had been disenfranchised, were the most numerous and still claimed the most land - four worlds' worth. The Duergar, on the other hand, were scorned as mere maggots, cast into the darkness of the lower limbs of the Tree through a power struggle they did not understand and had no part in; struggling to carve a living out of a cold world of mountains. The four Guardians admired their strength and persistence and creativity, and chose to take on the form of dwarves themselves in honor of their favorite race. The Duergar revere them as Gods, and swear their most sacred oaths by their names - Austri, Vestri, Sudri, Nordri.
The temple itself takes up the entire top section of one of the highest mountains in Svartalfheim. The central chamber is perforated with many glassed windows to let in light, and the four wings spreading out from it are each decorated with statuary, mosaics, and some of the most amazing and intricate carving in the Nine Worlds - all in honor of the Four Guardians. Austri's wing is themed as a field of spring flowers, with every petal a jewel inlaid in a stem of precious metal. Sudri's wing is filled with more gold than is seen in any one place in the Nine Worlds, with a great golden sun filling the whole ceiling, and a floor like the iridescent ocean itself. Vestri's wing is decorated like a multicolored autumn, with entire trees built of copper twigs and leaves of precious stones, the floor a stone mosaic of a forest floor. Nordri's wing is decorated in silver and alabaster and thousands of glittering crystal gems, with a ceiling of blued steel and a marble floor so slick that one could skate on it.
The Duergar are constantly adding tiny bits to this living, growing sculptural temple; the four wings keep expanding outward and becoming more glorious. They are generally pleased to have people visit their great temple of devotion, as it is a noted tourist attraction. If you go, bring an offering, but give it to the temple keepers; don't lay it in the temple itself. Only the finest offerings are eventually added to the permanent temple, and to assume that yours is worthy would be considered an act of hubris. No one ever steals anything while there; they wouldn't dare. If so much as a petal was removed from a gemmed flower, the horde of praying Duergar who were visiting that day would rend them to pieces for the great insult.


Supported by RavenKaldera , Rod Landreth and Elizabeth Vongvisith

Svartalfheim & Nidavellir III Part

Nidavellir:  The Realm Below
Nidavellir isn't like a city or just one location. It's a complex labyrinth of "territories." They're sort of like main corridors that are like freeways and nobody really owns them. Then you have personal dwellings that just branch off. Often a wrong turn would walk you into someone's bedroom or dining room. One 'castle' has a clearly lit doorway, and thus you know that you are incide" and not just of thearea/village.
Residents: The Duergar

Most of what this guidebook says about dealing with the Duergar can be found in the chapter dedicated to the characteristics of their race. They are the absolute masters of this world; while the Dokkalfar rule in their forests, they are aware that they still inhabit this world at the whim of the Duergar.
Visiting Nidavellir is not that difficult. The main areas of Nidavellir are a hub of trade from all the worlds except Helheim, and there are hundreds of visitors coming and going at any given time. The Duergar take advantage of this, with fairly high prices for food, drink, and the crowded displays of saleable items. Capitalism is alive and well in this part of the Nine Worlds, where every bit of gold eked from tourists and traders enriches this barren country. Assuming that you bring at least some reasonably quality goods for sale, or the means to buy something, you can walk right in.
Duergar guides to the area are, as we have mentioned, easily for sale. They know better than to walk you into private homes or off-limits areas, so they are quite worthwhile. You don't generally need to worry about being led into a dark alley and rolled for your meager pocket change; harm done to tourists and traders is bad for business and is sharply punished. The young Duergar who make a trade out of guiding tourists are generally smarter than that. There is no rule, however, against constantly jacking costs for anything "off the beaten path". That includes helping you to find certain famous names among the Duergar, and their various halls, and getting an introduction for the possible purpose of training or education. For each of these specialties, the price will go up, and it is up to you and your pocketbook as to whether it will be worth it.
Usually what travelers have come for is to shop, and the main guided tours will be the hundreds of shops in the main area of the city, filled with gorgeous trinkets of metalwork, woodcarving, jewelry, statuary, etc. While other races might make lovely things, it is agreed by all that the Duergar are better at making it, whatever it is. The sole exception might be fiber arts, as they must import all their fiber and it is not a common art, but the few Duergar women who do weave and embroider are said to make breathtaking pieces.
Not only are they highly talented as a race, their work ethic shows in everything they make. Every piece offered for sale will be finished to the best of that dwarf's ability. The idea that they would make shoddy work in order to save money and cheat customers is an insult. Cheaper pieces were made by less skilled craftsmen, perhaps apprentices still learning the trade. The Duergar guilds - in some cases more like secret societies - monitor all work sold to the public with their seals of approval. Quality is far more important to them than quantity, which is why they have the reputation that they do, and why there are waiting lists for some particularly high-demand objects.
They also have a very good idea of what their work is worth, and what the market will bear. No Duergar, even an apprentice, sells his labor for pennies - at least to outsiders. They will drive hard bargains; although the buyer, thinking of his purse, may feel that the prices are unfairly inflated, to the dwarf that he is facing it is simply a fair measure of his time and labor. One doesn't go to Nidavellir hoping to get a bargain on cheap toys with a bit of glamour on them; for that, one should find an Alfar peasant-merchant with a homely little caravan. Dwarves make high-quality luxury items, or solid practical things that will last several lifetimes and give good wear. Generally they will not mar the perfection of their creations with any glamour that shows them to be other than they are; to them, the quality of the creation should be able to stand on its own without help, or it should go back into the furnace to be melted down again. You can guarantee that a Duergar-make piece will be all that it looks and feels to be. On the other hand, they might lay a galdr on it that subtly calls out to passersby, attracting their attention and possibly sparking their greed, that they might suddenly find themselves craving the fine piece and impulsively buying it. To the dwarf, this is not such an unethical thing, because the workmanship is excellent and your life will be enhanced by owning the item, won't it? As they know a good deal about greed themselves, making a greed-galdr is an easy thing for them.
The most famous and skilled smiths, most of whom won't take commissions for mere mortals, are: The four Lovar brothers Dvalin, Alfrik, Berling, and Grer. The sons of the Duergar-King Ivaldi, Brokk, Eitri, and Sindri. Andvari the Fish, as he is called in Nidavellir, and his son Narvi. The last two are your best bet if you want someone who will deal with human beings.
For food, they keep extensive underground caverns filled with food that can be grown in the light and heat from magical artificial lightning - mostly root crops - or without any light at all, such as the famed hundred varieties of edible mushrooms (a few of which are valuable medicinals, or even hallucinogens). Duergar ale, in fact, is root-based, rather like vodka which is made from potatoes, rather than grain-based Vanaheim beer. It is said that they even make fungus-derived alcoholic drinks, but it is also said that it is unwise for the traveler to partake of them. Physically, the Duergar have a huge tolerance for alcohol, unrivaled even by most average-sized Jotnar. Their sturdy bodies can burn it off at a great speed, so accepting a challenge to a drinking contest with Duergar is extremely foolish.
Wealthy Duergar also keep herds of goats for their milk and meat; unlike sheep and cows, goats can survive on brush rather than grass, and they are kept in caverns and fed on branches brought in during the winter. In the summer, they are herded up the mountains daily for forage; Duergar goatherds are well-armed and well-paid, as nearly all the skirmishes between them and the Dokkalfar have come from goat-poaching. Some of the richer dwarves have imported pigs, raised in underground caves on roots and food scraps. Flocks of tame pigeons are the most common livestock, flying out daily through vent-holes in the caves and returning to underground roosts where their droppings are added to the underground gardens. Some poorer Duergar use and eat bats in the same way; it is a sign of the rather tenuous peace with the Dokkalfar that one of the names for a livestock bat is also applied to their elven neighbors.
Accepting food and drink from the Duergar is generally safe; it is very rare that they would attempt to poison or ensorcel someone with food. That's much more of an Alfar danger. At worst, they might try to get you drunk and then chivvy you into agreeing to something that you wouldn't dream of accepting while sober. Since turning down their gifts - including liquor - is considered terribly rude, you might try investing in a magical tankard that turns all liquid to water as soon as it is poured in. Make it sturdy-looking but not that attractive, so that it won't flag their covetous interest; you might put a sloppily sentimental line about some fictitious ex-lover on it as an excuse for only drinking out of that one cup. Another possibility is to provide them with a small-to-moderate quantity of very excellent alcohol, which you will be excused from imbibing in order that there be more for them.
Gifts - or payment, if you wish to buy from them - should come in the form of raw materials for their craftwork, especially things they don't have access to - exotic gems and precious stones, pure precious metals, shells, raw or spun fiber, fine hardwoods. You can also bring them food and drink, especially bread, fruit, and sweets, or herbs and spices. If you trade, be prepared to bargain hard, but remember that they will not take less than they think their work is worth.


Supported by Rod Landreth and RavenKaldera

Svartalfheim & Nidavellir II Part

Residents: The Dark Alfar

We know little of the actual beginnings of the War, as neither side will speak of it, but we do know that a fleeing band of exiles came to Svartalfheim after being expelled from their home. Apparently they got no warm welcome in Asgard or Vanaheim; Jotunheim, Niflheim, and Muspellheim were Jotun-controlled and they did not wish to cohabit with giants and trolls; and moving in on Midgard would invoke the wrath of both the Aesir and the Vanir. As Helheim was only for the Dead, there was but one other choice, and they trooped to the realm of the Duergar and asked for shelter.
They were granted it, but the price was high. The Duergar extract a regular toll from the Dokkalfar as rent, and at first the Dokkalfar resented being tenant to another race which they considered inferior. By this time, however, the two races have come to the point of living together in reasonable peace and harmony. The Duergar outnumber the Dokkalfar many times over, and although the Dokkalfar control the trees on the surface, the Duergar are allies with most of the land-wights, including the spirits of the mountains themselves. Although they are canny and drive a hard bargain, they hold fairly to agreed-upon terms, and thus the Dokkalfar consider it in their best interests not to anger their hosts. There is considerable amicable trade between them, although they mostly keep to themselves, and even the occasional intermarrying.

Since their exile, the Svartalfar have formed their own society which is a near mirror-image of Ljossalfheim, complete with a ruling House. They are less exclusive than the Ljossalfar, though they're quite a bit scarier and tend to fight among themselves much more (the Ljossalfar prefer intrigue and backstabbing, thinking it more civilized). Many years of living alongside the Duergar, who are accustomed to having visitors and friends from other lands, has changed their attitudes towards outsiders, and while they're still very secretive, fiercely loyal to their own kind and not inclined to allow many into their lands, they don't look down on people from the other Nine Worlds, the way the light-elves do.

Niorun's Hall

Niorun is the little-known goddess of dreams. Unlike most of the other deities, she chooses to live in Svartalfheim, where she is honored and revered by both the Dark Elves and the Duergar. Of all the places in Svartalfheim that might be considered halls, Niorun's place is the only one where a traveler could claim sanctuary and be unopposed by residents. However, as soon as one leaves, one is on one's own again. There is also the fact that Niorun's hall is a strange place, and not altogether safe. It is filled with distorting mists of many colors, and one is often overcome by the compulsion to lay down and sleep. If you are a skilled lucid dreamer, her hall can be a good jumping-off point for prophetic dreamwork; if you aren't, it can be deadly.
Niorun herself can be seen as a veiled figure walking through the misty halls, her face almost never seen. If approached, she will speak in riddles and poetry, or say things that one later cannot remember. Offerings to her include colored glass balls and prisms that she can hang up in her hall to rotate and add to the ambience.

Svartalfheim & Nidavellir

Svartalfheim is a dual land, divided above and below by the two races that live there - the Duergar, who claim primary ownership of the world, but who choose instead to live underground in mountain caverns; and the Dark Alfar, who are immigrants and live partially above the earth and partially under it.

Some people call these immigrants the Dokkalfar or the Svartalfar.

When the worlds broke apart in the great deluge, the Duergar found refuge on a piece of Ymir's body, supposedly his lower spine, and excavated themselves a world. Although trees did grow on the surface of their dark, windy, spine-mountainous world, the Duergar hardly cared. Instead, they dug out amazing halls under the earth, carved with stunning artwork and architecture. When the Dokkalfar moved into the upper surface of the world, they and the Duergar struck a truce deal, with separate territories. Although the Dokkalfar do live in underground dwellings as well, theirs are generally surface caves and mounds, while the Duergar halls extend a mile or more under the surface. They call the Duergar-inhabited part of their world Nidavellir, as opposed to not-Nidavellir, which is what they call anything controlled by the Dokkalfar.

Time and Seasons:

Svartalfheim is said to have the longest year of any of the worlds, discounting Helheim where all time and seasons are artificially maintained by Hela. A Svartalfheim year is equal to several Midgard years. There is little variation between summer and winter, and nothing in the way of spring and fall. The only variations seem to be a greater propensity to rainfall (or snowfall in the higher altitudes) during winter, and more high winds during summer. Days, like years, are two to three times the length of days in other realms; the ratio depends on the realm in question. Even in summer, days are shorter than nights - maybe a little less than half the time - and in winter, the Sun barely shows Her face in Svartalfheim. The Dokkalfar have adapted wonderfully to an almost entirely nocturnal existence, and indeed find the extensive daylight of other worlds oppressive.
The Duergar venture out of their tunnels only during daylight, and most of their lives are spent underground in a world of cavern-cities, which they can make just as bright as they choose, so the outside time and season hardly matters to any of them. The are aware of the seasons, though, in a rather idealized way; when they picture them in carvings and art, they show the lush beauty of the seasons in other worlds such as Vanaheim, Asgard, or Jotunheim. Indeed, the Duergar live almost as if they are pretending they are somewhere else; only a few goatherds venture out during the summer, and a few others on pilgrimages to shrines.

Geography:

Svartalfheim is more difficult to get into. The dwarves operate by their own rules and have a great many more visitors and travelers going in and out of their realm than the elves do. Once you are inside the elf lands, moving about is actually easier than in Ljossalfheim, as the Svartalfar don't usually care where you go once you've earned their permission to enter in the first place. Svartalfheim is just as magically potent as Ljossalfheim, but it's also a colder, scarier and creepier place. The dark-elves are often malicious and untrustworthy, and few spirit-workers who wander into their realm want to hang around longer than necessary.

Supported by RavenKaldera and Elizabeth Vongvisith ( Spirit-Worker )