Nifl

Nifl, realm of Bikkjekaldt.

## Physical Properties of the Realm

Nifl is a harsh wilderness of barren tundra, mountainous crags and polar tundra. Concentric circles of terrain segment the realm, the edge most rolling hills of tundra belying the harsher journey to the centre. Passed the roaming herds of shaggy beasts in biting winds a large range of razor-sharp cliffs emerges, their rivers of ice feeding the frigid meanders of the outer tundra. Behind the mountains lies a maze of taiga stalked by a menagerie of beasts before it opens out onto a seemingly endless plain of pure white snow and sky. It is in the centre of this void that Bikk returns to a large hall filled with furs, food and roaring fires.

### Tesca Loputon

The outmost ring of Nifl, Tesca Loputon is also the most hospitable. Seemingly endless gently rolling hills of tundra are cut by wide shallow anabranching rivers that constantly shift position. The least cold of the rings, here short vegetation can grow. Large herds of herbivores follow an endless cyclical migration around this region.

#### Toivon Kyyneleet

Where the realms of Neiya and Bikkjekaldt bleed together one of the large braided rivers flowing from the glaciers in the Hampaiden Ja Kynten Metsä meanders into The Rivers. The raging torrent is the means of spreading cold into the neighbouring realm in return for the occasional lost lover.

### Kuoleman Vuoret

Following the rivers to their source, the hills quickly grow steep and barren. The slopes are soon vertical and slick with ice as the tundra is replaced by a double ring of mountain ranges. Between the peaks lies an ice cap from which many fingers of ice spread. It is these glaciers that cascade through the cols and passes, eroding the hardened stone before descending to feed the meltwaters that endlessly meander through Tesca Loputon.

### Hampaiden Ja Kynten Metsä

In the sheltered lee of the Kuoleman Vuoret inner range the deep snow in punctured by enormous conifers and pines. The evergreen expanse may seem sheltering after the exposed mountains but the forest is a labyrinth as entire groves can disappear in blizzards only to appear elsewhere. The shifting shadows cast by the trees and their laden branches provide many a hiding place for an array of creatures armed with fang, claw and talon.

### Tyhjiö

A barren expanse of blizzards and raging winds that contains Bikk's true home. This central region appears as a large white void as the horizon disappears, the ground becoming indistinguishable from the sky. With uneven terrain, it is easy to fall into a deep drift and get turned around by the wind and tricks of the light.

### Tulisija

The hearth is Bikk's hall, a large stone and ice structure. The single large room contains many roaring fires and a neverending celebration of all the things he covets: friendship, love and revelry. Choosing those who display the qualities he admires, the hall is filled with various species, the whispered sweet nothings, jovial feasting, long-awaited reunions and orgies are all sheltered here from the biting cold.

## Connections to Other Realms

### *The Thousand Rivers of Tears.*

Ever searching for love himself, Bikk revelled in the opportunity to abut his realm against that of Neiya. Where the realms of Neiya and Bikkjekaldt bleed together the Toivon Kyyneleet meanders into The Rivers. It is through this current that a cold wind blows, maintaining the chills of the neighbouring realm and occasionally freezing over. It is also a conduit for the occasional being to be swept into Nifl instead of toward Neiya's pagoda.