Nyssavren

A cold and elegant kingdom built on arcane precision, crystalline wealth, and centuries of ritual. Its people are few, its mountains harsh, and its secrets deep.

The Kingdom of Ice and Memory (North)

Primordial: Selnara, The Veilshard – A crystalline wraith queen entombed in the polar caverns of Thalos’ Reach. Her domain is dreams and mirrors, and she weaves forgetfulness into blizzards. Sealing her cost Caelvaris its first king.
Capital: Thessryn – A glittering city of ice-crystal spires, buried within a glacial valley where twilight lasts for months. The people whisper of a mirror beneath the throne—the Shardgate—which reflects not one's image, but their true past.
Culture: Stoic and secretive, the Nyssari revere memory and legacy. Their art is carved in ice, their language laced with metaphor. Dreamwalking and ancestral communion are common among spiritual leaders.
Current Struggles: An unnatural fog has settled across the land, and some citizens are forgetting who they are—whole identities erased. Ice beasts born from broken reflections prowl the dark.
Strengths: Control of Arcanite, the world’s most refined and stable magic-conductive crystal. Also unmatched in chronomagic, memory-magic, and cold-weather engineering.
Exports: Magic crystals, enchanted lenses, memory vaults, frost-forged tools, dream-ink (used in spellwriting and scrying).
Imports: Aether cores (from Vhar-Khazel), volcanic stone and obsidian (from Caelvaris), plant-based alchemical solvents (from Sylvaraeth).

Key Diplomatic Role: Oversees the Crystal Concord, regulating magical crystal usage to prevent destabilization and magic toxicity.

Cities

Thessryn – The capital city and heart of the crystal lattice that maintains Selnara’s seal.
Mirehold Bastion – A border fortress built from mirrorsteel and cold crystal, half-buried in glacial ice.
Halvyr’s Crest – A mountaintop observatory town that records celestial patterns and arcane weather.
Crystelmere – A lakeside city where ice magic and reflection rituals are daily practice.
Dorthen Hold – A crystal-mining town with strict surveillance and an underground black market.

Non-Player Characters

Ruling Elite of Nyssavren

The nation is ruled by a council known as the Glacial Synod, led by a monarch whose authority is bound to the magical lattice that protects the seal beneath their capital, Thessryn. Their leadership is shaped by tradition, sacrifice, and the unyielding frost of Selnara’s influence.

Queen Yrissa Thalnieve – The Diamond Regent

Title: Glacial Monarch of Nyssavren
Background: Ascended after the mysterious death of her older brother, she wears both crown and burden with frozen grace. Chosen by the Crystalline Synod and bound to Selnara’s lattice through the Rite of the Shardveil.
Personality: Icy, meticulous, and fiercely protective of Nyssavren’s independence. Hides deep weariness under regal composure.

Archmagister Caldrex Myrinholt – The Crystal Artisan

Title: Head of the Arcane Order of Aether-Crystalmancy
Background: Master of Nyssavren’s magical innovation, he designed the nation's crystal-forging techniques that power magitek and seal relics. An elder mage who has turned more philosophical with age.
Personality: Stern, academic, endlessly curious. Speaks in precise, measured language.

Marshal Velianne Iskar – Shield of the Silence

Title: Commander of the Northern Bastion and Keeper of the Glacial Guard
Background: A famed general and protector of Nyssavren’s border cities. Revered as a military savior during a previous border conflict with Vhar-Khazel.
Personality: Stoic, pragmatic, a believer in necessary sacrifice. Keeps her emotions tightly leashed.

Notable NPCs of Nyssavren

Theryn Valehart – The Echoborne

Title: Speaker for the Frost-Echo Caves
Background: Born in a remote glacial cavern where the wind itself carries voices from deep beneath the ice. Believed to be “touched” by Selnara, Theryn now serves as a hermitic oracle.
Personality: Quiet, unsettling, and highly perceptive. Rarely uses personal pronouns.

Master Verel Darsith – Crystalwright and Relic Broker

Title: Head of Nyssavren’s Trade Embassy in Vhar-Khazel
Background: A cunning, silk-robed diplomat and shrewd merchant who handles crystal exports and manages the state’s relations with foreign powers.
Personality: Charming, sharp-eyed, and always three steps ahead. Deals in favors as much as goods.

Kaela Virelle – Watcher of the Fractured Star

Title: Independent Arcanologist and Scholar of Celestial Harmonics
Background: Once a promising Synod scholar, she was expelled for publishing her findings on “resonant convergence”—a theory suggesting the seals across the continent are synchronized.
Personality: Brilliant, eccentric, and slightly paranoid. Obsessively watches the stars for patterns.