Quick Facts
Government - Council
Religion - Coven of the Ancients
Ethnicity - Nithi
Pinterest board - Nitheme
Nitheme is a sprawling and loose nation of magefolk starting at the foot of the Sun Mountains in the south of Tekeburi, and blending at the edges with the lands of Heban and Elys.
Nitheme is a loose government, as it is hard to keep track of citizens who spend years away from home. Individual cities are typically theocratic in governance, but each city can choose to govern themselves however they want. Portalists keep cities in close contact despite wide distances in between, and every year the citizens of each city choose five representatives to go to an inter-city council. Often, at these councils, Elysian cities and Hebanic tribes near the borders of Nitheme are allowed to send their own representatives, though Heban usually sends none.
Nitheme is home to a variety of vagabonds, wanderers, and exiles looking for a home. The loose communities draw people in, and as such, their cities follow similarly loose and free planning. Foreigners often say their cities are a mess to navigate, since buildings keep getting added on to and they follow the natural landscape, meaning that their streets, even if planned, weave around the landscape in random patterns.
The culture of Nitheme values self-sufficiency and community, taking pride in those who can recognize the need for both when they arise. Many Nithi mages are wandering practicioners of healing and protection, and return to Nitheme when they are old or when they need to rest from their travels. Traditionally, the age of one's first journey is around age 22, and marks their transition into adulthood.
The Nithi architecture most people think of utilizes the cooling effect of underground space, along with large, grand structures. Citizens live in apartments surrounding stepwells, three or four levels deep, with the lowest level of rooms being one or two levels above the average water level. Since most Nithi people live alone or in small family groups and spend most of their time out of the house, these apartments are quite small, containing enough room for a bed, a small table or desk, and storage. Communal kitchens are found in most apartments, as well as portable kitchens set up around the lower parts of the well at night for people to spend time together. The highest level of apartments are reserved for the elderly and disabled, and in many apartments they will have ramps leading to the surface from the top level. The resources from the creation of the well such as sandstone and mud are used in the construction of aboveground communal structures, such as temples, libraries, and meeting halls.
Both structures are recognizable by their use of horseshoe arches, brighly painted designs, level, geometric surfaces, and intricate tilework on floors.
Nithi clothing draws influence from the clothing of Heban, Elys, and Marisen, the last of which Nitheme has frequent contact with through portals and ambassador visits. There is an emphasis on showing one's magical prowess and any scars gained through use of magic. The traditional clothing consists of loose linen pants, left untied at the ankles unlike Elysian tradition, a long, narrow rectangle of fabric draped over the shoulders and tied at the waist with a belt, and a number of accessories including bracelets and elaborate headdresses made of bent reeds and woven with feathers and beads.
The people of Nitheme are sukhets and magefolk, often a combination of the two. Magic is prevalent here, as it is the other hub of magic besides Marisen, which it is connected to via portalists.