Neftis
Type: Settlement — Shadar-Kai City Location: The Shadowfell / Letherna; northeast of the Church of Sorrow; at the base of the mountain on which the Fortress of Memories sits Status: Inhabited — the party visited in Session 039 Also indexed as: Shadar-Kai Settlement (near Letherna)
Description
A city of obsidian stone with silver veins wound through the walls, streets that spiral upward around the mountain's base, and a permanent twilight cast by glaciers in the mountains above — their ice reflects a faint blue light that makes it impossible to tell what time it is. The whole city organizes itself around the Temple of Nine Feathers at its heart, the way harbors organize themselves around the sea.
Old. Very settled. The kind of place where every custom has a reason that stopped needing explanation centuries ago.
The city is the home settlement of the Shadar-Kai — elves who followed the Raven Queen in her mortal life, were banished to the Shadowfell when she was betrayed and fell, and have been reincarnating here ever since. The Shadowfell holds their souls, so they return — endlessly, across generations — in new bodies, with memories of previous lives accessible in fragments. Everyone has been everyone else's something.
Ubys grew up here. Or has grown up here across many incarnations. The city recognized the current version of him the moment he stepped into the Shadowfell air — his features adjusted subtly, as though the plane had been waiting for this form.
What the Party Knows
Architecture: Obsidian and silver-veined stone. Streets wind upward. Permanent blue glacier-twilight. The Temple of Nine Feathers dominates the skyline — sharp-spired, angular, the organizing center of everything.
Culture: Communal, calm, and certain of itself. Shadar-Kai do not grieve death or fear it the way mortals do — they reincarnate here, and everyone in the city has enough shared history across lifetimes to make loss feel different. The community's emotional register runs quieter than the Material Plane. Not cold. Settled.
The Raven Queen's Relationship to Neftis: Her people. Her city. She visits — or at least she arrived in Session 039, dramatically, through a window's worth of ravens. The city's relationship to her is devotional but practical; she is not distant here the way she might feel to Material Plane worshippers.
The Nine: The temple is served by the Nine — a body of nine figures, each associated with an animal or domain. In Session 039, the party met:
- Ubys — now confirmed as one of the Nine (his domain and animal not yet established on-screen)
- Hauris — the falcon; watches souls; conducts the soul-trace ceremony
- Wepa — the wolf; oversees communal rites
- Hoth — the archivist; manages the temple library and hosts formal meetings
- Bast — the cat; a priestess; Ubys's wife in this incarnation
The Missing Soul: One of the Nightweavers — Neftis's scouts — went out on a mission in Letherna and did not return correctly. Their soul container is on the wall of the temple, present but vacated — not damaged, not destroyed. Just empty. This is deeply unusual and alarming to the Nine.
The Twilight Library: Somewhere in the city. Contains Bahamut's records. The party has not located it yet as of session-end.
The Forge: Attached to the Temple of Nine Feathers. The Nine operate it; it accepts a weapon, a magic item, and a significant memory as sacrifice, and makes something from them. Multiple party members have indicated interest but the forge has not yet been used.
Clan Greyflame operates out of Neftis — or is at least hosted here. Griggen, a dwarf elder of Clan Greyflame, was present in the temple library. His clan has been tracking the Blight across worlds; they have a clan hall somewhere in or near Neftis that Griggen has opened as an invitation to the party.
Key Locations
- Temple of Nine Feathers — the city's center; the Nine's seat; contains the soul-trace ceremony disc, the wall of soul containers, the forge, and the library where Griggen met the party
- The Twilight Library — somewhere in the city; holds Bahamut's records; not yet located
- Fortress of Memories — above the city, up the mountain trail; the Raven Queen's seat in Letherna; the party has not gone up yet