Niurin Scaa

Niurin Scaa ("Shadow Nether") was the kingdom of the Arak hidden far beneath the surface of the land of Arak. It is unclear whether this was its proper name or one affixed to it by the human, surface dwelling Arakians. It was from this kingdom that the sneeuane feallagh ("gossamer folk") would swarm up to devour the souls of mortal men, or so the Arakians believed.

Niurin Scaa was subject to a strange temporal fugue that dwarves and gnomes, and Arakians themselves encountered as they plumbed the depths. A miner might spend a week underground only to return to the surface and discover that only a day had passed. It is unknown where and at what depth the kingdom lay. The temporal fugue seemed to be pervasive under the principle peaks of Arak at the very least. The infamous Lake Temporus, fed by meltwaters from Mount Nirka but itself lying outside of Arak, was subject to an even stranger alteration of time.

In 740 BC as part of the Great Upheaval, Niurin Scaa and the Arak were dragged to the southwest by Gwydion the Sorcerer-Fiend. The land of Arak ceased to be and the Land of the Mists tore open beyond Tepest. The Shadow Rift, sealed by roiling black mist, became the new land and kingdom of the Arak. It is unknown whether time now flows normally beneath the mountains of former Arak and at Lake Temporous. If not, perhaps something of Niurin Scaa remains to be found and plundered.

Gaz v 87,90-91