The Mighty Market

"Here, words are as weighty as warhammers, and oaths are forged in iron."

The Meginmarkaðr (pronounced MAY-gin-mark-ath-or, meaning "Might-Market") is the only place in Niflheimar where the warring Giant nations set aside their philosophies and draw their weapons only to barter. It is a sprawling, ancient marketplace built upon a massive, stable geothermal plateau, declared eternally neutral ground by a sacred pact sworn on the Oath-Anvil eons ago.

Location and Rules
The market is built within and around the Hvera Lækir ("Hot Springs"), a region where dozens of geothermal vents prevent frost accumulation and provide the immense, consistent heat required for giant-scale metalwork. The site is governed by three unbreakable laws, enforced by the mysterious and powerful Vörðr of the Anvil:

1. No Giant May Raise a Weapon in Anger. Violence is met with immediate and permanent exile from all future markets.

2. All Treaties are Honored. A deal struck at the Meginmarkaðr is binding, its sanctity guaranteed by the Vörðr.

3. Only Giants May Trade. Lítillfólk are strictly forbidden from participating directly, though their labor produces most of the wares.

The Heart of the Market
At the center of the Meginmarkaðr stands the Oath-Anvil, a block of black iron the size of a longhouse, said to have been cooled from the heart of a fallen star. All major contracts are signed here, with Giants pressing a heated, newly forged item against the Anvil to seal their pact. It is believed that breaking an oath made here brings a supernatural curse of brittle metal and failing warmth.

The Wares of Titans
The market is a spectacle of colossal commerce. Giants do not trade in coins, but in goods, services, and oaths of alliance.

• From the Stone-Shield Commonwealth: Master-crafted armor plates, fortress-grade masonry, and rune-inscribed support beams.

• From the Frost-Fang Clans: Raw materials—entire logs from ironwood trees, unrefined ore blocks, and pelts from massive frost beasts large enough to carpet a great hall.

• From the Ashen Crest Dynasty: Advanced technology—steam-powered siege components, precision gears, and volatile "Fire-Spire" crystals that store geothermal energy.

• From the Sun-Splinter Throne: Objects of beauty and magic—polished Sun-Splinter lenses, enchanted giant-scale silks, and exquisite, if impractical, weapons that are as much art as armament.

• From the Free-Soul Collective: Specialized goods—massive, resilient sails for Skyships, expertly tanned leathers, and rare herbs grown in their hidden, volcanic greenhouses.

A Necessary Truce
The Meginmarkaðr is the fragile linchpin that prevents total war. It is where the Stone-Shield dwarves acquire the raw timber they lack, where the Frost-Fang clans obtain the advanced weapons they cannot build, and where the Sun-Splinter elves secretly trade for the sturdy infrastructure needed to maintain their fragile Spire. It is a place of grudging respect, simmering tension, and the stark realization that even titans cannot survive alone in the endless winter.