Location from Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams
Mask of Tears — the Norn city carved inside a mountain, its gates never breached, its queen ten thousand years old, and its hatred of the mortal world as cold and patient as the stone it's built from.
Nakkiga is the Norn answer to lost Asu'a — not a replacement but a retreat, a fortress-city built for a people who decided the outside world had forfeited its right to exist. It houses Hikeda'ya of all castes and their mortal slaves. Mortal religions are banned with harsh punishment. The Chamber of the Well contains the Breathing Harp, a Master Witness, and the mountain was originally a dormant volcano. The city has never been breached by force. Its gates have never been broken by mortal or immortal — anyone who entered had to be welcomed by its citizens. This isn't just a defensive boast; it's a statement of philosophy. Nakkiga exists behind its walls the way Utuk'ku exists behind her silver mask: sealed, grieving, and more dangerous for the containment.
A city inside a mountain — Stormspike rises above the Nornfells like a fang, and Nakkiga occupies its hollowed interior. The great gate stands ten times the height of a man, ancient witchwood with massive bronze hinges the color of dying grass. Inside, the city descends in tiers — vast caverns lit by phosphorescent fungi and cold-burning Norn lights, geometric architecture of black stone and pale crystal. Lake Rumiya sits beside the mountain. The architecture is beautiful in the way a tomb is beautiful.
Also known as: Nakkiga, Stormspike, Ur-Nakkiga, Mask of Tears