Espiègle

Espiègle is the capital of the Shadar-kai's territory. Located on the northern side of the equator, like all of the Shadar-kai's territory it rests in the shadows of the rings. Espiègle was the first settlement of the Shadar-kai, founded over five thousand years ago, the Elves that found themselves in the northern shade of the rings were transfixed by the strange lands and as they settled in the shadows they were changed overtime to become the Shadar-kai. Early on in their development the Shadar-kai and Drow were able to agree on where their borders were by the position of the rings overhead, with a no-mans land in the darkest part directly under the rings.

The Elves of Espiègle first made their homes and buildings out of stone, there were lots of mundane quarries to be mined but a tradition that was formed in these early days that continues is that the lintel be carved from a peace of fallen ring. The Shadar-kai of old spoke of the god Stritzaa who lives in the rings of Savhroll and would send their blessing in the fallen meteorites so for a family to have Stritzaa's blessing they needed to build from those blessed stones. Though the Drow of Capricieux also worship Stritzaa, the Shadar-kai are far more spiritual. Because of their dedication to the Elven gods, when the High Elves marched to expand their empire, the high priests met with Emperor Lelrian Pabanise and convinced them not to bring their war to the shadow lands. In the agreement the Drown and Shadar-kai would not interfere with the war effort. So Espiègle would continue to grow and the Shadar-kai spread out to build more villages in their territory with Espiègle serving as their capital.

Espiègle would come to be run by the high priests of Stritzaa; to be chosen as high priest meant directly receiving their blessings and being worthy enough to survive.