The city at the surface level is a circle sextisected into roughly wedge-shaped districts. Each district is associated with one of the six arcane Houses and the districts are named as such.

Each of the roughly wedge shaped districts begins at the outer rung of the city where they touch two adjacent gates on either side and converge inwards. All the districts come together at the city's center around the Council Spire. At the heart of each district lies the respective House's citadel, as well as the greatest concentration of mages, thematic shops, shows, and so forth.

Hovering above the city are a series of floating isles that serve as the upper tiers of Nodd. First are the isles of the Canopy with the Crown even higher still, essentially the apex of Nodd's verticality. The higher one goes the more exclusive the access and the more influential, powerful, rich, or otherwise remarkable the denizens become.

In the other direction, beneath Nodd's street level, is the Underbelly. The Underbelly comprises four subterranean levels that make up what could be seen as Nodd's seedier portion, though the districts often offer just as much danger as the Underbelly does.

The area between the districts is not a rigid, straight line that designates House territory but instead a vague, meandering boundary of no real definition. The outermost ring of the city, including the gates, is often considered to be unaffiliated.