Alka Alon

The Alka Alon are one of the oldest sapient races on Callidore, having settled the world after receiving permission from the Vundel — the Sea Folk — who held stewardship of the land. Their original home was Alonaral, and it was from there that most of their Kindreds emigrated to Callidore, though several chose to remain behind.

Long-lived to a degree that makes human lifespans feel like seasons, the Alka Alon possess a profound connection to the Magosphere — the arcane field that permeates Callidore. Their magic takes the form of songspells: complex vocal harmonics that draw on and direct arcane power. Each Kindred is defined by a different set of Songs, from the Songs of life and growth commanded by the Avalanti to the Songs of craft and creation of the Versaroti.

The Alka Alon possess two distinct physical forms. Their original body is tall, angular, and powerfully built — the warrior form they used during the ancient Warring States period, with a strong direct connection to the Magosphere. Over time, many adopted a second, more compact and humanlike form known colloquially as the Tera Alon guise, modelled broadly on human physiology. While the Tera Alon form sacrifices some raw arcane power, it allows far easier interaction with humanity and remains formidably capable of songspell casting.

Alka Alon society operates on a social gestalt — a shared, semi-collective awareness that binds communities together. Prolonged isolation, particularly in magic-dead regions like the Jevolar wastes, can have severe psychological effects on their kind, driving weaker-minded individuals toward madness. This dependency on the shared arcane field makes the Jevolar one of the few environments genuinely hostile to them.

Their political structure is complex and ancient: a Council governs much of their affairs, with Emissaries serving as liaisons to humanity and other races. A renegade faction known as the Enshadowed rejects the Council and its modern accommodations with humanity, seeking to return to a rigid hierarchy in which the other Alon subspecies serve as little more than slaves. Lilastien, herself an Alka Alon of centuries of experience, summarises her people with characteristic bluntness: "The Alka Alon have presented cowardly retreat as subtle wisdom."