Alon Dradrien

The Alon Dradrien — known to humans as the Iron Folk and occasionally by their ancient name Q Zahrai — are closely related to the Karshak Alon and visually almost indistinguishable from them. The clearest physical marker is hair: Dradrien typically have black, grey, or golden-blond hair, in contrast to the red and brown shades common to the Karshak Alon. The two species can interbreed, but offspring are almost always sterile.

Historically, the Alon Dradrien served as a ruling minority over the more numerous Karshak Alon clans, governing underground colonies and mountain kingdoms. This arrangement was never entirely comfortable; Karshak clans periodically rebelled, founding their own independent kingdoms rather than remain under Dradrien authority.

The Dradrien are masters of ironwork and metallurgy, a craft they guard with extraordinary pride. Their smiths consider themselves without peer — and tend to view the work of humans, Malkas Alon woodworkers, and even the Karshak stonemasons as charming amateur efforts by comparison. As one Dradrien smith put it, watching human craftsmen: like children making mud pies.

The gurvani uprising drove the Dradrien deep underground and shattered what remained of their surface presence. By the time of the Spellmonger series, they are near-mythic to most humans — their mountain kingdoms rumoured but rarely seen. A small colony of four Dradrien in Vanador represents one of the few visible communities of the Iron Folk remaining in the world.