Kalashtar
The kalashtar are a union of two races in one. One half are the original kalashtar, an isolated culture of humans from the island of Kalash in the Marenostra Sea. The other are the souls of the [Elan(species)]s, a race of psionic humanoids who used to inhabit Kalash.
The link between elan and kalashtar is a peculiar one. The elans inhabit their kalashtar hosts' subconscious, and cannot communicate with them directly outside of dreams or other altered states of consciousness. But this bond shapes the kalashtar on a deep level; when they dream, they experience the memories of their elan spirit, and in wakefulness, they can sometimes intuitively sense what their elan is feeling. Their bond also gives the kalashtar limited psionic abilities, and protects them in turn from psychic attacks. The elans push the kalashtar towards virtue and goodness.
The link between elan and kalashtar is a peculiar one. The elans inhabit their kalashtar hosts' subconscious, and cannot communicate with them directly outside of dreams or other altered states of consciousness. But this bond shapes the kalashtar on a deep level; when they dream, they experience the memories of their elan spirit, and in wakefulness, they can sometimes intuitively sense what their elan is feeling. Their bond also gives the kalashtar limited psionic abilities, and protects them in turn from psychic attacks. The elans push the kalashtar towards virtue and goodness.
Additional Information
Facial characteristics
Kalashtar have symmetrical, slightly angular faces. Their hair is usually white or silver. Their eyes are a vibrant gold, and sometimes glow in moments of intense focus or high emotion, or when channeling their quori's psionic abilities.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Traditional kalashtar names combine a personal prefix with the name of the individual's elan spirit. The mother's elan identifies the child's elan to its mother shortly before birth, and this is used to create their name. Their prefix may be invented on the spot by the parents, or it may be inherited from a friend or relative.
Major Organizations
Some kalashtar hold their distant ancestors who defeated Zlorthishen in particularly high regard, or are influenced by an elan spirit who used to be a warrior in life. These kalashtar choose to combat aberrations in a more direct manner as paladins, clerics, monks, or druids. Most of them are members of an organization that their race founded: the [Cosmic Mind(organization)].
Major Language Groups and Dialects
The kalashtar are notable for being the only remaining speakers of Elan, which they all know virtually from birth. They have fully adopted the Elan language as a way to carry on the other civilization in spirit. Elan is a language descended from Reman and Elvish, with a written form based on ideograms similar to Khemian. The ideograms can be imprinted with the writer's thoughts and feelings to convey greater depth and nuance of meaning, so while non-psionic creatures can learn to read it as it's written, they can't fully appreciate its subtleties.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
Most kalashtar adhere to a philosophy called the Path of Light, a sect dedicated mainly to Lux and Umbra. They lead a monastic lifestyle, meditating and striving to live virtuously to grow closer with their elan spirits. This protects them from the creeping influence of the aboleths and helps them further develop their abilities. It also serves to quell the internal conflicts that are inherent to having two different beings inhabiting the same mind.
This is enough for most, but some choose to take up a more proactive role by becoming clerics, paladins, or other opponents of the Abolethic Sovereignty.
This is enough for most, but some choose to take up a more proactive role by becoming clerics, paladins, or other opponents of the Abolethic Sovereignty.
History
The history of the kalashtar begins with the history of the elans, the previous culture to inhabit the island of Kalash. They were a small but influential nation, the very first humanoids to unlock their psionic abilities. But unbeknownst to them, Kalash (known to them as Elanari) used to be a major center of the Abolethic Sovereignty in the early days of the world; the Draconic Dominions had razed the island to the ground thousands of years earlier, but one surviving aboleth remained hidden in hibernation deep beneath Elanari. When the elans discovered psionics, the sleeping aboleth, Zlorthishen, sensed this and began to stir. This caused a conflict that pitted the elans against their own friends and family who were enslaved by the aboleth. Ultimately, the remaining sane elans had to resort to the unthinkable: they called upon powerful ancient magic to detonate the dormant volcano at the center of the island, killing both themselves and the enthralled. Their entire civilization was wiped out in minutes with an explosion that was heard for hundreds of miles, swallowed up in ash and brimstone. But the elans, including those who had been enthralled, clung to the material plane as disembodied souls to watch over Elanari and prevent the same thing from happening to any other people.
A thousand years later, the story of the elans faded into myth, and another group of humans came to inhabit the island. They named it Kalash, and they called themselves the kalashtar ("people of Kalash"). The elans silently watched over them as they built a new civilization atop the ruins of their cities. When the growth of the kalashtar population caused the sleeping aboleth to stir again, the elans saw that it was time to move, and they made contact with the kalashtar through their dreams to warn them... just as Zlorthishen started to awaken again. The elans made a pact with the kalashtar: by binding their souls to those of the elans, they would gain the power to defend themselves against the rising threat. The elans would grant the kalashtar some of their psionic abilities and shield them from the aboleth's enthrallment, while the kalashtar would finally give the elans a way to act upon the physical world again. Not all kalashtar took the bargain, but only those who did would survive the coming war. The rest were enslaved just as the elans predicted, and forced to fight against their own people. But this time, with the help of their elan spirits, the kalashtar prevailed. They took the fight all the way into the forgotten catacombs beneath the island and slew Zlorthishen in its slimy lair.
To this day, every kalashtar carries within them an elan spirit. The two souls will spend their lives trying to bring themselves into greater harmony with each other, mainly through aesceticism and meditation. But while they now live in relative peace, the kalashtar are forever harried by agents of the Abolethic Sovereignty. The aboleths despise them, both for defeating one of their greatest elders and for being the first race to ever thwart them so completely. For the most part, kalashtar prefer to remain on their island, or more rarely within the fortified monasteries that they have founded across Io. Some have traveled as far as Vesperia, however, mostly as members of some of the more proactive factions of their culture.
A thousand years later, the story of the elans faded into myth, and another group of humans came to inhabit the island. They named it Kalash, and they called themselves the kalashtar ("people of Kalash"). The elans silently watched over them as they built a new civilization atop the ruins of their cities. When the growth of the kalashtar population caused the sleeping aboleth to stir again, the elans saw that it was time to move, and they made contact with the kalashtar through their dreams to warn them... just as Zlorthishen started to awaken again. The elans made a pact with the kalashtar: by binding their souls to those of the elans, they would gain the power to defend themselves against the rising threat. The elans would grant the kalashtar some of their psionic abilities and shield them from the aboleth's enthrallment, while the kalashtar would finally give the elans a way to act upon the physical world again. Not all kalashtar took the bargain, but only those who did would survive the coming war. The rest were enslaved just as the elans predicted, and forced to fight against their own people. But this time, with the help of their elan spirits, the kalashtar prevailed. They took the fight all the way into the forgotten catacombs beneath the island and slew Zlorthishen in its slimy lair.
To this day, every kalashtar carries within them an elan spirit. The two souls will spend their lives trying to bring themselves into greater harmony with each other, mainly through aesceticism and meditation. But while they now live in relative peace, the kalashtar are forever harried by agents of the Abolethic Sovereignty. The aboleths despise them, both for defeating one of their greatest elders and for being the first race to ever thwart them so completely. For the most part, kalashtar prefer to remain on their island, or more rarely within the fortified monasteries that they have founded across Io. Some have traveled as far as Vesperia, however, mostly as members of some of the more proactive factions of their culture.
Comments