Alfur

The Alfur or Alfurian are a species of aliens that rule over the Humans of Talamh.

Biology
The Alfur were a humanoid species not too dissimilar to humanity, though save for a few differences, such as their translucent skin, elongated ears, and gold or silver eyes that were twice the size of a Human. Female were said to possess sharper cheekbones than males. Alfur were noted to be more durable compared to Humans, though they usually preferred environments with higher temperatures and were able to find bathing in boiling water to be enjoyable. However they disliked the cold and mostly established their settlements around the equator of Talamh. Its also hinted that Alfur possess a pair of hearts.

History
The Alfur were a spacefaring race in the distant past that evolved to consume Light. During their era they ruled much of the known universe thanks to their mastery of Light, conquering and destroying many civilizations in their wake.

When humanity began to explore the galaxies, the two races came in conflict at a remote distant human colony. Humanity at the time were ignorant of the power of Light, but the Alfur having met many species found humans to be unique in that they could not only manipulate Light but produce it. They saw humanity as a new prey turning their attention into consuming these Lightmakers. Over time the Alfur became synonymous with the myth of vampires as those drained of their Light were still alive, yet were more akin to the walking dead.

The time of the Alfur's dominance ended when humans began to exploit their Light abilities, some even gaining longevity that lasted centuries. Using their newfound gifts the humans formed the Federation, a totalitarian state based on human supremacy and the conquest of all alien life.

Thousands of years ago a group refugee Alfur came to the Human world of Talamh. At the time Humans were at the development of the medieval and thus were easily conquered by the alien invaders.

A Human rebellion had attempted to plot a rebellion against the Alfur. The resistance raided what appeared to be an Alfur temple in hopes of finding a powerful weapon that would defeat the aliens, but they were betrayed by Jasmine Holt a member of the resistance which saw the total dissolution of the Human uprising.

Jasmine Holt vanished shortly afterwards, marking her as a villain and traitor to all humanity on Talamh. Due to her actions, her family were regarded as pariahs by majority of the Humans. Her son Rydian Holt earned much of the brunt of abuse by his fellow Humans and developed a fierce hatred of the Alfur.

Rydian was eventually sentenced to the gladiator pits to fight and die with the rest of the violent undesirables. Though his tenure there allowed him to devise a way to free himself of the Manus reader that stunted his Light abilities and also bring a feline cat under his thrall. Though having great power it was only temporary as the Light would eventually burn him out. Rydian believing that he needed to find the truth of what really happened to his mother elicit the aid of a Alfur sympathizer named Serena Levaaton, daughter of one of the Alfurian princes who believed that there was a way to coexist with Humans as equals rather than servants.

Through her help, Rydian launched a rebellion in the gladiator pits that distracted the Alfurian authorities, by showing the gladiators how to free themselves of the Manus and fight them on equal foot with their alien dictators. The distraction served to allow Rydian, his comrade Hazel and Serena to locate the installation that Jasmine Holt discovered.

The installation though turned not to be what the Human rebels or their Alfurian turncoat expected. Rather than a weapon it was a communication station that could connect Talamh to the wider universe. Though the wider universe was revealed to be a oppressive one, ruled by mercilessly and power-hungry humanity that had enslaved other intelligent races with their Light abilities and beast thralls. By some cosmic grace the world of Talamh was shielded from the sensors and Light abilities of humanity’s empire through a local phenomenon called the Haze.

The Human population of Talamh were in fact descendants of a group of separatists that plotted to create their own empire. They brought with them their own Alfurian slaves and settled Talamh.

Though the world was shrouded from discovery by the Haze, it had unforeseen side effects over the Human settlers. Under the influence of the Haze, the Human settlers grew made, being overwhelmed by their own Light, causing them to turn feral and devolved into the very animals that they were. Abandoning all civilized life, the Humans retreated into the jungles becoming primitive simian creatures.

Left to their own devices, the Alfur free of their Human masters, finally found themselves in charge of their own destiny. However as Humans were a necessary source of Light which they required and finding it too cruel to abandon the Humans in the wild, the Alfur used the remaining technology to re-uplift the descendants of their Human master, though they created a society where the Alfur reigned as masters.

Faced with this truth, Rydian could not bring himself to hurt or hate the Alfur as his ancestors treatment of the Alfur and his people's current treatment was justified. Hazel blinded by her Human hatred did not agree but instead chose to attack, which resulted in overloading the installation. In doing so the Haze was momentarily disrupted causing it to finally be seen by the Human empire who began to dispatch ships to conquer Talamh.

A year later after Talamh was conquered, the Alfur and humans saw a reversal of fortune, with the humans becoming the new master and the Alfur either being killed or reduced to slaves. Hazel once a member of the resistance became Queen Hawk, taking joy in her new position of authority to torment the Alfur, though the victory was hollow as both races found themselves under the foot of the tyranny of the Federation.

Rydian who was taken off world found his way back, his explorations beyond Talamh opened his eyes of the cruelty of his kind. Seeing that no one was truly worthy to wield the Light, he enacted a plan to restore harmony to not just his world but the universe. Upon returning to his home planet, Rydian rescued Serena and Aiden from the gladiators pits to obtain their aid in restoring the Haze over Talamh that way it would free the Federation's presence and make it an undesirable world. However knowing it would only be a temporary measure to protect his world, Rydian took his plan a step further by having Aiden amply the signal of the Haze to be spread across the universe, cutting humanity off from the Light, which doing so would condemn millions to death under the corrosive Haze, Rydian disseminated schematics of the Manus-Readers which would protect the few who would willingly give up the Light to survivor. After the Haze went universal, it is assumed that the Federation fell after losing their greatest weapon and its territories and races it oppressed were freed.

Culture
The Alfur were a technologically advanced species that utilized Light in all forms of their culture.

Manus were multipurpose implants that were fueled by Light on Talamh. They were a technology that had a variety of civilian and battlefield tasks, such as illumination, global positioning and even physical enhancement. Though the last feature was only possible for the Alfur.

More noteworthy is their ability to harness an energy called Light that was supposedly the source of all life in the universe. Said energy is harnessed via implants that enable them to manipulate it as a power source to enhance their technology and even their biology. Their blood differed in color to Humans as instead of red it was sapphire.

Alfur were said to not possess a religion and believed that cooperation and not conflict was the key behavioral pattern in their evolution.

Relationship With Humanity
Contrary to the nefarious image Humans paint the Alfur as the oppressors of their world, humanity in truth owed the Alfur much. It was the alien visitors who had uplifted humanity from mere savage primates upon seeing their potential in producing Light to serve as a source of sustenance. And through the Manus the Alfur managed to re-civilize the Humans. Though it mattered little as Humans Alfur saw Humans and their treatment of fellow sentient to be vulgar and self-serving, and only filled with instinctive violence and aggression.

The so-called oppression the Humans of Talamh experienced was not committed by the Talamh, who in fact prefer to rule the Humans at a distance, instead it was the Human collaborators who worked with the Alfur that committed the atrocities that kept their own people in check.

Given their own enslavement by humanity, the Alfur elders knew Humans were irrevocably irredeemable as Humans routinely commit acts of physical aggression against fellow members of their species. Thus for the princes that knew the truth, Humans were little more than animals. Traits such as aggression, criminal behavior, and large size were attributed to be dangerous and thus any Humans under these categories were sent to gladiator arenas to vent out their aggression away from the other law-abiding Humans.

In the distant past, the Aflur were a race that originally ruled the wider universe. Using their ability to consume Light from other beings, they came into conflict with early humanity when the younger species started making forays in exploring the wider universe. Humans at the time were ignorant of the power of Light until the Alfur made them aware. Humans were literal Lightmakers that caused the ancient Alfur to target humanity as a species suitable to be raised like cattle. Those who were drained of their light by the Alfur, found that while they still lived, were utterly drained of their souls making the victims akin to the living dead. Due to this racial enmity, humanity upon mastering the power of Light subjugated the Alfur through sheer brutal force, condemning their former oppressors into slaves and beasts of burden.

Coupling between humans and Alfur were not uncommon. Though mostly were under duress by their human masters. No unions were successful of producing hybrids, however a single instance shown that it was possible for the two species to interbreed. The hybrid though was outwardly Alfur with no physical differences, psychologically though they were more akin to humans in emotions and erratic bloodlust.