Ardoni

„Few of these mysteries, however, have attracted such fascination as the Ardoni species, for which the land shares its name.”

— Eleventh Wall of Time^↑

The Ardoni (indecl.) are a well-known species in Ardonia and the most significant species in Songs of War. They mainly reside in the Ardoni provinces, with each clan having its own territory.

Characteristics

All Ardoni are humanoid and made of what appears to be a dark, stone-like material, with markings, eyes, and horns/ears that glow in the respective color of their clan. Each Ardoni possesses a unique pattern of markings all over their body that is inherited from one of their parents. Especially prestigious Ardoni are referred to with the prefix "Ky'." When an Ardoni dies, they lose color in their body, and their Song, if they were bound to any, materializes next to them. As per custom, the masters light the graves of the dead so that their markings keep shining on. Male Ardoni have a single glowing pixel on the front of their ears/horns, females have three, as well as larger eyes.

Compared to other races, they need to eat, drink and sleep, similar to humans or Felinas, although Ardoni are noticeably taller than them. However, they are shorter than Magnorites, Netherans, and Jaggathans. Additionally, potions that have effects on humans (ex. potions of speed, strength, regeneration, etc.) have no effect whatsoever on Ardoni.

Songs

Wielding

The Ardoni are the only race capable of wielding Songs, which allow them certain powers. Thalleous mentions that Songs are the thing that makes an Ardoni an Ardoni, so Songs are a very important part of their culture. It is unknown how the Songs came to be, however they can be connected back to the four Prime Songs, Aggressium Prime, Mobilium Prime, Protisium Prime, and Supporium Prime. In order for an Ardoni to use a Song, they must sync themselves with it. This is done using an emotional connection with the Song while it is placed in a shrine. The soon-to-be wielder stands in the middle and places the Song in one of the four pillars (representing the Four Song Orders). The Song will then flow into the wielder and enable them to use it.

Types

Each Ardoni is capable of carrying and wielding any Song from the four categories of Songs, which are Aggressium, Protisium, Mobilium, and Supporium; however, they are limited to using only one Song per category. Agressium is mostly offensive, Protisium is mostly defensive, Mobilium is movement/speed, and Supporium is support, telekinetic, and the other songs that don't fit in the other categories. While most Ardoni only wield a single Song at a time, it is possible to wield more Songs as proven by the Tidesinger and the Deathsinger, although Songs appear to have "adverse effects" on an Ardoni's health. These effects involve incessant strain and intense pain.

Songs don't appear to be color-coordinated with the Ardoni clans, as seen in how the Songs were split up among the Ardoni Masters. The only clan that matches their Prime Song is the Kaltaris, which is most likely out of coincidence rather than coordination. While each Ardoni clan seems to specialize in Songs that fall under their Prime Song, any Ardoni, regardless of clan, can wield and use any type of Song.

History

Before the Great War

Ardoni clans formed in different times, with the Voltaris Clan being the youngest. The Voltaris were the most curious about the nature of Songs, which resulted in them discovering the infamous Prime Songs. After the Voltaris presented their discoveries to the other clans, the latter divided the Prime Songs between themselves, leaving the former without a share of that power. When the Voltaris kept demanding a fair compromise, the clans united to banish them from their province, Voltaria, and each season the Prime Songs were given to a Champion to hunt down the remaining Voltaris. The last Champion to have used the Prime Songs against the Voltaris is Thalleous Sendaris, who raided the haven where Master Dominus Voltaris was hiding. Before dying, Dominus passed down Voltar (and the leadership of the Clan) to his son, Ingressus Voltaris.

Nether Invasion and Great War

After the Nether invaded Ardonia and the Ender Knights tried in vain to defend the Overworld, the people of Ardonia called upon the remaining Ardoni clans to wield the Prime Songs. Reluctantly, the Ardoni clans agreed and held a tournament to find a Champion who would wield the Prime Songs. However, the winner turned out to be the Master of the Voltaris Clan, Ingressus, who had been adopted and initiated by Master Aegus Nestoris and had thus been able to infiltrate the tournament by showing his Nestoris colors. After he revealed his true identity, the Masters refused to give him the Prime Songs, which resulted in Ingressus killing most of them (except for Aegus) and thus becoming known as the Deathsinger. After this, he made an alliance between his clan and the Nether, which is agreed to be the event that started the Great War.

The alliance between the Voltaris and the Nether brought the other clans to enter the war against both the Voltaris and the Nether: this led many Ardoni, like Thalleous' brother Galleous, to find a safe haven during the war, which is why the hidden city of Ataraxia was founded. At first they were in disadvantage, but thanks to the actions of the partisan group led by the Ardoni Achillean Nestoris (a.k.a. the Tidesinger), the Nether was forced to retreat and the clans other than the Voltaris emerged victorious from the Great War, together with the people of the overworld and the Ender Knights, while the Voltaris were cast again into exile. The Great War caused many fatalities on both sides and almost brought the Ardoni kind to extinction.

Between the Great Wars

After recovering the Prime Songs, the legitimate Clans secretly distributed them amongst the families of different clans to ensure that they would be safe in case somebody else tried to obtain them by force. With the passing years, most Ardoni stopped using Songs and the habit of teaching song-wielding to young Ardoni was lost. It can also be inferred that female Ardoni were largely killed during the Great War, perhaps targeted due to their ability to produce off-spring and create more for a particular side. In any case, it is clear from dialogue between Osivian and Ria in Episode 2 that female Ardoni have many responsibilities to tend to, due to their scarcity.

In the meantime, whilst many clans were left ignorant, the Voltaris were preparing the ground for the return of their Master, who had entered a time portal during the final battle at Mt. Velgrin. Here, a group of Voltaris led by Tygren Voltaris was waiting for the portal to open again, but they were found by some explorers sent by history scholar Hawken to investigate the rumors about the place. They killed them on Mt. Velgrin without leaving any traces, but this alarmed Hawken. Thus, he went there in person accompanied by Thalleous, who had spent the years after the Great War hunting down the remaining Voltaris. The two found that there had been activity on Mt. Velgin and the Voltaris revealed themselves: Hawken was killed whilst trying to protect Thalleous and Thalleous himself barely escaped. Thalleous was then able to warn the Masters of the Voltaris (although they ignored him) and to retrieve and hide the Prime Songs before the Voltaris could find them. Unaware of this, the Voltaris still raided the villages were the Prime Songs were supposed to be, and while they were raiding Sendaria, they came across Thalleous who was accompanying future Voltaris Master Senn back to his home after hiding the last Prime Song. Thalleous was killed by the Voltaris whilst attempting to escape. The raids infuriated the Clan Masters, who decided to rally all Ardoni warriors to fight the Voltaris at Mt. Velgrin. Unfortunately they were too late: while they were able to kill most of the Voltaris, the Deathsinger returned through the time portal during the fight, and the Ardoni warriors were all killed.

After these events, the legitimate Clans refused to officially fight the Voltaris again. However, one of the survivors of the raid during which Thalleous died, Ria Sendaris, founded a partisan group called "Knights of Ardonia" to monitor the Voltaris and prevent the Deathsinger from finding the remaining Prime Songs.

Second Great War

After managing to retrieve the Supporium Prime Song from The Vault, Ingressus went to The Nether and convinced King Pythus to form a second alliance with the Voltaris and invade the Overworld. The Knights of Ardonia were the first to act against the new invader, by allying with the newly established Enderqueen Abbigail and the army of K'arthen. The legitimate Clans decided to remain neutral in this war: the only group of Ardoni who joined the Knights of Ardonia were some residents of Ataraxia, which became the main headquarters of the rebellion. For this reason, the Deathsinger raided Ataraxia with an army of Voltaris, killing Galleous (who had joined the rebellion) in the process.

During the Second Great War, all of the Voltaris were killed by the Nether after a failed conspiracy to oust King Pythus and establish his brother, Vulcannus, as the king. Ingressus, only survivor of the massacre, dueled with Pythus in Crown Peack, which resulted in Pythus dying and Ingressus being fatally wounded. Before dying, Ingressus passed the Voltar and the leadership of the Voltaris onto Senn, who was also there, thus avoiding complete extinction of his Clan.

After the Second Great War

After the defeat of the Nether, the Clans reunited in peace and the Voltaris Clan started recruiting members from the other Clans. The Prime Songs were entrusted to the Enderqueen Abbigail, who deposited them in her Ender Chest.

Masters

Masters are the elected leaders of each clan and most powerful warriors of their clans. Before the Great War, the Masters were entrusted with the four Prime Songs "as a sign of peace and unity". The Master of each Ardoni Clan wields a diamond staff with the name of the respective clan: Sendar, Nestor, Voltar, Kaltar, and Mendor; and this staff is passed to the next Master when the current Master dies. After The Great War, the Masters of the Clans include Aurelius Nestoris and Siderian Mendoris.

Notable Ardoni: Aegus Nestoris, Aurelius Nestoris, Siderian Mendoris , Ingressus Voltaris, Dominus Voltaris, Senn

Clans

Sendaris

The Sendaris clan is represented by the color blue. They participated in the Great War. Their former Master possessed the Mobilium Prime Song, causing most of the Sendaris to be skilled with Mobilium Songs. The majority of the Sendaris clan currently reside in Sendaria (although some are seen in Ataraxia). They are the "protagonist" clan of the series, having been the origin place of main characters Senn and Ria, as well as having their territory been explored the most.

Notable Ardoni: Thalleous, Ria, Osivian, Galleous, Unknown Sendaris (Master), Unknown female Master (before Great War)

Nestoris

The Nestoris clan is represented by the colors yellow and orange. They seem to have a more honorable and famed reputation than the Sendaris, Kaltaris and Mendoris. This reputation is likely due to Achillean Nestoris' heroism in the Great War, as well as Aegus being the sole survivor of the Deathsinger's massacre. Their Master, Aegus Nestoris, possessed the Aggressium Prime Song, the most dangerous Prime Song. The majority of the Nestoris clan members currently reside in Nestoria (some are seen in Ataraxia). Despite the Sendaris seemingly being the "protagonist" clan, being where Senn, Ria and other important characters were from, the Nestoris hold the most achievements, as listed above (having the Tidesinger, being the only clan to have their Master survive the Great War massacre, and being given the most powerful Prime Songs). Their current master, Aurelius, also seems to be the oldest and wisest of the masters, and commands the most respect.

Notable Ardoni: Hubris, Achillean, Aegus, Aurelius, Ingressus Voltaris (disguised, formerly)

Voltaris

The Voltaris clan is represented by the color red. They are one of the main antagonists, banished for demanding fair compensation for the discovery of the Prime Songs, which they did not get one of the four, due to the other clans not trusting them for closely studying the Prime Songs, and for experimenting with other dark magic. The Voltaris clan members lived in Voltaria until they were exiled. While in exile, they mostly lived in the Barrier Mountains before the Second Great War and in Hailstone during the Second Great War. After the Second Great War, the entire clan was wiped out of existence, with the only surviving member being only half-Voltaris blood. However, Senn was named Master by Ingressus and rebuilt the clan on any who wanted to join, and they settled back in Voltaria, which is now called New Voltaria.

Notable Ardoni: Tygren, Ingressus, Dominus Zinaida, Lucidius, Senn

Kaltaris

The Kaltaris clan is represented by the color green. They are described as being very skilled in battle as supported by the appearance of two Kaltaris at the final of the tournament, just before the start of the Great War. Their former Master possessed the Supporium Prime Song. They participated in the Great War. The majority of the Kaltaris clan members currently reside in Kaltaria. Their clan is not touched upon very much.

Notable Ardoni: Zulius, Unknown Kaltaris (Master)

Mendoris

The Mendoris clan is represented by the colors purple, pink, and magenta. They were mentioned to be the most pacifistic clan, as was subtly hinted at by the lack of Mendoris in the final tournament to wield the Prime Songs. They also widely participated in the Great War. Their former Master possessed the Protisium Prime Song. The majority of the Mendoris clan members currently reside in Mendoria. Their existence was due to the character of Val, a female Ardoni who would be a friend to Senn after the supposed death of Ria. Wanting her to be both feminine and cool at the same time, the creators made her pink, along with an entire clan to match her colors. Their clan is not touched upon very much, with Val being the only major Mendoris character (despite being only a side character after Galleous's death).

Notable Ardoni: Siderian (Master), Galadar, Hadion, Val

Clanless

Clanless Ardoni are represented by the color white. At first, Senn is mentioned to be clanless and his heritage is unknown, but is later revealed to be son of a Voltaris and a Sendaris. Every Ardoni is born clanless but then initiated into a clan by the Clan Master using their Master Staff (Nestor, Sendar, Kaltar, Voltar, Mendor). Clans are not determined by biology, although a pure-blooded clan member exists, meaning they stem from a lineage which is fully compiled of members from one clan, and most the family has been affiliated with that clan since the clan's conception.

Notable Ardoni: Senn (Formerly)

Trivia

When the skins were shown, the Kaltaris, Mendoris, and orange Nestoris were initially assumed by some of the early theorizers to be crossbreeds of the Sendaris, Nestoris, and Voltaris.
Ardoni live much more harmoniously with nature. Rather than building things on top of the land such as houses, they empty out caves or dig holes in hills and settle there.
All Ardoni, other than the clanless, have their clans as their last names. For example, Tygren Voltaris is from the Voltaris Clan.
When an Ardoni dies, their Songs are automatically dropped.
After death, they are mostly buried in graveyards with special tombstones bearing their markings lit.
The five masters all carry unique staffs. However, only the Voltar seems to be particularly suited for combat, being a lightweight two pronged spear which can "transform" in combat. This may have been a modification done later after their exile as a means to use it as a weapon in case of attack.
It is unknown if the color strips on each Ardoni's head are horns or ears. David R. B. has stated in his Ardoni Skin Tutorial that the design of the Ardoni was based on the World of Warcraft Draenei, but he never specified if they were officially horns. However, in a behind the scenes episode, David says that the protrusions on the side of an Ardoni's head are actually ears, which grow as they age.
The Voltaris clan is the first clan to go extinct in the pure lineage, only having one known part blooded Voltaris, and no remaining pure-bloods. Other clans, in contrast, are most likely composed of near completely pure bloods.
Ardoni horse riders, interestingly, are always seen riding bareback. Not once is a saddle used.