All biology in Kell'egh is geared towards survival, but not all of it is deadly, The Arctic Fire Flower, for instance.
Adapted to the cold, sunless environment, it ekes out a life with the help of the snow rhino. A flightless armored bumblebee adapted to harvesting the flower's combustible nectar.
Biology can be like that in this phase. Beautiful but deadly and still symbiotic in someway with the ecosystem around it.
There is also a higher concentration of magical flora and lower fauna in the phase as well, as there are fewer of the greater races and more dark places to fester.

Human stronghold settlements have the widest diversity of the races in Kell'egh.
From large walled cities in historically large population centers all the way to actual castles and walled keeps or villages built into rivers so they can be surrounded by massive moats, the key to them all is survival.
Regardless of the size of the city, the amount of masonry between you and the outside world remains the same phase wide. A lot.
Human settlements are also home to the Arthurs! chain of inns and restaurants that operate Al'menged wide and have secure, warded facilities available to travelers in many underserved parts of the phase.
Larger Human cities tend to be Hurques run by the order, but there are many Human Havens as well that dot the globe in a network of free states.
Both types of human settlements are home to other bipedal races, however most favor the havens as the greater animals of the phase have all but abandoned the order run hurques.

The seat of the order's power comes from Kell'egh, and they make their home within Devil's Tower in this phase.
They have a chiral installation in Midneard to house the members that can still cross phases but abandoned any idea of extending into the Preikpahian phase centuries ago.
It is from here that they work tirelessly to cleave the bonds that hold the Al'menged together in their pursuit of The Breaking.
The last time the order made any flagrantly open incursions into other phases was during WWII, but their covert work and propaganda departments have been working overtime to stoke division ever since.
Today the order manages many other organizations as fronts to their cause and to extend their reach outside of Kell'egh.
Sadly, too many humans are all too willing to ascribe to their goals, as the bulk of them are wealthy and all too willing to justify most anything if they have the means to get what they want.

While appearances may deceive, genetics does not. Although remarkably dissimilar, the Sœmlnge and the Đraški are of the same species- even if that does not sit well with either side.
What started the row may be remembered by some of the more ancient on either side, but to humans it is lost in the mists of time.
Some anthropologists believe that the Đraški and their sour attitude is simply an adaptation to the phase of Kell'egh. Others are not so generous.
The Đraški have been suspected of working with the order as well as participating in magical trafficking of every sentient species for their own ends.
Whether those goals are genetic, like the Elvs of the Oort cloud, or more nefarious is still unclear.
The Sœmlnge of the phase, on the other hand, are quite open and facilitate trade and protection between havens within their sphere of influence.
Sœmlnge can also be found in most major cities, although they generally prefer the havens as there is less chance of running into Đraški, who naturally prefer the order run hurques.

Dwarvn settlements in many parts of Kell'egh are underground, however it is not what you'd think.
One of the races least affected by the magical density problem and most interlinked, phasically speaking, the Dwarvs cities are quite the sight to behold.
Though they vary in construction, many are built into passive inversion fields much like the chiral cities of Midneard.
Mixed use of spaces that blur the lines between inside and outside usage is common in Dwarvn architecture, as are quantum or phase-bound components, allowing parts of the design to simply float in space.
The most secure of all the settlements, save a budded clade, outsiders are welcome among Kell'egh's Family as long as you are spoken for by a standing member.
People who have no knowledge to share or standing within The Family have limited access to Dwarvn facilities, save for the inns and overnight safe houses.

The seas of Kell'egh can be a dangerous place, so many of the Cephs and the ilk have adapted to large freshwater bodies of water for protection.
Some still have ocean habitats, but they are in shallow protected waters. There are, of course, those who work landside as well.
Kellegian Cephs are in high demand in the commercial security sectors as well as in many mercenary groups.
Their skill with magic in low magic environments as well as their superior multitasking during combat, makes them a staunch ally.
The bulk of the Ceph society however, is quite isolationist and often suspicious of outsiders.

The Cuttles, like the Cephs, have also adapted to larger bodies of fresh water but maintain a larger presence of their population in the sea.
Their coral and polyp cities are designed for defense instead of beauty in Kell'egh, and they tend to congregate in narrower channels and shallower waters to keep the larger predators at bay.
Many work in the aquaculture sector, either managing or defending resources for inter-phasic companies that do business in Kell'egh seas.

Squirrels in Kell'egh serve a vital role within the travel system as their biggest cities tend to be in the middle of the largest forests where most humans fear to build.
Assisted by the greater avians and guarded by the squirrels phase hounds, a city in the trees becomes the destination after dark for many a weary traveler, and the gregarious squirrels are only happy to oblige.
Most greater squirrel architecture at this point is built with the occasional Dwarvn visitor in mind so bipedal accommodations are common, as is cross-species architecture.
Full of energy and bustling with life even in the darkness of Kell'egh, their cities are hubs for many parts of the Stronghold System in the phase.

The greater octopods are all relatively close-knit and generally work in larger Cuttel encampments in Kell'eghs seas.
Like the surface, the seas are dominated by the darkness as well as a bevy of oversized creatures and mythological entities.
As with all life in the phase, they tend to band together in larger groups that work symbiotically for protection and greater harvests in their aquatic farms.

Bats and the people that become them are two entirely different things in Kell'egh.
Greater Bats are found throughout Kell'egh, but cross-species interactions are more subdued in Kell'egh, as many often confuse them for the all-too-human morphers that prefer the bat form.
Populations that are more adept with magic or within the greater animal population are where greater bats can be found when not in one of their cliff or cave cities.
Vampires, on the other hand, are only found in the morphing and ware communities, and they generally avoid greater bat colonies when in animal form.
Both communities have worked with the order at some point in Kell'egh's history, but the greater bats do this far less frequently than the vampire population.

The greater avian population in this phase, like their Preikaphian counterparts, tend to build around established squirrel cities.
There are many corvidae who provide reconnaissance along trade and travel routes as well as contributing to the corvidaes AvianNet that carries information across the Al'menged.
There are however, families that rook with the order. A role that once taken becomes irreversible not only from release by- but a return to as well.
Once a bird is associated with a higher data order than their net, they can never be trusted with information traffic again.
Much like the Dwarvs- once you leave, you cease to exist. Unlike the Dwarvs however, there is no way back if you're a greater corvidae.

Part of the confusion with the Đraški are the many sub groups attributed to the genus they belong to biologically.
Descended from monotremes, all Elvs are hermaphroditic egg layers but can vary widely in size and morphology within the Đraški classification found in the phase.
The Broken, as they are colloquially known, comprise as many taxonomic forms of the Kell'egian Elvs as the word bird does in English.
From diminutive fey or brownie-looking cousins to the tall, black skinned, red-eyed ʞṔa`ṟužní, the size and morphology of Kell'egh's Elvs are a field of study all on their own.

One of the needs for fortified settlements, are the many creatures that can be found strewn throughout the world.
Creatures from varying mythologies can be found worldwide and not all of them can tolerate neighbors, while most of them are quite deadly.
The dangers don't abate in the waters of Kell'egh either, and both the fresh and saltwaters of the phase teem with some life that would be best forgotten to the mists of time.
One of the sole quirks of the Al'menged as a whole is what you and I would call a proper dragon. You know, wings. Breathes fire? Hoards gold. That sort of thing.
Well, the dragons here- if you can call them that, are more like winged caymen looking lizards the size of seagulls who are incapable of reproduction without magical assistance.
Reproduction is only possible after consuming magical energy that they are incapable of producing, which is how early casters found natural phasing points.
They were surrounded by the creatures who flocked to them because of the energy leakage, so they could spawn like a seagull to a dropped French fry in a parking lot.
And, they were just about as annoying.

There is a group that gathers for whom being human is quite optional. I am, of course, speaking of the ware or morphing community in Kell'egh.
More of a loose-knit association, they are nevertheless a tight enough group with enough shared values that they can be considered their own society.
There is no strict language, and most communication is done in native speaking tongues. It is the social aspect that holds the society together however, as the structure is more important.
Part of the social homogeneity are the frequent celebrations and gatherings. Not all are local, and some involve travel of great distances to show representation.
Another aspect is the overall commitment to ecology and social reinforcement through seasonal and cultural redistribution of wealth and property.
As all from the community have additional human or at least bipedal lives, those that transform don't really have any cities to speak of, but there are spaces deep in nature they maintain- much like the greater elephants.