The Ialea are a people, not a technology or a single event in history. Their bodies and ways of life are deeply entangled with Aethercryst and Resonance, but neither their origins nor their nature can be reduced to the tools and processes that first made their existence possible.
Their history includes precursors, early crystalline forms, and the development of a people who came to name themselves. The distinction matters: an account of how a people emerged is not a substitute for listening to who they are.
Ialean embodiment, kinship, and communication differ from human norms. Their cultures are varied, and no single description should be mistaken for a rule that every Ialean follows.