alAndals

alAndals is a fictional ethnocultural and political collective used in speculative fiction and worldbuilding. The term designates a community that blends coastal mercantile traditions with inland desert-based livelihoods, typically depicted as inhabiting a broad semi-arid coastal region and its hinterlands in the imagined world. Because it appears in multiple works, there is no single canonical description, and depictions vary by author and setting.

Origins and society: In most narratives, the alAndals trace their origins to a loose confederation of city-states and caravan towns that united under a common legal code and oath of hospitality. Social life centers on guilds, lineage groups, and councils of elders or merchants. Cultural hallmarks often include caravanserai architecture, courtyards, and a tradition of literacy and poetry alongside crafts such as textiles, metalwork, and shipbuilding.

Language, governance, and economy: The alAndal language is typically depicted as a fusion of Mediterranean and desert-influenced dialects, with distinctive names and honorifics. Politically, rulers usually govern through a balance of merchant guilds and landholding families within a loose federation; some works portray elective assemblies, others hereditary dominions. Economically, the alAndals rely on trade across land and sea routes, coastal markets, agriculture in oases, and skilled crafts, making them a cosmopolitan trading culture in their world.

Notes: portrayals of the alAndals vary by author; the term is primarily used in fictional contexts and should not be confused with historical Al-Andalus. See also: fictional peoples, worldbuilding terms.