Siparid - 'Modern'

This fellow is a Siparid, a colloquial name for the raptor-like humanoids living in the lush Siparia Valley, a spring-fed oasis nestled in the depths of the Outrene Desert. Their race occupies a pocket of civilization largely isolated from the rest of the modern world.

Yet modernity has finally, grudgingly arrived on the doorstep of the inscrutable Siparids. Some, particularly among the elders, wish to preserve their species' culture by limiting the persistent influence of the Humans and their faith, but others see opportunities for their long-cloistered people to escape and ensure their survival by embracing modernity.

The Siparids participated in the last Jihad over a century ago, a bloody and controversial affair that brought the prestige of the Caliphate to a new low, yet saw the re-emergence of the saurians into the greater world. Some elders still survive from the Jihad, divided between those who chose to return home and protect their society and those who chose self-exile and embraced the Caliphate's culture and customs.