Leopard Guard

Unlike its counterpart the Lion Guard, the Leopard Guard operates like the creatures for which it is named, in shadow and secrecy. Whereas the Lions provide a highly visible military and police force for the leaders of the Sirdabi Caliphate, the Leopards furnish neither show nor strength of arms. What they offer instead is information -- as well as the occasional more subtle exertion of force and violence to secure the interests of caliph or bey.

Many Leopards have an official role as diplomats or trade negotiators, or even as lower-ranking staff within Sirdabi emissaries established in foreign lands. But at least as often they go completely unnoticed and unsuspected, working as everything from soldiers and scribes to tradesmen and cleaners. Most of their services are carried out covertly, and few besides the caliph or bey himself, and perhaps a handful of advisors, even know who counts among the Leopards' number.

The Leopards in Omrazir

As in most other parts of the caliphate, the Leopard Guard of Raziya operates as an intelligence service whose membership is largely unknown. The head of Leopards was formerly known to be a Tessouare man by the name of Filouz ibn Sereil, but since his death at sea in 796 their new leader has been unknown, even though it is presumed there is one.

Location

The Leopard Guard is most probably headquartered in Omrazir where Fuad Bey and his court are located, and presumably have some presence within the al-Tifriyya Palace and the Kasbah al-Jurf. With most else regarding the Leopards, however, this merely conjecture.

Public Perception

The Leopard Guard, when they happen to be thought of by the ordinary people of the caliphate, are generally an object of fear or at least uneasiness. While they have no reputation for persecuting the people of their own lands, their role as masters of spying, subterfuge, and sudden silent death guarantees that no one feels quite easy in their mind about them either. On the other hand, only the most paranoid (or guilty) suspect that the Leopard Guard could really have any interest in their particular affairs, and so for the most part the "spots," as they are often known, are the source more of idle gossip and speculation than genuine worry.