Sirdabi

The Sirdabi are the dominant ethnic group of the Sirdabi Caliphate, descended from nomadic desert tribesmen of Near Ruleska. Many have roots in the home province of Rahoum as well as the immediately adjacent regions, but the bloodline is well dispersed across the caliphate.

The religion of Azadi originated among the the Sirdabi from the teachings of the prophet al-Azad, and while they are generally tolerant of those with different beliefs who live within the caliphate, they tend to be devout and conscientious practitioners of their faith. Theirs is a highly literate and generally well-educated society, with even modest villagers and farmers skilled in the basic literacy that allows them to read, memorize, and then recite their holy text, the Song of God. Although formal education fails to reach those who still live a nomadic life in the heart of the desert, it is these tribal wanderers who have the strongest love for the spoken poetry that is popular even in the opulent courts of the caliph and his provincial governors.

Appearance

A people of hot and sunny climes, Sirdabi generally have light brown to deep coppery skin, brown to black hair, and eyes drawing from a spectrum of earth tones from sandy beige to nearly black.

Language

The native language of the Sirdabi is simply Sirdabi, which most are as proficient at reading and writing as speaking.

Culture

The origins of the Sirdabi people lie in the deserts of Rahoum, where many of them lived as nomadic pastoralists, traders, and warriors. In fact a significant number of Sirdabi still do live in this manner, spread sparsely across the arid landscape and keeping largely to themselves when not trading in towns and cities or conducting caravans through the wastes -- or raiding them instead. Many tribes are nomadic only part of the year, having sunk roots into scattered oasis communities where a few small gardens or groves of date palms are tended, and where horses and other stock may be raised. However, most people living around oases or in villages are fully settled communities of farmers, artisans, and shopkeepers, who view their nomadic neighbors with distrust which occasionally heightens into fear or open hostility. The nomads, for their part, tend to feel disdain for sedentary folk if not outright contempt. Both, however, rely on the other in order to maintain their very different ways of life.

Outside the home province of Rahoum, most people of Sirdabi heritage live in the cities and larger towns of the caliphate, and indeed a great many Sirdabi in Rahoum itself likewise dwell in urban areas. Urban life is in fact highly developed in the caliphate, and the the culturally sophisticated lifestyle of the great cities constitutes the Sirdabi ideal of a good life. However much the urban Sirdabi may romanticize their tribal origins and the courage and freedom of the desert dweller, their greatest regard is reserved for city life and the many opportunities for learning, commerce, and high culture which the urban environment fosters.