Azisiri

The Azirisi - also known as Strbans, after the Kingdom of Strba - are the fox-eared dominant race of the Kingdom of Strba and the neighbouring Torgyrian Desert. The race originated from double-hybridization: at first, it was Limjiang males breeding with the humanoid fox Qori to produce a hybrid race of humanoids with fox ears, fox tails and other fox-like traits, then this hybrid race mixing with Proto-Elves - at the time called Yet-Her people - to produce the Azisiri as we know them today. The average lifespan of an Azisiri is 200-300 years.

It is believed that the original proto-Azirisi came from exiled Shár warriors, merchants and nobles, who fought on the wrong side of the civil war, and were expelled by the Shiu Dynasty, but without their wives. These expelled Shár males wandered around the mountains and the deserts that bordered the Shár Empire. They raided the Qori settlements, kidnapping many women to breed with, driving the other Qori away, to the other side of the mountains. These men were expecting the women not be able to bear their children, due to the differences between their races: the Limjiang having very human-like faces, no fur at all, while the Qori being essentially bipedal and sapient foxes. Yet, children were born: these children were similiar to Limjiang, but they had fox ears, fox tails, their faces had marks on them, and their noses were a lot pointier. Many even had a little bit of fur at the sides of their faces. These proto-Azirisi lived in isolated villages, slowly migrating up the deserts.

Then came the Yet-Her Wars, during which the Proto-Elves marched through the deserts and the mountains, and attacked the Shár Empire. These wars lasted nearly three centuries. During these wars, Proto-Elves frequently raided Azirisi territory too, enslaving men and raping women. When the Shár finally beat the Proto-Elves, the latter were forced to march eastwards in search for new lands to plunder. During their retreat from Shár territory, some Proto-Elven men split off from the main tribes and went on to attack and subjugate the proto-Azirisi, killing all the men and taking their widows as their wives. Mixing happened, and the end results were the Azirisi we know today.

Only one century later, the Azirisi would begin their gradual expansion onto Shár lands - unlike the proto-Elves who raided and captured a lot of lands but couldn't hold them, the Azisiri expanded slowly and gradually. During the Second Warring States Period, the Azisiri came to populate what is the Kingdom of Strba today. They were conquered and vassalized by the Shár during the Bur Dynasty and the Jiuk Dynasty.