Sharazai (shah-rah-ZAI)

Magical hybrids, in general, are harder to categorize and understand, but the secrecy surrounding the next pair from Khaldai is not to be believed. In an effort for completeness, your majesty, I have scoured the libraries of the castle to find the best and most accurate information.   The Sharazai (literally "rain-shriek") is an apparent mix of desert jay and, of all things, a wasp. It has four iridescent wings of distinctly insectoid shape and composition. Its plummage is jewel bright - blues, greens, and purples, and it is not uncommon to see it depicted in art and writing throughout Telkara and the rest of Khaldai. In Arahmin Zur's journal, "Tulatun Zahmat (Beneath the Spiced Sun: Journeys of a Khaldaian Merchant," the narrator speaks of glimpsing birds with dusky coloration, with the male being rather more showy than the female, but the vivid illustrations in the fabled "Zhalat Irunar (The Bloodlines of Beasts)" and elsewhere tell a much more accurate story.  

I attempted to observe these creatures first hand, but was turned away at every grove I inquired at. I also nearly escaped capture at the wall to the enclosure, for the canvas walls are hard to climb

— Elrian Doss

  This particular hybrid is apparently worshipped by a sect of Khaldai priests, one of two that are revered, alongside the mighty Urhal (see entry for details). These two are inextricably tied to each other, in lore, in illustrations, and in their habitat itself. Why these two beasts are the subject of such devotion is unclear. The priests that work with them refer to themselves as "Zuralim" or Beast-Walkers, so perhaps some primitive form of animism is involved. Regardless, they are carefully protected, and kept away from the unclean, as mentioned by the eminent scholar Elrian Doss in his memoir "My Year in the Dunes." They dwell in sun-dappled groves of the mystical Sharum fruit, known collectively as Kelun Sharai, tended to and guarded by a small army of priestly servants.   The most peculiar aspect of this being is the sacred bond it shares with the Urhal. According to one source, this is known as a "Velkhari," or perhaps they are called the Velkhari, the source is not clear on this point. A Sharazai will live its entire life bonded to just one Urhal, sharing a connection that I was unable to elucidate. Perhaps they are telepathic, or empathic. In the practical day-to-day, the small Sharazai will ride upon the back of the Urhal, and the pair are rarely out of each other's sight. If a Sharazai loses its Urhal in an untimely fashion, the bird-insect will audibly mourn the loss, with its signature ear-piercing cries that ring throughout the grove it dwells in.  

"Blessed is the Sharazai, when it clears its Urhal of all infestation."

— The Bloodlines of Beasts

  Diet is one point upon which there is much confusion. Many sources claim that the Sharazai dwells solely upon the sins, or blemishes, of the Urhal, cleaning it. However, I have been privileged to gain access to part of a holy manuscript of these groves, carefully smuggled out of Khaldai, and within there is a feeding schedule to educate young priests. Here is outlined a sensible diet of seeds and fruit, as well as insect life apparently specific to these groves, namely Bloodbloom Lice, Trenchmites, and other unpleasant creatures best not described. So the prevailing tale of Sharazai as sin-eaters, cleaning their Urhal of some spiritual parasite is merely a romantic fantasy that even Elrian Doss indulges in.   The aforementioned text, "Narat Zuralim (On the Duties of the Beast-Walker)," tells us that the Sharazai sleeps at night on a type of altar known as a "kesirat," (translation unclear, Saira Vantelle and others have wrongfully translated it as "nest"), lined with a particular ritual cloth known as a "rumat" (literally "beast-fiber"). Sharazai are only permitted to breed in a special nursery grove known as Kal Marunthir ("The Cradle Grove," or "The Blessed Nest," perhaps). This is possibly located near the floating city of Tabeshi, where it seems most of these cultists hail from.