Sirin Culture

General Lifestyle
Sirin culture is similar among the entire race even though Sirin are significantly segregated. The vast majority of Sirin roost in branch, log, and clay-made huts that rest upon the designated branches of their sector. Some Sirin even carve their homes out of the bark and wood of The Mother Tree herself. The homes are generally decorated in a nicely-crafted tinsel to allow for natural light to enter from the sun and moon since they feel fire is too unstable to use in the branches of the Mother Tree. Leaf litter from The Mother Tree is used as bedding and drapery as well as decorating the rooftops for aesthetics. Most utensils are made of wood and clay.

Rain can impact the community but it is not enough so as to raise their own crops, so most to all of their produce is imported while meat and fish is hunted. Linens and wool are also a common import for the Sirin since they are not typical farmers of that trade. Drug trafficking of a certain berry that grows on an obscure fungus amongst the vast branches of The Mother Tree is huge in the Passeriformes sector and can bring in a good profit for the Sirin of that sector but it is banished from other sectors. Otherwise, it is an “every man for himself” kind of world for the typical Sirin citizen living in The Mother Tree.

Clothing
Sirin dress normally in sleeveless robes, so as to allow their wings to be free of entanglement when in flight. The style of robes as well as color varies by class/order of Sirin. Example being Sirin of the Anseriformes wear light-colored, well-kept robes similar to what philosophers of the Greek era wore, often also decorated in different gold pendants. It would be unexpected of any other Sirin not of Anseriform descent to dress similarly to a Anseriform Sirin.

Low-class Sirin would wear darker colors, and robes would be more defined to the shape of the body since they are often the hard workers of the Mother Tree. Sometimes, representatives of the Sirin races, aka leaders or guards, would be given gauntlets to wear on their legs to protect and denote their placement amongst their orders.

The type of metals wore by Sirin also varied by orders. Anseriformes, the most noble class of Sirin, along with Columbiformes, were the only ones permitted to wear gold on their bodies. Otherwise, silvers and sterling silvers were wore by middle classes like Falconiformes and Psittaciformes (as well as the exception of the Strigiformes) and the lower classes donned poorer/weaker metals or leather.

Rarely is it expected to see Sirin dressing in clothes made for Hume but it also not uncommon.

Serenogy
Serenogy is the religion the Sirins follow where a swan Sirin, Kalia,  flew to the main island of Vortua and blessed it with its first tree, the Mother Tree. Most Sirin events, cultures, and lifestyles revolve around the beliefs Kalia had when providing her follower Sirins a home. It is then said once she provided a home for her followers that she flew to the clouds to forever watch her beloved kin. It is to believe that flying above the clouds is a sin and if a Sirin flies through the clouds they would incinerate from the wrath of Kalia.

Serenology has proven a problem for the native Sirins of the main island, and thus secluded themselves to the higher parts of the canopy where they are not bothered, by law, by any other Sirin.

Currently, the idea of evolution has been brought up to the masses of Sirins by owl followers, but the idea is normally silenced when brought up in public among the Sirins. The idea is banned from the community entirely.

The Owlkin
The Strigiform Sirins, otherwise known as the Owlkin, are owl-like Sirins that inhabited the Mother Tree long before other Sirins. Owlkin are loyal to their beliefs, those beliefs being based heavily around the environment, the tree, and several other factors including fauna, flora, and the general ecosystem within and surrounding the Mother Tree.

The Owlkin were among the first to nest in the Mother Tree and had preserved the land and Mother Tree to remain strong in its natural beauty. When other Sirins began to migrate and roost in the Mother Tree, the Owlkin were slowly beginning to lose the territory that was rightfully theirs.

Currently they continue to maintain the life of the tree by their own means being confined by modern Sirin government to nest only in the canopy. Any other Sirin or being is not permitted to enter Owlkin territory unless upon request of the Owlkin.

Orders
Sirin are based on their order as any organism is. There are several species from that order that further specify what kind of Sirin they are. The Orders are as follows:

  Passeriformes – “Songbirds”

Sparrows, Warblers – Very common Sirin folk among Vortua.

Finches – Common Sirin citizens of the main island of Vortua.

Starlings – Sirins that are of lower class on the main island of Vortua.

Waxwings – Lower class Sirins often associated with “drug” trafficking.

Chickadees – Sirin community very loyal to supporting the local market.

Swallows – Sirin civilians that nest close to waterways on the main island.

Jays – Very popular Sirin species on the main island of Vortua; notable leaders.

Ravens, Crows – The typical scavengers of the main island of Vortua found more often than other Sirin.

Anseriformes – “Waterfowl”

Ducks – Sirins that often work in the fish trade for the Sirin community.

Geese – Sirin folk associated closely with other food trades for the Sirin people.

Swans – A glorified species of Sirin; notable celebrities among the Sirin kin.

Falconiformes – “Raptors”

Eagles – Notable authority figures of the Sirin people.

Vultures – Sirin buzzards; stick to hiding in trees and ambushing traveling cars; NOT shy to other people by any means (like the others).

Osprey – Sirins that travel by waterways very rarely seen by any eye.

Hawks – The hunters of the Sirin kin; supply for the meat trade.

Strigiformes

Owls – Native to the main island of Vortua before other Sirin arrived; only found in the canopy of the Mother Tree.

Galliformes – “Game”

Pheasants – Harvesters of the trees on the main island of Vortua.

Quail – The farmers of Sirins; loyal to the tradition of growing crops and raising livestock.

Piciformes

Woodpeckers – The “lumberjack” of Sirins; tend and treat trees as needed in several areas around Vortua.

Columbiformes

Pigeons – The wealthier of most other Sirins; run big markets on the ground level to make big money.

Doves – The monks/nuns of the Sirin religion of Serenogy; found in branch communities of the Mother Tree.

Psittaciformes – “Tropical birds”

Parrots – Artistic side of the Sirin kind; pretty extravagant.

Gruiformes

Cranes – “Wanderers”; found traveling Vortua spreading a more oriental religion.

 Note : You are free to make any Sirin you want! This list is to reference the other Sirin not played by other people (unless you want to be a Sirin along these guidelines, which you can.)