Overview

  In place of wings or fins, the third finger on a Saber's foreleg supports a long, knife-like talon, from which the species gains its name. These terrestrial Nioqim have long legs built for distance running across savanna and desert. Rather than down, their skin is bare with scutes. Sabers have a unique condition where their integument is harshly keratinized, even moreso as they age. In youth their infant down gives way to a mane of flexible spines that harden as time goes by. When an adult Saber shakes their head, the mane of spines rattles. The antenna are similarly affected by this condition and are not very mobile, if at all.