Manticores

The Manticore was a terrible monster of the Burning Sands who solaced on a riddle game. The creature used its trickery and treachery to create fresh conflict whenever peace emerged in the internecine war among the Sogdan city-states located in the west of the Cradle of the World. The Qamarist Caliphate came to their aid, and clever Qamarist teachers bested the manticore at its riddle game, breaking its influence on the region.