Centaur

Horse people of the great plains.

Basics

• Taxonomic Order: TheFolk

• Alignment: Aetherial

• Energy: Livadi

• Lifespan: 400 years

• Diet: Normal mortal fare with more fiber

• Habitat: Grasslands

Origins

As the aether of the grasslands fused with horses, they developed into conscious mortals.

Description

The upper body of a human, the lower body of a horse. They have the same range of appearance in both parts as horses and humans do. They are distinct from horse folk (the main nation of which are the Ipotanes - see animal folk), who are extremely rare and have horse’s heads and human-ish bodies. Some centaurs have forelegs that end in human-like feet and ears that fold over the top; this is a rare condition called chironism.

Procreation

Centaurs reproduce sexually, as horses do. They cannot reproduce with humans or horses.

Powers

Centaurs have the endurance, strength, and speed of the horses they resemble. Their blood is poisonous to other mortals and releases fumes if it sees the sun.

National Powers

Each centaur nation developed their own powers:

• Anggitay: Anggitays have the power to repel evil with their horns.

• Besta-fera: Besta-feras have an aura of fear that emanates from the stampingof their hooves.

• Hogatar: Hogatars can petrify other mortals with their bites.

• Ichthyocentaur: Ichthyocenturoi can live underwater and can see relationships between people.

• Inyedube: Inyedube can give each other learned skills temporarily by touching each other’s shoulders.

• Ixionidae: Ixionidae have super-hearing.

• Mo'éhno'ha Vo'ęstaneo'o: Mo'éhno'ha Vo'ęstaneo'os are immune to sharp edges.

• Onocentaur: Onocentauroi can hold up buildings even if they are structurally unsound for up to 10 days.

• Polkan: Polkans can speak to dogs.

• Siesorn: Siesorns can fly in space.

• Toynaklı: Toynaklı share communal bonds.

Weaknesses

Brown aether harms them.

Nations

There are many nations of centaur, living anywhere horses are found, but the main nations are as follows:

• Anggitay: the centaurs of northeastern Dabusen, with horns on their heads

• Besta-fera: the centaurs of eastern Palhur, who have sharp fangs

• Hogatar: the centaurs of western Dabusen, with lower bodies like onagers

• Ichthyocentaur: the centaurs of the Kavian Sea, with lower bodies that are part horse and part fish

• Inyedube: the centaurs of southern Taggarus, with lower bodies like zebras

• Ixionidae: the centaurs of Stayflies, the original centaurs

• Mo'éhno'ha Vo'ęstaneo'o: the centaurs of western Palhur, with lower bodies like dinohippus

• Onocentaur: the centaurs of western Mahad, with lower bodies like donkeys

• Polkan: the centaurs of northern Ranu, with lower bodies of wooly horses

• Siesorn: the centaurs of Gyrah, with wings like a pegasus

• Toynaklı: the centaurs of western Dabusen, with the lower bodies of tarpans

Culture

The Ixionidae are said to be children of a fiery wheel and a glowing cloud, in their own mythology, which is a metaphor for the mortal use of technology and the power of nature. They live in the flatlands of Stayflies and have a long history of conflict with the encroaching of mortal civilization on their nomadic way of life.

There are two major conflicts between the centaur nation and other mortal nations that stand out in their history: the first is their raid of a wedding at which their sacred wine was being used. The Ixionidae made wine with grapes grown in their grasslands and hills, blessed and used by their holy people in ceremonies, and much of it was stolen by raiders from the mortal nations. In response, the centaurs raided the wedding at which it was used the next week, and the ensuing combat resulted in the deaths of dozens of centaurs. Such was the slaughter that the nation was nearly wiped out. This event, known as the Centauromachy, is a grievous one that they still reference as an early attempt at genociding them.

The second conflict was the response to the first, a desperate raid on the mortal’s leaders’ homes. They charged the caves where the mortal leaders were sleeping and attempted to kill them, but the response was the use of poisonous arrows dipped in the blood of hydras. Though few of them survived, the mortal leader was killed as well. The lack of leadership of the mortal nation made their attempts at revenge collapse and ensured the survival of the centaurs. It also led to long-held views of centaurs as violent, brutish barbarians.

The culture of the Ixionidae focuses on their nomadic ways. They wander vast grasslands and have tribal territories. Each of the nine tribes is correlated to a different craft - medicine (healers), wine-making (vintners), stargazing (astrologers), herbalism (herbalists), music (lyricists), hunting (hunters), archery (archers), sports (athletes), and prophecy (oracles). Among them also are the sussorors, the powerful wielders of the aether of the grasslands, livadi, but these exist in every tribe.

Ixionidae children are raised by the whole tribe. Women (often called centaurides) and men share equally in the work of the tribe, and other genders are respected. Children are free to play and learn until they reach the age of 12, at which point, they begin to be trained for different roles in the tribe. They are allowed to explore different roles until they come of age at 18, at which time, they are encouraged to pursue a specific path. If they do not choose a path by age 25, one is given to them by the elders.

Each tribe is led by a group of 10 elders. The elders are chosen as leaders from all the centaurs of the tribe over the age of 300, and they switch out every 10 years (though this is staggered so that only one elder changes each year). The elders make decisions for the tribe, and if there is a decision that cannot be decided amongst them, they allow the tribe to vote. Voting is done by stamping feet in a special circle.

All centaurs wear clothing, though public perceptions of them often suggest they live naked amongst their tribes. Their clothing is usually a form of barding for their lower body and tunics for their upper body. Most centaurs do not wear horseshoes, but some who live in cities do so for practical reasons. Many centaurs view those who wear horseshoes as “soft”. They refuse to wear saddles, bits, or reins, which they view as emblems of enslavement.

They love to grow out their facial hair and to wear heavy manes.

Art and music among Ixionidae is designed to be uplifting and practical. They play the lyre, flute, and hand-held drums. They work with grass-weaving and dyes. Chanting and dancing is also very popular.

The Ixionidae are known for their ritual of naming. Every centaur takes on new names as they grow older. At different stages of life, they take new names. At birth, they are given a name that all know will be temporary. By age 12, they will usually have chosen a name. At 18, when they reach maturity, they pick a new one. From then on, they pick a new one when they meet a major life event - having their first child, succeeding at an important task, fighting an important battle, reaching the ages of 100, 200, 300, etc.

National Cultures

After the Centauromachy, many centaurs fled to other parts of the world:

• Anggitay: the Anggitay have a single horn in their forehead, a feature they developed as they moved eastward into the rainforests and mountains of Vada’dar and engaged in use of fey energies to survive. They have a great affinity for gemstones and jewelry and live amongst the diwata.

• Besta-fera: the Besta-fera are a much-feared nation in eastern Palhur. Unlike other centaurs, they have sharp fangs and eat diets heavy with meat. They dwell in tomb-like structures, ride in wild hunting parties, and keep hunting dogs. They use the clangor of their hooves on the forest floor to terrify people, and they prefer to hunt at night under bright moonlight. They wear masks as well which are designed to terrify people.

• Hogatar: the Hogatars developed lower bodies more akin to that of onagers than horses. They live in the mountains of western Dabusen and have a powerful affinity for this landscape. They are wielders of kazaddarean, which they use to shape roads and paths through the mountains, and they are known for their resilience.

• Ichthyocentaur: the Icythyocentauroi have the rear body of a fish and the forebody of a horse with the torso of a human. There are many legends as to how they developed, but the truth is mostly that they evolved over many eons as amphibious and then as fully subaquatic beings.

• Inyedube: the Inyedube developed lower bodies more akin to that of zebras than horses. They are respected locally as hunters, artisans, and precision workers. Their use of kakraohy developed as they sought to survive on the savanna, matching the more powerful predators there.

• Mo'éhno'ha Vo'ęstaneo'o: the Mo'éhno'ha Vo'ęstaneo'o developed lower bodies similar to the dinohippus horses of the area. They are a part of the Oyate nation there.

• Onocentaur: the Onocenturoi have the lower bodies of donkeys. They dwell in western Mahad, in the mountains, where they are known for their defense of their homelands and intricate houses.

• Polkan: the Polkans of northern Ranu have the lower body of wooly horses. They are adapted to the cold steppes. They keep dogs, hunt lions, and are known for greeting people with rough housing as their way of making friends. They are much faster and stronger than other centaurs due to their cultural love of feats of strength.

• Siesorn: the Siesorns live in Gyrah, where their wings come in handy. They are known for their love of astrology and mathematics.

• Toynaklı: the Toynaklı live in western Dabusen and have the lower bodies of tarpans. They are known for their communal living and refusal to accept assimilation into patriarchal cultures.

Esoterica

Centaurs are beings of livadi. The grasslands they dwell in answer to their power. They are expert wielders of that energy. They also commonly wield nzwara murazvo, bailaohu jinghua, kiiric yihi, prasinofos, d’qiarsea, iremia, aemoa, banaru, yahas, kakraohy, dream energy, fey energy, fate, qeernariji, lunar aether, uafas, momentum, tahalana, lhair, juaih, complexity, curacion, euphony, sonic aether, and mijjit.

Religion

The Ixionidae worship Mitéra ton Alógon, the Mother of Horses, whom they view as their creator. She created the horse, then called upon her power to create centaurs from a fiery wheel and a glowing cloud as a means of uniting her perfect creation with the mortals of the world. Every Ixionidae tribe has shamans who guide the people, channel the power of the plains, and commune with the ancestors and spirits. These shamans are called paapi, and they teach the tribe the rituals needed to honor Mitéra ton Alógon. In many tribes, there are also manteío, or oracles, who speak the words of Mitéra ton Alógon. They carry a branch with dead hares they caught hanging from it as a symbol of their oracularity.

In all centaur cultures, there are druids who bond to the grassland and protect them.

Gender

Women (often called centaurides) and men share equally in the work of the tribe, and other genders are respected. Marriage is not practiced in Ixionidae tribes. While they reject the practice of eromenos in the wider Stayflian culture (the practice of using young boys for sex), they respect same-sex relationships.

Economy

The Ixionidae are a communal, matriarchal culture.

Military

The Ixionidae have hunters and warriors in their tribes. They favor rough branches as clubs, heavy rocks, and rough spears. In modern times, they use pistols.

Language

The Ixionidae speak a language derived from Greek.

Trade

The grass-woven materials made by many centaur cultures are highly valued.

Occupations

Some common occupations include

• Agrótis: those who use the grass of the grasslands for magical purposes.

• Astrológos: astrologers.

• Chartopoiós (Tsaasüildverlegch): those who make paper from the plants of the grasslands.

• Chironian: healers.

• Chorto Yfantis: those who weave anything from grass.

• Droméas: athletes.

• Igétis: elders of the centauroi.

• Kalathopoiós: those who make baskets from grass.

• Kalpasmós: rangers of the grasslands.

• Kynigós: hunters.

• Lyráris: lyre players.

• Manteío: oracles who read omens in the flights of birds.

• Oinopoiós: vintners.

• Paapi: shamans.

• Sussoror: those who wield livadi by whispering with the grasslands.

• Syngrafeas: keepers of oral history.

• Toxótis: archers.

• Tragoudistis: historians and lyre-players and poets.

• Votanologos: herbalists and healers of the plains.

Outside View

Centaurs are viewed as rough barbarians by outsiders.

Notables

• Mána Kéntavros, Mother Centaur, Centaur Manifest, Aeonian

Estimated Populations

• Anggitay: 1 million

• Besta-fera: 500,000

• Hogatar: 50,000

• Ichthyocentaur: 25,000

• Inyedube: 300,000

• Ixionidae: 1 million

• Mo'éhno'ha Vo'ęstaneo'o: 100,000

• Onocentaur: 80,000

• Polkan: 100,000

• Siesorn: 1,000

• Toynaklı: 40,000

• Other: 1 million

Sample Stats

PRO 9
ATH 10 Endurance 14 Speed 12
STR 12
AWA 8
WIL 8
PRS 8
STH 7