Centaur

With ten different words for “grass” and fifteen for wind the centaurs are a race that has been strongly defined by the plains and are very much in tune with the world around them. They have a deep affinity with horses and keep herds of them. Most of the centaurs’ raw materials come from these horses: fur, hair, milk, sinew, etc.

Basic Information

Anatomy

With the body of a horse that has the head, torso and arms of a human where a horses head would normally be. Though the human half is not heavily muscled they tend to be wiry and stronger than it looks. Centaurs range in size as much as the horses that they so respect do and have senses typical of the keenest of humans.

Genetics and Reproduction

As with all mammals centaurs reproduce sexually. The females, called mares, are able to reproduce every 3-4 weeks from late spring to early fall; once pregnant gestation lasts eleven to twelve months.
Centaur children, called foals, are relatively mobile almost as soon as they are born and are able to run and play while only hours old. They will be nursed for four to seven months though they will experiment with solid food in their first three months.
At threes years of age foals become adolescents, fillies (female), colts (males). At this age they will take part in the chores around the camp with the other adolescents and adults.

Dietary Needs and Habits

As semi-nomadic vegetarians centaurs live off of the plants that they are able to gather from the land; primarily roots and grains. Unlike minotaurs, and what centaurs see as their total disregard for cattle, centaurs have great respect for horses and will not eat them. However, they do enjoy heavily supplementing their diet with mare's milk, cheese and yogurt in a variety of forms.
The various herds of centaurs will spend the late summer and fall stockpiling as much food preserves as possible and store them in caves within the Mazelands. These preserves will be used to sustain all centaur tribes and their horse herds through the winter while they experience a forced peace.

Additional Information

Facial characteristics

While centaurs posses a human face it tends to be long and angular in nature. Their ears are equine in nature and located on the tops of their heads. They can be moved independently, as a horse's can, and their motions do much to indicate the mood of a centaur.
The hair on their heads is allowed to grow long and blend in with the horse mane that runs down the full length of the human spine. This hair is regularly bound up to keep it out of the way during the day to day activities but it will be let down during festivities, ceremonies and other special occasions.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Centaurs love their wide open spaces and live mostly in the plains. A few tribes have moved far to the south and adapted to a desert life style.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Individuals are named for their tribe in the syntax of "So and so of the such and such clan".

Beauty Ideals

White colouring is very beautiful and highly desirable. A fully white centaur is thought to be related to the unicorns and the most beautiful colours possible.
Colts and stallions are valued for their strength and speed; both of which are required to defend the herd and care for their horses. Physical characteristics that indicate these attributes are highly desirable.  The emotional skills that are required to care for and defend a herd hold little standing among the male centaurs.  However, older, wiser centaurs recognize that fresh grass brings a mare like no dried grain ever could.
Fillies and mares with traits that indicate fertility and the ability to carry a foal to term. Long, thick hair, manes and tails are one of the first things that will catch a stallion's eye.

Gender Ideals

Colts are raised to be strong stallions so that they can aid in the protection of the herd and its horses. They are the ones to lead in negotiations involving trade, territory or anything else of importance, fashion weapons and create shelters. The oldest stallion in a herd is the one to render judgement in all matters of dispute.
Fillies are to become mares that look after the cooking of meals, the creation of garments and the raising of the young. While they have some input in the affairs around them they have little control over it and tradition demands that they follow the directions of the lead stallion first and their mate second.

Courtship Ideals

There is little to no courtship among centaurs. As with their horse herds, stallions will vie for rank with the strongest, boldest and bravest having access to the first pick of available mares as their mates.
Polygamy is a natural way of life and it is normal for a lead stallion to have half a dozen or more mares in his yurt. Stallions lower in rank will have access to fewer and less desirable mares as they come of age.

Average Technological Level

Primitive

Common Etiquette Rules

Many of a centaur's emotions can be read in the position and motion of their ears. As such hiding one's ears in the company of a centaur is extremely rude and considered an attempt at subterfuge.

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

Revere pure white horses and will not trade them or use them as beasts of burden.

Common Taboos

Do not actively pursue magic. Though, they do have shamans that are able to work it in a course sort of way.

History

The centaurs were the original inhabitants of the plains. They had a shaky truce with the elves in which both races ignored the other...more or less. After the Elf Wars, when the humans moved north, the centaurs and humans were unable to come to such an agreement. There was much discontent and racism between the humans and the centaurs and vigilante groups were formed on both sides that committed atrocities of a severe and brutal nature. Eventually, through military might and superior numbers the humans forced the centaurs into the north western corner of the plains. An agreement was reached in which the centaurs were granted the freedom to maintain their traditional way of life as long as they stayed within the northwestern corner of the plains. Any centaur that ventured beyond the designated boarders is subject to the same laws as every other citizen of the plains. The other portion of the agreement was that the centaurs have complete control of all of the horse herds on the plains.
A result of the agreement is that only geldings are available to the plainsmen since the centaurs keep tight control of any stallions and mares. Given this heightened level of husbandry control horses are sold at a premium and only a small number ever reaches the market each year. What has developed is a booming trade in mules. Mule breeders have settled on the southern end of the centaur territory and every year they trade with the centaurs to breed their male donkeys with the largest and strongest mares that the centaurs are willing to allow breed with donkeys. Mules are the predominate working animal in the plains with donkeys being second and horses a very rare third. Even more rare are oxen due to their slow speed and the high amount of food that they require.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

xenophobic.

Lifespan

60 years

Average Height

7 - 9 feet

Average Weight

1000 - 2000 lbs

Average Length

8 feet

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Centaurs vary in colour and markings as much as their horses. The colours and markings continue up the human skin even though the horse hair stops at the boundary between human and horse anatomy. As white is the colour of unicorns it is also the most desired colour to have. While albino centaurs are almost unheard of they are also considered the most beautifully coloured.