Centaur
Roamers at heart, centaurs love open spaces and the freedom to travel. As much as they can, centaurs run. They race the wind, hooves thundering and tails streaming behind them.
Torn Between Two Worlds
Centaur find themselves torn between burgeoning civilization and the natural world where they roamed for centuries. Some Centaur tribes have remained in the Wilds of Portum and continue to live the nomadic lifestyles of their ancestors, as they believe they owe it to their ancestors to run free and roam the world. However, many Centaur have abandoned their old tribes and have moved into the expanding settlements and cities of Portum. The nomadic Centaur view their brethren that are willing to assimilate into society with the rest of the humanoids as traitors and cowards, exchanging their freedom for the comforts of civilization. Centaur are a strong and proud race who strive to find a balance in nature and understand the serene gifts that the Wilds of Portum have to offer. Even Centaur that live in cities venture into the wilderness regularly to study and learn from the natural world, some leaving on sabbaticals for extensive periods of time to live as solitary guardians and to replant trees in an effort to repent for turning their backs on the Wilds.Basic Information
Growth Rate & Stages
Centaurs mature and age at about the same rate as humans.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Although some were solitary, centaurs generally live in tribal hunter-gatherer nomadic societies. Centaur live in a primarily Matriarchal society and revere elder females as the bringers of life and bastions of wisdom.
Facial characteristics
Centaurs’ ears are slightly pointed, but their faces are more wide and square than those of elves.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Centaurs’ given names are passed down through family lines. The name given to a new foal is typically the name of the most recently deceased family member of the same gender, keeping alive the memory — and, the centaurs believe, some shard of the spirit — of the departed.
Centaurs rarely use family names, but wear symbols that represent their family membership. These symbols might include graphical representations of plants or animals, printed mottos, braids and beads worn in the hair and tail, or even specific patterns of woven fabric.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Centaurs have a strong sense of the interconnectedness of the natural world, and they celebrate family and community as microcosms of that greater connection.
The birth of a foal is always cause for festivities. At the same time, centaurs revere the traditions of the past, preserving old ways and keeping alive the legends of ancestral heroes. They feel a close kinship with wild animals, perhaps because of their own hybrid nature, and delight in the feeling of running alongside herds and packs of beasts.
Common Taboos
Centaur that form strong bonds with other humanoids may occasionally offer a ride to their companions, however it is considered a grave insult to suggest Centaur be utilized as a pack animal.
Common Myths and Legends
Many Centaur worship Skerrit the Forester, the Queen of Nature and Matriarch of all Centaurs. Centaur lore indicates that Skerrit roamed the Wilds of Portum from the dawn of time, seeding the forests, cutting the rivers and maintaining the balance of creatures. Devotees of Skerrit believe that Centaur bear a responsibility to protect the Wilds and ensure that all creatures are able to run free through an untamed world.
Lifespan
80 years
Average Height
Males: 7'
Females: 6'10"
Average Weight
Males: 2100lbs
Females: 1800lbs
Average Physique
Centaurs have humanoid upper bodies, displaying all the human variety of skin tones and features. In size, they are comparable to a human rider mounted on a horse with thick powerful legs and dextrous upper bodies.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Below the waist, they have the bodies of horses, with coats tending toward brown shades (chestnut or bay) and darker tails.
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