Minotaur

Minotaurs hail from Regkha, a sea-side city sheltered by a wall of mountains. They are a wealthy, orderly race with a tendency to use their strength to solve problems with dissenters. Expect to find them behind rich people who want protection, or collecting debts from people much smaller than them.
For the least observant, minotaurs are bigger than humans and usually have two horns (sharpness may vary). If you get kicked by one (which you probably weren't if you are reading this), you will also find that they have hooves instead of feet, and that this does not make their kicks any better to withstand.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Minotaurs are a terrifying mix of humans and bulls, closer to the latter. Hair covers their whole bodies, and their hands only have three fingers, one of which is their thumb. They are usually muscular and can reach sizes that beat even orcs.
Their weight makes it very difficult for them to ride horses, and owners of wooden floors above the ground may find that their planks will struggle to hold beneath their hooves for long too.

Genetics and Reproduction

Minotaur brothels are very different from human ones. No one has been brave enough to watch anything yet, but instead of beds, the rooms there have handlebars and a few hoofprints on the walls. Given the females' clothing, however, we can assume they are mammals and probably, save a few methodological discrepancies, reproduce a lot like humans.

Growth Rate & Stages

Minotaurs are born without horns and relatively small. Their scrawny legs make their children struggle quite a bit with their early movements, making them deceptively adorable if anyone doesn't know what they will turn into. Their docile and clunky nature lasts very little, however, and after 5 years the minotaur will have probably grown into a trampling, brawling machine itching for a fight, debt-collecting or both.

Ecology and Habitats

Minotaurs require a lot of water, and usually prefer warm, river-side locations to live in. Fortressia, being a sea-side city, has become a decent replacement for many who left Regkha. The further into the continent you go, the least likely you are to find them in a non-stationary state.

Dietary Needs and Habits

A minotaur without at least two waterskins has lost the will to live. Besides that, they will eat about anything.

Biological Cycle

Older minotaurs have fragile horns and cracked hooves. Their fur loses a bit of its sheen and starts falling towards the grey or white, instead of the robust black and brown that most of their species is known for.

Additional Information

Domestication

Sure. Just don't say it out loud in front of one.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Minotaurs make the most expensive bodyguards in Talica. Their tendency to magically sense when their employer is displeased and snort menacingly afterwards is something no other race has learnt yet.

Average Intelligence

Minotaurs can count and speak, probably better than humans in the first and at their level in the latter. All we can do is hope they take a while longer to figure that one out.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Minotaurs seem to hear a bit better than other races. It might be a bit rude to assume this, but their ears do flick around a lot. Further study is needed on this regard. They also (and this is very much not a speculation) possess an incredible memory, which is particularly useful for, say, collecting debts from faces that are trying to pretend they are someone else.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Expect lots of Ks, and consonants followed by Hs. Minotaur names are supposed to be short-medium and decently harsh sounding. Names like Khuff, Rhelkia, Frhan are good examples of minotaur names.

Beauty Ideals

Self-respecting minotaurs sharpen their horns and brush their fur. The whiter their horns, there more attractive they are. Females are known to adorn their horns with rings or small carvings too.

Average Technological Level

Minotaurs have invented money, banking, and most mining technologies to date.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

Minotaurs speak Auric among themselves, and the language is one of the few in the empire that is not in decline. However, even the proud minotaur education includes the Imperial Tongue.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Minotaurs are a grudgingly respected species. Their size and economic power brings them both respect and hatred from most people in Fortressia. Still, most people do not want to speak up about it in their faces, so to them everything is okay as far as interspecies relations go.

Lifespan

60

Conservation Status

They probably protect themselves well enough.

Average Height

2-3 meters

Average Weight

150 kg

Average Physique

"Expect every minotaur to be able to lift you by the neck with their weak hand, and you might never be surprised."

Jed