Centaur
This article is still a Work in Progress. It's still receiving updates to content, formatting, or links. Please check back later for the final version!
This article is a stub and contains minimal information. If you'd like to learn more about this topic, please let me know so I can add basic information.
From Incador's Book of Beasts
Basic Information
Menaan crafted her own vision from the reeds and dirt. She made formed them to be like her beloved mares and stallions who roamed the plains and galloped as fast as the southern wind. These too would have the best qualities of the horse and know her and her husband. She laid them down in lush fields and lived among them so that they might learn to think beyond their base instincts. She taught them to till the land and see their father in the wind and rain.Centaurs were created by Menaan in the image of horses. On Kos, they are one of the more common types of beastfolk. Herds have spread out to all the continents since. They are most recognizable for having the legs and lower body of a horse and being much taller than many other races.
Anatomy
Centaurs have the upper body of a human and the lower half of a horse. They come in a wide variety of sizes and color patterns, though most are solid colored and may have white markings on their legs. They're typically measured at the withers where the human torso connects to the equine body, but this is far from an accurate measure of height. Most centaurs have black skin. The main exceptions are those with white fur and a few coat color varieties. Their hair color matches their tail color.Life Stages
Foal
Foals are born able to stand and run within the first hour of their birth. For the first year of life, they are dependent on their mother's milk and protection for survival. Foals rarely stray from their herd or their mother's side.Weanling
During the weanling stage, young centaurs learn to eat solid food and undergo a full body shed of their baby fur where the adult coat color and markings grow in. Centaurs also begin exploring further away from their parents and are expected to interact more with the rest of the herd.Yearling
Adolescent centaurs gain more independence and may move away from the herd for the first time. Grey centaurs will begin greying at this age. They are typically lanky and still growing. Despite the name, yearlings describes centaurs between eight and fifteen years old. They are still referred to as colts and fillies at this age.Adulthood
Centaurs are fully grown at ten years, but they're culturally not seen as adults until they're fifteen. They live for up to sixty years and are capable of working well into their old age. Males are called stallions, and females are called mares.Habitat
Centaurs are most well known for living out on the wide open plains in southeastern Kos. Like humans, they were originally designed for warm and sunny regions. There are herds on all three of the world's continents. Centaurs were historically nomadic, but many have settled into villages and towns. Due to their size, they often live separate from other species and rarely are found in dense urban centers.Dietary Needs
Similar to horses, centaurs are primarily vegetarian and are better suited to digesting grains and tough fibrous plants than most other species. They often process their grain to prevent excessive wear on the humanoid half of their bodies, but their stomachs are still far more equipped to digest roughage than ordinary humans. They also still require protein and are known to hunt and raise poultry to satisfy that need.Behavior
While centaurs have the reputation of being flighty and feral creatures, they are just as intelligent as any human. They are capable of running as fast as a horse and can wield weapons like a person. Many take up artistic pleasures, and it's not uncommon to find a centaur as a scholar. Magical centaurs are rare, and most cultures prefer physical or intellectual pursuits over the arcane. The primary exception is with clerics to their patron deity. Centaurs don't wear clothes in the same way as humans. Their fur protects the horse part, and clothing for the human part is utilitarian. It's much more common to see centaurs wearing tack to carry things around. Some centaurs do adopt human tendencies towards clothing and caparisons make for an excellent way to show off style. Notably, centaurs don't use saddles and bridles. They rarely permit strangers to ride on them, and it's always bareback.Additional Information
Geographic Origin and Distribution
The centaurs are native to Kos, but they have since spread out to inhabit any large grassy and fertile region. They are common on Akea, and following the Death of Durgurath, some centaurs ended up on the eastern shores of Evirs. On Kos, most the centaurs still live in the southern plains, but some migrated north of the desert.Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Centaurs are known for being extremely fast and flighty. Their height gives them an advantage over most creatures on the wide open plains when it comes to seeing for long distances. They are far stronger than humans or elves and capable of delivering powerful kicks that would kill or maim most other animals. They also have an acute sense of hearing and sensitive skin. Centaurs can feel a blade of grass fall of them and be able to twitch only that part of their skin to dislodge it.Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Beastfolk
Centaurs get along well with the other beastfolk and often live harmoniously alongside them. It's not uncommon to see centaurs and rabbitfolk working together. There are rarely conflicts between their cultures, and the centaurs often act as mediators between opposing groups.Humanoids
Due to the humanoids keeping horses as property, there is a strong dislike from the centaurs that isn't reciprocated. Centaurs hold a strong affinity to horses and believe that they should be allowed to live freely. Some centaurs have been able to successfully integrate with human settlements due to conquest.Draconids
Relations between draconids and centaurs have largely been neutral. They naturally occupy different regions of the world, and in the few instances where they have interacted, groups were able to find mutual respect. During the Era of the Dragon Kings, centaurs were left alone.Goblinoids
Tension tend to run high between centaurs and goblinoids. The two groups typically occupy similar areas, and hobgoblins in particularly used to hunt centaurs for sport. Though never practiced on a wide scale, centaurs also distrust orcs due to the belief that the orcs will use them as beasts of war.
The Wind Singer's gift brought The Harvest Maid great joy each day. She became like them in form and frolicked among them. Divinely inspired by Mother, she crafted her own version from the grasses and earth. She gave them arms to reach up to the sky and set their heads high so that they might stand guard among the horses. At first, they were rejected by the horses who saw them as too different to be alike. Menaan wept and taught her creation to live apart but alongside the horse. They cared little for her lessons and warred among one another like stallions fighting over a band of mares. Disheartened by her own creation, Menaan set out to find Fate in search of answers to Centaur's aggressive nature.
Comments