centaurs

Mature centaurs stand between 182 and 213cm (6 and 7ft) tall on average. Their legs and lower torso closely resemble that of a short horse. Their upper torso, arms, and heads resemble those of humans, though their ears are usually longer and pointier than humans. Their upper human-like torso is surprisingly flexible. Both men and women have mane-like hair that extends down the neck past the shoulders. Centaurs with short cut hair is a more recent cultural development. 

Centaurs can grow one or more horns on their head, with horns usually being a sign they have a higher potential for magic. As a Lesserkin race, centaurs are not proficient magic users compared to any of the Elderkin. They are however noted for having a stronger aurima than humans. 

Internally the centaurs have large lungs, a big stomach, and two hearts. This complex circulatory system gives them a naturally higher heart rate and blood pressure than humans. Pregnant centaurs have a longer gestation period than most other races. The average life expectancy for Centaurs is about 90 years, though exceptionally healthy individuals have been known to live to 130.

Centaurs are omnivorous. Due to their larger bodies Centaurs consume more food than most other races, typically 4 large meals a day to stay healthy. A typical diet consists of large amounts of meat, wheat, leaves, fruit, nuts, eggs, and even insects. Contrary to what some humans have been led to believe, they do not eat grass as their stomachs cannot process it.

As centaurs have widely varying customs, ideologies, and beliefs, there is no singular “centaur culture”. Despite this, there are some general trends that transcend cultural lines to include most centaurs. 

Centaurs are avid travelers due to their ability to cross vast distances quickly. This has made them valuable as messengers and merchants. They are renowned for their prowess in cavalry. Throughout history they were considered skilled bowmen and unrivaled in the use of the lance. In comparison their efforts into sailing were nearly always lackluster compared to most other races. 

Traditionally centaurs spoke languages from the West Centauri language family, though one of them, Eluin, may possibly be a language isolate. Over 45 documented languages are spoken in this family. A few are minor regional languages. Most Centauri languages spoken in countries without a centaur majority however have fallen into decline. Some are expected to go extinct over the coming decades. 

Nomadic centaur dwellings consist of large tent-like structures that can be disassembled and transported by wagon. To accommodate their size and shape, permanent centaur buildings have more open floor plans than similarly sized human buildings. They feature large kitchens and huge countertops, but furniture is rare. They tend to lack hallways. Centaurs sleep on the floor, be it stacks of straw, large cushions, or even bare earth. 

While multi-floor buildings are comparatively rarer, they do exist with gently sloping equestrian staircases allowing travel between floors. Centaur ”cities”, when they do exist, are large in area but low in terms of population density. There is little difference between sidewalks and roads in these cities, creating vast urban sprawl that stretches into the countryside. 

In general centaur social organization is rather collectivist, though exceptions certainly exist. Social grooming is considered less taboo than in human societies. Centaurs often wear less clothing than other races, especially in hotter environments. However, depending on society their clothing can also be highly elaborate. Shelf bustle dresses and colorful caparison-like outfits are a popular choice. Field hockey is a popular sport amongst centaurs. Some other popular sports include polo, wagon racing, jousting, and show jumping.

Most modern archeologists believe centaurs to have originated from the Hattana Plains, a humid subtropical grassland near the Silver Sea in West Parthus. Located between the rivers Amru Solsan and Amru Drya, this fertile region supported the earliest known centaur tribes, though the names of them have been lost to history. They lived along the plains, coastlines, and savannas with a hunter gatherer lifestyle. While their half equine biology allowed them to spread further across West Parthus, population growth was always limited by their need to consume more food than other races. 

However the centaur's early developments would not go unimpeded for long. Several of the strongest leyline currents in all of Tyrrell passed directly beneath the Hattana Plains. Conflict began to arise as the growing Elderkin civilizations of West Parthus began to expand into the ancient homeland of the centaurs. In the year 1355 of the First Age a brief conflict known as the Hattana Plains War was fought between the Elderkin and the centaurs of the region. 

Barely noted in the archives of the Elderkin, but having near mythological status amongst the centaurs, the war was an entirely one sided affair. The primitive Stone Age centaur tribes were subjected to some of the most powerful battle magic in all of Tyrrell. These centaur tribes were forced out of the Hattana Plains and into the undesirable backwaters of the continent.

As the centaurs were evicted from the Hattana Plains, it began what is now known as the Great Centaur Migrations. Dispossessed of their fertile homeland, they were left with little else to go but the barren mountains, cold forests, or hot desert valleys of West Parthus. As these less hospitable regions became overpopulated and resources dwindled, conflict became a frequent occurrence between the former tribes of the Hattana Plains and the centaurs already established in these areas. 

This set off a chain reaction of migrations as warring centaur tribes and refugees were pushed further afield into more remote portions of the continent. More trouble would also arise as centaurs inevitablely wandered into the vast lands of West Parthus’ Elderkin Empires. Highly communal, early centaurs had little concept of private ownership and often saw no moral issues with squatting or stealing resources. Largely ignoring the borders between the Elderkin they came to be viewed as savage pests. Efforts would be taken to further drive the centaurs out of Elderkin controlled territory, with some centaurs even being forced into slavery. 

After several centuries of further skirmishes and migrations, the centaurs eventually came to inhabit vast, yet lightly populated regions across Parthus. The Great Centaur Migrations had spread their race from the Chakatun Rainforest on the equator to the Bay of Knives in the Antarctic. Some had even crossed the narrow Jeweled Ocean by boat into southern West Ciradon in order to escape the Elderkin dominated confines of West Parthus. 

While the centaurs had lost much during their centuries long migrations, this era of upheaval also brought about new ideas, social structures, and civilizational development. The wars between the many tribes had created new alliances and tribal confederations began to form for protection. Interactions with the Elderkin had boosted their technological development, especially in the realms of  metallurgy and agriculture. An escaped centaur slave from the Thanedoms of Nulatkhaz introduced writing to the greater centauri world. 

The adoption of the plow allowed for a stable food source, leading to the establishment of the first permanent centaur cities. Thus the earliest centaur civilizations began to emerge in the second millennium of the First Age, being among the first of the Lesserkin to enter the Bronze Age. In particular the crowning of Queen Taranasa the Redeemed led to the establishment of the Kingdom of Katali in 2517 FA, the first centaur state in West Ciradon. 

These ancient centaur nations were mostly spared from the early gate wars and the subsequent vassalization of mankind, leading to further growth. Often centaurs were used as merchants, messengers, and mercenaries by other races. They would sometimes take on the role as middlemen between the great Elderkin powers of the period.

Though centaur societies were now widely scattered across Tyrrell, their nations remained small and existed at the fickle mercy of the Elderkin. To avoid conflict, these countries typically clustered in remote, leyline-free regions. Some centaurs chose to freely ally themselves with the Elderkin for protection. Often these strategies weren’t enough. Centaur nations were frequently conquered, absorbed, or dissolved by expansionist empires. Wars also broke out against other Lesserkin nations for control over the leftover scraps of magically dead land. 

In East Parthus many centaur peoples were subjected by the expansion of mankind’s early nations across the Elgrusian peninsula. The centaur kingdoms near the Bay of Knives proved more resilient, allying themselves with the Bosantu Empire to resist Cyrovari encroachment during the Great Beastkin War. However it was the Centauri states in the northwestern corner of West Parthus that would prove to be the most successful in all of history. 

Situated in one of the few regions of West Parthus where magic was naturally weak, this area had long been a safe haven for centaurs fleeing from the Elderkin across the continent. The Saressen Empire, always hungering for more slaves and resources, waged a war of conquest against these centaur countries. However, with their freedom in eminent peril, these nations united together to form a huge confederation against the empire. 

Leveraging their prowess in cavalry, using innovative hit and run tactics, and gaining the support of the Saressen’s archenemies Wadelfa, this centauri confederation managed to achieve the unthinkable and thwarted the Saressen invasion. In the aftermath of this war, the Confederation of Great Centauria would become the largest centaur country in history and one of the most successful Lesserkin civilizations in history.

While the Confederation of Great Centauria lived out a perilous existence for its entire history, it brought about a renaissance of centauri culture across Tyrrell. Other centaur countries would copy the tactics used by Great Centauria to advance their own peoples. Alliances between centaur states became more common across Tyrrell. The increased cooperation of these centaur countries opened up new trade routes, vastly increasing the flow of goods and information in ways the other Lesserkin could scarcely compete with. 

A renewed attempt by the Saressen Empire to retake Great Centauria was prematurely undone by the untimely opening of the ninth gate. As Saressen’s priority shifted to expelling the Forgotten out of West Parthus, Great Centauria was saved for another generation. The same couldn’t be said about the centaur societies in East Parthus which were eventually overwhelmed by the Forgotten’s army. 

Millions of centaurs would die in the Ninth Gate War, while others would be transformed against their will into bloodthirsty mutants. Although some would escape into the uncharted wilderness thanks to their swiftness on foot, the centaur countries in East Parthus were universally destroyed by the war. The few survivors would be forced to rebuild from scratch, reforming into small but sustainable tribes.

The brief period of centaur prosperity in West Parthus would also come crashing down near the end of the 1200’s of the Second Age. Exploiting widening cultural and religious divisions between the peoples of the confederation, the Saressen’s secretly manipulated Great Centauria into a self destructive civil war. The victor was ultimately irrelevant as this civil war fatality weakened the centaur country. 

Great Centauria would shortly thereafter be invaded by an alliance of convenience between the Saressen Empire, the Three Dynasties, and other smaller Elderkin powers. Using imported unicorns and new earthscaping magic to counter the centaurs' advantage in cavalry, the Confederation of Great Centauria would fall in 1303 SA. The confederation was subsequently carved up by the victorious Elderkin empires as the centaurs were forced into servitude. 

With Great Centauria destroyed, the centaur’s trade routes throughout the region were curtailed by the Elderkin. Without the confederation to support them, the remaining centaur states across the continent fell into decline. The Kingdom of Katali would be betrayed and absorbed into the Tassendrel Empire in 1388 SA, bringing an end to the last independent Centaur country in Ciradon.

As a whole the centaurs would never again rise to the greatness they had achieved during the early Second Age. Their fate in West Parthus was similar to that of the other Lesserkin, becoming weak vassals or tributaries allowed to exist only due to inter-Elderkin political calculations. In East Parthus the remaining centaur tribes would slowly lose their remaining lands to human or elven colonists who arrived in the region long after the Ninth Gate War. Centaurs being enslaved for their strength happened on many occasions, particularly in Shawna and the Saressen Empire. 

However not every development during the next two millennia went poorly for the Centaurs. During the Fourth Spirit War of 1675 SA the Kingdom of Wadelfa managed to support a centaur slave uprising in the Saressen Empire, leading to the creation of the centauri Republic of Maeris in West Parthus. The Katali centaurs managed to prove their worth as auxiliaries to the Tassendrel Empire during the War of the Dragon’s Horn. 

The last century of the Second Age brought something of a minor revival in centaur culture as nationalism became increasingly popular across Tyrrell. The Southern Beastkin Revolt and the creation of the Union of Namnavu inspired similar revolts across Parthus, though not all of them succeeded.

With the technological upheaval brought about by the Third Age, the centaurs have found themselves at a crossroads. During the War of the Dawn, Tassendrel’s Katali centaur auxiliaries would be amongst the first to face the wrath of modern warfare. During the opening months of the conflict entire divisions of centaurs were mowed down in futile charges against Voskgardian machine guns and artillery. 

Although there were occasions when the element of surprise and quick advances won the day, the Katali auxiliaries suffered disproportionately high casualties throughout the entire war. These early battles highlighted a dangerous predicament the centaurs as a whole now find themselves in. The age of mounted combat is rapidly coming to an end, as the centaur's entire method of warfare is quickly becoming obsolete. 

As horsepower gives way to steampower, centaur’s are increasingly seeing the roles they once prided themselves on replaced by human machines. In particular the development of motorized vehicles means that centaurs can no longer count on being the fastest race alive. Those of the centaurs who have allied themselves with the Elderkin are now becoming uneasy about the price of their allegiance. 

Meanwhile, where some see cause for despair, others see opportunity. Some centaur societies have begun attempting to utilize and copy mankind’s technologies for their own. For centaur societies suppressed by the Elderkin for generations, mankind’s rise presents an opportunity to upend the global order and forge an independent destiny of their own. Others caution that in a world dominated by man and machine, they might not fare any better than in the one dominated by magic.