Centaurs

See Also: WILD Centaurs, Francis' thoughts on Centaur tactics
The only mention of Centaurs in the initial info refers to 'Centaur's Herd Law'.Background
The party first met some Centaurs in Day 49-57 – Centaurs. Their territory does not extend south of Tambervarn.Zoom 2020-12-03 21:00
According to a theory of the origin of the Elder Races, the Centaurs represent knowledge and life.The Confusing Origins Of People
==Clans==
There are 8 great centaur clans:
*Badger
*Hawk (The Ur-Khan, Drovan is from the Hawk tribe. His is currently 'out East'.)
*Owl 
*Wolf 
*Bear 
*Drake 
*Wolverine (Currently 'out East' with Snake clan and the Ur-Khan)
*Snake (Currently 'out East' with Wolverine clan and the Ur-Khan)
Plus any number of minor clans, although these tend to be more like extended families. Each clan is organised with a Chief or Khan who leads the tribe in times of peace, a Knight or Warlord who…well you get the picture, a Shaman who you would consider a priest and a Speaker who is the keeper of knowledge.”
==Ur Kahn==
Q’Ran: “The Speakers are the ones who elect the Ur-Khan, the current one is Drovan – a Shanah warrior priest from the Hawk tribe. Though he is out East with the Snake and Wolverine clans at the moment.”
According to the #Factsheet below: Every 3 years the clans send representatives to a moot, at which an Ur-Khan (or over Khan) is elected. The Ur-Khan has very little actual direct power, but for his or her period of office is expected to act as an independent arbiter of any inter-clan disagreements.
==Action to retake Willston?==
Terfel: “The Razorclaw Maratasen are out East as well. I hear they are trying to get over towards Wilston [sic] way with Snake and Wolverine clans.” [Along with the Droven, the Centaur Ur Kahn] 
(He stops suddenly, realising he may have said too much)Day 49-57 – Centaurs
Francis realised the incongruity of the Centaurs purchasing sabres – a weapon that is exclusively used by mounted warriors. (Centaurs themselves prefer spears/lances and bows). His thoughts are detailed in Email2020-12-04 18:53. The party also noted the difficulty of the combined Centaur/Maratasan force reaching Willston given that Ghoulagabba is in the way somewhat. Zoom 2020-12-03 21:00
Furthermore, Philan commented: “The conflict with the Orcs & Trolls has died down a little over the past two weeks, but we now know the reason why. Obviously their attention has been on establishing themselves in Torgan. Being honest with ourselves, it is not really a war, the clans do not have the strength to go toe to hoof with Ghoulagabba and Trollheim, what we do is simply harassment. Things might have to change soon though….”
==Religions==
"Most of us follow the Wyldwood, and the clan Shaman and Speaker are nearly always Wyldwood. Obviously some of the more warlike clan members lean towards Shanah of course (meaningful look at Con D’Rait) and within most clans you will find some Universal, even the odd Perceval worshipper – but these are rare.”
Q’Ran: “The Wyldwood avatars are restricted to the Shamans and the holy warriors, I guess you would call them Palladins. My understanding from observing other folks is that as Centaurs we have many more of such skills amongst our people than is the norm. Of course the counter is that we have very few what you would call Arcanists, and even fewer Thieves….. not that we are well suited to being covert.”
==Avatars==
The Centaur avatars have been around as long as the Centaurs can remember (ie they are not a consequence of the breakdown of the Spell of Voids), and they tend to be a combination of what we know of as avatars and totems.
A comment from Golderod, refering to the Centaur commentry in the Wyldwood doctrine: The shifting animals images that are mentioned in the tale refer to Wyldwood Avatars, if you were a priest you would soon be coming into this knowledge yourself.”Day 35-41 – The fourth week in Northlake
According to Q'Ran: “The Wyldwood avatars are restricted to the Shamans and the holy warriors, I guess you would call them Palladins. My understanding from observing other folks is that as Centaurs we have many more of such skills amongst our people than is the norm. Of course the counter is that we have very few what you would call Arcanists, and even fewer Thieves….. not that we are well suited to being covert.”Day 49-57 – Centaurs
==Elder Race==
They consider themselves to be one of the Elder RacesDay 49-57 – Centaurs and are depicted on the engraved stones in the Wyldwood shrines as a Centaur - the only race to be unambigiously depicted.
==Previous Info==
The Wyldwood religion-specific introduction is told from the perspective of a Centaur.Wyldwood Garaf posits that the shrine in this tract is The White Tree and also the 'great pale tree' in the legend of Ilrania the First.
A Centaur appears on the engraved stone in The Defiance, and similarly at other Wyldwood shrines.
Centaurs appear to have been 'touched' (or 'infected', depending on the point of view) with the Wild in the past - and appear to have agreed to try to eradicate this in A Strange List.
The Centaurs have an almost entirely oral tradition passed on through Bards and Shamans. However, the ‘learning by rote’ aspect of some of the Bardic/Shamanic oral tradition should protect the information from corruption/forgetting from the Great Spell of Voids. DM mentioned that the effect of the GSOV was to stop you making ‘connections’ between information, as much as ignoring/forgetting it.Zoom 2020-11-26 21:00
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In the central North plains of the island are the home of a number of large Centaur clans, all of whom are devout followers of the Wyldwood. With their nomadic lifestyle they eschew physical representation of Wyldwood lore but instead focus on verbal tradition. Whilst few Centaurs embark upon the religions Pilgrimage, those that do are revered within the religion and nearly always rise to high positions within the church.
If the Wyldwood has a formal militaristic arm, it is represented by the Centaurs, for decades the Centaur clans have been in conflict with the Orcs and Trolls and their undead allies. It is said that the Wyldwood avatars manifested by Centaurs are unique to that race and represent the raw power of nature.Day 14-20 – The first week in Northlake
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Golderod stated in Day 35-41 – The fourth week in Northlake: “The Centaurs are a noble race, gentle but warlike, wise but playful, their faith in Wyldwood is well known. In the Church they are seen as prime examples of our determination to resist and destroy the abomination of undeath as epitomised by Ghoulagabba. The shifting animals images that are mentioned in the tale refer to Wyldwood Avatars, if you were a priest you would soon be coming into this knowledge yourself.”
And from Jurrage: "“Sure, I’ve met a couple of Centaurs, really nice folk although I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of one of their lances. They do, or rather did, a really good job of keeping Ghoulagabba and Trollheim in check. Generally they are really easy to get on with, but don’t go imagining that they are totally laid back.”
==Factsheet==
A nomadic race, primarily to be found on the plains to the East of Far Haven. Centaurs are organised around a clan system with each clan led by a Khan, but unlike their Maratasen neighbours – inter clan conflict is very rare. Every 3 years the clans send representatives to a moot, at which an Ur-Khan (or over Khan) is elected. The Ur-Khan has very little actual direct power, but for his or her period of office is expected to act as an independent arbiter of any inter-clan disagreements.
Their geographical location has led to the Centaur clans being effectively in a constant state of war with the Trolls and Orcs, historically the clans would provide support to any Kingdom efforts against Ghoulagabba and Trollheim. With the collapse of the Kingdom, the Centaurs now lack any natural allies and so have adopted a more defensive attitude to their Eastern neighbours.
Other than the rare Centaur sage, the race relies on a verbal tradition with bards having a very high regards within the clans. Belief wise, the majority of Centaurs worship Wyldwood, although a significant number of Shanah worshippers can be found along with small congregations of Universal.
In general, any encounter with Centaurs is likely to be friendly, other than Orcs and Trolls they have no particular racial hatred, indeed it is said a long time ago, before the Trolls allied with the Orcs, the Centaur clans used to regards Trollheim as a friendly power.
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For Drogo Fatbelly's incomparable views of this race, see Anthropological Guide to Cuisine
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