Centaurs

## Anatomy

Centaurs are a well-known and somewhat common race of people. From the waist up they appear as average humanoids, though they tend to be more muscular than average humans given their more active anatomy. Below the waist however, they take the form of a wild horse. Their human bodies are larger than an average human body, as if scaled up to fit with the size of their horse body. Centaurs in general are large, imposing figures, and tend to tower over other humanoids.

## History/Culture

As one of the land-dwelling races of Vesi, they were among the first to receive humans when they arrived on their new home continent after their great migration. They lived historically as a nomadic race, but with the arrival of humans and other humanoid races, they’ve seen their homelands surrendered to the building of cities and more permanent residences. Despite this, they keep many of the traditional ideals of their past nomadic culture, first among them being their strong sense of loyalty. To make friends with a centaur is to earn their eternal trust, and to gain a friend that will lay down their life for you. But to abuse the trust of a Centaur, to break that bond, is to make a grudge between yourself and every Centaur you meet for the rest of your days. This very concept of loyalty is what allowed William to ally with them, and reclaim their homes from Lordearon, and is why Centaurs still hold William in such high regard.

Centaurs do not take trust lightly, as it is that same trust that has allowed them to persist to the modern day. When humans arrived and began building their massive structures, encroaching on the land that the Centaurs once called home, the horse-folk banded together to remain strong, and preserve their way of life. Of course, humans could not build everywhere, and a great many open areas were left for the Centaurs to live freely on. In that moment, a trust was formed between the groups, that the Centaurs have their land, and the humans have theirs. Of course, mixing of the two groups is perfectly common. Some Centaurs choose to live among humanity in their massive cities and their towering buildings, though of course, having a horse’s body does not make some parts of it all that easy, making it more of a compromised life than anything else.

## Religion

The religion of Centaurs is very different from any we would think of in our modern day, as they do not have gods, per se. Rather, Centaurs worship the land they live on, and the nature around them that provides the means for life to blossom on its own. The Sun, the oceans, the clouds, grass, flowers, each and every animal, including humans, every part of the natural world they consider a blessing. While it is not uncommon to see Centaurs do something akin to praying, this is not directed to any supposed god in specific, rather it is a general thanks or request to the world itself, that some event may come to pass favorably. So instead of listing gods here, as I usually would, I will explain some examples of worship that one might find a Centaur engaged in.

General prayer can look like a lot of things, though most commonly it is a Centaur kneeling down, typically in grass though anywhere is fine, and putting their hands on the ground in front of them. The Centaur will close their eyes and meditate on their connection to nature for as long as they feel necessary. Spoken prayer is also common during this ritual, but is not mandatory by any means.

After a particularly good meal, a Centaur may stomp a hoof loudly on the floor. This is believed to be thanking the planet for providing the means for the meal to be made, and is generally interpreted as being compliments to the chef in a way.

Oftentimes a horse will prefer to drink water directly from a stream, rather than from a well. This is to reaffirm their connection to nature, as drinking water placed in a river by nature itself is thought to be more respectful than drinking the water that was pulled from where nature did not intend for Man to find it and use it.

**NOTE:** Your Centaur may or may not adhere to these exact beliefs, these are just examples of possible ways to express your character’s own ideals. Feel free to mess with this as much as you want as worship, much like the nature that Centaurs worship, is ever changing in and of itself.