Centaur

## Basic Information

### Average Lifespan

Up to 80 years, although the harsh environments they often live in reduces the average.

## Appearance

### Hair Color

Generally black or brown, turning grey with age.
Coat colors include white, dun, black, brown, and grey.

### Distinctions

Their lower half resembles a horse, while their upper half resembles a human. Adaptable and free spirited.

**Centaurs** are a race believed now to have originated in the Oldwoods of Eastern Cannor, from some unknown manner of fey influence. The Archfey Rohibos is often cited as their creator, but whether this is true or if he was just a major benefactor of the ancient centaurs is unknown. Their appearance is a mix between a horse and a human, with an equine lower half and humanoid upper body, but the degree to which centaurs are related to both humans and horses is both a matter of study and cause for great confusion amongst scholars. While they originated in the Oldwoods, following a period of strife and conflict with Castanor in the ancient era known as the Second Great Cleansing, centaurs have come to largely inhabit the deserts and steppes of the Forbidden Plains, where the majority of centaurs live to this day.

### Cannorian Mythos

**Rohibos** was one of several creator deities considered to be direct Spawns of Agrados in Cannorian Creation Myth. These deities were allegedly born of Agrados’s defilement of Halanna, and their offspring were to be considered nothing more than monsters to be purged. This theological idea that centaurs were evil spawns born of defilement was used to justify Castan II Beastbane’s conquests and purges that he led against not only the centaurs, but all other races branded as monsters by the First Pantheonic Council in 600.

### Centaur Culture and Practices

Most centaur societies and communities live in a steppe environment, where life revolves around the herding and management of domesticated animals such as sheep, goats, or larger herd animals found in the Forbidden Plains. Centaur diets thus consist primarily of meat and dairy products acquired from their herds. In relation to the common worship of the god Irdaeos, many centaur communities have been known to construct and dig large geoglyphs into the ground, as it is believed that their god of the sky can see them and be honored. Centaur culture generally also places a big emphasis on spiritualism and shamanism. Each tribe has a shaman who is believed to have been granted the gift of magic by their god. Centaur magic tends to focus on the mastery and manipulation of four distinct elements and combinations between them. The four elements in the centaur understanding are fire, lightning, wind, and ice (which can be contrasted against the common Cannorian and Sarhaly understanding of the elements as related to the primordials of fire, earth, air, and water, and further contrasted against Cannorian concepts of magic as divided into schools rather than elements).

## Religion

### Ancient Religious Beliefs

Followers of the ancient centaur religion have a unique understanding of the concept of divinity, deities, and religion. Practicing a form of monolatrism rather than polytheism or monotheism, followers of this system held the belief that the gods were intrinsically tied to the land. Deities specifically ‘ruled’ over geographical areas, biomes, and regions, and held ‘domains’. While many parts of the Oldwoods and Escann were believed to fall under the authority of Rohibos, if one were to leave the region, they would be in the domain of a different, unknown deity, and it would be up the shamans to determine who exactly it was that ruled a given area. In the ancient times, centaurs overwhelmingly chose to worship the Archfey Rohibos, who they believed to be the creator of all centaurs. Their spiritual leaders (which often doubled as their secular leaders, particularly for the clans found within the Oldwoods) were known as Sons of Rohibos, shamans who had entered pacts with the Archfey in return for powerful abilities. Sons of Rohibos held immense authority over centaurkind.

The centaurs unique understanding of the divine, combined with the manner in which major events were interpreted by the religious authorities, is what led to the worship of the god Irdaeos (also known by other names today, such as Shirdos to the followers of Yudyunovi) during the centuries following the Centaur Exodus.

### Irdaeos Worship

Irdaeos (or Shirdos)  is the most commonly worshipped deity by modern centaurs. Irdaeos is said to have admired the centaur’s perseverance through the hardships of the Exodus and to have granted his domain (the steppes and deserts of the Forbidden Plains) to centaurkind as their new home and promised land. His portfolio was primarily concerned with the sky, the wind, and movement itself. Due to their association with the sky, there is a certain sacred reverence granted to avian life, and purposefully harming a bird is considered a great taboo. There is an almost religious fervor surrounding the concept of movement to followers of Irdaeos. The magnitude of the effect that this has had on the development of centaur society cannot be understated, as it led to society being almost entirely nomadic in nature, with jobs that were considered sedentary being generally stigmatized. Despite this, many followers of Irdaeos have managed to find ways to follow the tenets of their religion while simultaneously going into fields such as art or literature, such as Nyldrah Fogdancer. A renowned landscape artist, she reportedly travelled across much of Halcann, stopping to paint the locale before continuing on her journey.

Followers of Irdaeos believe the Forbidden Plains to be Irdaeos’s gift to centaurkind, and that they must honor his gift and show thanks to him. The belief is that if one has shown honor and thanks to Irdaeos in life, that they will join him in the afterlife, in the paradise known as Ik Magthaal, after they die. These beliefs are central to the religion and are generally believed by every single worshipper. However, several sects of the religion have historically diverged with differing beliefs on what exactly the task of honoring and giving thanks to Irdaeos entails. The three most common sects today, in order of size, are the steadfast and enduring Maslekhuga sect, the gregarious and hospitable Irdukhuga sect, and the highly spiritual Malukhuga sect. The previously influential and radically militarist Filustkhuga sect saw a majority of its followers culled by the Orachav during their initial expansion into the plains.

## Society and Governance

Post-exodus centaur society organized itself around the clan; every individual is born into a clan, which they can choose to remain in once they reach adulthood. Elected from amongst the clan, the clan-head represented the clan and made decisions for all members until they died, and a new clan-head was chosen. Clans can either choose to act completely independently as sovereign clans, or to organize with groupings of other clans into what are known as ‘ordsiwyn’. Every clan-head within the ordsiwyn would elect an ‘ordsikar’ from amongst them, who acted as the leader who would make rulings on decisions that concern all member clans. Going one level higher, ordsiwyn can choose to organize with other ordsiwyn to create a caehnate. In a caehnate, the caehn is chosen from amongst the ordsikar to make  high level decisions regarding all member ordsiwyn. In every case, leaders are chosen from amongst the strongest or wisest of the clans, and the individual chosen for these posts is chosen for life. A caehn is required to be chosen from amongst the ordsikar, which is required to be chosen amongst the clan-heads, which is required to be chosen amongst the members, and thus any given caehn also serves as an ordsikar for their ordsiwyn and a clan-head for their individual clan.

This system of governance survives in some form even to this day amongst some centaur populations, although many centaur states significantly reformed parts of the system during the 16th and 17th centuries in an attempt to compete with the quickly advancing states of the Triunics and Ogres at the time.

## Centaur History

### Early Centaur History

Centaurs have had a long history filled with strife. Inhabiting the Oldwoods and Taran Plains of Escann, they feuded with the early Rohibonic peoples over control of the plains. The status quo in Escann was shattered with the meteoric rise of Castanor, which had begun supporting the Rohibonic tribes against the centaurs. In addition, the construction of White Walls had begun, which had divided the centaur peoples to make them easier to conquer.  After the First Pantheonic Council in 600 BA which declared centaurs as Spawns of Agrados, the Rohibonics had completely aligned with Castanor, and the Second Great Cleansing officially began a few years later in 596 BA. Swiftly united under the Sons of Rohibos, the centaurs struck while the early Castanorian armies were occupied elsewhere, and ravaged Inner Castanor, but this did not last long, as Castan II “Beastbane” crushed even the united armies of centaurkind.

### Centaur Exodus

Their shattered retreat dividing centaurkind even further, the Centaur Exodus had officially begun at this point. The group that had fled north was pursued by Cagod the Ranger, who set up a checkpoint and made certain that all centaurs who had fled north were either killed or expelled past Castanor's borders into the unforgiving taiga. The group that fled south joined fey resistance groups, but after the destruction of the world tree in 579 BA, the power of fey magic was significantly reduced, and the horrible defeat at Silent Lake saw many of the most important leaders in the resistance effort impaled in an event known as The Impalement of the Fey, to serve as a message. This group fled southeast, out of the Oldwoods and into the hills and valleys of Firanyalen. The harpies there, also victims of the Second Great Cleansing, directed the centaur refugees towards the Invader’s Pass and the relatively empty land beyond it.

The northern group, scarred by decades of death and suffering, encountered human tribes in the frozen taiga and attacked. These people, the Metsamics, began their own exodus, and fled southeast towards the Four Lands of the Lakes.

The southern group encountered Zabatlari Warlords who were natives to the southern plains, and did battle. While the Zabatlari proved to be tougher and more accustomed to the cavalry warfare tactics of the centaurs, the Zabatlari saw that there was little use in doing war with enemies that were powerful and had little of value to lose. The Zabatlari united underneath a powerful warlord who led them north in search of new lands. The southern and northern groups of centaurs eventually regrouped in 570 BA. During this fateful meeting the foundations for what would become Irdaeos Worship were established. More initially impactful however, the clans had united underneath the leadership of the Warlord Naegol, who promised to enact his revenge on humanity.

### Naegol's Invasion

At this time, the Four Lands of the Lakes were already embroiled in existing conflicts; the Khamgunai cities were at war with each other, and the arrival of the Metsamics added numerous mercenary groups to the mix. On top of this, the Zabatlari warlords had arrived in 571 BA and carved a path of destruction through the lands, raiding and looting the weakened villages and cities. When Naegol invaded, the lakes were completely disunited and already burning, Naegol’s Horde easily demolished all in their path. But at a fateful battle at Bokuzqayla in 564 BA, in a surprising moment of unity, the armies of all 3 conflicting human parties banded together and defeated the centaurs in battle. While only one victory, Naegol had been slain, and the unity of the centaur invasion had crumbled. Now acting independently, many clan-heads and ordsikar took the initiative to lead their clans and ordsiwyn out of the lakes and back out into the steppes, while those who remained to try and push onwards found themselves losing in a war of attrition.

### The Middle Eras

During the centuries afterward, contact between centaurs and humans remained limited. Stories passed down from this time say that the clan-heads and ordsikar of the time wisely sought to forbid contact with humans and to encourage peaceful subsistence on the steppes, although as with most history this far back, it is impossible to know for sure, especially with a society that had consistently relied more on oral tradition than written tradition.

By the Day of Ashen Skies however, peace was once again a memory; dwindling food supplies led to conflict and war with humans as well as with ogres, both the newly burgeoning Fathide civilization of the Ogre Valley, as well as the Sandmaw civilization along the southern plains. Indeed, desertification combined with conflict with centaurs is what archaeologists cite to have been the downfall of the Sandmaw Ogre civilization.

Beginning in the 2nd century and stretching as late as the 9th century, there were groups of centaurs involved in non-violent contact with humans, ogres, and harpies. Centaurs who had begun entering tributary relationships with the Kelaktar in the ogre valley had begun a trade route known as the Iron Chain. This route ran between Triunic settlements on the shores of Lake Kodarve all the way to prominent ogre iron mines. The great distance between these two locations was closed by the centaurs who had much to gain from participating in this exchange. While this particular arrangement eventually failed spectacularly in the aftermath of the Greatfist Coup in 354, and ended with economic downturn for Maghargma, and war between the Jolgik Uts and the nearby centaur groups. In 6th century the Amber Road was established, which was a similar route that connected Bulwari merchants to the Triunic market, using the endurance and speed of centaurs to close the great distances between the two lands. Supported by a powerful caehnate in the region this trade flourished for several centuries. However, having learned of the wealth that lie in Bulwar, several ordsiwyn abandoned the caehnate and led an invasion into Bulwar in the year 684. While the Amber Road lasted for a few decades longer, the caehnate was weakened by this desertion and later fell apart. With no central authority to ensure safe passage between Bulwar and the Lakes, the Amber Road officially ended in 713 with the collapse of the Egoirlust Caehnate.

### The Era of Gathering Storm

In the 10th century, the rise of a radical and militarist sect of Irdaeos worship had swept the steppes. Espousing the belief that the only valid way to enter the afterlife of Ik Magthaal was death in combat, followers of this sect flocked to the shores of the lakes and began small scale invasions and hit and run raids anywhere they could. The tensions between centaurs and the humans in the four lands steadily grew until they finally ignited during what became known as The Great Incursion in 1433.  The largest invasion force since Naegol had united under a caehn who promised glory and vengeance to all. Powerful shamans had taken advantage of a frigid winter to lock magical ice bridges into place and cross the lakes, striking in areas that were unexpected. Unable to withstand the onslaught for much longer, the Jolgik Uts hatched a plan that nearly single-handedly won the war. Jolgik Ut agents were sent deep into centaur territory to assassinate the shamans who were holding the land bridges in place, cutting off reinforcements, resupplies, and retreats. The last shaman was slain in 1439, and the bloodbath that ensued afterwards spelled doom for the invasion. In 1441 the humans organized into the Lake Federation, in a display of unity and an attempt to prevent something like this from ever happening again.

### Post-Incursion Centaur History

The caehnate completely collapsed over the following decade, and centaurkind was left in a state of uncertainty. More united than ever before and with new breakthroughs in technology, a class of homesteading humans seeking to reclaim the mainland known as Orachav had begun expanding into the plains over the following centuries. While most contact between these groups was initially violent, the spread of the Yudyunovi faith proved to be a boon for human and centaur relations in the region, with the centaur god Irdaeos being syncretized with the god Shirdos. While the Orachav states have slowly begun to accept centaurs into their populations, the future of centaur and Triunic relations still remains uncertain.