Minotaur

Minotaurs embody the tension between civilization and savagery, discipline and madness, for they stand in two worlds. Created by the demon lord Baphomet by merging the intellect of humans with the ferocity of an angry bull, but elevated from their bestial nature by the benevolence of the goddess Erathis, minotaurs find themselves being pulled in two very different directions.

The minotaurs were once the masters of an advanced civilization, blessed as they were by Erathis. However, influence from Baphomet caused a slow corruption of the minotaur people, leading to the destruction of their civilization by an alliance of the servants of the gods of good.

Now, the minotaur people are a shadow of their former greatness, but rather than blame the gods for their downfall, the remaining civilized minotaurs instead understand that divine intervention led the minotaurs to be free from Baphomet's influence once more, though they lost many of their kin to his demonic influence, and many remain lost to this day.

## Physical Description

A minotaur combines the features of human and bull, with the build and musculature of a hulking humanoid, but with cloven hooves, a bovine tail, and, most distinctive of all, a bull's head. Fur covers a minotaur's upper body, coarse and thick on the head and neck, gradually thinning around the shoulders until it becomes humanlike hair over the arms and upper torso. The thick hair turns shaggy once more at the minotaur's waist and thickens around the loins and legs, with tufts at the end of the tail and around the powerful hooves. Minotaurs take pride in their horns, the sharpness, size, and color of which are related to an individual's place in minotaur society. Fur and skin coloring runs from albino white to coal black, though most minotaurs have red or brown fur and hair.

Labyrinthine patterns are important to minotaurs, and these decorations appear on their clothing, armor, and weapons, and sometimes even their hides. Each pattern is particular to a clan, and the pattern's size and complexity help minotaurs identify family allegiance and caste. The patters evolve through the generations, growing more expansive based on clan member's deeds and a clan's history.

## Society

The minotaurs once had a great civilization based in the island capital of Ruul. Since its fall, the minotaurs have rebuilt into a series of familial clans with a rigid caste system.

Those minotaurs that have succumbed to Baphomet still adhere to clan lines, but their caste structure is far less rigid, essentially boiling down to a ritualized version of might-makes-right, with clans being led by the minotaur strong enough to keep his challengers at bay.

## Relations

Minotaurs are not popular among the civilized races. Their bestial appearance and the reputation of their race as servants of a demon lord makes most members of other races draw little distinction between civilized minotaurs and their savage cousins.

## Alignment and Religion

Minotaurs can be of any alignment, though civilized minotaurs are usually Lawful Good or Lawful Neutral in alignment, and Baphomet's minotaurs are almost universally Chaotic Evil.

A great majority of civilized minotaurs venerate Erathis, though many worship Bahamut, Heironeous, and Zenithar as well, and the demon lord Baphomet still holds sway over many minotaur clans.