Minotaurs
The minotaurs who dwell in the badlands of Phoberos and the remote polis of Skophos are caught between two worlds. Some follow the dark god Mogis, who has tyrannized them for ages untold and shown them a trail of slaughter that is all many minotaurs have ever known. Others, though, have emerged from this bloody path and found a world that welcomes those who pursue their own destinies and heroic callings.
Most of the minotaurs that roam the badlands of Phoberos are outcasts from the society of Skophos. They are bandits and marauders, bloodthirsty killers infected by the wild rage of Mogis. Most of them use only the barest minimum of technology—tattered clothes, piecemeal armor, and heavy weapons, all scavenged from their fallen foes. They wander alone or gather in bands under the leadership of the strongest among them, and in either case tend to kill any human they encounter.
When Akroan soldiers encounter minotaurs in ordered squads, patrolling the badlands on predictable routes, clad in armor and wielding bronze weapons, they tend to speak of the “Bronzebone band,” as if these minotaurs were just one more faction competing for dominance in Phoberos. But these minotaurs aren’t just one more raiding band; they are the soldiers of Skophos, the minotaur polis.
The minotaurs of Skophos acknowledge the entire pantheon of gods, though they are far enough inland that they have little cause to honor Thassa, and many of them view Iroas as an enemy of their people. They worship a more ancient aspect of Karametra, who demands blood to ensure the fertility of the earth. In the shadow of Mogis’s great temple, most of the gods are honored with some kind of violence.
Culture
Although minotaurs aren’t evil by nature and are free to worship any god, many are raised among those devoted to Mogis’s vile whims. Myths tell that Mogis created the first minotaurs from his own followers, typically criminals and monsters of unspeakable depravity. While many groups of minotaurs still honor their villainous progenitors, others have abandoned their ancestors and moved beyond their crimes, seeking their fates in the future, not the past.
Minotaurs are known for venting their outrage through violence, but they aren’t generally quick to anger. They are passionate, loving their friends and partners fiercely, and they laugh loud and long at good jokes. This zeal also extends to their faith.
In the labyrinthine polis of Skophos, the deeds of minotaur champions are carved among the winding halls. Minotaurs often name their children after these great heroes, believing that a child will inherit the strength, audacity, guile, or fearsomeness of a heroic namesake. Other minotaur parents invent their own names, though, believing in their child’s potential to light a new constellation in Nyx with the brightness of their own soul.
Type
Geopolitical, City-state
Capital
Subsidiary Organizations
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Related Myths
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