Centaur

The centaurs colonized Wagakeya's western-most coast, including the entire Western Steppes and some of the Great Forest. Centaurs resemble horses whose heads and necks have been replaced with human torsos. They are a militaristic society where rank is often decided by who can defeat who in battle. The leadership in the centaur colony was recently overthrown by a group of bandits, turning the colony into a kleptocracy. Many wealthy centaurs have fled the colony in response, and regional bandits now rule the colony through terror.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Body is identical to that of a horse, except with the head and neck replaced with an entire human torso, sewn together where the human's hips would be.

Growth Rate & Stages

Grow at the same rate as humans--a much slower rate than that of actual horses.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Need to consume a lot of food to sustain their massive bodies and energy requirements. Near-exclusive herbivores, although they will contain light amounts of meat.

Additional Information

Facial characteristics

Lean towards Greek facial anatomy, although there is a lot of variation in this regard. Centaurs tend to have long, flowing hair, but buzz-cut one half of their scalp so as to give themselves an appearance more similar to the manes of horses. Despite their human facial structure, centaurs have horse-like ears.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Native to Continent 8. In Wagakeya, they dominate their colony Apoikia in western Wagakeya, but are otherwise uncommon on the continent due to limitations in their locomotion.

Average Intelligence

Tend to fluctuate around the same intelligence as real-world humans.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Hearing is above average.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Foals are given a single name at birth. These names are based on real-world Greek names.

Average Technological Level

Technology is less advanced than those of other societies due to there being little drive for innovations in transportation. However, their military might has given them easy access to those technologies of other societies that they do find useful.

Common Dress Code

Many centaurs will not wear any clothes at all, although this leads skin cancer to be a common cause of mortality in centaur populations. Other centaurs will dress their human halves in clothes similar to those of other nations. Members of the government will often wear formal military wear indicative of their rank and position.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Centaur government is a militocracy. The highest commander of the military, the High Stallion or High Mare, rules over the people as a dictator. Membership in the military is required to have any say in public policy. Rank is determined by combat. Members of the government will vote for two candidates for a rank, and the two winners must then fight each other in combat. The winner of that battle gets to succeed to the next highest rank.
Despite the militaristic nature of the government, many centaurs are peaceful people who will engage in little fighting in their lives. About half the population is nomadic, choosing to ride across the land in herds and live off the raw natural resources they can find. The other half congregate in large settlements and pursue ventures such as agriculture and the study of magic.

History

Due to the free-roaming nature of many centaurs, expansion to another continent was inevitable for them. They were a little late to the party of colonizing Wagakeya, and so only got a foothold in the lowlands on Wagakeya's west coast, and some of the nearby islands to the south.
Two years prior to the start of the campaign, the centaur bandit Heracles overthrew the regional governess Persephone in the colony, sending the nation into a storm of chaos. Busy with issues in their own homeland, the High Stallion could not spare many troops in Wagakeya, and so the colony has become a kleptocracy ruled by Heracles and his underlings. The citizens of the colony live in a constant state of stress and anxiety, always fearing the arrival of Heracles' marauders to steal the people's resources and valuables as a "tax." Many wealthier centaurs fled the colony to other colonies to escape Heracles' take-over.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Other nations highly value the military might offered by centaurs. Because of this, most countries try to stay on the good side of centaurs, but avoid internal affairs so that they may have positive relations with all parties. Centaurs can be very physically imposing, and they tend to be aware of this, either taking efforts to ease other peoples' nerves or taking advantage of the anxiety they bring to intimidate those they interact with. Some people see centaurs as violent creatures due to the brutal way membership in the government is decided. Others see centaurs as valuable sources of manual labor.

Lifespan

Similar to human lifespans.

Average Physique

Tend to be well-built and fit, although some are little scrawny. The amount of musculature needed to hold up their human torsos has made centaurs very strong compared to other races.