Centauri
Lords of the steppe; lords of thunder!
History
Listen well and learn the pain we suffered! For we were once free, but then came Orra the Hunter. He claimed us from our homelands and set us to the Wyld Hunt. We were forced to serve; driven across star and sky for his mad quests; and came to this land as slaves.
When Seln rumbled with the First Eruption, we saw our chance. Our bravest and best led our lord into a trap. They willingly perished in the Eruption to set us free.
The plains that grew from the First Eruption were their final gift. A new world, a free world.
We will never be slaves again.
Stature
The half-horse centauri tower over other folk. An adult stands ten foot tall and can weigh upwards of 1000 kg! Both men and women are muscular; the average centauri can lift several hundred pounds and carry even more.
Centauri hair tends to be thick and dark. Their hair line extends all the way down their human spine. Most centauri allow it to grow to its natural length and decorate with beads, shells, or (when possible) metal.
Individual clans reflect different breeds of horse. Common breeds are Mustang, American Paint horse, Appaloosa, and Clydesdale. Less common are Friesian, Shire, and Arabian.
Rarely, a centauri will be born with a horn. This is taken as a sign of destiny; such centauri often become chieftains or powerful sages.
Diplomacy
Foragers and nomads, the centauri range over massive territory. They put little stock in the notions of borders, and utterly refuse to enter legal contracts. Written contracts are seen as a form of slavery; instead, they put immense stock on one’s sworn word.
To a centauri, freedom is the utmost ideal. Their society assembles based on the charisma and skill of individuals, and they expect to deal with the Kingdom on the same basis. Titles have zero meaning, and they expect each new diplomat to prove his worth as a man.
On the plus side, this does make the centauri incredibly egalitarian! If you can prove yourself to a centauri, they will deal with you as an equal regardless of age, gender, and Kingdom status.
Centauri youth
Centauri youth must prove themselves to their family and friends. As you might expect, this means trouble. Most centauri raiders are young bands of men out to make a name for themselves.
A couple ways the youth prove themselves:
- Storm running – racing at the very edge of powerful storms, flirting with injury and death to prove bravery
- Raiding – Raids on caravans or settlements. Before the raid, the centauri agree on a target (such as metals or foodstuffs), and the winner is the one to seize the most
- Erupting – The centauri intentionally provoke a nascent crystal den to erupt. Very inconvenient for Kingdom cultivators!
Trade
Seek:
- Supplementary food, especially during winter when foraging is lean
- Crystal fragments, especially of Fire and Air
- Metals of any variety
Offer:
- Hides, furs, meats
- Sinew and Leaf reagents
- Guidance on safe locales on the plains or guarantees of safe passage
- Warnings on storms and weather (quite accurate!)
- Medical treatment
Arts
Known as the lords of thunder, the centauri have learned to harness the fury of the storms that sweep over the plains. Centauri raids are often preceded by elemental storms. The Kingdom mistakes this as the centauri following the storms; however, in truth, the centauri cause the storms.
The centauri have learned how to channel Air and Fire into the power of Lightning by thundering in troupes across the plains. This called Lightning both drives an elemental storm and charges the centauri’s body paints with power, allowing them to carry its energy for days afterwards.
These body paints also form the basis of the centauri’s advanced medicine. Half-horse, the centauri must carefully mend any wounds to their legs. Centuries of practice have taught these sages how to consume the elemental power of the body paints to heal the body of almost any wound.
Expecting cultivation through meditation and martial arts, the Kingdom does not recognize this paint art for cultivation. For their part, the centauri jealously guard their secret of Lightning.
The Path of Thieves
The Path of Bolts also use Lightning. The Path of Bolts are reviled by the centauri as thieves and oathbreakers.
Was Lightning gifted or stolen? The truth has been lost to history, and the centauri are openly hostile to the Bolts.
In war, the centauri specialize in powerful shortbows and heavy lances. Combined with their natural size and speed, a centauri charge is deadly!
When pressed, the centauri tap their body paint to summon the Lightning. Bolts hurl from their hands, strong enough to shatter walls.
Secrets
Shaping the plains
The centauri shape their lands through their thunder storms, keeping the land tilted towards Air and Fire. Naturally, this is the best elemental balance for them. Beyond that, however, the centauri consider it a sacred duty to “maintain the world”.
As part of this work, the centauri aggressively locate and erupt nascent crystal dens. They consider crystals a “blockage” on the ley lines.
To outsiders this seems like stark territoriality and random destruction.
To the centauri, it is a guarantee that they will have a free homeland. Their bodies are not at home in the forest nor the mountains. They seek to claim neither. Where they can exist, they have the right to shape it to suit their children.
The Doe
There are whispers of a strange creature in the deepest woods – the mercurial Doe. Most among the Kingdom consider her an outright myth; foolish hunters might chase after her in hopes of glory.
The centauri, though, already know the Doe. She is Fawn, first-born of Seln and true ruler of the lands. In her wake sprang up the mountains and the rivers and all the folk. On the day she passes, so too will Seln.
Heart and soul of the land, she asks nothing of those who dwell upon her. Perhaps one day the Kingdom will recognize her as more than the drunken fairy tale of hunters.
Dark Shrines
Centauri burial grounds are the sacred, exclusive property of the tribes. These well-tended shrines host neither Spirit nor Shade.
In recent years, a few among the Kingdom have noticed that these shrines emanate with powerful Dark energies. These scholars think they have spotted a centauri adaptation, but the truth is stranger still.
The oldest shrines were built using Arts that require Dark…thousands of years before the element’s discovery!
To the centauri, this element known as Dark is instead called Silence – the opposite of Lightning. The stronger they thunder, the stronger the Silence grows.
This does not match the Kingdom’s understanding of Dark paired with Light either!
Not that the centauri care. The shrines are important for a reason unrelated to Kingdom sillness.
For these shrines are the stakes driven through Orra the Hunter’s dismembered body to keep him dead.
They will not be slaves again.