Overview
Centaurs are nomads of the open plains — the upper body human, the lower body horse. They do not ride, because they are the ride, and the riding is the point.
Habitat
Centaurs live on the open — their home is The Grassy Steppe, a wide plain of tall grass and running water where the wind is the only calendar. They need three things: a grass that is wide enough to run, a water that is close enough to reach, and a horizon that is wide enough to see. They are nomads; a centaur who has stayed in one place for more than a season is not settled, but lost, and the losing is the point.
Appearance
A centaur silhouette is the two-part line — the upper body human, the lower body horse, with the seam at the waist that is not a flaw but a fact, and the head that sits at the end of the neck like a word that is waiting to be spoken. A centaur is 3.05 m to 3.66 m to the top of the head, with a body that is built for running, and the running is the point. The upper body is human, in a range from a deep, warm umber to a soft, muddy brown, with a faint, almost imperceptible warmth to the cheekbones and a network of fine, pale veins at the temples that show when a centaur is roused. The lower body is horse, in a range from deep umber to a true, quiet black, with the mane and tail in the same range, and the mane is the tell — a thick, fine mass that is worn long and unbound, and the mane is the centaur's only ornament. The eyes are large and a warm, soft amber to a pale brown, with a slow, deliberate blink and a depth that makes them look like they are looking at something behind the person they are talking to — and in most cases, they are, and what they are looking at is the direction, and the direction is the point. The head is the tell: the mane is the centaur, not the face — a thick, fine mass in a range from deep umber to a true, quiet black, worn long and unbound, and the mane is the centaur's only ornament. Males carry the centaur line in the jaw and the shoulders; females in the neck and the mane. Elders are marked by a full grey mane and a back that has stopped trying to be straight — an old centaur moves with a slow, deliberate economy, like a grass that has decided to stay. Everyday wear: a leather harness over a rough tunic, a war-belt with a single good knife, and no boots, because a centaur does not touch the ground more than they have to.
Behavior
Disposition: nomadic, social, herd, proud. In peace, centaurs are blunt, watchful, and absolutely incapable of being rushed — they have the steppe, and they let you know it. In war they fight as the herd, and the herd is the point. Strangers are met with a question about what they are carrying, and the answer decides whether the centaur offers a hand or a wall. The social unit is the herd-nomad, following the grass, with decisions made by Gallop — the herd runs, and where it stops, there they stay. Two signature quirks: a centaur who is being lied to will not call it out — they will simply ask a follow-up question that the liar cannot answer, and let the silence do the work. And they keep their dead with them, a single token from each fallen, worn at the harness, and counted aloud at every gallop.
Warfare & Markings
Tactics: open-field cavalry — the centaur line charges and does not stop, and the charge is the point. Useless in forests, worse in cities — a centaur who has entered a city is a centaur who has given up. Armor: hide and chain, worn with the mail over the leather so the impact is taken twice. Weapons: the long bow, the two-handed mace, and the hoof that is not a weapon but is used like one. War markings: the Mane-Knot, a single knot in the mane for every gallop survived, worn as a record of the long run; the Steppe-Notch, a single deliberate chip in the left hoof for every year spent on the steppe, worn as a record of the long watch; and the Herd-Token, a small iron disc for each comrade lost, worn at the harness and counted aloud at every gallop. Post-battle: the dead are carried back, their names spoken on the steppe, and their bows laid across the threshold — a centaur buried without their bow is buried as a stranger.
Magic Alignment
Primary domain: wild — centaur magic is the grass, the patient, precise holding of the herd across the steppe. Secondaries: oath and conjuration. Named inborns: Herd-Sense (a centaur can feel the herd's mood the way a sailor feels the wind), Gallop-Pace (a centaur can run for a day without tiring, and the running is not a choice), Open-Eye (a centaur can see the horizon the way a sailor sees the sea, and the seeing is not a choice). Signature power: the Steppe Word — a centaur can speak a word in the herd's tongue and let it land across a lifetime, and the word will keep the grass's faith. Limitation: centaur magic is spent on the steppe; a centaur who has spent their steppe word must stand still for one day, and the day is the worst one of the steppe.
Religion
Centaurs keep Korrath, the Fang as their primary god — the wild, the hunt, the survival that is the steppe's own law. The steppe is Korrath's grass, and the centaur is the grass's voice. Zephara, the Thousand Doors is honored at the gallop-rites; the direction is Zephara's door, and the centaur is the door's walker. Priestly class: the Herd-Keeper, who keeps the steppe-temple and speaks the steppe word at every rite. Heresy is not blasphemy — it is a word broken on the steppe, and there is no rite for that one; the steppe simply stops remembering the breaker.
Society
Herd-nomads following the grass, 40 to 200 strong at the gathering. Decisions by Gallop — the herd runs, and where it stops, there they stay; a gallop that stops where the elder did not want it to stop is not a mistake, it is the herd, and the herd does not apologize. Outsiders who enter the steppe are met with a question about what they are carrying, and the answer decides whether the centaur offers a hand or a wall, and the hand is the whole of the welcome. Young are raised on the run-line, the edge of the grass where the gallop is the first lesson; a young centaur who has not galloped the full day is not given a line of the herd. Bow-worship (the bow is their highest art), horse-riddles (philosophy told as puzzles), and a deep suspicion of walls, which they find "for the benefit of the imprisoned."
Home
They keep their herds on The Grassy Steppe, a wide plain of tall grass and running water, where the wind is the only calendar.
Relations
The Wolf Men of Howling Fen are the rivals of the long chase — the wolf keeps the den and the centaur keeps the grass, and the two have learned that a den in the grass is a sound and a sound is not a chase. The Bear Men of Ironwood Grove are the neighbors the herd does not gallop through — the bear keeps the grove and the centaur keeps the grass, and the two read the season the same way: the grass first, the grove second, and the direction the whole time. The ground Humans of The Ashen Reach are the ones the herd rides beside — the human keeps the town and the centaur keeps the road, and the two have learned that a road beside the town is not a threat, it is a direction, and the direction is the whole of the treaty. Below, the ground-folk of The Forgotten pass the steppe without a word, and the herd has counted them, and the counting is the whole of the safety.
In the Story
Centaurs are the "open world" faction in the current story — the allies who cannot stay, the rivals who will give you a fair fight in the field, and the tragic figures when a story forces them indoors. A centaur who learns to walk on two legs is a story in itself, and the wiki keeps one such: the elder of The Grassy Steppe who rode to the camp of The Forgotten and stood at the gate, and the standing was the whole of the warning, because the steppe is the direction and the direction does not lie. The herd has not ridden the same grass in two seasons, and the not-riding is the map the camp has not been shown.
We do not leave because we are unfaithful. The grass is not our home. The direction is. — a centaur elder