Centaur

Centaurs are plains nomads living in small bands or herds, with a horse's body and a human torso rising from its foreparts. Mostly barbaric, they roam open grasslands and mountain valleys; some are fairly refined, but hardly any stay in one place for long. Their wandering has spread them across nearly all temperate lands, though seldom to remote islands, and how they reached several separate continents is a puzzle, since they dislike the sea and avoid crossing it.

They eat no meat, living on grasses, plants and berries, but their huge bodies need vast amounts of food, so a migrating tribe can strip an area bare quickly and must move on. A whole tribe therefore rarely exceeds fifty, and raiding parties stay around twenty warriors.

For all their pastoral ways, centaurs are fierce fighters. Chiron's Natural History describes a migration during which warrior parties split off to raid on both flanks, riding down farmers, burning villages, taking supplies, carrying off women and a few youths and children as slaves, and outriding even trained cavalry. His account overstates their might somewhat but has proved largely true. Their raids mainly seek drink and women; unable to brew or make wine themselves, they take others', and their drunken revels and brawls are legendary. Not all are so wild, and although most carry clubs and simple spears, well-armored tribes with lances, bows and good swords are on record. Many centaurs are skilled with the short bow, the spear or both.