Attila

The Gods are Crazy

Ah, my mistake, I've misunderstood "Days later, the Light Ones occupying the lands of the five eastern tribes left, leaving the tribes to fend for themselves as they settled along the lakes and lived peacefully with the Lairreen.". I was under the impression they left to the East and not actually settled there.
Okay then, that would change things.
I think a massive force like the Light Ones could have been the catalyst for the formation of a tribal confederacy in case they return and to offer every tribe, great and small, the protection they wouldn't be able to get on their own. This later kept growing into what they have today, through tradition and common benefit.

And just because they don't need an authority to tell them what to think and how to feel doesn't mean they have a hive mind. They can recognize property value, they can coordinate, organize, and they're not human. They won't behave like humans and they won't have the same priorities, as I'm sure your nation won't either.
The driving away of others is not particularly hard. You merely have to drive them off from the bountiful places over and over until their choice is to either leave or starve.

As an aside, I don't plan on the entire territory being nothing but steppe. I'm feeling like there should be a taiga transitioning into tundra in the North, so it's more gradual than the abrupt white on the map.

The Gods are Crazy

I'm thinking the centaurs would have driven the humans westward in earlier times, since they are pretty much unmatched in the open. I've read your history and if the centaurs were in those lands at the time the Light Ones were passing through, they would have done what they do best: outrun them at every turn, inflict damage if they were being pursued and generally avoid pitched battle while making the stay of the enemy as inconvenient as possible, depriving them of supplies, sleep and so forth.

Anything centaurs can't fight they will simply avoid.
However, having read your history raised an interesting idea: the Light Ones traveled through their lands once, not stopping and settled lands far beyond, to the south-west. That would have taken them some time before the conqueror Light Ones decided to make a return trip the same way they came.
This time though, they would have been facing not disparate tribes, but a single, massive horde of the entire collected centaur kind. They could have been the reason the centaur tribal confederacy would have been founded. Now depending on what you would agree upon, we can range from the Light Ones being simply routed, taught a lesson or obliterated entirely.
Do note that centaur combatants are hunters by nature and they would have lured them in through ruses into traps.

As far as my territory is concerned, I was facing a difficult dilemma. Not only are my people nomadic, meaning they need plenty of space, but they're also tribal, with an untold number of tribes present that are constantly moving across these lands with the seasons and weather patterns. Population density is extremely low so none of this land is actually settled or even routinely secured.
There's nothing stopping people from just going in there. However, the area mainly denotes a designation of land centaurs see as their own and they will kill trespassers on sight if they find them. And in open field, it's difficult to hide for long, particularly if the ones you're hiding from have every physical advantage on that terrain.
So you may go and squat there for a while and live in fear of discovery every waking moment when you lay your head down and wonder whether this will be the last time you woke up. With tribes continually migrating, settling here without the centaurs' consent is practically impossible.

Let me know what your thoughts are on this :)

The Gods are Crazy

Also, for my history it would be very useful to know whether the map we're using represents the circumference of the world, whether the map's West is to the east of its East? Knowing whether or not that is the case should help me a lot in figuring out the etymology for my nation. :)

The Gods are Crazy

Country Name:
Government type: Tribal Confederacy

"Let this hereby end all past and future grievances between us. With the spirits of our ancestors as witness and with the blessing of all chiefs, we have convened, deliberated and settled that all the bounties of this land are to be shared equally by any of our own who live and work for them. And whosoever breaks this bond of friendship shall be punished as seen fit by the laws of his own kin. This, we swear to uphold. From this day forth, we are all as brothers, bound by duty to rise when harm would come to any other as if it would to us, or we be put to death."

Ruler: Several - each tribe is guided by its own Chief, and each tribe has a different type of organization. Some may have rule concentrate in a single individual where others may share responsibilities with others.
Location:

Capital City: none
Language : Various - Present-day centaur tribal languages all started off as regional dialects of the same archaic language, increasingly becoming diverse over time as they picked up words and expressions from neighboring cultures or trade partners. The common characteristic of all these languages is the use of various clicks, the direction in the mouth the sound emanates from signifies a cardinal direction, with suffixes that also tell the time of day. At any given time between two partners, both know not only what is being discussed, but where it happened, where it was coming from, where it was heading and when this happened, these being present in every-day language thereby giving speakers an unparallelled sense of cardinal direction and cycles of time.
Currently, a sign language is being used, adopted earlier on by all to communicate with other tribes and other peoples if there is no shared language. A foreigner would most likely be taught in using this sign language when trading with them before learning any of their tribal languages is even a possibility.
Species: Centaur
Army
No tribe possesses a professional, standing army, instead defense falling into the hands of their hunters and men overall. Ordinarily, men hunt while women tend to the household, but in times of crisis when men would be away for an extended period or do not return, the women assume the duties of their men as well, up to and including serving in combat.
For this reason, communal child-rearing is commonplace. If disaster strikes a given family, there is a network of extensive relatives and godparents to fall back on, and the elderly, held in high regard and possessing greater than average wealth are usually the ones that take in unclaimed orphans until they come of age to be apprenticed to a tribal specialist, or as a last resort, given to a different tribe.

Physical conditioning is extremely important to success as a hunter and a fighter. Both boys and girls undergo physical conditioning and training in arms during their childhood, being expected to be ready to join their parents by age 15. From this point on, men and women receive training in different areas by their parents, fathers training their sons and mothers training their daughters, as applicable. Men learn complex hunting tactics and receive further physical conditioning and survival training, whereas the women are taught how to negotiate, trade, run the household and tend to various animals as well as treating illnesses and injuries too trivial for a Mender.

Arms and Combat

Centaur armor is made to impede freedom of motion as little as possible and has many local variations. Generally though, it will protect the exposed sides with downward-sloped armor to make it more difficult for an enemy to mount a centaur, with the majority of the protection being focused toward the front and the underside.
Centaurs possess powerful muscles at the juncture of their humanoid and equine halves, allowing for a greater range of mobility without risk of unbalancing themselves in addition to being able to put more weight behind their blows, particularly if they also rear up. This makes weapons that rely on motions like these very popular.

Centaurs have a wide assortment of weapons developed to fight adversaries for control of their lands:

• Bows - given their nature, these are common to the point where everyone has a bow and quiver, albeit subject to huge local variation. They are made to have such a poundage that none of lesser strength than a centaur are able to use them. Arrows come in a great variety of shapes and sizes depending on their purpose and the tribe that made them. Some arrows may be ornamental in nature, engraved delicately as reminders of some event of importance.


• Spears - the second most widespread weapon, and likely the most popular of melee weapons due to its simplicity and effectiveness in hunting. One-handed spears are used exclusively, with a haft length of up to 9 feet. Spearheads made for war are generally longer and possess a curved, double edge, with the intent to pierce, then slash, wounding a foe both ways and allowing for larger, deeper wounds. Spears generally have a blade on either end, one of the longer, curved variety and one of the shorter, thicker variety for breaking shields and armor.


• Throwing Spears - also quite popular due to them possessing a greater impact. They are designed to split shields when blocked and have been known to completely pierce lightly armored foes. They are typically carried in a large, side quiver at the flank, but even so it is rare to see a centaur carry more than 4 to 5 due to their sheer weight.


• Swords - not hugely popular, but sword-fighting practitioners do exist. Single-handed swords possess a single long, curved blade and a short one on the opposite side. They are typically used alongside a small round shield, but specialized units carry a pair of them in addition to the shield for use in group tactics.


• Double-handed swords - very new weapons, few have trained long enough to be proficient in their use, which sets their popularity the lowest, but they are quickly gaining ground. Characterized by a long, straight double-edged blade, some designs feature slightly outward-curved edges. They are a recent development to combat dense pike formations by knocking pikes to the side with rapid sideways 8 motions. Roughly at one-third of the length of the blade from the hilt toward the tip, there are a pair of parrying hooks. This section is blunt and generally fastened with leather so that its user may adjust their grip, using it as a short spear at closer ranges.


• Axes - entirely of the two-handed, long hafted bearded variety. Particularly popular in the northern regions, where it takes the place of the spear in many cases. Able to tear away an opponent's shield and weapon. Has a monstrous impact when swung by a centaur at full charge, capable of splitting shields and hacking off limbs.


• Maces - as well as other blunt weapons are not considered weapons at all. They are used exclusively when the intent is to capture, not to kill.

Special Weapons
- Considered such due to a combination of scarcity, complexity of design and difficulty in crafting, limiting their number greatly. Generally wielded as a status symbol as well as a proper weapon.:

• Dancing Blade - a dagger-length, single-edged blade with a distinctive, curved grip that attaches to the palm via a specially-crafted gauntlet and chain, sometimes wielded in twin pairs. When in rest, the blade attaches to the underside of the wielder's bracer, offering its grip neatly close to the hand with the curve preventing it from being encumbering. Operating as a combination of a whip and a hatchet, wielders of this weapon prefer the accuracy and supreme reach. Limited applicability inhibits its general use by individuals who are not arms masters to begin with.


• Glaive - info coming soon

Tactics and Strategy

Due to their bodies, centaurs prefer to fight in very loose formations, if any. Spreading out to encircle their enemies from every possible angle, making use of their great mobility to outmaneuver their foes in quick skirmishes to wear down their forces and morale. Against formations, they generally prefer to harass at range, individual centaurs moving in seemingly chaotic patterns, unleashing rapid, inaccurate fire from their bows before withdrawing to prepare for another run. This equates to a near-constant torrent of arrows showered on their enemies, forcing them on the defensive and frustrating them further.
Any enemies that break away from the formation are quickly hunted down by fringe elements.
If the entire enemy force breaks formation in order to attack, the main body will begin withdrawing while continuing to fire, not allowing the enemy to close. Fringe elements will capitalize on the enemy's advance by strafing their flanks, sometimes even employing melee weapons. If an enemy is completely broken, the centaurs attack in force with melee weapons while attempting to shove, charge and trample enemies in rapid, sweeping advances.

A special tactic for breaking enemy advances and attacking the flanks of a mostly stationary or slow enemy is the drumming circle. The drummer sets up at the center, with a dozen or more centaurs in a circle around them, circling in one direction at a steady pace. The member furthest from the enemy prepares to fire as they traverse the circle while the ones closest to the enemy release their arrows in rhythm with the drum. The speed of the process increases with the tempo of the drum, reaching a dizzying speed which is maintained until the participants exhausted their quivers.

If centaurs do attempt a tighter formation, it is usually after having encircled an enemy. They form a ring one man deep where they stand shoulder to shoulder with individuals falling out of the circle where necessary. These then proceed to use their ranged weapons to bombard the enemy while the others continue closing in. Eventually, the enemy will be packed so tightly that they won't even be able to raise a weapon or a shield to guard themselves.

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History
Just as their languages, histories and origins myths have diversified across the tribes as time went on. Centaurs possess no written language.

Centaur culture

Women embroider colorful tapestries that are used by the tribe commune to teach small children of their tribe's history, ancestry and greater events and people. The stories focus on life lessons with a whimsical twist and are told by song. Singing along in these songs is how children learn the characteristic throat singing of the centaur people, that has an otherworldly sound no human can attain due to the centaurs' use of both their sets of lungs and diaphragms to produce these sounds.
Aside from this, there are the story circles that are held by the elderly. In these, a given elder invites everyone to their household and acts as their host. One story is told by each attendant in the circle, with anyone being able to join in or leave at any time during the event that can last up to three days at a time. Attendants are expected to bring gifts to their host in return for their wisdom, from which all share during the length of the event.
Another major event takes place yearly: A particular tribe is selected by a committee at the conclusion of last year's event. This tribe then begins preparations all year to host this week-long event. Attending it will be members of every tribe that wishes to travel there and it is a festival dedicated to the ancestors, in a spirit of trade and strengthening inter-tribal ties. The youth in particular are interested in it, because the young men and women of all tribes will be there, making it the prime place for finding a partner outside of one's tribe. Generally the women join the man's tribe, accompanied by a dowry, the exact terms being settled upon by the respective families. However, the reverse has been known to happen, if seldom.

If disaster strikes and an individual becomes impoverished, in the worst case scenario, they may offer themselves as collateral to a member of their tribe. Thus effectively becoming indentured workers or slaves, they will work for this person until they work their debts off.
However, in cases of willful malice toward the tribe's community or one of its members, the family of the criminal is expected to pay for reparations for the intrinsic and abstract damages caused. It is believed that ill rearing is the main cause of criminal behavior. However, in cases when the family cannot make complete reparations, the person in question becomes indentured as a form of punishment.
There is a definite difference drawn between forceful indenture, delivered as a means of punishment for a wrong done to the community or a member of the community and between voluntary indenture, which is just a means for an individual to go back on the path of individual value.
Those punished the harshest could spend up to and including their entire lives indentured if their crimes have been grievous enough. Deprivations of freedom of movement, of speech and others are common for these cases.

In the most extreme circumstances, individuals may become so undesirable that their presence can no longer be tolerated within the community. These are then cast off into the wilderness to find their own path or can ask to be sold off to a foreign nation and never to return under pain of death.

Outsiders tend to encounter centaurs mainly through trade. Possessing the endurance and skill to navigate the steppes, neighboring nations find it advantageous to trade their goods to them and have them travel across to another empire, then return with wares from there. Such practice has set lucrative traditions for all parties and has consolidated the centaurs' reputation as nomad traders of the steppe, purveyors of exotic goods and services.

Centaur customs

• Centaurs will always haggle. In their society, everything has value and increasing one's personal value is the essence of life, whether it be by accumulating wealth or knowledge. Barter for goods as well as services and transference of skills is commonplace and haggling is a crucial tool for gauging the subjective value of a given thing to the parties in trade.


• When a centaur sees a good trade opportunity but possesses nothing of equivalent value for trade, they may offer their child for apprenticeship as collateral. For years, this child will work for the given person until they have fulfilled the length of this contract and return to their kin with new skills and insights gathered from their time spent.


• Centaur society is based around having specialists in a tribe. Menders, binders, crafters, traders and students of one of the three paths are all sought after by tribes without, as due to the apprenticeship nature of knowledge and skill transference, a tribe must possess a specialist to train more in this specialty. Specialists are key to a tribe increasing their value as individuals and as a tribe.

Centaur Specialists

Specialists are people who have learned one or more skills that increase their value as individuals and as a member of the tribe that has them. Tribes will try to attract specialists by elevating their living standards and prosperity, which will be further bolstered by a specialists that allows a tribe access to further goods and services.
Specialty skills are divided into two categories:
Trades - Represent a profession that one is able to learn and master. One may focus on just a single one or learn multiple.
Paths - Represent a life-long dedication to cultivating oneself in order to channel magic specific to centaurs. Does not exclude one from also learning trades.

Trade Skills

• Mending - Years spent in the study of living creatures by laying one's hands on them and connecting with their spirit has conferred intimate knowledge of anatomy to practitioners of this skill. With great focus, their spirit has become capable of communing with that of another and instructing it to heal a sickness, infection, mend a broken limb or even regrow torn or severed areas in very short order.


• Spirit Binding - After completing their training, practitioners of this skill have become able to invoke spirits of deceased through rituals and commune with them. Spirits may be subdued and bound to inanimate objects or effigies and given a purpose. Enchantments made in such a way are valuable, because the more powerful the spirit, the more powerful the Binder must be to subdue it, but the enchantment will also be more potent.

(Crafters and Traders have been omitted due to them being analogous to what we know them to be)

Paths

• Wayfarer - Individuals who show an inclination toward being solitary and possessing a knack or affinity toward natural elements are a clear sign of becoming potential followers of this path. Those who choose to follow it train in seclusion under the tutelage of another, heightening their attunement with the natural elements of weather until eventually they become able to inflict their will upon these elements with increasing strength. They aid their tribe and hinder enemies by influencing these elements. When in a council position, Wayfarers generally represent an outsider's perspective on matters, bringing unexpected insights due to their seclusion.


• Farseer - Individuals that are highly sociable, good negotiators with high degrees of empathy are regarded as good students of the Farseer path. They are capable of developing the ability to leave their physical bodies behind, their intangible spirits traveling rapidly across the land where they can see and hear as if they were there. Farseers are some of the most important specialists in a tribe, as they can scout for danger without risk to themselves and also commune with Farseers of other tribes to deliver messages. When in council, Farseers represent the will of the people for continued prosperity and growth, which is why they are those who conduct trade missions.


• Habringer - Individuals with a strong drive for acknowledgement and possessing qualities for leadership are a good indication of potential Habringers. With training, they learn to manipulate volatile elements like fire and channel their own spiritual energy and will out into the world, making it manifest in the fire they create and control. Harbingers are also students of warfare, tactics, strategy and on a council, they act as representatives for self-defense.

Pic: (optional)
Religion : - on its way -
Population: ~ 1mil 200-400thousand spread across 58 - 62 tribes

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Species Form (only if you aren't playing humans)

Name: Centaur*
(given that each tribe has their own name for themselves in their own dialect as well as for others around them, for the purposes of convenience, they will be referred to as centaurs first and foremost, with a reference then to their given region)

Physical Features: Humanoid torso, horse body. All centaur share powerful muscles at the back- and sides of their humanoid torsos, conveying to them significantly greater power for stabbing, slashing, striking and drawing, hence the preference toward such weaponry. Should they rear up, they can put even more weight and force behind their swing. Because they have the large surface area given to them by their equine bodies, their upper parts can swing further from where a human's center of gravity would be, allowing even wider strikes without any risk of becoming unbalanced.
Centaur have two hearts, one inside the human torso's rib cage and the other inside the horse body's rib cage. The two hearts operating in tandem allow for a very efficient blood flow and even if the centaur receives a grievous injury to their human heart, they may survive thanks to their secondary heart. However, damage sustained to the horse heart remains lethal, due to the high amount of shock losing the larger of the two hearts causes to the body. Having two hearts also helps them in situations where one heart suffers arrhythmia or otherwise becomes disabled but uninjured -in such a circumstance, the one heart may be restarted and/or rebalanced by the other.
The digestive tract within the human torso is also mostly unchanged, with the exception that its lower parts lie deeper inward, toward the horse body. From here, it connects to the equine gastric and intestinal tract, which acts as an additional means of deriving nutrients from a given meal, allowing centaurs an overall more efficient metabolism than humans or horses. They also have two sets of livers and two sets of lungs.
Finally, centaurs do not have human kidneys in the humanoid torso, nor a gall bladder. Instead, these organs are found in the equine part of their bodies.
Regional info below, drawings of each to come.

Northern Tribes - make the inhospitable, frigid forests of the taiga forestland their home. They are hardy and well-adapted to the hardship that comes with the lifestyle their environment demands. Expert trackers, survivalists, powerful and enduring in their pursuits, the sheer strength of a centaur of the north is nothing short of legend. A tribe has low numbers, for only the strong live to reach adulthood.

• Physical Characteristics:
  - largest of all centaur
  - thick skin with fat layer and thick fur
  - hair color varies from black through brown to red
  - large bodies with shorter limbs
  - males grow horns


• War Gear:
  - protect themselves with chain on top of padded cloth, with occasional hammered metal and splint
  - carry additional throwing spears
  - adorn themselves with fur shawl of a great beast, further adding to their already imposing stature
  - armed with long-bearded axes wielded in both hands

Western Tribes - inhabiting the rolling hills of the West, guarded by mountains to the west, their northern and southern neighbors; the hill tribes of the West are by far the most prosperous, tending to live stock and sharing their bounty with their allies for their continued support. Voluntary trade is no more at home than here and personal freedom is highly valued. With the western mountains being rich in ore, it is no surprise that the recent trend towards double handed swords has begun here. Their tribes have the second largest number of all.

• Physical Characteristics:
  - slightly larger than average size, putting them between centaur of the south and north, though tending more toward the prior
  - blonde and red hair colors are common
  - tattoos of the individual's deeds and accomplishments are common
  - longer than average limbs
  - possess the greatest stamina of all centaur


• War Gear:
  - wear very little or no armor
  - always apply war paint for battle, giving themselves fierce visages
  - may carry an additional shield for protection against ranged attack
  - weapon of choice is the double handed sword, wielded in both hands

Eastern Tribes - tribes of the steppe occupy the largest expanses of land of all tribes and keep few domestic animals in addition to being hunter-gatherers, following game migration. They are renowned for their excellence in marksmanship and speed. Their tribes are average-sized compared to others, but there are significantly more of them by comparison.

• Physical Characteristics:
  - smallest of all centaur, their small size and short limbs offering them excellent nimbleness
  - characterized by dark skin and epicanthic folds
  - hair typically straight and black



• War Gear:
  - armor comprised of leather and scale, with fur being common among north-eastern tribes
  - carry round, rawhide shields and curved sabres
  - weapon of choice is an X-shaped double recurve with four limbs, all attaching to a single string, offering massive power in compact form

Southern Tribes - the centaur an outsider is most likely to encounter, they inhabit the bordering forestland that leads into the vast open steppe to the East and the rolling hills of the West. They consider themselves the guardians of entry to centaur lands and take their role very seriously. They are masters at blending into their forest environment and their territory is notoriously ridden with traps and ambush sites. Their tribes have the largest number of all tribes, given that their main form of subsistence is inter-tribal trade as well as trade with outsiders.

• Physical Characteristics:
  - average size, proportionally analogous to a typical horse
  - larger than average ears, highly apt at picking up sounds and able to be angled just like those of a horse
  - dark brown or black hair, typically grows in curls


• War Gear:
  - armor consists of padded leather with hooded cloak to break their silhouette
  - always carry a bow and quiver as well
  - weapon of choice is the one-handed spear with round shield

Picture: (optional but very helpful)

The Gods are Crazy

Alright, sweet! I should have the NS draft up by this time tomorrow! :)

The Gods are Crazy

Well, I'm thinking of a nomadic group with a large territory and low density occupying mainly the Steppes region and the south-eastern part of the North if that's still unclaimed :)

The Gods are Crazy

I'd like to join if it's not too late. :)

The War of the Great Kingdoms (A Sci-Fi NRP)

I'll be joining as well.