[written by Verna]

Colony world: Delta VII (Centauria)

Centa-f. singular
Centas-f. pl.
Centi/Centaur**-m. singular
Centaurians-m. pl

**not proper hatemil, but it's becoming more common

Appearances:

Centaurians are human from the waist up, and are equine from the waist down-think Roman/Greek myths, think Hercules... ::shudder:: You know Chiron? He's a Centaur, that's what my race is based on. Loosely.
They are not normal horse colours. Depending on the Clan, a Centaur can be any colour of the rainbow-quite like sprites in that respect.
Reasoners have Unicorn-type horns and white robes. Hunters wear B'Ramyu wool and armour.
Weavers are human and wear wraps made from purple barley cloth. They dye and weave the fur of the B'Ramyu for the Hunters and themselves to wear.
Riders don't wear anything, and are often dirty.

Social Structure:

The inhabitants of the Plains are divided into 4 major groups:

• Hunters
• Reasoners
• Weavers
• Riders

Hunters

The Hunters of the Plains are divided into Clans. Each Clan has a Lead Hunter and Huntress. The Dominant Clan is the Clan of B'Daer at the moment.
Hunters have a number of official Camps throughout the Plains. Since they follow the B'Ramyu herds for a living, a study was made long ago of their migration patterns.
What the Hunters don't eat they trade with Weaver villages for clothes and yellow vitrothis Root.
There is a Hunter's Code that all must follow. Basically, it is a sin to kill B'Ramyu that are either young or pregnant. It is a sin to kill when no food is required, and it is a sin to kill for pleasure. If there is a Clan meeting, failure to provide your family's share of the kill is a great disgrace. To ignore hospitality is a disgrace. To leave debts unpaid is a disgrace. And so on.

Reasoners (the A'nor):

The Reasoners are religious figures. They play a big part in the community. A Reasoner is deployed to each Village or Tribe to perform rituals and keep the peace. Usually that Reasoner works as an advisor to the Lead Hunter, predicting energon storms before they hit and the like.
The White-Robed (A'nor) go through a painful process called Recognition shortly after birth. This is when his or her horn breaks through the skin of their forehead, making the Procession available to them.
Procession is another name for all the stray bits of code drifting through the Metaverse, ripe for the reading. The clashing visual and mental images are too much for the Centaurian mind, which is why upon Recognition the Reasoners take you away and blind you. This is called Clarification.
Recognition is an unexplained anomaly that hasn't shown any signs of inheritance. It's a randomly occuring 'gift from the User', or mutation. When the foal of a Clan is Recognized, the Clan celebrates because they believe themselves to be blessed.
When young Centaurians are taken away from their families, they undergo a rigorous training regime. After education, they are taught to detach themselves from Basic Life, or the first level of thought. They rarely show any emotion externally. They are not truly telepaths in the manner that they can only communicate amongst themselves through the manipulation of stray code, and only if they are very evolved in their Reasoning.

Weavers

The Weavers are a group of very capable hackers that were fleeing the law, (or more specifically, the Guardians) when they crash-landed on Delta VII. Masquerading as a group of enthusiastic colonists, they found their way onto a transport deck and stole some rickety old ships straight out of repairs. Partway on their journey to the Omega system, their ships broke down and dropped out of Linear Induction and straight into Gradual Recession (in other words, they crashed.)

Stranded, they had nothing to do but set up small villages around the Khartoum river and start making food for themselves. They befriended the strange Centaur-people and initiated trade.

Riders Riders are wild and bloodthirsty savages. They don't follow the Hunter's Code, or any code of all for that manner. Weaver villages are often terrorized by rambunctious Rider bands that are out for a good time. Their current leader (which is prone to change every 10 cycles) is tolerated at the Annual Council because the Hunters would rather have them as allies. Hunter Centas look down on Rider Centas, because they don't have the modesty to wear... well, anything.**

**(Note: it's okay, I won't get descriptive or anything... I've read the rules. ;)

Language: Centaurians speak a complex version of Hatemil that humans find hard recognize as a language. Anthros can generally understand them but it's a tiny bit difficult because they've developed an accent and a considerable amount of native slang. (Think Québec vs France.)

• women's names end in 'a'
• men's names end in 'i' traditionally, but 'or' and 'ors' endings have become a bit of a fad
• Reasoners are given new names after Recognition, which end in 'e'