Questions and answers: Centaurs and the Tribe

"So, I guess the most immediately useful topics to cover are centaurs in general and the Starchasers in particular. If I'm going to make a home here, I need to know a lot more than the basically nothing I know now, so let's start there. How many types of centaurs are there? I saw three varieties just on the Council. How long do Centaurs normally live? I know you said there are more women than men among centaurs, is that true universally or does it vary? And speaking of babies, ah, should I maybe have been a little less enthusiastic last night?" You were way too caught up in the action to even consider that there might be consequences.

Brighid giggles around the food in her mouth and quickly chews and swallows. "It is a bit late to be asking me that now, do you not think? But no, to answer that question first, it is not possible for last night to have started a child in me, for two reasons. First, I am not in heat; although we centaurs do not like to be reminded that we are similar to simple animals, we are, in many ways. Just like horses, female centaurs of breeding age will periodically go into heat, and can only become pregnant at that time. Males' seed simply will not catch in a mare who is not in season. Unlike horses, our heats are not tied to the time of year, and each woman's cycle is a little different. Most mares go into season twice each year or so, during which time they will usually enter heat two or three times over the course of about two months for a few days at a time, during which she will be constantly aroused and driven to mate with a male."

She grimaces and adds, "I am a little different in that regard; my season comes less frequently and lasts a shorter time, but while in season I am constantly in heat and it has a stronger effect on me. I usually lock myself in my home with my riding stick for those two weeks -- I have not trusted myself to be among males. My season shouldn't start for another couple of months at least, though. The second reason I cannot be pregnant is that humans and centaurs are not fertile together. Centaurs are actually only fertile with other centaurs and..." She grimaces, but continues, "Animals the same type as their lower body. You could not have known it, but suggesting that Neifion would want a horse to mount him is possibly the single most humiliating thing you could have said to him. A centaur of either gender will only mate with a horse if they have absolutely no other potential partners, and for males that just does not happen. Even worthless waste of space males like Neifion have females who will approach them, like Siwan, because there often just are not enough men to go around. Sometimes a woman will allow a true stallion to mount her when she is in heat if she is truly **** for a foal, but she would never tell anyone who, what, the father was."

She eats another bite of food from your fork with a smile, then starts in on your other questions. "There are five races of centaurs. By far the most numerous are standard Centaurs, and all but a handful of Starchasers are of the main race. Then there are four subraces: Moongraced, Mountain, Forest, and Grey. My mother and I are Moongraced, as you know, and the only two in the village; our subrace is usually a little smaller and more slender than standard centaurs and instead of appearing part-human, we appear part-Moon Elf. Mountain Centaurs like Gerwyn are much smaller and stockier, with heavier and coarser fur and the upper body of a dwarf. There are maybe thirty or so other Mountain Centaurs in the tribe. There are no Forest or Grey Centaurs in the tribe, but for your knowledge, Forest Centaurs have the body of a large deer and the upper body of a Wood Elf, while Grey Centaurs are usually only found in the hot plains of the far south and are much, much larger, with the lower body of an elephant and the upper body of a giant. We do not like to admit that Greys are actually a subrace of Centaur, but fortunately this far north it is not really an issue. I suppose there may be other subraces, as the Realms are vast and I am hardly a scholar, but if there are I do not know of them.

"Centaurs live longer than humans to varying degrees. The main race and Mountain Centaurs will live to about one hundred to one hundred twenty years of age, ignoring illness or ****. Moongraced can live for over two hundred years, maybe as much as three hundred. I apologize, but I am not sure about the other two subraces; I have never met either. If I had to guess, both would be on the longer-lived side of things since it seems to tie into the appearance of our upper body, but that is only a guess. As far as children go, the main race has one foal at a time with rare twins, and about sixty percent of children are female. Mountain Centaurs have twins much more often and are closer to half and half for genders. Moongraced only ever have one child at a time and bear twice as many females as males. You did not ask, but for the record, normal centaurs and Mountain Centaurs breed true with a partner of the same race, with the exception that very rarely a Moongraced Centaur will be born to parents who are not Moongraced themselves. Moongraced Centaurs almost always give birth to centaurs of their partner's race, with a slightly higher occurrence of Moongraced children. Even two Moongraced having a foal together are more likely to produce a normal centaur than another Moongraced."

You nod, chewing some delicious food and processing all the information, then prepare your next round of questions. "Alright, that gives me a good base to work on to start with. How about the tribe? I gather from my prompts last night that there are between 300 and 400 Starchasers, is that right?"

Brighid nods and says, "About that, yes. I'm not sure of the exact numbers since not everyone lives inside the village and even more are outside the walls at any given time hunting, herding, patrolling, trading, or adventuring."

"Alright, that leads well into my next question. You said just a few minutes ago that you traded some pots to Eilwen for this delicious meat; remind me to compliment her on it, by the way. I also noticed when we got my clothes from Siwan that you didn't give her anything for them, at least not in front of me. I assume you did some smithing work for her, or promised to, in exchange for the clothes? Is bartering like that the usual method of paying for goods and services or are you just a rebel?" You give her a smile and a kiss to take any potential sting out of the question.

"That is mostly how things are done. There are coins, but mostly those are used for trade with other tribes or the friendlier nearby nations. Starchaser to Starchaser, it is considered a mild insult to ask for coin payment; it implies that you do not trust the craftsmanship or skill of the other party. No one will fight you over it, but you would not make any new friends that way. You do not have much in the way of useful Skills at the moment, however, so that will not be a problem." She sticks her tongue out at you and you make a faux biting motion, snapping your teeth together loudly. She giggles and pulls her tongue back in.

"I know you're just teasing, but that is a real concern of mine," you admit. "Right now I have nothing to offer the tribe at all. Hell, my highest-level Skill is Sex, and it isn't even Initiate rank yet. I know one combat spell and one really minor healing ritual. I really should have picked better at the start, but I still thought I was in a game and could just make a new character once I figured out the rules. I know you will take care of me and I'm sure that you have the means to do so, being the only smith in the village and all, but I don't want to just lounge around and live entirely off the fruits of your labor. I feel like that would be a very poor repayment for all that you have given me."

Brighid takes your cheeks in her hands, turns you to face her, and gives you a long, intense, smoldering kiss which has you out of breath and hard as a rock by the time she finally lets you go. "Aidan, what you have done for me, done for all the Starchasers, is enough that I would gladly lend you my home and feed you for the rest of your days, even if you were not my lover. Do not think for a moment that I am unaware of just what you have given for us. However, I do understand what you are feeling. You are a good person, and you wish to be helpful to others. You also would grow bored with nothing to do all day. I assure you, that is no risk for you. Your Trait means you really can learn any Skill you want to, and in a far shorter time than is reasonable. I could teach you Smithing if you want, and we can find some others who would be willing to take you on as an apprentice. Mother would, I am sure. Gerwyn would too, but unless I miss my guess you might not enjoy that as much." She gives you a smirk and you remember how he pinched your butt last night.

"Err, that leads to another question. I know you have had a female lover, and I can put two and two together about Gerwyn. How are same-gender relationships treated here? Back on Earth, there was a lot of social stigma associated with anyone who wasn't strictly straight."

"Humans are so strange." She replies, "Sex is sex. Maybe it is different for us because we can only become pregnant at very specific times, but no one cares who you have sex with except for when a mare is in heat. Obviously some people have committed relationships, like I am committed to you, but that is between the individual partners. No one really cares if a man mounts another man or two women play with each other, it is all just for pleasure's sake, just like drinking with friends or playing Towers. Neifion and his gang taunt me for being with women only because I lock myself away when I go into heat. It is very embarrassing to say this, but I am considered somewhat of a prize catch -- I have attractive coloration, my mother is on the Council, I am one of two Moongraced in the village, and I practice an extremely valuable profession. Honestly, you will probably get a lot of dark looks from young males once it becomes more commonly know that you have claimed me. Which, ah, may be soon. You did encourage me to let the whole village know last night..." She grins at you.

"Yes, and I will continue to do so. Bringing you joy is worth all the dark looks I ever earn. But I take your point. Anyway, next question, and it's probably the one I should have lead with. Why are we called Starchasers?"

"Mother would be able to give you a better answer, she is our historian and lore keeper, but the short version is that we actually came here from far away. Long, long ago we were nomads rather than a settled people and we used the stars at night to guide our path. Thus, star-chasers. Eventually, they lead us here to the hills around Bannagh Macht and we gave up our nomadic ways. The city is ... not sacred, but very important to our people, which is one reason why I want to cleanse it so much. Of course, I have another reason now." And she pulls you in for another long kiss.

Eventually, the kiss ends and you consider what other questions to ask.