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Metron's Notes


Of Horses and Men
The Centaurlands: Pandross Lyossa
Written by Baroness Shalindra Darkmoon

Far to the north lies the Centaurlands. This area has been kept in relative seclusion from the rest of the Realms by distance. Currently, these lands are in the grave danger of being over-run by Lyossa and her undead armies. It is my belief that Lyossa’s master, Pandross, will not allow her to stop there and that whye very well may turn their sight to the rest of the Realms.
If Lyossa and Pandross are not stopped, the centaurs will become extinct and these lands forever ruined. The only thing that will be left of them is an undead army, marching towards another goal.
Terra wise, the Centaurlands are not much different from the rest of the known Realms. Due to its location in the far north, winter tend to be quite a bit harsher. In the northern region, there is a mountain range. A large wood known as the Blood Forest forms that bottom border. In the center are the pasturelands.
The current situation of Blood Forest is not good. With the wood sprites missing, the Woods has fallen into disarray. Rotting wood and flesh is everywhere and the very air carries with it he stench of slaughter and decay, ripe with carrion-scent.
The natural inhabitants consist of centaurs, werewolves, skinners, wood spirits and imps. Humans are unknown in the Centaurlands, except as outsiders. Natural predators include chimeras and dragons.

Centaurs
Centaurs are human-horse hybrids. The lower body is that of a horse, while the bottom of the neck taper to a human torso instead of a horse head. The horse potion is much smaller than that of a normal horse, so overall: they are the approximate height of a human. Their approximate life-span is estimated to be around 40 years. Sadly, due to the circumstance of their homeland, and the creatures contained within, many centaurs do not reach old age.
Home life for a centaur is not much different than those among the known Realms. They live in family groups, divided by houses. Each house has a section of land they normally reside in. These house land are shown on the map included in this writing.
Female centaurs never lost the ability to become pregnant, and many of them do so every other year for the entirety of their lives. Gestation is approximately one year long.
In addition to the common tongue, centaurs speak their own language.
They come in a variety of color and body builds, just as normal horses do. It is commonly believed that their color dictates their personality and temperament.
White. Spiritual leaders, white centaurs are pure.
Black: Black centaurs are dark in spirit, but not necessarily evil.
Grey: Noble in bearing, the gray are the political leader of the centaurs.
Red: Sorrel centaurs are believed to be flighty
Brown: The browns, or ‘brownies,” are all thought to be pranksters.
Multi” Often thought to crazed due to the mixing of colors.

Magick is unknow along the centaurs. Ever since they turned from the worship of Thesta to Equis, they have lost all their magic practitioners. They can learn magic, but since all of their spellcasters are long gone, there is no one to teach them. This lack of magic has been a great hindrance in the current war and has become a great blow to morale.

Werewolfs
The northern werewolf was fully detailed in an earlier writing. It is included in the back of this work.

Skinners
The hunger and trappers of the Centaurland, no race is out the skinnerview of prey. They are formed half of flesh and half of shadow. They often wear black hooded cloaks, to even further hide their features.
These creatures do not often have names. Instead, they have number and no concept of ‘birth’.
They can be bargained with.

Wood Spirits
The sprits are time fae creathat that normally keep the Blood Woods clean of debris. They work with the werewolves and help keep the imp population down. Ever since Lyossa has claimed power, the wood spirits have been disturbingly absend from the woods. This, combined with the werewolves’ move to Tarngire or being swept too Lyossa’s armies, has allowed the Imp population to achieve as before unheard of numbers.

Imp
Imps are detailed later in this work.

Deities
There are two gods within the Centaurlands. Equis and Thestra.

Equis
A deity believed to be god of all hoofed kind. Equis is specifically the deity of horses and centaurs. Among the centaurs, he is referred to as the one true god. Not only is he a power to be reckoned with, he is viewed by the centaurs as a kindly shepherd. He is said to reside in the hearts of all centaurs as a divine thread that leads you thought life.
Pandross brought the worship of Equis to the centaurs, during this first life.

Thestra
A deity of life and magic. Thestra quite simples is the magic of the Centaurlands. Centaurs and werewolves alike once worshipped Thestra, but then the centaurs turned to Equis. The rife this caused between the two races has never been repaired.
Thestra is the quadruple goddess, having the forms of the Child, the Maiden, the Mother and The Crone. SOmetime, all four appear at once, holding conversations with each other.
She is strangely absent at this time. When I was visiting these lands, I heard Her voice. She is trapped within the nothing, She said. If we can release Her from She is, that might be enough to help bring these land into balance at the best or be able to help stem the ride of Lyossa’s army at the very least.

Current Threats
There are many threats within the Centaurlands, but they can be grouped together easily.

Pandross
Pandross appears only as a male in black robes and hood. His face is completely shrouded in shadow, and the only part of him visible are his hands and arms. Quite obviously a powerful necromancer, he created the Bandersnatch in ancient times and is currently a puppet of Wrake, the Child of Void.
Spoken of as “the Voice of the New Way” by centaur tales, he was the first evangelist of Equis in life. Not much is reference of him, save for his obsession with his pet Bandersnatch, until his death. It is believed he was stoned to death due to his connection to necromancy. His original race was never recorded, for it was felt that his message was far more important.
It certainly bears some looking into, that perhaps Pandross bright the worship of Equis to intentionally turn the centaurs away from Thestra and thereby away from magic. Such action tells of a plan that would take generations to accomplish.
Pandross is one of the Cursed, a race of creature that transform into the leader of nations. Once they do so, they begin to destroy that nation from the inside.
How Pandross was brought back to power is currently unknown, but Lyossa was behind it. A ritual was done to banish Pandross in the spring of 1003, but something went wrong. By some reports, he disintegrated at the end of the ritual, by other he was seen to merely vanish. However it happened, he is back to finish his task.
It is know that Pandross is seeking a way to return to physical form. To this end, he has created a doppelganger. If his current one does not work and he remains undefeated, he may be lightly to try this tactic again.
Divinatory magic has shown that physical force alone cannot defeat him. Beat against him with your fists all you want, he cannot be stopped that way. Divination shows that four stone tablets, in a ruined temple, may have something to do with this. The tablets glow in red, yellow, blue and green. Perhaps they are elemental in nature.

Lyossa
A white furred centauress with dark hair; Lyossa is the creatures behind all the troubles within the Centaurlands. She is quite mad, seeing herself as the spiritual savior of the centaurs. Perhaps the saddest thing is that she doesn't realize she’s insane and thinks that she is still a rational, spiritual leader.
In order to understand Lyossa, it would help to know her background. She was a foundling child, raised by the Divine Order of Equis. In the fullness of time, she became the Hight Priestess, yet there was much talk about how she ascended to the position. Her predecessor sickened and died under mysterious circumstances. No one could prove anything beyond that. There were no signs of foul play and nothing set in stone to connect Lyossa to the deed. When it was all over, she was firmly in the High Priestess’ position with a mate of high birth. High Lord Gardel of the House of Cubris. Gardel and Lyossa are the parents of the current High Lord, Gendar and his sister, Nightmare.
Lyossa conceived seventeen times, yet only two survived. The mental impact of this low success rate must have been terrible for her.
She was finally dishonored from her position of High Priestess when her madness became apparent to everyone. The reason is quite simple: no one enjoys having a spirital leader who cannot make accurate decisions.
At this time, it would appear that Lyossa is taking order from Pandross. From what I have been able to gather, she agreed to the deal Pandross made. She believes crushing the centaurs is necessary to save them, and that their Undead is merely temporary.
Perhaps worst of all is her feeding habit. Whether or not mortal food satiates her, I do not know, but she has taken to devouring souls, much in the same way as the Bandersnatch does. She particularly enjoys that of pregnant females, as if the souls of the unborn are an extra special treat for her.

The Unholy Bandersnatch
Created by Pandross, the Bandersnatch is an awful creature, a massive beast, covered in hair with large tusks and clawed hands. It has a gaping maw, layered in sharp teeth and dripping some kind of ichor. It devours everything in its path, and rip apart every village it comes across. Those that stand against it die and the beast consumes their flesh and soul. The best defense against it is to run, although it can be held at bay by a protected from enchanted being spell.
If there is any way to kill the Unholy Bandersnatch, it is unknown at the time. I believe that it may be working with Pandross at this time, or at least marginally obeying him.

Wraiths
Having had no combat against these foes, it can only be assumed that these are similar to the wraiths by Wrake. They appeared as black shrouds, floating in mid-air.

Berserk Werewolfs
THese werewolves are very dangerous indeed to encounter. Crazed and diseased, their minds lost within a fog of nothingness, these poor souls will mutilate their own bodies, pulling the fur and skin off their own faces. Their bodies have strange lumps, as if there were diseased growths underneath the skin. They obey Lyossa’s every command, which is unusual in itself. The northern werewolves and the centaurs have been at odds for generations, so under normal circumstances, the norther werewolves are far more likely to rip a centaur apart than listen to them.
Dangerous foes, normal weapons will not work on them. In fact, the only weapons guaranteed to work is silver. Once killed, casting sure disease bring them out of the berserk state. This could be attempted without killing them, but the crazed are not likely to sit still. They do regenerate, so they will get back up after being cured. They may be willing to fight alongside us if rescued this way, but take care they do not slip back into that fog. In order to fully sure them, they must be removed from the Centaurlands.
Any form of shape-shifter should be warned prior to going into the Centaurland. If they transform and do not find a way to protect their soul from influence, may very well find themselves trapped within the fog.

Undead Centaurs
As Lyossa’s army advances, the centaurs that fall are brought into her service as undead. The adults are used as soldiers; the majority of them are archers. The children are used to march ahead of the army, allowing any who would oppose Lyossa to see what she does.
This is what has had the greatest impact upon centaur morale. Beign unused to seeing the undead, the centaurs are having a difficult time seeing their families and loves one in such a state. This is causing them to falter and run, rather than fight back. If they cannot fight, they cannot win.
The undead centaurs are not extremely powerful creations. Any weapon used will affect them.

Imp
Out of all the creature living in the Centaurlands, the Imp are the least of anyone’s worries. Lyossa uses them as “shock troops”; sending them into fight first in order to gauge the measure of her enemies.
Small creature, they resemble tiny humanoid figures with leather wings. Their gait is an interesting mix of walking and hopping. Not the toughest of creatures either, any weapon will cut through her hide. They love nothing better than hurling insults and crude jokes; indeed, their primary weapon is throwing poisoned fruit cake. They do not fight one on one however; and when encountering them, expect greater numbers than your own. They will flee to get reinforcements if their numbers are depleted.

The Connection with the Void
Excerpted from “On Wrake and the Black Zodiac” By Ayuchi Kyomi

Numbering about two hundred and fifty,they came from the Centaurland to Tarngire after the initial meeting of centaurs and denizens of our lands late in August of 1002. The centaurs, displeased with the slaughter of their own perpetrated by us, blaming the werewolves and drove them out of their forest. To be fair to the centaurs, apparently a pack of werewolves named the Twin Moons played a malicious prank on our people, instigating the fight. Having heard of Tarngire’s policy concerning werewolves, they traveled far south, resettling in these lands. In fact, in their dialect of lupine. Tarngire also means ‘place of harmony’. Both phrases mean the same thing.
They are the favored children of Thestra, one of the goddess of the Centaurlands, Thestra is the land and the magic of their home, and they take their guardianship of Her very seriously. She had dictated to them to keep out all intrudes from the Blood Forest. This eventually caused friction between themselves and the centaurs, especially when the centaurs turned from the worship of Thestra to that of Equis. The two races do not get along at all after so many years of bloodshed.
Thestra created the northern werewolves. Before She created them, She was loved by two males, Solis and Lae’un. Solis was the more outspoken of the two males, so Thestra thought her loved Her best. She was going to chose him over Lae’un. But Lae’un finally spoke to Her, quietly telling Her how much he loved Her. She realized that Lae’un was the one She wanted. Her decision drove Solis into a fury, and the two males did battle. During the fight, Thestra was one injured by Solis, who ran away from his mistake. She became the land and to the day, Lae’un (the moon) chases Solis (the sun) to gain revenge. To spirt Solis, She created the plants and animals, but it was the animals She loved best, Her wolves, that She created for Lae’un, to show him how much She loved him. Since then, the werewolves have been the favored of Thestra.
Northern werewolves are born as wolves, able to shift not only into human form but also the hybrid form. They are born as cubs, and grow into their shifting as they mature. There is generally a large central den out of which several packs operate from. Raising the subs is a communal job, and everyone looks after the little ones.
Five Elders lead them, former alphas from the various packs granted the position by right of age or wisdom. These Elders are their repositories of knowledge, and there is nothing they do not know concerning their people. Granted, access to the Elder is very limited. It is not recommended you try to pay them a visit unless you need is urgent. Contact a pack alpha first, they will bring your concerns to the Elders, and then a meeting may be arranged. Bring a gift of fresh meat, and do not bring any silver weapons into their presence. It is an insult to them, insinuating you mean to bring harm to them. If you need to speak to an Elder, seek out Cirwin. The youngest of the Elders, he is the most helpful. Addressed properly, they are gracious host and more the willing to work with other species so long as there is a valid reason for them to do so.
Crossing them or betraying them in anyway would be a very bad mistake.
Appearance and temperament is a varied as the pack themselves. In wolf form, it is impossible to tell them apart from a normal wolf. Their human forms tend to be normal sized. Their hybrid form, however, gains a great deal of mass and is much larger than any shifter discussed so far. Each pack tends to be made of individuals closely related, either by blood or personality. Packs are numbered anywhere from five to ten individuals, each one led by an alpha. Each one serves a purpose or has a special quire that is exclusive to the pack. Here are a few samples.
Created by Janna Oakfellow-Pushee at 01-18-22 00:51 AM
Last Modified by Janna Oakfellow-Pushee at 01-18-22 00:51 AM