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Centaurs have a tribal society deep within the forests of the world. These are fun loving beings, who live in small tribes, usually consisting of five to six families, and these small collectives are part of a larger society. The communities all work together, the women stay home and tend to the fields, house and kids, while the men do the hunting and fighting. There are never wars between the tribes, and everyone has a sense of community over personal possession. Any treasure found is brought back to the community and placed in a treasury. Some of the found treasure does go to the family, so this way they can buy any needs in towns that they may desire, but as a whole, the treasury is the location of the tribes wealth.
Centaur males scout their entire territory on regular shifts, usually lasting a week to two weeks. These patrols are to ensure that any intruders are not invading the community. Anyone who intrudes into their domain is usually surrounded, and then captured, brought back to the town blindfolded, and questioned when they get there. If the answers are satisfactory, then the intruder is let free. But if it is discovered that they are there for foul reasons, the intruder is often drawn and quartered. Anything evil that enters their domain is killed without question.
Kindhearted and stubborn, the centaur is an interesting race. They are loving and caring, and will aid those who need it, but do not trust easily and are quickly angered, taking insult in the slightest comments. Born live, similarly to horses, they mature at age 16, though are not adults until 18, and live to be around 150 years old. They are born in the forest, and often stay there until death, preferring the company of other woodland creatures to the destructive races outside of its protective branches.
Generally there is a very Roman feel to the names they choose, with Ilandria, Celeste, Brutus, Araban being very common. With the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse, these woodland creatures are unlike any other on the planet. They can be of any horse breed or body type, though the physical exertion required just to exist generally gives them greater body tone and strength. Their hair, and eyes can be of any combination found in nature for horses, and their skin tones are similar to any human. They tend to be around 8 to 10 feet tall, and 700 to 1000 pounds depending on size and breed.
Draconians are a very rigid, militaristic race. These creatures are mercenaries for hire, and have no real home of their own. They wander around their entire lives and search for the next job. Occasionally they will form a tribe, but this rarely lasts more then a few months before they all leave to go find work elsewhere. There is no real society to these beasts since they are nothing more then wanderers, and will almost always never listen to a ruler. The only time that a draconian will listen to a ruler is if that ruler is an officer of an army that the draconian is a part of.
These creatures do not get along well with any race, always fighting with them. Since they are so fierce in battle, their commanders often place them on the front line of any battle, using them as a scare tactic against the enemy. Greedy for money or ale, these hired thugs are uncaring of who they work for or who they kill, so long as their purses are filled and their thirsts quenched. Alliances with these creatures are tenuous at best and often result in overspending.
These creatures usually have harsh, guttural sounds for names, similar to Orcs. Those that interact more with non-evil humans will tend to have a secondary name, similar to many dragons, such as Flash, Rock, or another similarly short, descriptive names. Their physiology is as varied as the dragons and lizards of the world, with attributes wildly differing from one to the next. Often these draconic humanoids have protruding horns on their heads. They are covered in small, soft, serpentine scales that harden with age. They also have leathery, dragon-like wings protruding from their backs. Unfortunately, they are slightly smaller than what is required for true flight, and may only use them to propel themselves into a faster run or charge. Ranging from 5 to 7 feet tall, they weigh in at anywhere from 200 to 350 pounds.
The term 'lycanthrope' refers to the ability to shift into an animal form. Generally speaking, these forms tend to be larger and more vicious in appearance than their natural counterpart. While in this form, a lycan will take on the more predatory, instictive natures of the beasts they resemble. Heightened senses and natural weapons - claws, teeth, brute strength - are born. Society shuns these beasts, fearful of their bestial nature, and will hunt down any they discover, generally in large groups.
The biological transfer required to become a lycanthrope can come in the form of a scratch or bite, though most die and only the survivors are blessed (or cursed) with the ability to change. An emotional overload can cause unwilling shifts, though for the most part they occur at the will of the lycan. Shapeshifters, Naga, Minotaur, Thri-kreen, Draconians, Fairies, Centaur, Elyssians and Tieflings are immune to the effects of lycanthropy, and thus cannot contract the disease.
The most common forms of lycanthropy are wolf, rat, fox, cat, and bear.
Due to the ritual that occurs at birth, these beast-men have mildly altered features reminiscent of those of the animal whose blood they receive at birth. A cat-mamalian, for example, would have whiskers and a slight "snout", as well as slitted pupils. Aside from these variances, they can have any mundane hair, eye, or skin tone, and range in height and weight the way humans do. Having little or no real society, they are most often seen wandering the plains, taking kinship with the local animals and living from the land.
These cave-dwellers prefer to keep to themselves, and although powerful allies, can rarely be bothered to aid those in need. Most often found in the depths of smaller mountains far from the Dwarves, Naga are extremely social, and yet xenophobic when it comes to other races. They are hatched from eggs and mature at age 21, living to be 120 years old.
These snake-like creatures have 2 forms, between which they may change at any time, though the transformation itself can take a few minutes, making it useless as a battle tactic. The first form is simply a human-like face attached to a long serpent body. The face may or may not keep its hair during this transformation. The second form is the upper body of a human, possibly with blue or purple tinted skin, matching hair, and the lower body is that of a snake. In both forms, they are roughly 15’-25’ in length and weigh 600 to 800 pounds. Generally their names have a hiss sound to them, or end in soft sounds like -iel or -ieth.
Shapeshifters have no real society. They commonly live among the other races, and stay there until either discovered or they want to move on. These people are a nomadic race, always wandering having no true home for themselves. They are interested in all forms of society, and it is common for a Shapeshifter to be the voice of reason when it comes to a debate over one society being better then the others. The only race that will tolerate a Shapeshifter, and that the Shapeshifters tolerate is the Kender. There is not much else known about the Shapeshifters, nor is there anything known of whether or not they have their own nation.
Able to manipulate their own genetic structure, these creatures can change their own shape at will, mutating into the form of another. While this seems like a great ability, it generally does little good in any kind of a hostile situation. It takes around 20 seconds for their bodies to fully change, which is an eternity in battle, not to mention that, due to the shape-shifting, the subject loses a good amount of their former strength. The reason for this is unknown. While they can hold this new shape indefinitely, they can only change into another humanoid of equal or slightly smaller or larger size. They can only shape into a creature that is at most half the level of the player.
With greyish skin pulled tight across their bones, they appear almost skeletal, their resemblence to the undead just enough to reinforce the fear that their sheer ability ignites. Their hair is usually black, though their eye color varies. There are shapeshifters of all shapes and sizes from the very small to the very tall, making it more difficult to discern them from the races they portray.
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