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Description
Centaurs (Centaurus centaurus) are a race of giant sapient offshoots of mantids native to Greece.

Origin/evolutionary history: They evolved from mantises, but it's as of yet unknown when they diverged exactly, but it's most likely at some point within the early new eras and epochs after the Mesozoic when life made an explosive return, and the major habitats that they were in were open areas on large islands, and due to the phenomenon known as island gigantism, and the need to grow big to thrive and fill in empty niches, they evolved a more complex respiratory system and exoskeletal structure to gain and maintain such a massive size, and thus became quite unique from most other arthropods in general.
Later in life after gaining sapience/personhood thanks to a similar diet which included seafood, not that unlike a human's diet which led them to such a similar path, they eventually turned to a more herbivorous lifestyle, but as shown many times within nature, the line between herbivory and carnivory can be blurry, and they can go back to predatory habits.

Physiology/biology: Centaurs are massive for arthropods, standing usually at a height of 7 ft at the head, and a body length of around 5 ft, they achieved this unique physiology thanks to a more complex respiratory system in the form of a pair of chambers that act as rudimentary lungs, along with a smoother modified exoskeletal structure that gives them a tetrapodal look to them, but they may still often run the risk of dying while trying to molt out from old shells as they grow, thankfully as they're a highly social people they can help each other out, so centaurs on their own have a much higher mortality rate, even if they were to safely molt, they'll be in an incredibly vulnerable state.
Centaur bodies are a light tanned brown on the upper section with lightly darker brown stripes along the arms and front sides and large pale yellow compound eyes, and the lower section's a darker tone of brown with a lighter brown underbelly along with darker stripes along the legs and abdomen. The front and back thorax lacks any organs, which are located within the abdomen, much like a regular arthropod, but the back thorax does contain the pair of air sacks/chambers that act as rudimentary lungs which helps them take in enough oxygen to gain and maintain their massive size as previously mentioned.
While mostly herbivorous ever since a few decades or so before ancient Greece, they have a tendency to delve back into a more predatory diet, and their powerful mandibles being more than capable of making short out of vegetation and flesh alike, having a max bite force of 230 lbs, this odd dietary habit is not too unlike whenever the line between carnivory and herbivory also blurs with other animals like deer and crocodiles, but happens slightly more often, with an average individual centaur having at least 12% of their diet being that of meat throughout their life.
They're able to manipulate tools with their arms and are very good at it, even better than regular mantids which already are proficient at grasping items thanks to the more specialized tibia which has split into two digits. Thanks to their lean and powerful legs, they're able to run at top speeds approximately 40-52 mph for about 24-30 minutes.
Their strength is also quite impressive, able to exsert approximately 150 lbs of force with their kicks, and thus are able to stomp at most attackers or prey to death, or at least cause some serious harm, which is their best means of deterring threats should they be unable to use any tools. Their mating season starts in mid-spring and can last throughout it and the entirety of summer. Females can lay up to 200 grape-sized eggs and the gestation period is 4 months. The rate of maturation for newly born centaurs is 7 years, and have a total lifespan of up to 30 years, with a few rare cases of some individual specimens reaching 52.

Behavior: Centaurs are a highly social sapient species that live in herds of at least 13 individuals, always led by a matriarch. They're also often quite the militant people and are prideful of themselves, really only showing respect to other sapient species if they show them the utmost respect and admiration first, and those that end up offending them will quickly and brutally be ganged up on and trampled to death in a flurry of merciless stomps.
This instinctive pridefulness has unfortunately led to the culling of uncooperative herds as the human and werecreature civilizations progressed, eventually, they would've been discovered by the growing new world and been utterly eradicated completely, thankfully there's still a suitably stable population, even though it's lower than desired, being around 830.
Anyone who earns the respect of an individual centaur is treated as a minor acquaintance to the rest of the herd, and if one were to risk life and limb to save a centaur from danger they'd be treated fairly highly, even being given the title of master/mistress by the centaur(s) and will be seen as such throughout the centaur's lifetime.
They're nomadic in nature and any sort of empires or other such settlements formed don't stay up for much longer, 4 years at most, and greatly sick or injured centaurs are left behind to die. Centaurs communicate with pheromones, gestures, and writing, and have a tendency to write on their old exoskeletons that they've molted out from rather than paper or wood, and what they'll most write down will be their past life experiences that they've had prior to molting, so they may keep such life histories remembered and collected.
The tools they use are either made or found, they're not too picky of either so long as they know how to use them, and even though they'll usually prefer making their own tools, they can easily recognize better-made ones when they see and grasp them. Tools that they're known to use include but are not limited to spears, swords, clubs, bow and arrows, crossbows, poleaxes, armor, blades that're very curved and sickle-like, masks that resemble human faces, huts/tents made from all manner of material from various animal hides to vegetation, and clay or mud bowls.

Weaknesses/termination methods: Centaurs are very vulnerable from attacks from behind, as their abdomen is essentially their heart, much like with all other arthropods, but slices anywhere along the body may also prove fatal, as it's basically mostly just a long neck with limbs. Much like regular mantises, they will die from losing their heads, but will still be mobile and run around frantically for up to 3 minutes, so it's best to stay out of one's reach until they expire.
As their exoskeletons are fairly tough, they're invulnerable towards bites, cuts, and stings from small things like snakes, scorpions, spiders, bees, foxes, and dart weapons, but are vulnerable to stronger things like piercing and hacking weapons like axes, spears, firearms, knives, and the teeth and claws of bigger and stronger predators like chimeras, dragons, werewolves, etc.

Containment/handling procedures: Herds are to be greeted by an agent who's tasked with gaining their trust and cooperations and become the emissary for them and this order, and are to be firstly trained and brief in on knowing centaur gestures and such before making any contacts, sometimes there's even a centaur present in person with the more experienced agent giving the briefing to the expected emissary. Once such pacts are made they're to be placed within large controlled mountain and plain regions that act as sanctuaries and go on for around 3 miles, and after spending enough time there are then escorted to live within new ones, most commonly via aircrafts or ships. There are indoor areas that can simulate such environments, much like a greenhouse, even though centaurs have a disdain for such things, they're smart enough to know it's sometimes a necessity.
When making contact with a herd one must be on foot, for it's generally seen as greatly insulting and mocking to be on horseback or be in a vehicle. Herds that still wish to remain in the wild without The Order's help have learned to keep hidden from the progressing world, albeit with some more difficulty, and the amount of wild herds makes up 40% of the worldwide centaur population. Art is by www.deviantart.com/sheather888

Description
Centaurs (Centaurus centaurus) are a race of giant sapient offshoots of mantids native to Greece.

Origin/evolutionary history: They evolved from mantises, but it's as of yet unknown when they diverged exactly, but it's most likely at some point within the early new eras and epochs after the Mesozoic when life made an explosive return, and the major habitats that they were in were open areas on large islands, and due to the phenomenon known as island gigantism, and the need to grow big to thrive and fill in empty niches, they evolved a more complex respiratory system and exoskeletal structure to gain and maintain such a massive size, and thus became quite unique from most other arthropods in general.
Later in life after gaining sapience/personhood thanks to a similar diet which included seafood, not that unlike a human's diet which led them to such a similar path, they eventually turned to a more herbivorous lifestyle, but as shown many times within nature, the line between herbivory and carnivory can be blurry, and they can go back to predatory habits.

Physiology/biology: Centaurs are massive for arthropods, standing usually at a height of 7 ft at the head, and a body length of around 5 ft, they achieved this unique physiology thanks to a more complex respiratory system in the form of a pair of chambers that act as rudimentary lungs, along with a smoother modified exoskeletal structure that gives them a tetrapodal look to them, but they may still often run the risk of dying while trying to molt out from old shells as they grow, thankfully as they're a highly social people they can help each other out, so centaurs on their own have a much higher mortality rate, even if they were to safely molt, they'll be in an incredibly vulnerable state.
Centaur bodies are a light tanned brown on the upper section with lightly darker brown stripes along the arms and front sides and large pale yellow compound eyes, and the lower section's a darker tone of brown with a lighter brown underbelly along with darker stripes along the legs and abdomen. The front and back thorax lacks any organs, which are located within the abdomen, much like a regular arthropod, but the back thorax does contain the pair of air sacks/chambers that act as rudimentary lungs which helps them take in enough oxygen to gain and maintain their massive size as previously mentioned.
While mostly herbivorous ever since a few decades or so before ancient Greece, they have a tendency to delve back into a more predatory diet, and their powerful mandibles being more than capable of making short out of vegetation and flesh alike, having a max bite force of 230 lbs, this odd dietary habit is not too unlike whenever the line between carnivory and herbivory also blurs with other animals like deer and crocodiles, but happens slightly more often, with an average individual centaur having at least 12% of their diet being that of meat throughout their life.
They're able to manipulate tools with their arms and are very good at it, even better than regular mantids which already are proficient at grasping items thanks to the more specialized tibia which has split into two digits. Thanks to their lean and powerful legs, they're able to run at top speeds approximately 40-52 mph for about 24-30 minutes.
Their strength is also quite impressive, able to exsert approximately 150 lbs of force with their kicks, and thus are able to stomp at most attackers or prey to death, or at least cause some serious harm, which is their best means of deterring threats should they be unable to use any tools. Their mating season starts in mid-spring and can last throughout it and the entirety of summer. Females can lay up to 200 grape-sized eggs and the gestation period is 4 months. The rate of maturation for newly born centaurs is 7 years, and have a total lifespan of up to 30 years, with a few rare cases of some individual specimens reaching 52.

Behavior: Centaurs are a highly social sapient species that live in herds of at least 13 individuals, always led by a matriarch. They're also often quite the militant people and are prideful of themselves, really only showing respect to other sapient species if they show them the utmost respect and admiration first, and those that end up offending them will quickly and brutally be ganged up on and trampled to death in a flurry of merciless stomps.
This instinctive pridefulness has unfortunately led to the culling of uncooperative herds as the human and werecreature civilizations progressed, eventually, they would've been discovered by the growing new world and been utterly eradicated completely, thankfully there's still a suitably stable population, even though it's lower than desired, being around 830.
Anyone who earns the respect of an individual centaur is treated as a minor acquaintance to the rest of the herd, and if one were to risk life and limb to save a centaur from danger they'd be treated fairly highly, even being given the title of master/mistress by the centaur(s) and will be seen as such throughout the centaur's lifetime.
They're nomadic in nature and any sort of empires or other such settlements formed don't stay up for much longer, 4 years at most, and greatly sick or injured centaurs are left behind to die. Centaurs communicate with pheromones, gestures, and writing, and have a tendency to write on their old exoskeletons that they've molted out from rather than paper or wood, and what they'll most write down will be their past life experiences that they've had prior to molting, so they may keep such life histories remembered and collected.
The tools they use are either made or found, they're not too picky of either so long as they know how to use them, and even though they'll usually prefer making their own tools, they can easily recognize better-made ones when they see and grasp them. Tools that they're known to use include but are not limited to spears, swords, clubs, bow and arrows, crossbows, poleaxes, armor, blades that're very curved and sickle-like, masks that resemble human faces, huts/tents made from all manner of material from various animal hides to vegetation, and clay or mud bowls.

Weaknesses/termination methods: Centaurs are very vulnerable from attacks from behind, as their abdomen is essentially their heart, much like with all other arthropods, but slices anywhere along the body may also prove fatal, as it's basically mostly just a long neck with limbs. Much like regular mantises, they will die from losing their heads, but will still be mobile and run around frantically for up to 3 minutes, so it's best to stay out of one's reach until they expire.
As their exoskeletons are fairly tough, they're invulnerable towards bites, cuts, and stings from small things like snakes, scorpions, spiders, bees, foxes, and dart weapons, but are vulnerable to stronger things like piercing and hacking weapons like axes, spears, firearms, knives, and the teeth and claws of bigger and stronger predators like chimeras, dragons, werewolves, etc.

Containment/handling procedures: Herds are to be greeted by an agent who's tasked with gaining their trust and cooperations and become the emissary for them and this order, and are to be firstly trained and brief in on knowing centaur gestures and such before making any contacts, sometimes there's even a centaur present in person with the more experienced agent giving the briefing to the expected emissary. Once such pacts are made they're to be placed within large controlled mountain and plain regions that act as sanctuaries and go on for around 3 miles, and after spending enough time there are then escorted to live within new ones, most commonly via aircrafts or ships. There are indoor areas that can simulate such environments, much like a greenhouse, even though centaurs have a disdain for such things, they're smart enough to know it's sometimes a necessity.
When making contact with a herd one must be on foot, for it's generally seen as greatly insulting and mocking to be on horseback or be in a vehicle. Herds that still wish to remain in the wild without The Order's help have learned to keep hidden from the progressing world, albeit with some more difficulty, and the amount of wild herds makes up 40% of the worldwide centaur population. Art is by www.deviantart.com/sheather888