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Here’s my idea of centaur Ireland. The horse breed I chose for him is the Irish Draught horse. There isn’t a set colour for this breed but I came across photos of a gorgeous black Irish Draught horse and I thought about just running with contrasts. Besides I can apply the symbolism of “Black Irish” here as a result. X) His weapon of choice is normally the shillelagh but he will also fight with a pike. The shillelagh is a form of Irish club, it has some really interesting colours. It also comes in varying shapes and lengths, I just decided to go with a type that looked easy to draw for my first try. Niall’s fighting style is certainly different from Alasdair’s. Niall is mostly based on the “hit-and-run” tactic, leaping in to land a quick blow with the club or pike and jumping away. He isn’t exactly the strongest centaur but what he lacks in strength he more than makes up for it in speed. Despite being teased and called “Gangly Legs” when he was younger.
Here’s a (rather long) summary on his origins and story:
Niall is a very distant cousin of Alasdair so they both knew each other fairly well from the early start. However Niall came from another herd to the west, located in an area called Hibernian Hills. His herd was semi-nomadic, spending the summer in the hills and the winter in a dense forest. Niall’s father was one of the draoi, a shaman centaur, of the herd and was teaching a young Niall to become a draoi himself. However the herd grew uneasy when a small patrol did not return from their rounds. Soon a sizeable group of bachelor centaurs approached and the leader challenged the lead stallion of Niall’s herd to a fight over the leadership. The lead stallion was not in his prime anymore, but he fought anyway. Not only did the leader of the bachelor centaurs defeat him in a brutal manner, but with a swift kick to the head he ensured the old lead-stallion would never stand up again. With that the bachelor centaurs took control of the herd and they declared that every resident male centaur, whether adult or foal, was to leave the herd by sundown or else.
Some fled at this stage but Niall’s father stayed behind with the other draoi to discuss the legality of what the bachelor centaurs were doing. Niall stuck to his father, hoping that the wisdom of the draoi would speak some sense in the invading centaurs. Sadly the bachelor centaurs had no interest in listening to reason. When the draoi centaurs approached them and tried talking, they were cut down. Niall saw the killing of the other male centaurs of the herd begin and he fled when a bachelor centaur came after him.
Niall’s first reaction was to go north, to find Alasdair’s herd as he was familiar with them and as a foal he desparately needed the protection of a herd. He came to the place devastated by flood and couldn’t find Alasdair or his herd anywhere. They had been gone for weeks. He did thankfully find the tracks in the mud left behind by the large Clydesdale centaurs and so followed it southwards until he found Alasdair and the combined herds of the Caledones and Albiones.
As a cast-out foal, Niall was accepted into the herd and even formally adopted by the lead mare Rigantona. Although Niall explained the situation of his herd and begged to consider striking back to free his herd from the invaders, Rigantona explained sadly that many of the Clydesdales were still recovering from the events of the flood and loss of loved ones and the Albiones themselves were a small herd of pony centaurs, hardly any of them were true fighters. There was the issue that Niall’s herd had had all males and shamans killed or chased out, leaving the herd heavily destabilised. To consider freeing the herd, the other dispersed members would need to be found and a proper force of fighters would be needed to confront the aggressive bachelor centaurs. Rigantona did promise Niall that he would have the full support of her herd, if he had the patience to grow, recruit and make a proper plan to chase the invaders out.
Niall reluctantly accepted Rigantona’s offer and over the next few years, concentrated on growing up and becoming a fighter, continuing in his father’s steps to become a proper draoi and going out on excursions to find other members of his herd and recruiting centaurs. Into adulthood Niall grew into a swift and fairly well-liked centaur within the herd, however he always felt like he was an outsider. Despite Rigantona’s, Alasdair’s and his adoptive brothers’ best attempts, the culture clash Niall faced with the other centaurs always left him with extreme homesickness. His main goals right now is to become a fully-acknowledged draoi and free his herd from the invaders.

Description

Here’s my idea of centaur Ireland. The horse breed I chose for him is the Irish Draught horse. There isn’t a set colour for this breed but I came across photos of a gorgeous black Irish Draught horse and I thought about just running with contrasts. Besides I can apply the symbolism of “Black Irish” here as a result. X) His weapon of choice is normally the shillelagh but he will also fight with a pike. The shillelagh is a form of Irish club, it has some really interesting colours. It also comes in varying shapes and lengths, I just decided to go with a type that looked easy to draw for my first try. Niall’s fighting style is certainly different from Alasdair’s. Niall is mostly based on the “hit-and-run” tactic, leaping in to land a quick blow with the club or pike and jumping away. He isn’t exactly the strongest centaur but what he lacks in strength he more than makes up for it in speed. Despite being teased and called “Gangly Legs” when he was younger.
Here’s a (rather long) summary on his origins and story:
Niall is a very distant cousin of Alasdair so they both knew each other fairly well from the early start. However Niall came from another herd to the west, located in an area called Hibernian Hills. His herd was semi-nomadic, spending the summer in the hills and the winter in a dense forest. Niall’s father was one of the draoi, a shaman centaur, of the herd and was teaching a young Niall to become a draoi himself. However the herd grew uneasy when a small patrol did not return from their rounds. Soon a sizeable group of bachelor centaurs approached and the leader challenged the lead stallion of Niall’s herd to a fight over the leadership. The lead stallion was not in his prime anymore, but he fought anyway. Not only did the leader of the bachelor centaurs defeat him in a brutal manner, but with a swift kick to the head he ensured the old lead-stallion would never stand up again. With that the bachelor centaurs took control of the herd and they declared that every resident male centaur, whether adult or foal, was to leave the herd by sundown or else.
Some fled at this stage but Niall’s father stayed behind with the other draoi to discuss the legality of what the bachelor centaurs were doing. Niall stuck to his father, hoping that the wisdom of the draoi would speak some sense in the invading centaurs. Sadly the bachelor centaurs had no interest in listening to reason. When the draoi centaurs approached them and tried talking, they were cut down. Niall saw the killing of the other male centaurs of the herd begin and he fled when a bachelor centaur came after him.
Niall’s first reaction was to go north, to find Alasdair’s herd as he was familiar with them and as a foal he desparately needed the protection of a herd. He came to the place devastated by flood and couldn’t find Alasdair or his herd anywhere. They had been gone for weeks. He did thankfully find the tracks in the mud left behind by the large Clydesdale centaurs and so followed it southwards until he found Alasdair and the combined herds of the Caledones and Albiones.
As a cast-out foal, Niall was accepted into the herd and even formally adopted by the lead mare Rigantona. Although Niall explained the situation of his herd and begged to consider striking back to free his herd from the invaders, Rigantona explained sadly that many of the Clydesdales were still recovering from the events of the flood and loss of loved ones and the Albiones themselves were a small herd of pony centaurs, hardly any of them were true fighters. There was the issue that Niall’s herd had had all males and shamans killed or chased out, leaving the herd heavily destabilised. To consider freeing the herd, the other dispersed members would need to be found and a proper force of fighters would be needed to confront the aggressive bachelor centaurs. Rigantona did promise Niall that he would have the full support of her herd, if he had the patience to grow, recruit and make a proper plan to chase the invaders out.
Niall reluctantly accepted Rigantona’s offer and over the next few years, concentrated on growing up and becoming a fighter, continuing in his father’s steps to become a proper draoi and going out on excursions to find other members of his herd and recruiting centaurs. Into adulthood Niall grew into a swift and fairly well-liked centaur within the herd, however he always felt like he was an outsider. Despite Rigantona’s, Alasdair’s and his adoptive brothers’ best attempts, the culture clash Niall faced with the other centaurs always left him with extreme homesickness. His main goals right now is to become a fully-acknowledged draoi and free his herd from the invaders.