Centaur Gods

There are said to have been eleven original centaurs. All eleven are children of one human and one quadraped parent. Bitter theological debate rages over whether they came from human fathers and animal mothers, or vice versa. An alternative theory holds that centaurs were created by a twelve year old sorceress, after her friends could not decide whether boys were better than horses.

They were "as strong as the towers of Bel-Narana; as light as those gossamer palaces that the fairy-spider builds 'twixt heaven and sea along the coasts of Zith; as swift as a bird racing up from the morning to sing in some city's spires before daylight comes."

There were five male and female couples, one each for the five types of centaur.

The eleventh, and youngest, was Ianidhini, who was brought forth to keep peace between the other ten. He or she is both male and female, so as to understand both, and at other times of no gender, to be fooled by either. For similar reasons, Ianidhini's hindquarters are a mixture of all the five types of centaurs.

Ianidhini is the only one of the eleven who is much worshipped other than by centaurs. In Teleleli Ianidhini is the god and goddess of worldly wisdom, and of all who dress in the clothes of the opposite gender, whether for reasons of disguise, acting, or inclination.

The nameless God of Unfinished Things is also a centaur, although he is not worshipped by centaurs.

Cloud-Horses

It is said that, centuries ago, humans had tamed almost all the horses in the world. There was only one herd of horses that remained wild. Seeing that their cause was hopeless, the gods gave them wings.

Of course there are herds of wild, normal horses. Those who believe this story say they descend from horses who escaped from captivity after these events.

Centaurs

Centaurs define kinship by their lower, animal-like parts. There are five branches, as follows:

Horse	Tend to be bigger and more intimidating than other centaurs.
Donkey	Tend to be braver than other centaurs.
Zebra	Tend to be more attractive, but worse at hiding, than other centaurs.
Camel	Tend to be able to endure heat and go without water for longer than most centaurs.
Mountain Goat	Tend to be sure-footed, and better at climbing than most centaurs (although centaurs in general are terrible climbers).

Hippohemianthropoi (singular hippohemianthropos) are to hemianthropoi, or halflings, as horse-bodied centaurs are to humans. That is, they have the upper bodies of halflings and the lower parts of ponies. They regard themselves, and are regarded by centaurs (though not by most humans), as a completely separate species.

Centaurs regard having someone ride on their back as extremely intimate. They generally will not allow anyone other than a lover to do so, and even then not where anyone can see, as the sight is considered indecent.

Almost all centaurs tend strongly towards an extreme of personality: either extremely scholarly and refined, or extremely wild and fierce.

The Pony Express

This guild of gnomes has catapults and giant nets carefully arranged in Teleleli, and various other cities. Specially trained horses and riders are flung by the catapults, to land in the nets at their destination. They carry parcels and letters, which is how the guild makes its money.

Every so often a horse will arrive on time, but without its rider or parcels. It is said that those hired to investigate have found nothing, or have disappeared themselves. One theory is that some villainous personage is firing a magnetic ray to cause the ponies to fly off course.

These losses have led to a rise in popularity of the carrier parrot. This system is more expensive, but has the advantage that a well-trained parrot will not speak its message unless it arrives at its proper destination. Thus no third party can learn the message by intercepting the bird.

The God of Unnatural Death

This god's skin is stretched so tight across his face that it looks more like a skull - and indeed, he has no eyes and nose, but only holes like a skull. He has a fine mustache, large and glossy.

Vain and arrogant, he wears fine clothes. His horse, which looks starved and maddened, has the most expensive bridle and saddle.

He wears a bandana around his neck, tied with a knot in the front, whose two ends are usually depicted as flowing outwards like his mustache. Some say this is no coincidence; that once there was a man whose mustache was better than his, and the god cut his skin off, mustache and all, to make the bandana.

He carries a flag, on which are printed words which would drive any who read them to despair. This is usually represented with a skull and crossbones, or depicted so as to be hidden from the viewer. Despite his horse's appearance, none can outride it.

The God of Unnatural Death is, naturally, the patron of assassins and other murderers, and he may not be worshipped openly in most places. However, many will seek to placate him that he may spare one who has fallen pray to poison, accident or kidnapping. This is usually done by appealing to his consort, Beautiful Lady Sebastienne.

Horses, and other Riding Animals

Any reasonably-sized expedition into the wilderness or underworld will almost certainly need at least some animals to ride, or to carry supplies.

The best solution is to keep a variety of riding beasts, and choose the best ones for the given expedition. But this is too expensive for most frequent travellers, and incompatible with the roving life. The adventurer is most likely to buy animals as needed and sell them later. This, of course, has the disadvantage that the right animal for the job might not be available.

In any case, some relevant differences between common riding beasts are given here.

Horses, Mules and the Like

A mule, as the reader will no doubt be aware, is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. The offspring of a female donkey and male horse is the much rarer hinny. The Telelelene breeds of mule, donkey and hinny are identical for our purposes. All male mules and hinnies, and most females, are unable to produce offspring.

Horses may go without food for a few days, but must get water every day. Mules and donkeys, by contrast, need food every day, but may go a day or two without water.

Horses are much faster, but also weaker (which is why donkeys are preferred as pack animals), and prone to panic. The 'stubborn' mule, when sensing danger, is likely to refuse to move, whereas the horse will tend to 'bolt'.

None of these beasts should be ridden when they have recently eaten. Strenuous exercise on a full stomach can give them colic, a condition which is inevitably fatal. In the wild, horses graze almost constantly rather than eating 'meals', so that they can safely bolt when endangered.

Note also that, once domesticated, these creatures will tend to eat whatever they come across, whether it be poisonous to them or not, unless their rider or handler is vigilant.

Giant Lizards

Giant lizards are very placid, and can usually fit two riders comfortably. However they are very slow, and although they can cope with heat very well they may refuse to move in cold weather, or even go into a hibernation-like sleep. This can be fought by the use of certain stones, which can be heated over a fire and then given to the beast to eat. They release their heat gradually and keep the creature warm. The difficulty lies in getting the lizards to accept the stones, and in getting the stones hot enough to have an effect but not so hot that the lizard is injured or made sick.

In addition, lizard-folk believe that giant lizards are cousins to themselves, turned into beasts of burden by sorcery, and so they may lead to unwanted fear and hostility in desert regions where lizard-folk can be found. Giant lizards are most useful in the underworld, where there are less extremes of temperature, few lizard-folk, and where other riding animals may be less comfortable with the frequent darkness.

Camels

Camels are, of course, very useful for desert regions, despite their foul temper and low speed and maneuverability compared to the horse, due to their tolerance for heat and ability to go for long periods without water. There are two main species of camel. One resembles the dromedary, or Arabian camel, of our world. The other is similar, but its hump has a tap, allowing it to be used as a source of water. The desert-dwellers who are lucky enough to have domesticated these rarer camels can often be found gathered around one, discussing the day's news.

A General Warning

Given the nature of travel in Teleleli, it should be pointed out that beasts of any species may well ignore their rider when the smell of blood is in their nostrils. There are, of course, 'warhorses' who are specially trained for such circumstances, but they are rare and expensive.

The Tomb of the Kings

On a great plain of grass live many tribes of nomads, horse-worshippers who carry many treasures. In the middle of the plain stands their holiest place, the Tomb of the Kings.

It is a group of four statues of monumental size, now greatly overgrown, said to be of four ancient kings. The tomb is said to be underneath the statues. In the nomads' hour of greatest danger, they believe, the statues will split open. Then the four kings, and their herds of mighty horses, will wake and ride into battle.

An alternate belief holds that the statues themselves are the kings, turned into stone by magic.