{"id":343,"date":"2013-09-07T15:10:33","date_gmt":"2013-09-07T19:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tellest.com\/?p=343"},"modified":"2013-11-05T10:07:28","modified_gmt":"2013-11-05T15:07:28","slug":"minotaurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/minotaurs\/","title":{"rendered":"Minotaurs"},"content":{"rendered":"
General description<\/b><\/div>\n

Etymology<\/b><\/p>\n

Minotaurs are a race of anthropomorphic bulls and cows who originally hailed from the island of Minoa.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Physical Appearance<\/b><\/p>\n

Minotaurs are the tallest of the goodly races of Tellest.\u00a0 Their upper bodies are shaped like a human or an orc, only broader, with the exception of their heads, which contain noticeably bovine features.\u00a0 Some of the notable differences are the widened nose, and extended ears (some tribes tie the ears from youth to grow them close to the head, and make them more aesthetically pleasing).\u00a0 Males have horns upon their heads, the directionality helping the race distinguish familial lines.\u00a0 Minotaurs also have hair upon their heads which they style accordingly.\u00a0 Males grow hair about the jaw line as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Minotaurs\u2019 lower bodies are thick with hair, and end in wide hooves.\u00a0 A small, narrow tail can sometimes be found on a minotaur, but it is usually removed at birth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Most minotaurs have a darker complexion, though skin tone is known to be akin to a human\u2019s.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Clothing and Adornment<\/b><\/p>\n

For a long while throughout history, minotaurs wore nothing at all.\u00a0 It was only once minotaurs started to integrate with other races that they started to notice the odd looks that they would receive from others.\u00a0 Lower bodies were clothed almost immediately, though upper bodies remained uncovered for a while longer.\u00a0 Eventually, females began covering their bodies in their entirety (they also began shaving unsightly hair from their bodies as well).<\/p>\n

As time passed by, even males of the race became akin to the idea of wearing clothing, though in many tasks, they still go about their business uncovered, specifically during hard labor and when involved in prayer.<\/p>\n

During battle, minotaurs do not retain a uniform ideal.\u00a0 Some will approach the battle naked; some will don heavy chainmail or plate armor.\u00a0 Leather is almost never an acceptable means of protection, understandably so.<\/p>\n

Minotaurs are known throughout Tellest for their adornment of septum jewelry.\u00a0 Although the males of the race partake in the piercing in more recent times, it was the females who originally bore the septum rings.\u00a0 Originally, it was a sign of ownership.\u00a0 When the males of the race would pick their bride, a septum ring was placed upon her to demonstrate both her love for someone and her willingness to obey her partner.\u00a0 Males eventually began utilizing septum piercing as a coming of age ritual, but also because it can be imposing to others.\u00a0 It is rare for the race to pierce any other parts of their bodies, though rumors abound of the females of the race experimenting with newer options.<\/p>\n

Tattoos are not meant to be experimented with.\u00a0 Minotaurs strive to put as much distance between the ways they are perceived from cows as possible.\u00a0 The idea of a tattoo is too similar to a brand to be socially acceptable in any way to a minotaur.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Relations to Other Races<\/b><\/p>\n

Minotaurs strike a resemblance between cows and humans<\/a>, though some scholars believe that the legs of the race more closely resemble an equine than a bovine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

General Personality<\/b><\/p>\n

Personal<\/b><\/p>\n

Of the allied goodly races of Tellest, minotaurs are certainly the most aggressive.\u00a0 They often let their emotions get the best of them, and are quick to incite.\u00a0 Their immense size also makes them imposing, and incredibly dangerous.\u00a0 But it is because of the chaotic nature and obvious risk of angering minotaurs that most are treated with an utmost combination of respect and fear.<\/p>\n

Minotaurs are also known to be very persistent.\u00a0 Just because something seems like it cannot be done, minotaurs will not deter.\u00a0 However, they will rarely change the way they do things, unless they actually witness a better way to complete the task.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Relationship<\/b><\/p>\n

Minotaurs are perhaps the most romantically disinclined race upon Tellest.\u00a0 This is not because they are incapable, but rather because both culturally and historically, polygamy was necessary to ensure the survival of the race.\u00a0 While minotaurs have spread to thicker numbers once again, polygamy is still the accepted form of mating.\u00a0 The choice of mates is made by the males, particularly the strongest males in a tribe, who are able to refute advances from other suitors.\u00a0 It is up to the alpha male to decide how many females he can tolerate.\u00a0 In some cultures, it is even acceptable for the alpha male to delegate to whom in the tribe the females will partner with.<\/p>\n

Smaller tribes, traditionally ones north of the equator, abstain from polygamy.\u00a0 These small tribes treat love in much the same way that humans do.\u00a0 It is a fair decision made by two parties.\u00a0 Generally, these types of relationships are the only partnering that either of the individuals will have for the rest of their lives, regardless of whether or not the other partner passes away.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Family and Society<\/b><\/p>\n

It is difficult growing into a minotaur family.\u00a0 Young males are pushed into aggression and labor very early, and females are ignored by most of their tribe nearly entirely until they reach sexual maturity.<\/p>\n

If a minotaur male is determined to be a liability to his tribe, he is cast out, never to be accepted again.\u00a0 Likewise, if a female is a late bloomer in regards to sexual manifestation, they are removed from the tribe.\u00a0 Some of the more powerful tribes will remove them in a manner of extreme permanence.\u00a0 This is done in part because of the idea that the weak must fall so that the strong may prosper.<\/p>\n

Elder minotaur are sacrificed in much the same way, though it is up to them to decide how they would end their lives.\u00a0 Usually they prefer to die against an unbeatable enemy.\u00a0 This is done for reasons twofold.\u00a0 First, their bravery is said to lead them to the afterlife at a quicker pace.\u00a0 Second, it is believed that any damage they do to their opponent before their death only makes the opponent weaker to the tribe and thus easier to control and overcome.<\/p>\n

Female elders are not so lucky.\u00a0 Rather than being able to choose how to go out in a blaze of glory, they are let out to pasture<\/i> so to speak.\u00a0 Just like the unfit youths of the race, elder females are taken from the tribe, never meant to reintegrate during their lifetime.\u00a0 Instead, the idea is that through their death, they make the rest of the world more fertile, and therefore more peaceful.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Behavior toward Other Races<\/b><\/p>\n

Minotaurs are a very untrusting race.\u00a0 Unfortunately for those that come in contact with the minotaurs, they are a hurt now, ask questions later type of people.\u00a0 If something does not feel right to them, they are quick to put themselves out of harms way (usually by harming someone else first).<\/p>\n

Of all the races that the minotaurs call their allies, the elves<\/a>, orcs<\/a> and humans are least trusted.\u00a0 This stems back to a shared history between all of the tribes of minotaurs of Minoa.\u00a0 Though they are not trusted, the minotaurs realize they must live peaceably and cooperatively with the other people of Tellest to survive as best they can.<\/p>\n

The obvious similarities between minotaurs and humans has helped to reestablish them as companions, though the relationship remains tenuous.<\/p>\n

For the same reasons that many of the races are wary of orcs, minotaurs are even more so.\u00a0 Orcs usually find themselves most often on the receiving end of a minotaur beating, though many times the orcs have held their own just fine.\u00a0 Still, as time goes by, a tolerance has developed between the two races.<\/p>\n

Elves and minotaurs have a very strained relationship.\u00a0 The elves do not deal with the minotaurs very often, and seem to draw back when confronted by them.\u00a0 The minotaurs are overly cautious when the elves act that way, which only further draws a wedge between the two races.<\/p>\n

Minotaurs have been getting along with the dwarves<\/a> and the gnomes<\/a> fairly well for a long while.\u00a0 This stems in part from the fact that they are both diminutive races, and in part because their history does not speak of gnomes or dwarves as any type of passing danger.\u00a0 In fact, not only are the minotaurs tolerant of the smaller races, but they are outwardly friendly to them as well.\u00a0 It is not unheard of to have minotaurs and dwarves or gnomes living in close proximity (or in some cases, integration) of each other.<\/p>\n

Minotaurs most despised enemies are rhinotaurs.\u00a0 After dispersing from Minoa, several different tribes of minotaur had run into the savage humanoids, all with the same treacherous results and lasting hatred that plagues the two races still.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Language<\/b><\/p>\n

Speech<\/b><\/p>\n

Minotaurs only speak common.\u00a0 It is implied that before their interaction with humans, they had only communicated through grunts and other noises, but never with a tangible language.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Penmanship<\/b><\/p>\n

Minotaurs have no interest in physical records of their history, and they do not avail themselves much time to pursue the enjoyment of a crafted story.\u00a0 All of their history is passed down aurally.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Religion<\/b><\/p>\n

Personal Beliefs<\/b><\/p>\n

Minotaurs believe in one god, and one god alone: the lord of death, Cebrum.\u00a0 However, the bovine race does not look poorly upon the much hated god.\u00a0 They see him as a guide and a caretaker to the dead, believing that he judges those who enter his domain fairly and rewards justly.\u00a0 The minotaurs also have a deep spiritual connection to their ancestry, and believe that they can speak to and obtain advice from their deceased relatives.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

History<\/b><\/p>\n

General History<\/b><\/p>\n

Minotaurs originally hailed from the island nation of Minoa, which was the largest individual island on Tellest that was not classified as a continent.\u00a0 After a while, another humanoid race began migrating to the island, though the minotaurs will not say for sure which race it was.\u00a0 Likewise, they do not explain the events that followed in great detail. \u00a0Due to some cataclysmic incident, Minoa began to purge itself.\u00a0 Volcanoes erupted, and the sea took the island to the depths below.\u00a0 The minotaurs evacuated as quickly as they could, but it was a chaotic endeavor, and families and friends were separated as the race scattered.<\/p>\n

Minotaurs began arriving all over the globe, starting anew with scarce numbers.\u00a0 While struggling with the loss of a home, and the loss of their companions, many of the strewn tribes were attacked by rhinotaurs, who seemed to show up in as many places as the minotaurs.\u00a0 Eventually, the race was strong enough to fend for themselves, but never strong enough to destroy the rhinotaurs, who congregate in wastelands and caves.<\/p>\n

After a while, minotaurs were introduced to other surface races, including the humans and orcs.\u00a0 Overly cautious due to the extreme loss of life, as well as the loss of their original home, the minotaurs did not take kindly to the advances of the other two races.\u00a0 It took some time before they dulled their aggression enough to open diplomatic relations with those who became their allies.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Myths and Legends<\/b><\/p>\n

Supposedly, the minotaur homeland of Minoa still exists in one piece beneath the ocean.\u00a0 Some legends speak of the people who never made it off the sinking island, stating that they evolved into a hideous race of beings called razorfins.\u00a0 These aggressive beings still hold onto the rage of their home being destroyed, and are supposedly the most insidious predators of the deeps.<\/p>\n

Another legend states that a minotaur hero will find a way to restore Minoa to its former glory, raising it from the depths, for all the minotaurs to return there one day.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Technology<\/b><\/p>\n

General Technology<\/b><\/p>\n

Minotaurs are about as technologically inclined as their allies, the orcs.\u00a0 Except while the orcs are making advances in medicine and other health related discoveries, the minotaurs have begun to stagnate.\u00a0 They have limited amounts of running water, usually which meet at one congregative watering hole, which also sometimes doubles as a bathing site.\u00a0 Of all the goodly races of Tellest, minotaurs remain the most savage.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Magic<\/b><\/p>\n

Minotaurs are one of the most magically absent races on the planet of Tellest.\u00a0 They employ shamanistic and geomantic magic, but that is usually all they have to offer.\u00a0 Necromantic minotaurs have been said to exist, but these beings are shunned by their own race.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Military\/Combat<\/b><\/p>\n

Military Structure<\/b><\/p>\n

Wars generally do not occur between minotaurs and other races, but it is said that they are not very organized during battle.\u00a0 Instead, they give in to their rage, and let it take them over, allowing them to wreak enough havoc as they can before their bodies give out and either they or their opponents are dead.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Weapons and Tools<\/b><\/p>\n

Minotaurs favor axes and polearms, especially anything that has been specifically crafted for the oversized race.\u00a0 A particular polearm was crafted just for the minotaurs, called a bullova.\u00a0 It is a long polearm with a tall axe head affixed to its end.\u00a0 Sometimes it is also fashioned with a tip for stabbing in addition to slashing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wars and Enemies<\/b><\/p>\n

While minotaurs generally start no wars, they have a deep seeded hatred towards rhinotaurs.\u00a0 Supposedly, many of the tribes of minotaurs are uniting with the idea of driving the rhinotaurs to extinction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

General description Etymology Minotaurs are a race of anthropomorphic bulls and cows who originally hailed from the island of Minoa.   Physical Appearance Minotaurs are the tallest of the goodly races of Tellest.\u00a0 Their upper bodies are shaped like a human or an orc, only broader, with the exception of their heads, which contain noticeably […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[5,18],"tags":[64,65,89,87,88],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1UVey-5x","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":468,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343\/revisions\/468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}