Species:
There are 6 major species of Centaurs that have been discovered and exist within The Astarian Empire.

Centaurs, Dworse, Dark Centaurs, Ashen, Whoolen, Aether

The Centaurs:
The Centaurs are a generic horse people who live a simple yet cultured life, they use tools and technologies all the same and enjoy long runs. Their society is built on standard distance traveling and using only advanced transportation means to an extent. Although they are seen mainly as human-like with their knowledge of tools and technologies they are still part horse with a horse's body, their entire society from their houses to transportation is done with Centaurs in mind. The Centaur are highly capable in all fields as they have a longing for studies and knowledge making them more intelligent as a people than other races. They can be leaders, scientists, scholars, magic casters, mages, engineers, mathematicians, and or knowledge based jobs.

The Dworse:
The Dworse are a hybrid horse people which are born in the unison of both Dwarves and smaller horses or ponies. They are much smaller than a centaur as they stand just slightly taller than a Dwarf with a slightly smaller frame and body. This allows them to be excellent miners and resource gatherers as they are smaller and more agile. The Centaur see them as a smaller version to be used and protected as they keep them safe from harm like they do with their young. Although the Dworse people are born from each other they can also be created to a lesser degree from a Centaur who bears twins and undergoes magical enhancements and alterations to preserve the twins, they will become a slightly lesser Dworse people but instead of given special treatment they are treated like all other Dworse younglings.

Education for the Dworse people is similar to what Centaurs undergo with less independence and more emphasis on serving and empowering the Centaur people. This has become a normal caste system where the more noble Centaur people will have more Dworse working for and serving them. Although every race of Centaur can bear Dworse offsprings, only the regular Centaur people or Dworse people actually do. Although the Dworse people serve as a lesser race to the Centaurs themselves, in the whole of Centaur life they are seen as part of the Centaur race. The other Centaur species may not see the Dworse people as more than slaves and servants but they even consider them property of the Centaur race and those who would harm them make for enemies of the Centaur race and the Centaur people.

Failed Offspring And The Feelings Attached:
Every race treats their offspring differently but how they treat their dead and young dead on worlds where survival is the most important thing is a very different story. The Aether, Ashen, Dark, and Whoolen Centaur people believe in survival of the fittest and will not save or help a non fit youngling to survive. When twins occur in a Centaur mother, generally without any change or alterations the twin embryos fight it out for dominance as they begin to consume each other. In the case of the winning young being unable to meet the natural growth rate and period of the first phase, the Centaur mother will expel the small mass. Although it is a tragic event and is honored among the regular Centaur and Dworse people, others see this differently. The Aether and Dark Centaurs consume the mass to gain more power and enhance their own. This is usually done by the mother herself to bear better stronger young. The Ashen toss them into the lava to burn away as to not feed the local wildlife. The Whoolen hold their young in a basket letting them freeze solid while they condense the mass using magic to create different kinds of gemstone like accessories. Although it is more on the morbid and creepy side, these accessories are also made from the fallen people as the ritual to consume the fallen to survive and to honor the family. Many of the young Centaurs will wear these various accessories as they also make for great enchanting objects for protection and longevity.

The Dark Centaurs:
The Dark and Corrupted, the cursed and the marked, the twisted and the carnivorous. Many names will describe the Dark Centaurs that have taken in the dark and twisted magic of corruption which have changed them into something far different than regular Centaurs. Like Demons they will gain appendages, weight, eyes, talons, teeth, spikes, markings, or horns. They usually are seen with extra sets of legs as their horse body is more like an insect with carapace instead of fur and their legs can be more spider-like, tentacle-like, or insect-like. This makes them have unique appearances and the new creatures they birth are demonic entities by nature. This gives them access to demonic dark magics and better magical manipulation. The Dark Centaur people are normally stuck with Demons due to their Demonic Taint and Demonic Corruption however they were still a member of the proud Centaur race. They have a tendency of taking the fall as the villain so other Centaurs can get away in most situations.

The Ashen:
The Ashen are a people who hail from the tidally locked world of Centaurous. The center of the world is a lava sea which covers the majority of the center with many dark glass like land masses that float around the magical lava. The Ashen Centaur are a group of dark skinned and red eyed people with much larger bottom halves allowing them to jump and leap great distances with a short rest time in between jumps. In an extreme situation they can rapidly consume magic power to keep refreshing their body to continue sprinting and jumping from floating land mass to land mass. The Ashen are adept at survival and resistance to most sources of heat as they live near the lava and use their magics to create tools and food. They gather lava and dilute it with a corpse of their natural enemies the Lavatile, a massive lava alligator like creature which lives in the shallow lava pools and hunts nearby prey as it breathes fire and shoots condensed balls of flames at their enemies. When they mix and dilute the lava with a Lavatile, the lava becomes a thick nutrient rich hot sludge which is then drunk and consumed to keep the herd going. This has caused their new found love of swarm biomass orbs or swarm bioballs which are filled with the same nutrients without always burning red hot. This lifestyle has caused them to no longer have tastebuds and their internal bodies are coated in a naturally producing excretion which greatly reduces burning damage and effects. They can consume hot things like raw fire as they absorb the energy within their throats and send it into their bodies allowing them to use more magic for longer. They are called fire eaters, flame eaters, demons, or even dark ones. They avoid eating the Vintera plants which grow from the lava from a large bulbous pod that has thick sludge-like vines which will reform when destroyed but flow like water as it spreads around the Vintera Flowers. The Flowers release a small burst of alluring and mind altering toxins which cause the victim to walk toward the flower and be ensnared in these protective vines. The flower will then expand and begin to consume the target in an acid-like digestive substance.

The Whoolen:
The Whoolen are a people who hail from the tidally locked world of Centaurous. They live on the dark side of the planet covered in thick frost at all times. The local moon reflects huge amounts of light for a few parts of the day keeping the world very low lit on the dark side as the light also reflects off the bright snow. This has caused them to develop a thick hide with short thick fur to cover their body. The Whoolen have much larger bottom horse bodies that are more plump and shorter legs, keeping them closer to the ground. The bottom of their body has a thick layer of fat which will conduct heat when exposed to extreme colds as the magic flows rapidly throughout the body causing them to generate a massive amount of heat keeping them warm. They eat mainly the random fauna that skitters across the frozen lands and the Vintera Flower which grows from the bulbs on the Vintera vines. The vines travel under the snow and ice from a large bulbous pod that floats under the ice. The Vintera Flowers are super dense and nutritious as they are packed full of protein allowing for long periods of time between meals. Their upper half is covered in thick fur and has intimidating tusks to ward off others, their top half has very long arms with sharpened claw-like nails to take care of and defend themselves. The Whoolen are a herd-like people who live and travel together as they lay in the snow and rest together as they travel around the lands. The Whoolen spend great amounts of time around the vast frozen lakes as they melt the area and allow for more Vintera Plants to spread their vines and flowers for the next group which tallow their path. The natural predators to look out for are the Frodx and Frotle. The Frodx is a medium sized wild animal which has short stubby legs and thick reptilian skin covered in scales. It is a small, long gator-like mammal which hunts the Whoolen and is a very territorial animal. The Frotle is a large boulder looking slow moving snapping turtle which spreads a paraplegic in the area to slowly inflict paralysis on nearby targets.

The Aether:
The Aether are a people who are infused with the raw magical power from the world Aethern. The huge amount of magical particles within the air itself is enough to cause rapid magical growth at the cost of the body entering into a magical state of deprivation due to the increased maximum pool and increased magic consumption. Many people who visit for a short time will be okay with some being sick shortly after due to not being from the world. The Aether Centaur people are a very magically enhanced and infused people as their skin naturally absorbs the magical particles and condenses it into their tattoo markings found across their bodies. They regulate their body temperature even on the most variable of temperatures as the natural magic power is absorbed and dispersed throughout the body rapidly. While the Aether can travel to various worlds, they are far weaker on worlds with little or no magical essence. On worlds with high levels of magic power and essence they are the most comfortable. Once their tattoo is charged they can cast extremely high levels of spells or use super enhancing levels of magic to make them extremely formidable. Their modern society is built around magitech or magical technology which is always operating at their highest levels. They are neigh unkillable as they never get tired, weak, or sick due to their intense magically enhanced bodies. Their magis always have them under the highest levels of restorative magics and resistance magics keeping them from being influenced or afflicted with status effects or curses. This power is highly dependent on the amount of magical power they receive so it can be a variable situation on reduced magical worlds. The Aether are adept at sending and channeling magic to other people or sources so they can act as mobile shield generators or magic infusers in combat.