Description[]
Tauren are large, muscular humanoids with bull-like heads. Males average 7 1/2 feet tall and 400 pounds, while females are usually a bit shorter and lighter. Tauren are mostly muscle, having incredibly developed physiques and brawny frames most suitable for combat. Soft, downy fur (usually quite short) covers the tauren body, with manes growing along head and neck, the lengths of the arms, and the shins. Tauren men and women almost always wear their hair long, and the males prefer braids to any other style. Coloration can range from solid black to blond and even to white, or mottled pelts with a range of spots and different colors. They have three fingers on each hand.
Horns are most prominent on males, although all tauren have horns. Tauren wear natural clothing — leather or hide, and some cloth. They prize jewelry, designing fine trinkets of ivory, bone and amber. From these materials they make bracelets or necklaces, and sometimes adorn their horns or locks with such beautiful displays of artistry.
Clothing[]
Tauren are notorious leather wearers and users, they use it in their buildings aswell as their clothes. A true Tauren who was dressed in attire out of battle would wear leather or cloth. Tauren are tribal folk who would wear tribal robes, furs Druidic wear (leaves and moss ect.) depending on the type of Tauren. Tauren clothing is made up of bright oranges and yellows, the use of these colours probably became popular when the Tauren lived in the Barrens and used it as camouflage and because they were inspired by the colours of the land. Tauren are a race with strong bonds to the earth so colours like brown and green would be appropriate where as colours like purple would not be common to Tauren clothes. Tauren are well known to have beautiful charms and trinkets that have ancestral meaning or religious meaning to them. They will wear beads and teeth on their horns and clothes. The Tauren collect Kodo horns and baskets of Kodo horn can be found around settlements. Kodo horns are used to craft jewelery and trinkets that the Tauren wear. Tauren are also jewelers to some extent because they fashion noserings and horn decoration out of amber.Tauren live a lifestyle that revolves around tradition so a Tauren would wear tribal clothes whenever possible rather then their heavy armour that they would use for adventuring.
Grooming[]
Tauren are people who live in the wilds so bathing may not always be their priority. They are covered in fur and have long manes. Tauren do pay attention to their mane and fur though, they will often tie their mane into elaborate braids. Because of the care taken with the braids and the fact they have so much fur, grooming is on their agenda though not in an obsessive manner. Tauren decorate their mane with leaves and jewelery made from bone or amber. A Tauren will either neglect hygiene or wash themselves moderately, the fact that Tauren have hooves that collect dirt means that if anything their hooves are the priority when it comes to cleaning!
Psychology[]
The Tauren is a primitive race, however an understanding of such exposures have made them adept in fields such as enchanting and jewelcrafting. The tauren have passion and understanding for the environment, their deite, The Earthmother created everything living therefore they treat every organism as an equal.
Life[]
Leisure[]
There are numerous giant pipes around Tauren settlements, this implies that Tauren enjoy smoking as a recreational hobby. The presence of canoes also gives us the impression that the Tauren enjoy gentle sailing. As the Tauren are great hunters who see the hunt as a way of life, the Tauren would be brought up around it and see it as an interesting and exiciting thing. To a Tauren calf who would not take part in the hunt, the adults going off hunting would be a thing of admiration and envy to them.
Arts and Crafts[]
Technology and Magic[]
The Technology of the Tauren is often under-rated. In reality the Tauren are capable of being skilled engineers as shown in their many creations such as the great lifts, numerous automated wind driven wells and mills. However they hold a philosophy that looks down on many aspects of mainstream engineering such as the need for mining operations, and the collateral damage of explosives.
In the realm of magic Tauren are actually more potent than a casual observer might realize, Those few Tauren that heed the call of magic find themselves either on the shaman or the druids path.
Love[]
At War[]
Aging and Death[]
Your tauren character would have gained maturity around the age of 50, much like a gnome or a dwarf. Most tauren are considered middle-aged at about 75, elderly at 95, and venerably old at 110, though rare heroes have been known to live as long as 150. Upon death Tauren are not buried but rather burned on a funeral pyre where a cast or wrapped figure representing themselves is placed. Tauren "corpses" are wrapped in what seem to be cloth bandages and, on some occassions, leather. Once wrapped, they are placed on the pyres and burned.
Society and culture[]
Roleplaying application: this section deals with the day-to-day aspects of the race's society, elements that are considered common knowledge and the basic assumptions members of the race makes about the world. Consider which of these assumptions your character accepts, which he does not, and how open he might be to alternate ways proposed by other races.
Relationships with other races[]
Roleplaying application: The above generalisations represent how an average member of the race's society views someone from a given other race. Since there are no average members of society, only individuals, it's up to you to decide how these comments fit. Does your character adhere to the stereotypes presented below? If not, why not? Was there something in your character's past that changed his or her view of a given race from the status quo?
Religion[]
The general part.
How they worship[]
Specialised info about rites, prayers et al.
History and folklore[]
The Tauren have a long history, much of which is recorded on banners hanging in the tent of the Archdruid on Thunder Bluff. These various myths recount important events from the history of the people, and illustrate the virtues they hold to be important.
Legends[]
Mists of Dawn
Before the Age of Memory, the gentle Earthmother breathed upon the golden mists of dawn. Where the amber clouds came to rest, there were endless fields of flowing wheat and barley. This was the basin of her works - the great basket of life and hope.
The Earthmother's eyes shone down upon the lands she had breathed into creation. Her right eye, An'she (the sun), gave warmth and light to the land. Her left eye, Mu'sha (the moon), gave peace and sleep to the stirring creatures of the dawning. Such was the power of her gaze that the Earthmother closed one dreaming eye for every turning of the sky. Thus, her loving gaze turned day into night for the first dawning of the world.
While the right eye shone down upon the golden dawn, the Earthmother's gentle hands spread out across the golden plains. Wherever the shadow of her arms passed, a noble people arose from the rich soil. The Shu'halo (the Tauren) arose to give thanks and prayer to their loving mother. There, in the endless fields of dawn, the children of the earth swore themselves to her grace and vowed to bless her name until the final darkening of the world.[1]
Sorrow of the Earthmother
As the children of the earth roamed the fields of dawn, they harkened to dark whispers from deep beneath the world. The whispers told the children of the arts of war and deceit. Many of the Shu'halo fell under the shadow's sway and embraced the ways of malice and wickedness. They turned upon their pure brethren and left their innocence to drift upon the plains.
The Earthmother, her heart heavy with her children's plight, could not bear to watch them fall from grace. In her grief, she tore out her eyes and set them spinning accross the endless, starry skies. An'she and Mu'sha, seeking to ease the other's sorrow, could only chase each other's faint glow across the sky. The twins still chase one another with every turning of the world.
Though sightless, the Earthmother could not long stray from the world of her heart. She kept her ear to the winds and listened to all that transpired across the fields of the dawn. Her great heart was always with her children - and her loving wisdom never fled from them.[2]
The White Stag and the Moon
Into the brave hearts of her pure children, the Earthmother placed the love of the hunt. For the creatures of the first dawn were saveage and fierce. They hid from the Earthmother, finding solace in the shadows and the wild places of the land. The Shu'halo hunted these beasts wherever they could be found and tamed them with the Earthmother's blessing.
One great spirit eluded them, however. Apa'ro was a proud stag of snow white fur. His antlers scraped the roof of the heavens and his mighty hooves stamped out the deep places of the world. The Shu'halo hunted Apa'ro to the corners of the dawning world - and closed in to snare the proud stag.
Seeking to escape, the great stag leapt into the sky. Yet, as his escape seemed assured, his mighty antlers tangled in the stars which held him fast. Though he kicked and struggled, Apa'ro could not loose himself from the heavens. It was then that Mu'sha found him as she chased her brother, An'she, towards the dawn. Mu'sha saw the mighty stag as he struggled and fell in love with him immediately. The clever moon made a bargain with the great stag - she would set him free from the snare of the stars if he would love her and end her loneliness.
Mu'sha loved Apa'ro and conceived a child by him. The child, a demigod some would claim, was born into the shadowed forests of the night. He would be called Cenarius, and walk the starry path between the waking world and the kingdom of the heavens.[3]
Forestlord and the First Druids
In time, the child, Cenarius, grew to the stature of his proud father. A brother to both the trees and the stars, the great hunter roamed the far places of the world, singing the harmonious songs of the dawning. All creatures bowed before his grace and beauty - there were none so cunning as the son of the moon and the white stag.
Eventually, Cenarius befriended the Shu'halo and spoke to them of the turning world. The children of the earth knew him as brother and swore to help him care for the fields of life and the favored creatures of their great Earthmother.
Cenarius taught the children of the earth to speak to the trees and plants. The Shu'halo became druids and worked great deeds of magic to nurse the land to health. For many generation the Shu'halo hunted with Cenarius and kept the world safe from the shadows that stirred beneath it.[4]
Hatred of the Centaur
As the mists of dawn faded and the Age of Memory advanced, the demigod, Cenarius, went his own way through the fields of the world. The Shu'halo were sorrowful at his passing and forgot much of the druidism he had taught them. As the generations passed, they forgot how to speak with the trees and the wilde things of the land. The dark whispers from the deeps of the world drifted up to their ears once again.
Though the children of the earth closed out the evil whisperings, a terrible curse befell their roaming tribes. Out of the black lands of the west came a horde of murderous creatures - the centaur. Cannibals and ravagers, the centaur fell upon the Shu'halo like a plague. Though the braves and hunters fought with the Earthmother's blessing in their hearts, the centaur could not be defeated.
The Shu'halo were forced to leave their ancestral holdings behind, and roam the endless plains as nomads forever after. It was held that one day hope would return - and the scattered tribes of the Shu'halo would find a new home under the loving arms of the Earthmother.[5]
Heroes of old[]
As the Tauren do not record their history by writing it down (save for their pictograms) so there is no written evidence of any heroes of old, and all heroes are learned of from elders who have passed their story down. A known Taunka hero is Stormhoof who fought the north winds. However this legend is written down which perhaps implies that the Taunka do record their history, perhaps by means of pictograms similar to that which the Tauren use.
Language[]
Phrasebook[]
"Hau" and "H'ow" are greetings, Tauren NPCs will be heard saying it. As the Tauren culture is based upon that of the Native Americans the greeting "Hau" (pronounced 'how') is taken from their culture. The latter "H'ow" was coined by Verdauga to put emphesis on the pronounciation rather than the spelling.