The centaurs (also referred to as camel-centaurs and reverse centaurs) are a species of intelligent creature native to the Plain of Fear in the northern continent. Like all Plain creatures, they offered unwavering loyalty to Father Tree and his intermediaries, the menhirs. They were mentioned briefly in The White Rose but played a more prominent role in The Silver Spike.
The White Rose[]
The centaurs were rarely seen by Croaker during his 2+ years on the Plain, and were only mentioned by him twice in his Annals for the events of The White Rose. He described them as follows:
| “ | an extremely scarce critter that looks like a camel-centaur put together backward. I mean, the humanoid half is behind. The creature runs toward what most would take as its fanny. | ” |
Croaker later mentioned a gathering of the "camel-centaurs" gamboling among menhirs near the Hole when he escorted the Lady in disguise to the hideout of the New White Rose Rebellion.
Croaker did not mention them again. But presumably, centaurs fought alongside the hordes of other Plain creatures with Darling when open hostilities began between her Rebels and the Lady's Empire. Some may have been among the casualties suffered when the new Taken dropped their newfangled fragmentation bombs onto Darling's infantry in the dramatic confrontation outside the town called Horse.
The Silver Spike[]
When Bomanz caught up with Darling and her followers Silent and the three Torque brothers (Stubby, Paddlefoot, and Brother Bear) in the Windy Country, he was shocked by her non-human companions: Virgil the talking buzzard; the mantas; and a female centaur:
| “ | There was a shy centauroid creature put together backward, with the humanlike part in the rear. That part of her was disturbingly attractive. She seemed intrigued by him. He kept catching glimpses of her watching him... | ” |
Later, the Torque brothers would proudly admit to Case that they would have sex with the females of the centaur species. As the centaurs were intelligent, and given Darling's zero-tolerance policy toward rape, these unions were definitely consensual.
Against the Limper at the Temple[]
A large number of the centaurs participated in Darling's pursuit of the Limper and the demon called Toadkiller Dog. They and many other Plain creatures traveled with her and her 5 human companions across the Sea of Torments on the backs of windwhales. When the Limper was cornered in the Temple of Travellers' Repose, squadrons of the centaurs put on a huge display of practicing charges and massed javelin tosses. This was all a diversion, however, as the Temple was suddenly raided by other, much smaller Plain creatures.
When Toadkiller Dog burst out of the Temple, he landed among a gang of centaurs and slew them despite their best efforts. More centaurs pelted the demon hound with javelins to little effect. The entire group abandoned the operation on the urgent orders of Father Tree, and they headed back north aboard the windwhales toward Oar. Case was critical of those centaurs who were killed by Toadkiller Dog, stating: "that was their damned fault. They got too eager. If they was hanging back like they was supposed to they would have had time to get out of the way."
Reclaiming the silver spike in Oar[]
Many hundreds of centaurs were part of the giant force sent by Father Tree from the Plain to the forests outside Oar, to help Darling reclaim the silver spike. According to Case, "squadrons, troops, battalions of centaurs came cantering out of hiding, the drum of their hooves a continuous thunder despite the muting effect of the snow." When the Limper's hideous, partially melted clay body made a move for the silver spike, centaurs tried to slow him down by perforating him with their javelins. Moments later, Raven accidentally took hold of the silver spike with his bare hand, causing him to become in effect possessed by the soul of the Dominator. The menhir called Scar mentally relayed Darling's order to kill Raven, and one of the centaurs impaled him through his brain with a perfect javelin throw. With the silver spike fully secured, the centaurs and all the other Plain creatures would return to their native land.