Aspid Tribe
The Aspid Tribe - the Shield - is one of the centaur tribes of Thelemar, a reclusive people who have made themselves the guardians of an ancient sacred pine, the Tree of Pan, which stands within a magical lake set in a forest crater. Devout to Pan, they keep their lake and its will-o’-wisp-haunted waters hidden from the outside world.
The tribe numbers some two hundred and fifty - a core of soldiers and a handful of druids and clerics about the families, the children, and the elders they shield. Their council is led by the aged cleric Father Arceas, and their healing is overseen by the young artificer Palitrite.
The Tree of Pan
The pine the Aspid guard is no ordinary tree. Tale holds it to be Pitys, a nymph beloved of Pan: fleeing the cold pursuit of the north wind Boreas, she was slain - and the earth-mother Gaia, in pity, gave her new life as the pine that now stands in the tribe’s hidden lake. Its waters breed will-o’-wisps, and its power is such that more than one ambitious outsider has dreamt of seizing or weaponising it - which is precisely why the Shield never let the lake be found.
Stub
Expanded from the Undead Centaurs one-shot; grows as more is documented.