Orc
Orc
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A Greuth orc of the Blood Talon Clan
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"The orc is the antithesis of civilized man. They think nothing of tomorrow, knowing only whatever warlike passion possesses them at the moment, taking what they want and despoiling what they don’t. Never be mistaken: they’re not men, they’re monsters."

The Orcs (orcish "kuni", dwarven "ork", elven "arch") are a race of savage humanoids commonly found in northern Nora. They claim that they arrived from across the sea from a legendary land called Orkalv. Orcs often use the name of their mythical homeland as a battle cry, thus leading other peoples to known them as "orcs".

Living in clans all across northern Nora, orcs ride on Dire Boars or dire wolves and raid nearby humanoid settlements. They are natural enemies with elves, they loathe ogres, and enslave goblins. They have been raiding all lands and peoples in the north for thousands of years, reaching as far south as lake-animius. The orcs also had several major conflicts with the eastern oni nation as well as the ogre tribes of the Wyrmspires.

Orcs are divided into two distinct ethno-cultures, the Thervs and the Greuths, divided by the Bluog Seirff Sea. The repeatedly harried the Aquarian Empire during its time and had a major conflict with Nora during the Orcwars. The Thervs live in western Nora and are relatively smaller, while the larger Greuths live in eastern Nora and the Wyrmspire Mountains.

Orcs are naturally chaotic and unorganized, acting on their emotions and instincts rather than out of reason and logic. Within their own settlements, however, they are surprisingly cultured and non-hostile. Their ways still savage, they care for their communities and families.

Biology


Orcs of both ethnicities exhibit varied skin tones, but each large family unit stay uniform with each other. It has been observed that when a clan of orcs move to a new area, within three generations, their skin tone will shift to match their environment.

Therv Orc

Therv orcs look less bestial than their more savage northern kin, but are still obviously nonhuman. They are somewhat hairy, with long manes of bristly hair on their heads, shoulders, and backs. Their faces are less porcine than the mountain orcs, with the exception of their tusks. They have yellow, orange, or red eyes, lupine ears, and black or gray hair. Therv orcs are more apt to wear "civilized" clothing than mountain orcs, and prefer varying shades of brown, black, blue, and other dark colors. Skin tones are usually gray with mottled patches of lighter or darker gray on the chest and flanks.

Average Height: male: 5'0" – 6'10", female: 4'7" – 6'3"
Average Weight: male: 154 – 438 lbs, female: 114 – 398 lbs

Greuth Orc

A Greuth orc is quite obviously a monstrous creature to most of the civilized folk. Greuths look vaguely like primitive humans but are a fair bit taller at seven or more feet in height; a rare few exceed eight feet in height. They have stocky, powerful necks, and their bestial heads seem to sit directly on their massive shoulders. Their eyes are always a deep shade of red, and their faces are dominated by porcine snouts and large tusks. Greuths often weave braids and tiny bones into their thick matted hair, which is usually black. Their clothing is crude and primitive, often composed of unpleasant colors like blood red, mustard yellow, yellow-green, and deep purple. They are far from the cleanest race and delight in decorating their bodies with scars and warpaint.

Average Height: male: 6'8" - 8'8", female 6'2" - 8'2"
Average Weight: male: 223 - 436 lbs, female: 183 - 396 lbs

Religion


"Orcs are fearful of their gods, and, if one play one's cards right they can be controlled through that fear and made to dance to any tune."

Orcs believe their gods to be invincible. They see the principles that define them and their deities at work every day in the world around them-nature rewards the strong and mercilessly eliminates the weak and the infirm. Orcs don't revere their gods as much as they fear them; every tribe has superstitions about how to avert their wrath or bring their favor. This deep-seated uncertainty and fear comes forth in the form of savagery and relentlessness, as orcs ravage and kill to appease the gods in order to avoid their terrible retribution.

Gods

  • Haifon, a god of storms and war, and of orcs. He is the leader of the orc deities.
    • Garehsns, lesser god of war strategy, orc cross-breeds, and destruction.
    • Swinthei, god of brute strength.
  • Hunaithei, goddess of fertility, medicine, and orc females; the consort of Gruumsh.
    • Stilkundar, god of darkness and night, stealth, thieves, and undead.
  • Hweitshandus, a feared god of death and disease.

Orcs revere Kalabrath, whom they call Haifon, over all gods. The god of Fire and War is a natural god for the kuni to gravitate to. To the orcs, Kalabrath is served by two lesser deities, Strategy "Garehsns" and Brutality "Swinthei". Each warrior must have the wisdom to know when to call on one god or the other in his times of need. Kalabrath pushes his children to increase their numbers so they may be his instrument of revenge against the realms of elves, humans, and dwarves. Kalabrath leads his orcs on a mission of ceaseless slaughter, fueled by a fiery unending rage that seeks to lay waste to the civilized world through the Harrowing and revel in its anguish.

While Kalabrath is the external force that pushes the orcs to victory over their enemies, it is the influence of Shaydis (called Hunaithei) that binds them together and makes the orcs internally cohesive. She is the force that keeps the explosive rage of Kalabrath from bursting the ores apart. If it was not for the followers of Shaydis, it is possible that the race of orcs would be no more than small bands of warrior-nomads, scratching out a meager existence, rather than a force capable of great destruction.

Far from the den's war hearth, within the protective depths of the caves, the followers of Shaydis tend the orc brood, raising them to be strong and cruel like their progenitors. By invoking the power of superstitions, omens, and traditions, these claws of Shaydis hold the tribe together through ritual, fear and, if necessary, force.

Malym (called Hweitshandus) is often depicted as consumed by rot and covered in oozing pustules, utterly repulsive except for his hands, which are pure white and free of any blemish. Malym has no mouth and never utters a sound, so that he may come in absolute silence for his chosen. The followers of Malym are allowed to dwell on the fringes of the tribe, but are looked upon with distaste and unease. They interact with the tribe mostly on occasions of death, claiming the bones of fallen warriors to add to the ossuary shrines of Malym, and sometimes during shamanic rites when contact with spirits occurs.

Since suffering and violence are the only things that appease the gods, orcs believe that it is only the violence of the world that keeps the gods from destroying it. The day that the gods stop laughing at our misfortune is the day that they purge the land with fire. Through war and cruelty, orcs are saving the world.

However, orcs must keep it confined to the interiors of their houses, where the gods cannot see. The gods reside in heaven, and so anything performed within view of the sky will be judged. And since the gods can hear all things, love must never be spoken aloud.

Sacred Animals

Orcs sometimes enter battle astride yan. By doing so they honor the creatures as well as their deity, because legends tell that Swinthei also rides a great bull into battle. No ore will eat or harm one of these sacred beasts, which are believed to be imbued with Swinthei's spirit.

Bears, especially cave bears, are sacred to Hunaithei. She is often thought to take the guise of an enormous cave bear. Her followers honor this aspect of her by keeping cave bears as pets to guard the whelping pens that are filled with squabbling young. Hunaithei's devoted also grow their claws long and paint them black to mimic the fearsome talons of their goddess. Hunaithei rewards them by making their claws as strong and tough as iron.

History


Mythic origins

Migration to Nora

Orc culture predating the Aquarian Empire was very common across northern Nora. It may seem that wherever the elves weren't, the orcs were. While never great city builders, orcs established many holy sites to gods, spirits, ancestors, and other figures of their many faceted religion, all across their territory. They built massive pillar shrines, similar to an elven stone circle, though usually much grander in scale. Some of these orc pillar shrines have even been co-opted by the elves as their own menhir circles. Still, many others have been utterly destroyed by humans building their cities.

It has been theorized that the reason orcs commit their raids is to reclaim lost holy land.

Aquarian Empire

The empire could never conquer the orcs, despite many attempts and countless battles.

The Moonfall

They were attracted to the fire after the fall of their favored moon.

Dark Empire

The Orcwars

Culture


Traditionally the rights of the family would be passed down through the paternal side, but in rare occasions, one could take the maternal side of their family also.

A classless society.

Leaders of clans are called Khagan. Each Khagan has a number of lieutenants called khagi. A khagi is part guardian, brother and companion. They act as a bodyguard and as unit commanders on the battlefield. They share what is his, including wives.

Sometimes, when multiple clans band together, a warchief, or ur-khagan, is declared to lead the clans.

At their core, traditional orcish beliefs center around the concept of growth through personal challenges. To some, this is rooted in religious beliefs; to others, simple pragmatism.

An individual grows in strength, prominence, and religious devotion through personal challenge. Thus, offering or asking for aid is a deeply personal matter; depending on the context, asking for help with a task is a deeply personal gesture—a sign of vulnerability that may be taken as friendship or as weakness. Similarly, offering help is either a symbol of a deepening bond or a vicious insult.

For this reason, orcs tend not to gather in social groups larger than the tribe. Cooperation can happenand has, when the tribes faced certain existential threatsbut the simple fact is that individual glory decreases as the size of the group increases. Where a hobgoblin may delight in the story of an impeccable legion maneuver, an orc will latch onto the tale of an individual duel in the midst of the battlefield.

While spoken Orcish is a throaty language with several dialects that differ between tribes, the written word is practically non-existent. Despite what some scholars want you to think, the reason is not because they're any less intelligent than other species—instead, orc tribes have a rich oral tradition: stories, rituals, and laws pass between generations through folktales, songs, and chants.

This oral tradition is fundamentally tied to the orcish belief in self-sufficiency. Writing is seen as a crutch; an external aid so that the writer does not need to remember things themselves. Much like asking for help, relying on the written word can be construed as a personal failing or a sign of weakness. Thus, orc tribes place a great deal of effort on teaching young members the way of self-sufficiency; an orc may not know how to read a book, but they can recite entire speeches given by every chief of the last century.

As a result of Orcish society discouraging the written word, the vast majority of Orcish spellcasters are bards, witches, or clerics. These casters focus on magic that comes through song, nature, or devotion, rather than written spellcraft.

Skalds range from poets to generals to rousing orators (Lore, Valor, or Glamour bards, respectively), either telling tales of ages past or leading men in battle with their powerful voices. The path of the skald is seen as an acceptable profession for orcs with lesser physical strength or a desire to avoid direct combat—they defeat challenges on a societal or intellectual level, rather than a physical one. Priests tend to be clerics and witches, devoted either to particular gods or to the path of nature itself.

Fighting and war

Orcs never kill children.

There are no orc berserkers. Many theories exist to guess why. However, when an orc is born with demon blood, they become Tanarukk and live in a constant battle-rage.

Every orc has a knife. Two, if they want to last the year and three if they have any ambition. Every mother's main duty is to ensure their children eat and that they get a knife when five summers old.

Harrowing

The Harrowing (Aggwitheins) is the central concept behind orc culture. It is the name given to the constant state of warfare orcs find themselves in. This warfare is to gain territory or raid resources. The orcs view the Harrowing as a burning wild fire; if they stay in one place too long, they dwindle and die, but with the wind at their backs the fire will burn for eternity.

Orcs already consider the world and everything in it already belonging to them. Therefore there is no need to ask or trade for any item as all that is needed is to take it.

Family

The root of orc culture is the idea of family and the idea that all orcs are the One People, regardless of clan.

Mothers are revered.

Copper

Copper held a special value, most likely for its ceremonial purposes. This copper was beaten into sheets or plates, and then painted with mythological figures. The sheets were used for decorating wooden carvings, or just kept for the sake of prestige.

Individual pieces of copper were sometimes given names based on their value. The value of any given piece is defined by the number of wool blankets last traded for them. In this system, it was considered prestigious for a buyer to purchase the same piece of copper at a higher price than it was previously sold. During potlatch, copper pieces would be brought out, and bids were placed on them by rival chiefs. The highest bidder would then have the honour of buying said copper piece. If a host still holds a surplus of copper even after throwing an expensive potlatch, he would then be considered a wealthy and important man. Further evidence of copper's significance is shown in the fact that highly ranked members of the tribes often have the word for "copper" in their names.

Due to the importance of copper and its use as a mark of status, there is a shaming ritual, the copper cutting ceremony, involving breaking copper plaques. The act represents a challenge; if the target cannot break a plaque of equal or greater value, he or she is shamed.

Slavery

No orc would ever enslave another orc. However, humans a goblins make excellent slaves. Most orc clans stick to an old orc addage. "KIll elves, ransom dwarves and eat humans."

Death

Contrary to popular belief, orcs don't serve death; they fear it. Orcs spend their entire lives trying to display their mastery over death.

If one of their number should die, they perform a mourning raid. This is where a band of orcs go from their tribe to find other humanoids to slay and join in death. In this, the orcs show they do not cower in the face of death, but rather they thrust back.

Orcs who die "a good death" are sent to Kalabrath by the priests of Malym. The priests seek out the bodies of such fallen heroes and sever their heads, boil or smoke them to rid them of most of the flesh, and then use a ritual punch to break out the bridge of the nose and leave the skull with a single eye. Orcs that appreciate the strength and ferocity of a foe might choose to honor that enemy by giving it the same treatment. The bodies of orcs that die in a failed battle are left behind; they were weak and don't deserve to join Kalabrath. Those that die of old age have typically already been taken into Malym's fold, and their bones are used to build furnishings and structures in the area of the lair dedicated to the worship of Malym.

Necromancy

There is a small subculture of orcs spread throughout the clans of necromancy. It can be seen as a splinter religion, or a cult. It is tolerated by the other orcs, but many distrust it and the necromancers can easily be seen as scapegoats for many scenarios.

Diet


Technically omnivorous, orcs prefer meat (excluding beef) and aren't adverse to eating other races. Eating fallen enemy warriors after a battle can alternatively be a sign of respect or an attempt to show dominance.

Meat being cooked, raw, spoiled, or still alive doesn't matter to an orc's stomach⁠—though it may matter to the orc. Any kind of meat will do: animals, bugs, shellfish, even humanoids, including other orcs.

Orcs raise and eat pigs and cattle. Though cattle is holy and only for religious rites.

They enjoy pears.

Clans


Therv Clans

Greuth Clans

Orc names


Usually three syllables long.

Male names often end in -th and -an (or -aun). Female names often end in -eg and -ul (or -al).

An orc only allows those with authority over them to their full name, such as Shamans and chieftains, or the orc's personal religious leader. All other's only referred to the orc by their first syllable. Drakabaun would only be referred to as Drak, a very popular orc name. Most orc names derive from words in their language that have some complex meaning or hidden significance to their families.

Orc use personal kennings as surnames that are derived from great acts or merits a previous ancestor was lauded for, but some exceptional orcs earn their own kennings.

  • Airigataun
  • Aquizibaun
  • Aquizimain
  • Drakabaun
  • Drakamoth
  • Drakarauth
  • Hallniman
  • Hvairneihid
  • Snutliuth
  • Staurinnan


A type of beastman with the characteristics of a pig. They live in groups and are often found in mountainous regions. They are extremely ferocious monsters who actively assault people, but they move really slowly and aren’t very strong. However, they are very sly and usually attack in groups. You can't let your guard down.

They are extremely lustful, and normally all they think about is having sex with men, wandering around in search of men they can target. Once they've spotted a man, they form groups and attack in an effort to capture him. Men who have been abducted like this are taken off to the orcs' homes, where they are made into slaves. Orcs are always dying to be with a man, his fate will be to have intercourse again and again: sucked off, squeezed between, and straddled, a man will be continuously enveloped by their voluptuous bodies, which are like the physical embodiment of such lust. As their hips shake wildly, their body will slap against the man's body and enthrall him.

However, when attacked, if one manages to defeat them instead, they will recognize the victor as their master, whom they will then obey almost as if they were slaves (on the other hand, if one were to attack and lose, the orcs would be very oppressive). For the victors who become masters, the orcs change their nature completely. They will become concerned with their master’s mood, and constantly fawn on him. Of course, there would be no change in their lustful disposition. They would seduce their master into having sex with them.

After obtaining a master, their heart and body will have already changed to be devoted solely to him, and their soft, voluptuous body which enthralls men will then exist solely to be used and violated by their master. No matter how furiously and violently their master ravages them, even if they're treated as a tool that exists solely for his sexual release, as far as they're concerned, just the fact that their master enjoys using them will be enough to fill them with enough ecstatic happiness and pleasure to melt their heart.

As described, they have a dual nature, both weak and strong, strong and weak. However, it’s more like it comes from instinct than personality. If they have never known defeat, they will enjoy the pleasure of raping men, but once defeated they become subservient to their masters, gaining the most pleasure from obeying his commands and being raped by him. Thus, their loyalty to their master is very extreme and very real, and it is engraved in their instinct. Not only do they enjoy being abused by their masters, they‘re even willing to sacrifice their own lives if their master commands it.


Beastmen having the characteristics of a boar, they are a higher-rank variety of “orc”. Despite their thickheaded appearance, they possess both superhuman strength and quick wits. Their specialty is charging and by doing so, they can easily send a crowd of people flying; even heavily-armored knights would be knocked into the air.

They are leaders who command hordes of orcs that gang up before mobilizing. As powerful, courageous champions, their mere presence is inspiring to the orcs, assuaging their fears and causing them to maximally exhibit their orcish nature to persecute the weak. Orcs under the command of a high orc become bolder and attack human men without hesitation. The high orcs themselves even exceed orcs in ferocity and belligerence; true to their own desires, they take action in pursuit of human men who will serve as their prey and aggressively attempt to violate them. They have the same devious personalities as orcs, and it is said that sometimes they even lead armies to attack human villages or bandit strongholds, etc.

A high orc's body produces a peculiar odor, and when orcs, who have a sharp sense of smell, get a whiff of it, it intoxicates them and excites their lust, transforming the pig beastmen into brave and ferocious warriors. If a high orc gives the order, the frenzied orc warriors will rush a man all at the same time, and a man captured by them is a slave for satisfying their passion and lust; in other words, he would immediately be taken back to the orcs' den as their husband, and end up having to live according to their carnal desires, covered in their soft bodies. Their den is pervaded by the choking feminine stench of the high orc, which endlessly arouses the lusts of the flesh in all the orcs and their partner, causing a relentless feast of flesh, filled with pleasure and cries of ecstasy, to unfold.

While the presence of a high orc inspires absolute confidence in orcs and makes them feel powerful, on the other hand, the defeat of a high orc causes all the orcs to become distressed and panic-stricken. It's said that even orcs who had supposedly been raging a short time ago would uniformly lose the will to fight and collapse on the floor.

Furthermore, when defeated by men, contrary to their violent and belligerent personalities, even the high orcs themselves will become self-conscious of being female and surrender their body and heart. They undergo a psychological transformation, becoming servile and subservient so that they take pleasure in being violated by the male, and their body also transforms into soft, lovely flesh that exists only for the male's pleasure; just being touched by the male will make them lose their strength and prepare to receive him, or so it is said. So too will their body odor also transform into a scent that’s alluring and invigorating to the male; just smelling it will cause his penis to swell up to the point that it's ready to burst and arouse carnal desires for the high orc herself as well as the orcs. Additionally, the hearts of orcs who smell it will be filled with a sense of defeat regarding the man, causing them to transform into “females who submit to the male”.

According to their husbands, their body odor can be quite addictive, and during sex, the men spend a while sniffing their body odor to arouse themselves and achieve a maximal erection. And then, the men enjoy violating the lovely flesh of these females who can never oppose the penis to their heart's content.

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