Drakkòn the greatest of the Khans
Drakkòn, is a legendary Orc known as the unifier of the many tribes and the founder of the Orc Federation. His name, Drakkòn, means Dragon in orc speech.
Later on, when Drakkòn was twelve, he had to accomplish his trial of the warrior. This trial, specific to each orc tribe is pretty simple in the Vroarr clan. Followed by two hunters to certify of the youngster deeds, the pretender has to hunt the biggest beast and bring back its body. Then the youngster will have its rank in the tribe depending on the beast brought back. Of course, the bigger the beast, the bigger the rank.
For his trial, Drakkòn decided to bring back the head of a dragon. But not any dragon no, the head of the jet dragon that attacked the clan twelve years ago. And that is what he did. He tracked the beast for months and finally found it, nesting in a vast cave, in the mountains north. He went there, followed by the two hunters and he killed the beast. It is an amazing deed. A dragon is no easy prey. Few are crazy enough to attack such a beast. And from the few, even fewer would dare to do it alone.
When he went back to his village, due to the extraordinary beast he dared to hunt, he was directly given the title of Warlord and the previous one became his Elder adviser.
Right after his birth, Drakkòn would have walked by himself to the beast and defied it to a duel. Subjugated by this amazing being that decided right after its birth to confront the end of the world itself, the gods would have bestowed upon him their blessings and granted him true power. Drakkòn would have then immediately grew to his adult size and slew the beast barehanded.
Astonished by his greatness, his tribe would have granted him the title of Warlord instantly.
Many stories from orc tribes of the region speak of a jet dragon roaming the lands in the era of Drakkòn's birth. His name could be directly related to the fact that Drakkòn's mother saw the dragon in the distance while she was giving birth.
Another fact is that the Vroarr clan was often attacked by what appears to be the same jet dragon that has been seen roaming around. From the stories, we can estimate that this dragon attacked orc tribes every fifteen to twenty years, feeding off them.
The last occurrence of this jet dragon in orcs history seems to be placed between ten and twenty years after the birth of Drakkòn. Its disappearance could be for many reasons but it seems it might have been killed around that time.
Concerning Drakkòn quick ascension to the title of warlord of the Vroarr, many records have been found. From the facts gathered, there was a duel between Drakkòn and the previous warlord which happened right after Drakkòn trial of the warrior.
Rumors state that the previous Warlord was selling tribe men and women as slaves to other clans. Drakkòn might have confronted him, on the subject and killed him in a duel of honor hereby obtaining the title of Warlord. But this is only mere speculation.
By orc rules, the Unjrak Warlord had to be killed in a duel by Drakkòn in order for the Vroarr to gain sovereignty on Unjrak and all the warriors of the Unjrak tribe would have then become war slaves. But Drakkòn didn't want that.
In the duel, he sparred the life of the Warlord of the Unjrak and made him sworn allegiance to the Vroarr tribe and himself. Bound by the blood they spilt in the duel, both Warlords became War brothers. By orc ancestral customs, war brothers have to support each other back in time of war. It also prevents them from ever attacking each other tribes.
Using both his statuses of Overlord of the Unjrak and War Brother of their Warlord, Drakkòn gathered the Unjrak warrior and freed them from their war slaves duties. He then proceeded to attack other orc tribes using the warriors of both tribes.
Using this legitimate strategy he became rapidly the Overlord of many tribes and the War brother of all their Warlords. In two years, he became the Overlord of the Kragun, Unjrak, Murukra, Iktror, Kwahu, Zuzekra, Trudral and Scorpra.
Drakkòn had gathered many tribes under his rule and now possessed an army. But tensions started to rise between tribes that were once enemies and even forcing Warlords from enemy tribes to become War brothers to avoid internal conflicts did not work sometimes. Some Warlords refused to spare their opponent lives during the duel of honor and had to be punished for that. Many died.
When most conflicts had been solved with the disappearance of the opposing parties, Drakkòn proclaimed himself Khan of the tribes. He abandoned his place as Warlord of the Vroarr and also revoked the sovereignty of the Vroarr tribe on all other tribes.
With the strength of nine tribes behind him, Drakkòn the Khan continued his project of unification of the Orc tribes. He came known as Drakkòn the Great and many tribes accepted to join the Kahnhood without putting a fight.
As tribes were incorporated in the Khanhood, many internal conflicts started brewing again that Drakkòn would not be able to solve using his previous strategy of making Warlords war brothers.
For orc tribes, waging war is a tradition and a need. War against other tribes is a way to reinforce unity inside the tribe, makes the tribe stronger as the weak would be purified, it also mixes the blood of orcs between tribes and knowledge would be passed.
Drakkòn by unifying the tribes had deprived them of this process. No other orc tribe out of the Khanhood had ever wanted to wage war against them. In fact, many tribes that did not take part in the Khanhood started fleeing the area, looking for new grounds far from Drakkòn and his army.
Drakkòn had then the idea to focus the warmonger spirit of his people against a common enemy instead of between tribes, the orcs started to raid other civilizations.
From the Ordeides in the far west to the Daeloth in the far east, from the Norskan in the north to the Amithael in the south, Drakkòn the Great Khan raided many cities. His Khanhood became known as the green plague in the rest of the world. Armies of mounted orcs pouring into the plains destroying everything. At that time, it was a popular belief that wherever the green plague goes, herb never grows back.
During this era, many orc tribes joined Drakkòn khanhood by themselves to serve the Greatest of the Khan.
Drakkòn was very successful and his people too, but he started to be old. He had many wives and kids, we count him more than two hundred wives and approximately three offsprings per wife and this was an issue for Drakkòn's legacy.
Before the end of his life, Drakkòn was very sick. No shaman could find the reason for his strange sickness. Some rumors spoke of Warlords poisoning him because of past quarrels, others spoke of Drakkòn having sold his soul to a Demon in his young days, was now caught up by the curse, but the most probable reason was that he had been poisoned by one of his oldest sons who wanted to be the Khan of the green plague.
Having feared this moment, Drakkòn convoked all his Warlords and made them promise to never follow an untrusty orc even if it was one of his sons. He then proceeded to write the trials that the new Khan of the orc would have to accomplish in order to become the leader of the green plague. There were two trials, a fake and a true one.
The first trial and the fake one was a tournament addressed to all of his sons. The rules were simples, in an arena, they would all fight barehanded. From the orcs who entered the arena, only one would be allowed to came out.
Many sons refused the trials, but much more accepted. Those who did could not understand what their father stood for, the unification of the orcs. They fought each others and died for nothing. The winner, of this massacre was killed on Drakkòn request.
The second trial was to find a way to ensure the unification of the orcs even after his death.
In this trial, none of his sons succeeded. But, the Warlords found the solution themselves. The Orc Federation was created while Drakkòn was on the verge of dying. Rules were simple, each orc tribe could not be suzerain or liege of another. All Warlords would be equals and they would have to participate in the Federation as representant of their tribes. Conflicts between orc tribes would be studied by the Warlords and in case no agreement could be found, duel between the two tribes champions would be the decisive judgement.
While the Warlords were agreeing on the rules of the future Federation, Drakkòn died. The Warlords, anxious that the Federation would not be welcomed by all the orcs if Drakkòn had not validated its codex, decided to falsify the codex of Federation and used Drakkòn blood post-mortem to sign it.
After the validation by all Warlords of the Federation's codex, they announced to all orcs that Drakkòn was death but that before his last breath, they had found a way to unify the orcs tribes even now that Drakkòn would not be able to lead them. They swore to all orcs that Drakkòn had validated the rules before his last breath. A big lie, but one which was needed in order for the orcs to stay unified like drakkòn wanted them to...
After the creation of the Orc Federation, Drakkòn became known as the first and the greatest of the khans, Founder of the Orc Federation, Warlord of the green plague.
Early life
Drakkòn's birth is shrouded in mysteries and legends. No one knows where the story ceases to be history and start to become the myth.The Tale
The tale of Drakkòn's birth says that his village was under attack by a jet dragon (black dragon) while he was given birth to. As soon as he was out of his mother's womb, like all babies, Drakkòn who was still unnamed screamed. It is said that his first scream was so loud that it startled the jet dragon. His second one attracted its attention and the third one was so powerful that it made it flee.Later on, when Drakkòn was twelve, he had to accomplish his trial of the warrior. This trial, specific to each orc tribe is pretty simple in the Vroarr clan. Followed by two hunters to certify of the youngster deeds, the pretender has to hunt the biggest beast and bring back its body. Then the youngster will have its rank in the tribe depending on the beast brought back. Of course, the bigger the beast, the bigger the rank.
For his trial, Drakkòn decided to bring back the head of a dragon. But not any dragon no, the head of the jet dragon that attacked the clan twelve years ago. And that is what he did. He tracked the beast for months and finally found it, nesting in a vast cave, in the mountains north. He went there, followed by the two hunters and he killed the beast. It is an amazing deed. A dragon is no easy prey. Few are crazy enough to attack such a beast. And from the few, even fewer would dare to do it alone.
When he went back to his village, due to the extraordinary beast he dared to hunt, he was directly given the title of Warlord and the previous one became his Elder adviser.
The Legend
In the most legendary version of his birth and surely the most fabled, Drakkòn was born while his village was attacked by Apollyon, the Wyrm of Armaggedon, later known as the Herald of Doom.Right after his birth, Drakkòn would have walked by himself to the beast and defied it to a duel. Subjugated by this amazing being that decided right after its birth to confront the end of the world itself, the gods would have bestowed upon him their blessings and granted him true power. Drakkòn would have then immediately grew to his adult size and slew the beast barehanded.
Astonished by his greatness, his tribe would have granted him the title of Warlord instantly.
The story?
The real story, well, no one really knows for sure. Some facts have been uncovered but nothing can be much proven.Many stories from orc tribes of the region speak of a jet dragon roaming the lands in the era of Drakkòn's birth. His name could be directly related to the fact that Drakkòn's mother saw the dragon in the distance while she was giving birth.
Another fact is that the Vroarr clan was often attacked by what appears to be the same jet dragon that has been seen roaming around. From the stories, we can estimate that this dragon attacked orc tribes every fifteen to twenty years, feeding off them.
The last occurrence of this jet dragon in orcs history seems to be placed between ten and twenty years after the birth of Drakkòn. Its disappearance could be for many reasons but it seems it might have been killed around that time.
Concerning Drakkòn quick ascension to the title of warlord of the Vroarr, many records have been found. From the facts gathered, there was a duel between Drakkòn and the previous warlord which happened right after Drakkòn trial of the warrior.
Rumors state that the previous Warlord was selling tribe men and women as slaves to other clans. Drakkòn might have confronted him, on the subject and killed him in a duel of honor hereby obtaining the title of Warlord. But this is only mere speculation.
Road to the Khan
Soon after Drakkòn became Warlord, the Vroarr and the Unjrak tribes became enemies. Using cavalry and infantry tactics, Drakkòn easily gained the advantage in the battle and the Unjrak tribe was defeated.By orc rules, the Unjrak Warlord had to be killed in a duel by Drakkòn in order for the Vroarr to gain sovereignty on Unjrak and all the warriors of the Unjrak tribe would have then become war slaves. But Drakkòn didn't want that.
In the duel, he sparred the life of the Warlord of the Unjrak and made him sworn allegiance to the Vroarr tribe and himself. Bound by the blood they spilt in the duel, both Warlords became War brothers. By orc ancestral customs, war brothers have to support each other back in time of war. It also prevents them from ever attacking each other tribes.
Using both his statuses of Overlord of the Unjrak and War Brother of their Warlord, Drakkòn gathered the Unjrak warrior and freed them from their war slaves duties. He then proceeded to attack other orc tribes using the warriors of both tribes.
Using this legitimate strategy he became rapidly the Overlord of many tribes and the War brother of all their Warlords. In two years, he became the Overlord of the Kragun, Unjrak, Murukra, Iktror, Kwahu, Zuzekra, Trudral and Scorpra.
Drakkòn had gathered many tribes under his rule and now possessed an army. But tensions started to rise between tribes that were once enemies and even forcing Warlords from enemy tribes to become War brothers to avoid internal conflicts did not work sometimes. Some Warlords refused to spare their opponent lives during the duel of honor and had to be punished for that. Many died.
When most conflicts had been solved with the disappearance of the opposing parties, Drakkòn proclaimed himself Khan of the tribes. He abandoned his place as Warlord of the Vroarr and also revoked the sovereignty of the Vroarr tribe on all other tribes.
With the strength of nine tribes behind him, Drakkòn the Khan continued his project of unification of the Orc tribes. He came known as Drakkòn the Great and many tribes accepted to join the Kahnhood without putting a fight.
As tribes were incorporated in the Khanhood, many internal conflicts started brewing again that Drakkòn would not be able to solve using his previous strategy of making Warlords war brothers.
For orc tribes, waging war is a tradition and a need. War against other tribes is a way to reinforce unity inside the tribe, makes the tribe stronger as the weak would be purified, it also mixes the blood of orcs between tribes and knowledge would be passed.
Drakkòn by unifying the tribes had deprived them of this process. No other orc tribe out of the Khanhood had ever wanted to wage war against them. In fact, many tribes that did not take part in the Khanhood started fleeing the area, looking for new grounds far from Drakkòn and his army.
Drakkòn had then the idea to focus the warmonger spirit of his people against a common enemy instead of between tribes, the orcs started to raid other civilizations.
From the Ordeides in the far west to the Daeloth in the far east, from the Norskan in the north to the Amithael in the south, Drakkòn the Great Khan raided many cities. His Khanhood became known as the green plague in the rest of the world. Armies of mounted orcs pouring into the plains destroying everything. At that time, it was a popular belief that wherever the green plague goes, herb never grows back.
During this era, many orc tribes joined Drakkòn khanhood by themselves to serve the Greatest of the Khan.
Drakkòn was very successful and his people too, but he started to be old. He had many wives and kids, we count him more than two hundred wives and approximately three offsprings per wife and this was an issue for Drakkòn's legacy.
Before the end of his life, Drakkòn was very sick. No shaman could find the reason for his strange sickness. Some rumors spoke of Warlords poisoning him because of past quarrels, others spoke of Drakkòn having sold his soul to a Demon in his young days, was now caught up by the curse, but the most probable reason was that he had been poisoned by one of his oldest sons who wanted to be the Khan of the green plague.
Having feared this moment, Drakkòn convoked all his Warlords and made them promise to never follow an untrusty orc even if it was one of his sons. He then proceeded to write the trials that the new Khan of the orc would have to accomplish in order to become the leader of the green plague. There were two trials, a fake and a true one.
The first trial and the fake one was a tournament addressed to all of his sons. The rules were simples, in an arena, they would all fight barehanded. From the orcs who entered the arena, only one would be allowed to came out.
Many sons refused the trials, but much more accepted. Those who did could not understand what their father stood for, the unification of the orcs. They fought each others and died for nothing. The winner, of this massacre was killed on Drakkòn request.
The second trial was to find a way to ensure the unification of the orcs even after his death.
In this trial, none of his sons succeeded. But, the Warlords found the solution themselves. The Orc Federation was created while Drakkòn was on the verge of dying. Rules were simple, each orc tribe could not be suzerain or liege of another. All Warlords would be equals and they would have to participate in the Federation as representant of their tribes. Conflicts between orc tribes would be studied by the Warlords and in case no agreement could be found, duel between the two tribes champions would be the decisive judgement.
While the Warlords were agreeing on the rules of the future Federation, Drakkòn died. The Warlords, anxious that the Federation would not be welcomed by all the orcs if Drakkòn had not validated its codex, decided to falsify the codex of Federation and used Drakkòn blood post-mortem to sign it.
After the validation by all Warlords of the Federation's codex, they announced to all orcs that Drakkòn was death but that before his last breath, they had found a way to unify the orcs tribes even now that Drakkòn would not be able to lead them. They swore to all orcs that Drakkòn had validated the rules before his last breath. A big lie, but one which was needed in order for the orcs to stay unified like drakkòn wanted them to...
After the creation of the Orc Federation, Drakkòn became known as the first and the greatest of the khans, Founder of the Orc Federation, Warlord of the green plague.
The myth of Drakkòn rebirth
An orc prophecy tells the tale of Drakkòn rebirth. The Great Khan of all orcs will come back to life and guide the orcs once again to greatness. This time, he will successfully unify the whole world of Aardheim and will ascend to godhood as the god of Unity.
Lastname: Garsh
Firstname: Drakkòn
Nickname: Dragonbane
Race: Orc
Sex: Male
Birth: ?
Death: ? (57 years old)
Height: 2.12m
Weight: 163kg
Firstname: Drakkòn
Nickname: Dragonbane
Race: Orc
Sex: Male
Birth: ?
Death: ? (57 years old)
Height: 2.12m
Weight: 163kg
Lexicon:
- Warlord: Tribe chief, represent the military and executive power
- Overlord: When a tribe is liege of another tribe, the Warlord of the suzerain tribe is called an Overlord.
- Elder: Tribe members, often aged that have earned the respect of the tribe or of the Warlord. They act as advisers to the Warlord. Each village has to possess one or more elders that act as the council, ruling it.
- Khan: When many orc tribes are unified under a leader or when an orc tribe has conquered many other tribes, the leader of the tribe, the Overlord, become a Khan. While becoming a Khan, the orc relinquish his title of Overlord and his belonging to one tribe. He becomes a member of all the tribes under his Khanhood. By doing so, all tribes pledge their allegiance and he pledges his loyalty to all. This process exist to ensure that the dominant tribe in the Khanhood avoid bullying the minor ones.
- Khanhood: All the tribes ruled by a single Khan are his khanhood.
- Vroarr: A lion in orc tongue. Also one of the major orc tribes
- Unjrak: A wolf in orc tongue. Also one of the major orc tribes
- Murukra: A bear in orc tongue. Also one of the major orc tribes
- Kragun: A crow in orc tongue. Also one of the major orc tribes
- Kwahu: An eagle in orc tongue. Also one of the major orc tribes
- Zuzekra: A snake in orc tongue. Also one of the major orc tribes
- Trudral: A tiger in orc tongue. Also one of the major orc tribes
- Scorpra: A scorpio in orc tongue. Also one of the major orc tribes
- Iktror: A spider in orc tongue. Also one of the major orc tribes
- War slave: After the defeat of an orc tribe to another tribe, all warriors of the defeated tribe that took part in the battle and did not die become war slaves, they have to serve the Warlord of the victorious tribe and upon death, their families will be welcomed as members of the victorious tribe
- War brothers: A status obtained after a duel when the winner spare the looser. Both orcs become bound to each other and swear to always respect and protect the other family and tribe like it is his own. They can never fight against each other ever. A War brother that does not respect his pact will have his family killed, his tribe dishonored and will be exiled for life from all orc tribes
- Jet dragon: A dragon with black scales resembling jet gemstone. This specie of dragons is known to be the most ferocious and agressive amongst them.
- Wyrm: Wyrms are legendary beasts which are the embodiment of calamities. Not many exists and the occurrence of one of them means that an era changing event is bound to happen. Some scholars believe that it is because the era is changing that a Wyrm appears, other think that it is because the Wyrm appear that the era changes.
Taking the appearance of a dragon whose size knows no bound, those monstruous beings which can eclipse the sun, the mountains and even the horizon are very few fortunately enough. Also known as Primordial or Ancestral dragons, they are believed to be the most ancient beings after the gods themselves and the firsts of the dragons.
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Excellent! Really well written and a great tale :D I particularly enjoyed how you told the different versions of the story and how the myth was exaggerated greatly. Great use of additional information about Orcish words in the sidebar, this gave me a much better understanding of it and makes me want to read more about the orcs in your world