Orc
Orcs are a race of mortals found on Apa Axas. One of the most-feared races on Apa Axas, and with good reason, the Orcs are seen to be a threat by nearly every other race, due to the Orc’s mighty stature, aggressive nature and unparalleled military strategy, as well as their propensity to launch raids and pillages against anyone they consider weak, and conduct large scale warfare against any creature they view as a worthy adversary, for no reason other than the fact that they seem to enjoy it.
Basic Information
Genetics and Reproduction
Orcs are particularly famous across Apa Axas for their virility, with early forms of “adult” medicine utilised many potions with Orc blood as a base. Orcs procure larger birth wields, with nearly 25 babies born from each pregnancy. As such, they are born much smaller as to not harm the mother, but each child much more aggressive than any other species, and are born with full sets of teeth and long and sharp birth-claws which remain attached to the hand for up to a year after birth, although most usually lose the claws at around 7 months. In addition, they lack all sexual characteristics at birth, and are barely treated as sentient by most scholars.
Female Orcs will often become fertile at the same time, for periods known as the Brooding, which lasts for 4 continuous months every 5 years. As such, babies will often be born in vast quantities during these Broodings. These children are gathered up and dumped into dark, sandy pits to scrap amongst themselves for the first 6 months of their lives. Starvation, confusion and a flood of aggressive hormones leads the new-borns to cannibalism and blood-drinking to survive, tearing each other apart with their sharp teeth and birth-claws. The survivors of these fights will have developed gender phenotypes at this point, will be returned to their parents and inducted into schools. Orcish women will get pregnant from nearly every mating session in this fertile season, and remain pregnant for nearly 2 months at a time, but can breed again almost immediately afterwards. It is said that Orcs are the race that is most interested in the carnal pleasures, and are the only race other than Elves to be able to produce a unique race when mating with humans, the Half-Orc.
Civilization and Culture
Culture and Cultural Heritage
The military force of the Orcs is nearly entirely made up of males, leading other races to believe that Orcish women are oppressed or even don’t exist at all, as many people do not come into contact with the Orcs unless it is on the battlefield. However, due to Sangroke Bliss’s position as the war goddess, female Orcs are revered for their battle tactics and are usually in positions of leadership. They often don’t appear on the front lines, and so interactions with other races, that are usually on the other side of an invasion force, don’t involve the women. In fact, females are so revered that they are the only orcs that are socially accepted to use magic. Male Orcish magicians still exist, but are often seen as outcasts and pariahs, and are usually given the Goblin-Orc title, similarly to disgraced warriors.
History
The Orcs once stood proud as the foot soldiers of The Great Horde of Sangroke Bliss, pilfering what they may under the command of the Orcmother. While in these armies, when the Orcs first walked upon Apa Axas, many of them were infused with an innate tempestuous energy gifted upon them by Sangroke Bliss’ most trusted ally; Retch, Travesty of Disaster, allowing them to wield the power of thunder and lightning to overpower their foes. This power has passed down throughout the bloodlines, however, it is near imperceptible in most orcs, but there are a large number of Orcs and Half-Orcs born with the powers of Storm Sorcery, and it’s said that most if not all Storm Sorcerers have a drop of Original Orc blood in their veins.
The Orcs ravaged Apa Axas, but were scattered from the ranks of the Hoard when the Orcs first came into contact with The Most-Favoured; the ultra-violent species that would one day split off into Humans, Halflings and Gnomes. Even the fearsome Orcs could not handle the sheer power of the Most-Favoured and were scattered in tribes. These tribes lived in a state of civil war for many years, until they were united by Modgad the Vengeful, who united the Orcish tribes and lead them into a great battle known as The Supremacy Conflict.
They proved to be quite successful, plundering all who opposed them as a mega hoard not seen since the days of Sangroke Bliss, but all would not remain well for the Orcs. Modgad was tricked into wearing an artefact known as The Sundered Crown and became a part of Beheerous, and, without the charismatic warlord whipping the dissenters into shape, the Hoard was overwhelmed by an alliance of Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes and Halflings in the Battle of Leaves and Tempest. Many Orcs fled to the South, and quickly overwhelmed the unwitting people of Desert continent of D'Rert, soon to be known as the Savage Kingdom. The local inhabitants, the wily Tabaxi and the peace-loving Loxodon were massacred nearly to extinction as the Orcs laid waste to the region, and took it for their own.
Common Myths and Legends
Most modern Orcs follow a spiritual leader known as the Rekyam’vi, a powerful warrior who is said to be a vessel for the broken soul of Sangroke Bliss herself, however, it has not been fully established as to whether this is simply a prideful boast of the leader, or an actuality. The Rekyam’vi leads a yearly hunt across the kingdom, slaying any non-Orc they find in the continent as the leader visits each of the tribes to face their strongest warrior in combat; if they defeat Rekyam’vi, they are allowed to join in his personal guard, however, if they fail, they are slain, or exiled in dishonour, gaining the title Civil Orc or “Goblin Orc”, a term that stems from a cultural distain amongst the Orcs against goblins; many of their insults to other Orc’s revolve around comparing them to goblins. The perception of the Goblins is so inbuilt than even the most metropolitan and open minded Orc might find one comical and weak.
Genetic Descendants
Geographic Distribution
Related Organizations
Related Ethnicities
Related Myths
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