The Orcs

In the ages before the coming of man, there lived a village of elves on the eastern edge of the great forest of Arlyss. The elves were happy toiling away in their gardens, hunting and enjoying the bounty of the world. Their great tree provided for them and connected them to the Fey, allowing their druids to tend to their groves without worry.
One day, an elf came to visit. He wore a dark green hooded cloak and kept his face concealed by the hood. The elves offered him wine, meat and bread. But with every sip of drink or bite of food, he spat out and cursed the gods. The elves grew wary of him, and asked him to leave. Three days later, the women and children of the village were suddenly afflicted with a great pox. Within three more days, only the men of the village remained. They beseeched the gods and the Fey to help them and bring back their loved ones.
On the fourth day since the pox, the cloaked man appeared again. He pulled back his hood and revealed himself to be Alanor, god of the underworld. He offered them a way to see their loved ones again. All they had to do was curse the gods and cut down their great tree. A great argument broke out, with half the men seeking to comply and the other half refusing. Malice creeped into the hearts of those wanting to see their loved ones again, and violence broke out. When silence once more gripped the village, half the men had been slain by the other half. Those who remained cut down the great tree and cursed the gods. Alanor whispered to them as they did so, imparting them with the secrets of necromancy. But when they raised their loved ones from the dead, they were horrified to find them mere husks of their former selves. In their fury, they sought out Alanor but could find him nowhere. And as they returned to their village, they found dark, creeping vines crawling from where they had cut down their great tree. The ground turned black and ashen, and as they walked upon it their forms were twisted and bent into monstrous shapes. Where once there was beauty and life there remained only ugliness and death. They fled from their village into distant caves, and found that wherever they walked the creeping death followed.
Thus the elves became "orc" (elvish for the corrupted), and retreated into the depths of the Great Below for 200 years. In the cavernous depths, their malice grew as they developed their necromantic magic. They encountered the dark elves there, and while at first they were hostile they soon became allies as the two races mingled (and thus the orcs began to reproduce). With each generation, they found their long life cut short (devoid of the spark of life the Fey had granted the elves). As they spread north, they encountered the dwarves in their tunnels who hated them most for defiling the earth. Through necromantic rituals, the orcs twisted captured dwarves into the first hobgoblins. 200 years later, the orcs re-emerged and found their land entirely tainted by the creeping death (now known as the badlands). They settled once more on the surface and began their hateful campaign against their newfound enemies in the north, their empire of corruption ever growing. As they raided the lands surrounding the badlands, they corrupted other races into more goblinoid creatures (halflings and gnomes into goblins, firbolg into bugbears...). Bolstered by their ability to raise the fallen against their enemies, the orcs were only limited by their constant internal power struggles and short, violent lives.
Centuries later, as they encountered humans the orcs would create the half-orc race through necromantic rituals. But the half-orcs proved to be too "human" and resisted their malice, and thus were only bred as slaves. During the orc wars of the 10th century, Sydonian spies infiltrated orc camps and organized a half-orc revolt against their orc masters. After escaping and helping the Sydonians and Dwarves fight the orcs, the half-orcs settled in Saltmire or traveled the world as mercenaries and adventurers.
As the chromatic dragons settled in Arlyss following the Doom of Sydonia, many black dragons found homes in the badlands and marshes of eastern Arlyss. While some were hostile to the orcs, others found common ground with them and even became allies. Tales tell of orcish necromancers and death knights riding black dragons into battle against the Dwarves and Sydonians in the orc wars.
Today, the orcs pose little threat to Sydonia as a whole but still clash with the Dwarves and tribesmen of the North frequently, an orc raids on Sydonian villages are still common. There are even rumours of hidden orc camps in the small remaining woodlands of Sydonia.