War of Blood

Fields Nourished by Blood

The Whispering Plains was the site of the bloodiest war in the history of Arrhynsia, the War of Blood. In a conflict that raged for over fifty years, the orcish tribes slew each other in a bid to become the ruler and god of the orcs. Entire tribes were annihilated, and no care for the dead was practiced - warrior's bodies were left without burial, prey to the elements and scavengers who multiplied readily with the plentiful supply of meat.
Those who fell in battle rose to glory, joining the Eternal Conflict, that still rages on in the spirit world through the flat featureless plain. Those tribes with the foresight to leave their females and children in places of safety were able to survive the carnage. The others whose females chose to fight with their men were annihilated. The Whispering Plains is still covered with the remains of orcish warriors, women and children killed in the conflict.
According to oral traditions, the orcs, with their voracious lust for battle, slew each other without mercy. The endless sea of dead corpses stood as a testimony to the bloodlust of the race. Eventually, the War of Blood ended with a whimper as the warriors dwindled and the women and children left behind grew old. They took up the governance and polulating of the plains, now left to a small remnant of a once mighty race. In this shadow, Yulasta rose by acclaim and consensus to become the orcish goddess of hearth and home, a strange patroness for a people so committed to glorious death in battle.
Very few warriors returned from the War of Blood - most who entered the fray died on the vast battlefield. Most notable of the few who survived the carnage was Elgen Bloodtooth, youngest son of Thorm Bloodtooth who died in the conflict. Elgen found himself at odds with the remnant of his people and was cast out. He found a life outside the Whispering Plains, and became General Pyrrhos Gol, one of few orcs who are recorded to have fought in the armies of other races.
Culturally the impact of the War of Blood on the orcs cannot be understated. It forged a fierce warrior cultural identity for the survivors, and bred into them a hardy endurance that expects and withstands tragedy and violence, reveling in their strength. Today, proud songs of this "glorious time" in orcish history are sung to babes in arms as lullabys, and the names of tribes long dead are remembered in oral traditions and the songs of bards.