Hilalian Orcs
"Feel the dark magics that slayed a god, foul lizard."
Hilalian Orcs are an Orcish culture group that life in the Wall city of Hilal and the lands around it. Much of their culture is based on the teachings of Zog the Eldest, who roughly 1500 years ago liberated orc-kind from the tyranny of their old creator god, the Dusk Lord.
The Hilalians live under the constant thread of Dragon-kin zealots attacking their cities either believing they still serve the Dusk Lord or knowing of his fate and desiring punishment for their sin of deicide. This has lead every member of Hilalian society to be raised and trained for war in order to defend the tribe from any possible attack.
Naming Traditions
Feminine names
Akua, Baggi, Dûbáku, Engong, Folamu, Guthre, Hynn, Jelani, Kansif, Luga, Myev, Neega, Ownka, Rufar, Sutha, Tûma, Wynsush, Volen, Yevelda, Zunn
Masculine names
Akoth, Barfa, Caedmog, Dûsh, Ekenn, Feng, Gell, Holg, Ishmoz, Jaheem, Kugáluga, Lûgdash, Mhurren, Názkûga, Olgoth, Prâk, Quiglex, Ront, Shump, Thokk, Ûkshak, Wekesa, Zog
Family names
Once an Hilalian Orc finishes his education at the Agoge, he will be granted his first title based on his personality and exploits that defines his current standing in society. As the Orc grows older and achieves more notable things, he will be granted more prestigious titles that help him climb the social ladder.
The leaders of are granted special titles. These Orcs rule as co-leaders of the community and usually are made out of a powerful warlord and a powerful sorcerer (usually a necromancer), who have the title of the Strong and the Old. Their titles change upon death, becoming the Stronger and the Elder and passing their previous title and name onto their descendant. After that descendant dies they will inherit their fathers title again and their fathers will become the Strongest/Second Eldest, and after the next generation passes away the previous Stronger/Elder will become the Second Strongest/Third Eldest. This processes of descending titles will go on until a bloodline is destroyed and a new one takes it place.
However, no sorcerer can claim the title of the Eldest for that title belongs to the eternal Zog the Eldest, godfather to all of Orc kind.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Most Hilalian Orcs speak High Orc, a softer spoken dialect of the Orc language. High Orc is commonly used in Necromantic rituals and forms the basis for the Orc taught to none-native speakers. As they grow up Hilalians also get classes in the common Astronian language, so they might be able to communicate with people outside of their tribes.
Common Dress code
Most Hilalian adults wear chain mail shirts and a weapon so they might be able to immediately join the battle if the tribe gets attacked. The clothing above the chain mail differs from Orc to Orc and their wealth, the poor wear leather body armour or cloth, while the rich wear full suits of black steel armour decorated with furs.
Art & Architecture
Hilalian architecture is usually made to be quiet exquisite and labour intensive, creating beautiful palaces and lavish villas for even the lowest commoner. These buildings get build by the armies of undead ancestors that a orc family has shambling around. Art on the other hand is something the Hilalians don't much care for, hiring artists from other races to pain their portraits.
Common Customs, traditions and rituals
One of the most desirable traits inside of Hilalian society is physical and mental strength. Tribes regularly hold competitions of arms, sports, and magic craft to see who is the most powerful of them all. Winners are often rewarding with fame, prestige, and a feast in their name. Wrestling is a particularly popular sport, for its simple rules and display of raw power. Sword fighting championships are also popular to watch, thou some might bring an axe or an sledgehammer. Less popular are the archery competitions, as most spectators find them boring to watch, but rulers insist on keeping them as it is vital for the tribes survival to be able to shoot down a flying assailant such as a dragon or a winged kobold.
Meanwhile the nobles prefer to duel each other in war games on giant maps. These maps are usually bought from or gifted by the dwarfs, who love war games just as much, and occasionally visit the nobles to challenge them to a grand battle. Another popular competition between the nobles are sorcerous show offs, where competitors battle to see who can impress the jury the most with their spells and showmanship.
Birth & Baptismal Rites
When an Orc is born, it is allowed to stay with its parents for the first four years of its life. After these four years they get enrolled into the Agoge, a state-run military school where the child learns to fight for himself and the state. Inside these schools bullying, intimidation, and shrewdness are encouraged. Murder and theft, while not directly encouraged, are permitted if the teachers can't find out the child is responsible.
Classes inside of the Agoge include many subjects an adult soldier needs to know. The first 6 years are almost completely dedicated to sports, swordsmanship, archery, magic, writing, and wilderness survival. In the later 6 years the subjects of military organisation, foreign languages, and history get added the curriculum. After these twelve years of education, the sixteen year old Orc is ready to go into the army for the next 10 years of their life after which they can choose to stay or return to their families to chase other passions.
Coming of Age Rites
Many young and inspiring nobles from Hilalian Orc tribes undertake a pilgrimage to the Throne of Zog to prove their might and cunning to the rest of the world. The first step is to get inside of the city, which often doesn't form a challenge as the guards let most Orcs in without any trouble. The second step is to get over the second wall of Hilal, sneak past the guards atop of the wall and enter the Wastes of Ishtarr. When an young orc is caught they will usually get a stern talking to from the guards and be forced to undergo a mock execution before they are allowed to try again.
After the young noble reaches the other side of the wall they will have to cross the Wastes of Ishtarr. Inside of these wastes they have to avoid being caught and slaughtered by the undead hoards. These hoards are made up of generations of Hilalian Orc leaders, raised here as the honour guard for the Throne of Zog. By facing the very things they will one day become they will learn to make the most of their time.
If the noble succeeds in surviving the ordeal manages to sneak their way into the feretory of the Dusk Lord they will be told of a secret only the elites of Hilalian society are allowed to know. Whatever this secret might be, it can easily be seen that knowing it has an immediate effect on the young Orc, as his presence suddenly demands the respect of both the living as well as the death. On the way back the undead hordes will clear a path for the successful noble across the Wastes. And when he walks up to the gates of the second wall, the guards throw them opened for them with much fanfare and congratulations.
Funerary and Memorial customs
When an Hilalian Orc dies for the first time he is revived from the death to serve his family as an undead thrall, just as his ancestors have done for him. During this indented servitude the undead thrall mostly does thankless jobs like polishing his family's weapons, or building a new construction for them. However don't think the Hilalians fear this fate. They considered it a honour to be raised as only physical fit and notable Orcs get a second life. Once the 70 years of servitude have passed, the Orc will have repaid his debt to his ancestors and gets to be buried besides them in his family's mausoleum. Inside of here he will be forever revered as one of the wise ancestors, and might be asked for guidance by a future descendent.
When a leader of an Hilalian tribe gets raised into undead, they get escorted by his family and tribe members to the Wastes of Ishtarr to guard the feretory of the Dusk Lord.
Common Taboos
It is considered a great offence to ones tribe and his ancestors to just revive a sentient creature. The Hilalians see this as cheapening the honours of Thralldom and blurring the line between slavery and indentured servitude. Any Necromancer caught reviving the free death gets exiled from his community and is forced to wander the world until he repays his sins, risking a chance to die without being buried in the family mausoleum.
Another taboo is the usage of undead thralls for combat purposes. While none denies that using a mob of thralls to overwhelm their foes would be an efficient tactic. Many Hilalians find it dishonourably to not fight ones own battles and fear that the use of thralls in combat would make reviving other sentient creatures, like say slain foes or resting ancestors, more acceptable to the general public, reducing the social fibre and traditions of the tribe.
Historical figures
Almost all Hilalians refer Zog the Eldest, the liberator of Orc-kind as a whole.
Zog started his life as a lowly and weak bureaucrat inside of the mighty orc hoard of the Dusk Lord, but started to climb the ranks after he discovered the art of Necromancy. Eventually he was slain during a failed ritual but brought himself back from the death as an undead lich. Feeling betrayed by the god that would have just let him die there, he took up arms against the fallen god fighting his traditional army with the new magics that started to appear in the world and the combined might of a orc-kind undivided by notions of racial purity.
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
In Hilalian society it is considered a mark of pride for one to have scars. The Hilalian Orcs don't look at scars as marks of shame or as unattractive blemishes, but rather as marks of their skill and bravery in battle and life.
Gender Ideals
There is little difference between the man and woman in an Hilalian tribe, since orc show little gender differences outside of their tusk size and the appearance of mammary glands when the females have newborn children.
However unlike other orcs, Hilalian woman do wear their hair differently from their male counterparts. Preferring to grow it out and braiding it into long strands in a similar fashion to nearby human females.
Encompassed species
Related Organizations
Languages spoken
Related Locations
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