Orcs

Civilization and Culture

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Most orc's still idolize The Great Game in some form and try to follow it's rules in there daily life. This mostly boils down to striving for self improvement and the searching for close bonds. Whilst at the same time being very dismissive of others that appear weak. Weakness is always seen as a liability even if its just a friend doing something unrelated for work. This also leads to most Orc's being harsh parents. They want there children to succeed but if they prove truly incompetent most parents will have little issue abandoning them. Furthermore many Orc's tend to refuse outside during personal conflicts. If two Orc's get into a brawl going to a doctor afterword's then involves that doctor in there small version of The Great Game.
Generally they also have a dislike for humans since they tend to not understand the concept of The Great Game and there ancestors are the ones who stopped its existence. Besides that they get along well with those who understand and respect their concept of the The Great Game.

History

After the death of the dragons the strong could now survive in the wasteland. So the Orcs could finally be born. Early on the started to take many kobolds and goblins under their wings forming great nomadic tribes that would roam the wasteland finding food. And when they found each other, out of a necessity and scarcity they would fight and the victor would claim all including the flesh of the fallen. After some generations some tribes became famous and started growing a sense of pride in their histories. It was not just about pride but also about reputation and glory. So the idea of the Great Game was born. Over the years it spread among the tribes and with the dominant tribes adopting it through a process of extermination of the weak it became dominant. Especially since joining the ideas of the great game meant a larger sense of survival for the weaker clan, and a way for the larger clans to prove themselves beside survival. With the advent of the forests and the elves they were incorporated into the great game. Changing the strategy but still adhering to the core of its ideas. And cementing that the great game was something only for the participants. If outsiders wished to remain neutral as long as they didn’t interfere it would be respected. Since only real pride could be gained from defeating other participants. The Great Game Eventually the humans started to arrive en masse. The first time orcs came into conflict with the humans was a tribe protecting the elves they had an agreement with. This was a great and storied tribe yet the sheer numbers of humans decimated them after a great and drawn out conflict. Though valiant, the great orc tribe fell. Afterwards diplomacy was attempted with the growing human colonies. However this proved pointless. Humans did not respect the great game. They would agree to stay out of it but then traded with all involved and helped certain clans over others out of “charity”. They would occupy historical sources of food claiming them as their own disrupting old traveling routes. If a tribe refused to trade to not disrupt the Great Game humans would be agitated and become aggressive. Many times tribes came together to rid humans out of there grounds to continue the game, but they would always be overwhelmed and forced to flee. After years of dwindling in numbers and grounds to roam the greatest orc tribes came together. And with great sadness they declared the end of the Great Game. With the hints of a human empire and the sheer amount of territory colonized it was clear the game was not to last. Only Atzul remained and the great tribes would rather put an end to it rather than watch the Great Game degrade further. After this some tribes remained but over the years they most started to integrate with society.