Orc

Credits to Stephen Lloyd for the awesome cover art!

Orcs are one of the First Races, created by Isael and Syluru to be great warriors and wardens of nature and frontiers across Yophas in the later days of the Reshaping. For millennia, orc culture was defined by strength, honor, and a quiet respect for the natural order. During the Reckoning, Marzak saw a people of fighters who could be corrupted, to spit on the designs of the Children of Yamma. Though he did not enslave all orcs, he did take a great share of them under his yoke and create great warbands of orcs who, at first, fought against their will. But, after years of constant bloodshed, any mortal would lose themselves in the battle.
In the Age of Extant, orcs have a varied reputation across Emaxus. Some peoples fear them, knowing only their Marzakian brethren who have yet to shed the chains of the Ragebinder. Others welcome them, for they understand that if all races were to be defined by the actions some of their members had taken, then all should be feared. A great divide exists amongst orcish people across Yophas. Those who never came under Marzak's yoke, or successfully broke free, work constantly to undo the damage the Ragebinder did to their race and their people's reputation. Those orcish societies that still exist in Marzak's name continue to perform his will: to make war, bring ruin, and annihilate order.

Prejudice and Fear

Orcs were as numerous as humans before the Reckoning, and thus formed the bulk of Marzak's armies when the God-Wars began. And when the Reckoning ended, survival was crucial to the Shelter Cities. That survival was threatened most frequently by Ragebound warbands, most numerous of whom were orcs. From there, it was easy to "other" them; they had a bloody, complicated history. Thus is the fate of the tools of gods.
Nowadays, most cultures have begun to see beyond racial lines and understand it is a matter of nurture, not nature. But, some bigoted peoples remain. The Camaerithian Concord, for example, is built on "defending Eastern Iotura from the incursions of the Orakgran invaders." Orakgra, which is a civilization composed primarily of "monstrous races" like orcs. There has been progress, but there is a long way to go before people stop blaming the "monsters" and start blaming the things that made them how they are.

A Varied People

Orcs are present across Emaxus, and have a huge amount of variation in their physical traits to match. Orc skin colors can range in hues from dark green to light brown and even clay-like red. Their hair is usually black, which begins to grey and white when an orc gets along in years. As far as geographical distribution goes, little link has been discovered between skin color and location, and the same orc tribe or community can have every single shade of orc skin color.
Generally, their eyes are brown or black, though some have been known to have white or red eyes, the former being considered a portent of good things to come, and the latter being seen as a feared leader and warrior in the making.

Orc Names/Ethnicities

Orc names usually contain more guttural sounds due to the orc language. Surnames, on the other hand, are in Common, and usually reflect a great dead or feat of strength, something involving a high sense of honor (or brutality) among the orcs. Some names reflect a physical characteristic instead, like Angerflesh, but this can still reflect their prowess in battle.
Male Names: Carm, Cesez, Crimun, Crugtust, Eru, Gestuz, Grich, Kranzi, Kravori, Mavnorm, Thelni'rurl
Female Names: Ahno, Atza, Emzu, Grihn'azry, Grohkym, Grorito, Kihte, Shele, Tawa
Clan Names: Battlearm, Cruelshift, Quickscream, Rabidheart, Stonesteel, Stormtwist
You can also have an orc who has been influenced by a certain culture and their naming conventions. If you wish to play an orc of a certain culture, you can refer to the Cultures/Ethnicities subcategory of Races. Below are the main ones that orcs tend to be from/belong to.

Creating Your Character

At 1st level, you choose what race your character belongs to. If you choose an orc, follow the rules found below to make your orc hero -- or villain.

Ability Score Increases

When determining your character's ability scores, increase one score by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or increase three different scores by 1. Follow this rule regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, such as rolling or point buy. The "Quick Build" section of your character's class offers suggestions on which scores to increase. You can follow those suggestions or ignore them, but you can't raise any of your scores above 20.

Languages

Your character can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you can your DM agree is appropriate for the character. The Player's Handbook offers a list of languages to choose from. The DM is free to modify that list for a campaign.

Creature Type

Every creature in D&D, including each player character, has a special tag in the rules that identifies the type of creature they are. Most player characters are of the Humanoid type. Your race tells you what your character's creature type is.
Here's a list of the game's creature types in alphabetical order: Aberration, Beast, Celestial, Construct, Dragon, Elemental, Fey, Fiend, Giant, Humanoid, Monstrosity, Ooze, Plant, Undead. These types don't have rules themselves, but some rules in the game affect creatures of certain types in different ways. For example, the cure wounds spell doesn't work on a Construct or an Undead.

Orc Traits

Emaxian orcs are not bound to commit acts of evil by nature. An orc character has the following racial traits.

Age

Orcs mature slightly faster than humans, reaching adulthood in their mid-teens, and live only slightly shorter, living up to 85 years.

Creature Type

You are a Humanoid.

Size

Orcs stand easily 8 feet tall and corded with powerful muscles, weighing up to 280 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision

You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.

Aggressive

As a bonus action, you can move up to your speed toward an enemy of your choice that you can see or hear. You must end this move closer to the enemy than you started.

Powerful Build

You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or light.

Warrior Intuition

You have proficiency in two skills of your choice from the following list: Animal Handling, Insight, Intimidation, Medicine, Perception, and Survival.

Creation Mythos

Orcs were created by Syluru and Isael to be wardens of nature and the frontier across Yophas. Sadly, during the Reckoning, orcs were enslaved by Marzak en masse, who used them to build the build of his Ragebound armies. While some orcs have broken the cycle Marzak started and many more were never inundated in the first place, many orcs are still trapped in the Ragebinder's cultural structures. These warbands and herds give orcs the fearsome reputation they have in some societies, while others have realized that it isn't the people, it's the culture. A handful of orc families know iotas of the true orcish heritage, but much has been lost to time.