The Shogun and The Bone Tower
Olona oral tradition holds that the first use of magic by mortal hands was done at the behest of the first Shogun, the identity of which changes depending on which Clan is telling the story. This specific tale seems to contradict the timeline of their creation myth of Ula Ular, but most Olona that believe the stories are true do so with religious reverence and do not see any reason to question the "true tellings".
The Bone Tower, as told by the White Hand Clan
Long ago, when the world was still so young it hadn't learned to walk and it's tusks had not yet hardened into the mountains we see today, no one could do magic except for Dragons, and even then they were not as skilled with the art as they are today, for they could only scare reality into doing what they wanted a little bit, as the world had not yet learned to be afraid of the people that lived on it yet. Many Orcs recognized that the gods did magic, and dragons as well sometimes, and there were creatures that should not be. Perhaps, they thought, the gods could be persuaded to share this gift with us. After all, they made us that we might make friends with the lonely rainbow and toil in the earth so it could grow and grow and grow, and it only made sense that we might be compensated for our services. So it was that the first Shogun was chosen to represent the Orcs in this matter and negotiate on our behalf to the gods. This first Shogun was a mighty warrior of the White Hand, before we had our magic and instead were the clan of the wisest Orcs and the smartest, which is why the other Orcs chose us for this purpose.
This first Shogun, whose name is lost to history, walked out to the highest hill in the land, which was one of the tusks the world was trying to grow so it was not very tall yet. The Shogun yelled to the sky for the gods to come down, for they could not fly and it didn't seem fair to wait for the baby world to grow it's tusks into mountains. The gods made no answer.
But the Shogun, as a White Hand, was the wisest of all the Orcs, and they realized that the gods likely couldn't hear them over the sound of the baby world crying- the wind was much stronger back then. So they asked the rest of the White Hand to help them build a ladder out of the tallest tree in all the land to stand on top of the highest hill, which was one of the tusks the world was trying to grow so it was not very tall yet. The Shogun stood on this ladder, being held up by the other Orcs, and called out to the sky. The gods made no answer.
The Shogun, being of course the smartest of all Orcs as they were of the White Hand, figured that perhaps their ladder, as tall as it was, was not tall enough for the gods to hear them yelling over the sound of the crying world. So the Shogun asked the Purple Moon clan for help, since they were the best at trading, and might see if the Dwarves had some good stone. The Purple Moon came back with very many lovely stones to build steps with, the widest stones in all the land, on top of which was placed the ladder made of the tallest tree and they were built on top of the highest hill, which was one of the tusks the world was trying to grow so it was not very tall yet. The Shogun climbed to the very top, the ladder being held in place on the steps by the White Hand and the Purple Moon, and cried out to the sky. The gods made no answer.
But the Shogun, being the most reasonable of all Orcs as they were of the White Hand, decided that the ladder on the steps, as tall as it was, was not tall enough for the gods to hear them yelling over the sound of the crying world. So the Shogun asked the Red Hand to bring them more strong trees to build a tower with. The Red Hand brought their trees and with their great numbers built a tower on top of the stone steps, and the stone steps were built on top of the highest hill, which was one of the tusks the world was trying to grow so it wasn't very tall yet, and on top of the tower was placed the great ladder, and on top of this ladder the Shogun stood and yelled to the sky. The gods made no answer.
On and on this continued. The Gray Stone came to help, and the Pink Apes, and the Black Dogs, and the Pink Spears, and the Red Harvest, and all the clans eventually came with materials to build the great tower. Finally, the tower was so tall and reached so far into the sky that when the Shogun found themselves at the top of it, a great many years had passed in the time it took to reach the top from the bottom, and they were standing on top of the clouds where the gods lived...
The Shogun took a single step...
And then another...
And the tower began to sink into the earth from the strain of it's great weight.
Quickly, the Shogun asked the gods if the Orcs might have some magic as a reward for befriending the lonely rainbow and tending to the earth. The gods laughed, and asked if the Shogun and the Orcs had been tending to the earth and keeping the lonely rainbow company while they were building their great tower, and crestfallen, the Shogun stepped back onto their mighty ladder. The added weight of the Shogun, who had gained many pounds of muscle in their years-long climb to the top of the great tower, pushed the tower down further. And further. And further.
Then the tower began to fall into the earth at startling speeds, so fast that some of the Orcs holding the ladder in place were swallowed by the earth, and the Orcs, despite waiting to hear the gods' answer. The tower fell and fell and fell, and by the end of it the Shogun's ladder was stopped in it's fall by what seemed to be a new tower. The force of the falling tower had helped the world's tusk finally pop out of the gums of earth, and it had been tricked into growing in the shape of a tower by the great one the Shogun had built on top of it.
With some amusement at this, the gods decided that the Orcs could have magic after all. But the gods, amused by all of this happening when the Orcs could have simply prayed to make their request, were laughing too hard and the magic went all over the place instead of just to the Orcs. The Shogun had learned a valuable lesson that day, and vowed to atone for their neglect of the lonely rainbow and the earth by remaining in the tower to tend to the world's strange tusk for all their remaining days, and the White Hand have followed ever since.
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