Orcish

"A jaw like a boar and muscles like a grizzly bear, so mind your manners."

To many, the Orcish are monsters in the guise of men. To themselves, they are liberation incarnate. Towering in strength, savage in battle, yet clever beyond comfort, the Orcish people are a paradox few understand and fewer survive. Once scattered warring clans atop the frozen and ashen steppes of Kathar, the Orcs of old unified only when there was something, or someone, to dominate. First the Dwarfish strongholds of Old-Kathar, then the fractured Elfese borders, and eventually each other. The Great Schism began in earnest the day Orcish warlords razed the last Dwarfish hold in the south, and it has not left the minds of any here or anywhere since. There is no monarchy in Kathar. There are no senators. There are no kings. There are only profiteers, and even then only the ones who survive long enough to rule Orcish or not, though the Orcish do certainly make up the Katharan majority. Those born in Everwealth still bear the tusks and temper of their kin across the southern cliffs, but have softened, if only marginally. These "civilized Orcs" wear common garb, pay taxes, and drink watered wine in peace; Peace enough spare the occasional ill-informed folk audibly asserting they are but gluttonous pig-men. But the blood still remembers. Even under lamp-light and law, an Orc’s eyes still glint like fire in a blizzard, hungry, patient, inevitable.

Naming Traditions

Feminine names

• Elka.
• Sarka.
• Milovna.
• Drovika.
• Zhenya.
• Tasya.
• Velika.
• Anastasia.

Masculine names

• Varyn.
• Drovik.
• Mirkon.
• Rastov.
• Boryk.
• Kazmir.
• Tarak.
• Yevan.

Unisex names

• Zorka.
• Kovra.
• Tarn.
• Rilka.
• Dushev.
• Varka.
• Lenok.
• Yarka.

Family names

Orcish family names are both a declaration of lineage and a warning. Most names follow a patronymic structure, where one's father's or mother's name becomes the root. For example, a child of a warrior named Drovik might be called Arken Drovikov (son of Drovik) or Lana Drovikova (daughter of Drovik). Unlike human surnames, these are not fixed. Should an Orc achieve something greater than their parent, they may cast off their patronymic in favor of an honor-title or clan-name. For instance, Varyn of the Wolfclimb, or Elka Iron-Eater. These names are earned, often carved into weapon hilts or shoulder-plates to announce one’s deeds without words. Common prefixes or suffixes in Orcish family names include:

• -ov / -ova (son of / daughter of)
• Duro- (stone, hard, enduring)
• Var- (war, blood)
• Zarka- (cliff, edge, wild place)
• -enko / -ovich (beloved of / heir to)

Other names

'Throatbiters', 'The Roaring Ones', 'Children of Kathar', 'Pork Folk' (slur, common among Everwealthy humans), 'Greenbacks' (derogatory, though less offensive than 'Pork Folk'), 'Brutes of the Border'.

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

The Orcish tongue is deep, guttural, and full of meaning via inflection and emphasis. Katharan Orcs use an older dialect heavy with consonants and compound curses.

• Gorrvakh - General greeting.
• Uur’shar - “I challenge this” (used before a duel or debate).
• Thukkrah - “I claim this” (land, mate, or property).
• Vokh zharat (I honor you).
• Yekr’tovai (thank you deeply)

Many Orcish born in Everwealth also speak Common, albeit with clipped phrasing and an oddly poetic structure.

Culture and cultural heritage

Born of ruin and bound by opportunity, Orcish culture evolved to prioritize merit, autonomy, and ferocity. Raised on a land where kindness kills quicker than cold, the Orcs believe in a world that rewards strength, not virtue. Yet this does not make them mindless. Quite the opposite. Orcs are unnervingly aware, with an almost uncomfortable level of clarity toward systems of power. They understand laws because they do not believe in them. They learn your language because they don’t need to. They fight not for honor, but for leverage. Theirs is a culture of efficiency, where cruelty is a tool, and hesitance is a death sentence.

Shared customary codes and values

• Victory is authority: In Kathar, elections are duels.
• Strength is proof: Weakness invites death, sometimes literally.
• All resource is wealth: People, land, ideas, if you have it, it’s worth something.
• No moral debt: There is no “right.” Only what was gained, and what was lost.

Katharan Orcs see suffering as a form of currency: if your gain required nothing, it has no worth.

Average technological level

Advanced in survivalism and functional design. Orcish siege weapons are brutally efficient, easy to build and harder to break. They lack the aesthetic flourish of Dwarfish or Elfese tools but make up for it with clever materials and modular designs. Many Katharan “junk-shapers” are surprisingly innovative, combining steel scrap, bone, and ashwood into deadly weapons or even crude vehicles.

Common Etiquette rules

• Orcs do not bow, they nod, slowly, to show respect, or tilt their chin upward to show superiority.
• Among equals, physical gestures like shoulder-tapping, bone-gripping, or “hard embraces” are common.
• Interrupting is expected in passionate speech; pausing too long is seen as weakness.
• When someone challenges your claim, you may shout over them, but if the duel rite (Uur’shar) is invoked, all talk stops and the challenge must be resolved immediately.
• Orcs never apologize. Instead, they offer a favor, a gift, or a deed.
• Drinking before combat is not just allowed, it is encouraged. as long as one does not vomit mid-battle.
• In formal Orcish feasts, the first bite always goes to the weakest guest as a demonstration of strength through generosity.

Common Dress code

• Warriors wear hardened leathers, bone-and-iron plates, or patched mail, often adorned with personal trophies, teeth, braided hair, small totems from slain foes or favored lovers.
• Elders or clan leaders often wear long cloaks dyed in ash reds, storm grays, or deep ochres, clasped with brass or carved horn.
• Herders and hunters use durable furs, leather hoods, and braided belts stuffed with utilitarian tools.
• Artisans and traders wear simple tunics beneath thick hide vests, occasionally marked with clan brands or forge sigils.
• Ceremonial wear may include gilded tusk-caps, ritual piercings, or braided bone chains strung across the chest or jaw.
• Katharan Orcish take pride in “weather-earned scars” and may go shirtless in snow or rain to show resilience.

Everwealthy Orcs, especially younger ones, often mix Orcish accessories with human-style vests, rolled-sleeves, or cuffed trousers, part cultural adaptation, part rebellion.

Art & Architecture

Orcish art is visceral and confrontational. Battle-chants, blood-ink tattoos, charred carvings, and large effigies made of bone and mud. Architecture in Kathar tends toward yurts, dome-halls, or storm-resistant longhouses built into cliff faces. In cities like Twinpeak, Orcish buildings favor defensive postures, high walls, low archways, and wide hearths.

Foods & Cuisine

• Katharan stews of marrow, root, and smoked meat.
• Fermented horse milk and salted bear fat for travel.
• Ashbread (black, hard loaves eaten only during mourning or military campaigns).
• Orcish cuisine prizes texture and heat, with meals often being a test of endurance.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

• Orcs do not bow, they nod, slowly, to show respect, or tilt their chin upward to show superiority.
• Among equals, physical gestures like shoulder-tapping, bone-gripping, or “hard embraces” are common.
• Interrupting is expected in passionate speech; pausing too long is seen as weakness.
• When someone challenges your claim, you may shout over them, but if the duel rite (Uur’shar) is invoked, all talk stops and the challenge must be resolved immediately.
• Orcs never apologize. Instead, they offer a favor, a gift, or a deed.
• Drinking before combat is not just allowed, it is encouraged, as long as one does not vomit mid-battle.
• In formal Orcish feasts, the first bite always goes to the weakest guest as a demonstration of strength through generosity.

Birth & Baptismal Rites

Orcish newborns are tested for strength within a week of birth. If they survive being partially submerged in icy water for one minute, they are considered “Touched by Endurance.” Most do. Those who don’t are mourned only briefly.

Coming of Age Rites

At twelve, an Orc is sent into the wilderness with only a dagger. If they return within a week, they are an adult. If they return later, they are “a limper,” and treated as second-class citizens. If they don’t return, so be it.

Funerary and Memorial customs

Orcish dead are burned on iron rafts and set adrift, or if they were cowards, buried face-down in the dirt with their teeth removed. Some honored dead are eaten by their clan, a ritual believed to pass on strength.

Common Taboos

• Cowardice.
• Feigning weakness for sympathy.
• Letting a lie linger.
• Euthanizing a warrior without ritual.
• Letting another orc die alone.

Common Myths and Legends

• The Eternal Herd - Where the worthy roam forever, hunting storms.
• Bone-Singer - A demigod who crafts flutes from fallen foes.
• The Stoneborn Twins - Mythical siblings who built the first fortress without needing a hammer.

Historical figures

• Yarkh the Pale-Horned - First unifier of Kathar, who crushed five tribes beneath a single mountain before dying laughing during his own coronation feast.
• Narezh of the Nine Blades - Matriarch warlord who wielded nine daggers, each carved from a fallen rival’s rib.
• Kogran Duskbreaker - A traitor or hero depending on who you ask. United Orcish and Human mercenaries during the middle Schism to hold Twinpeak for eight years.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

Scars are beautiful. Teeth are respected. Strength is seductive. Women are revered for endurance; men for precision.

Gender Ideals

No gender roles. You can fight, or you cannot. All else is fluff.

Courtship Ideals

“Love is earned. You wrestle, hunt, survive together. No poems, only proof.” Romance among the Orcish is not delicate, nor subtle, it is a crucible of worth and survival. Deeds outweigh sentiment, and affection is proved through shared struggle and public displays of capability. To court an Orc is to challenge the world for their approval. The rite of proposal is known as Groth’aruk, or The Worthing. When an Orc wishes to claim a mate, they do not kneel or recite verses. Instead, they hunt. The suitor must retrieve an item of rare value or great danger, something that speaks to their power, cunning, or determination. A hare's ear or lump of polished stone is seen as insulting, but the fang of a Lanternwing, the plated fin of an Ironjaw Sturgeon, or hide from a thunderborn predator earns deep respect. The more perilous the offering, the more weight it carries. This offering, once accepted, is repurposed into an item of adornment: a belt-clasp, pendant, knife-handle, or pauldron, known as a Gaelbrand, an honor-token. Its acceptance signifies the beginning of a trial union. If the pairing fails, the Gaelbrand is publicly broken, a symbolic severance of bond and worth. Orcish courtship is genderless in its rituals. Whichever party initiates must impress. Some bonds form between warriors in battle, others between traders who outwitted a rival market; affection is forged in pressure and grit.

Relationship Ideals

The Orcish measure love not by sentiment, but by usefulness and loyalty. A good partner is one who pulls their weight, watches your back, and shares in both conquest and hardship. Strength is admired, but wisdom, resourcefulness, and ambition are equally revered. Jealousy is seen as weakness. Open relationships are not taboo, so long as both parties agree and continue to offer mutual worth. However, betrayal, especially emotional disloyalty or abandonment in danger, is considered a grievous offense, punishable in some tribes by formal duel or exile. A true partner in Orcish tradition is one who would bleed for you, die for you, and more importantly, drag you out of the dirt and curse you the whole way for falling in. Love, to an Orc, is not calm water. It is the storm that shapes the mountain.

Major organizations

The Orcish Crime Syndicate

Interesting Facts & Folklore:

• Duels Are Elections: In Kathar, public office is won through sanctioned physical combat, where a challenge is issued and the victor assumes the role. These contests are rarely to the death, but often leave scars.
• Culling the Herd: State-sanctioned euthanasia of those deemed weak, sickly, or unfit is not only accepted but ritualized. Parents may be executed if their offspring are considered a burden to the future of Orcish strength.
• Trophy-Bearing Courtships: When proposing, Orcs do not offer rings or words. They present the carcass, pelt, or rare resource of something dangerous they've personally bested, be it a dragon or an Ironjaw Sturgeon.
• Scarwriting: Some Orcish clans tattoo or brand the names of every worthy enemy they've defeated into their flesh. Others go further and brand the names of slain kin to carry them always into battle.
• Meat Before Morality: Ethics, especially those concerning war, are considered secondary to outcome. If a thing works, then it was the correct method, no philosophy trumps results in Katharan Orcish thinking.

Idioms and Metaphors:

• "Culled from the herd." A term for disgrace, often used to describe someone cast out or viewed as unfit.
• "Only the foolish die without use." A grim reminder that death is acceptable, but waste is not.
• "You can’t barter with a blaze." Said when negotiation is clearly pointless or too late.
• "Climb the kill-heap." Refers to success gained through overcoming others, typically via aggression or cunning.
• "As sharp as a starving friend." A compliment for someone whose instincts are keen and dangerous.