Orc
Orcs trace their creation to Gruumsh, a powerful god who roamed the wide open spaces of the Material Plane. Gruumsh equipped his children with gifts to help them wander great plains, vast caverns, and churning seas and to face the monsters that lurk there. Even when they turn their devotion to other gods, orcs retain Gruumsh’s gifts: endurance, determination, and the ability to see in darkness.
Orcs are, on average, tall and broad. They have gray skin, ears that are sharply pointed, and prominent lower canines that resemble small tusks. Orc youths on some worlds are told about their ancestors’ great travels and travails. Inspired by those tales, many of those orcs wonder when Gruumsh will call on them to match the heroic deeds of old and if they will prove worthy of his favor. Other orcs are happy to leave old tales in the past and find their own way.
Basic Information
Anatomy
While they differed greatly, orcs shared certain physical qualities. Orcs of all kinds usually had grayish skin, and coarse black hair, reddish eyes, and faces of porcine appearance that featured large lower canines similar to a boar's tusks. They also had wolf-like ears that were pointed on the ends. Orcs were roughly the same size as humans and similar humanoids, though usually larger.
Biological Traits
Orcs are strong and fast. Due to their long strides they are capable of rapidly covering significant distances on foot.
Growth Rate & Stages
Orcs bred fast and lived short lives compared with most other races. They were considered adults anywhere between 11 and 14 years of age, middle-aged at 17, old at 30, and venerable at 50 years of age. The average orc seldom lived longer than 52 years, assuming it managed to avoid violent death. It is almost unheard of for an orc to live longer than 65 years without magical aid.
Ecology and Habitats
As nomads, Orcs established migratory routes that took them across the remote and desolate parts of northeast Faerûn, traveling between their favorite campsites and caves. Their nomadic travels were seasonal, though they also moved whenever resources in an area ran out.
Most orcs didn't build cities of their own, instead relying on those left behind by others and improving their fortifications or operating out of small camps and dens, often in natural caves. Orcs managed ironwork on their own, as well as stonework, though their tools were often inferior to those of more disciplined races.
Dietary Needs and Habits
While omnivores, most orcs prefer meat to produce.
Behaviour
Traditional orcish culture was extremely warlike and when not at war they were usually planning for it. Most orcs approached life with the belief that to survive, one had to subjugate potential enemies and control as many resources as possible, which put them naturally at odds with other races as well as each other. This belief was spurred in part by Gruumsh and his pantheon, which taught that all races were inferior to the orcs.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Gray orcs lived in small tribes of normally at least thirty and up to fifty individuals, led by a single individual, the chieftain, whose main duty was determining when the tribe attacked a target. The position of chieftain was, in reality, a temporary title, as chieftains were often killed before long.1
The clerics of a gray orc tribe were the true source of power. The high priest, often a female, was the true leader of the tribe and often retained this title for many years. Gray orcs were zealous and the words of the clerics were tribal law. Some clerics were known to train as divine champions or divine disciples if they lived long enough.
Tribes were known to keep small families of beasts such as dire weasel, dire wolverine, dire boar, owlbear, and various sorts of vermin a guardians. Taking care of these animals was held as a responsibility of the tribe as a whole. They did not keep anything overly dangerous, since they had learned that keeping an overly dangerous pet was a good way to get their tribe eaten.
Facial characteristics
Orcish faces are a fair blend of standard humanoid (i.e., elven or human) and porcine features. In addition to tusks, it was not rare for orcs to have more up-turned noses that resemble snouts.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Orcs were found in many parts of Toril, though some areas had a higher concentration than others. Marauding bands of mountain orcs were most commonly found in mountain ranges in the northern parts of the world, particularly around Faerûn. Gray orcs were commonly found to the east, near the portal from which they emerged in High Imaskar. The orcs in the Sword Mountains were responsible for several conflicts with Waterdeep, including the Orcfastings War, and an onslaught caused by the Black Claw. They were also at least partially responsible for the Trollwars.citation needed
However, of all the orcish homelands, Many-Arrows probably stood out the most as the only civilized orc nation built along the same lines as its human and elven neighbors.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Orcs possess darkvision, but can also sensitive to bright light, especially the less civilized groups used to living in the Underdark or caverns in mountainous regions. Orcs also have a keen sense of smell.
Civilization and Culture
Beauty Ideals
Male orcs prided themselves on their number of wives and sons, as well as their scars from battle and rituals.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
The common language of Orcs is called Orcish. However, many words, inflections, and pronunciations varied wildly between tribes and learning the idiosyncrasies of each tribe normally took a few days to learn. Orcs on average are not, however, fond of learning new languages and many can be illiterate.
The clerics would at least speak Common in order to interrogate captives, and potentially Giant and Goblin in order to converse with potential allies.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
Gray orcs preferred to wear light armor in combat, as it allowed them to fight relatively unencumbered and to use their speed in battle. Their warriors typically trained as fighters, barbarians, and occasionally rangers.1
Gray orcs were skilled with the longbow and greataxe, as they began training with these weapons in childhood. Gray orcs considered the axe a holy weapon, and a gray orc spent considerable time maintaining his axe, constantly repairing even minor fractures and dents. Their axes were often garishly adorned with tokens of beads, feathers, gems and even small body parts taken from their fallen enemies. Most gray orcs kept a tally of enemies killed with their axe, either by making a notch in the handle or inscribing their target's name on the axe head.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
They had been a threat to the civilized cultures of Toril, particularly Faerûn, for as long as any could remember. This changed somewhat in the years preceding and immediately after the Spellplague, when a horde of mountain orcs under the command of King Obould Many-Arrows unified into a single kingdom, one that was remarkably civilized. While that was nearly a century ago, there is still a specter of suspicion and doubt when other races still deal with Orcs; more so when a group of non-orces starts dealing with new settlements.
6 - 7ft
250 lbs
Athletic or Stocky most common
Skin: Grey, Greyish-Green
Hair: Black
Eyes: Orange, Red, Yellow
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