Cossacks

When the orcs gained freedom from the jungle monsters, not all joined the confederation of godhunters. Those who fled further east claimed it pointless to throw off a monster slave master only to submit to an orc one. Instead they crossed the eastern sea to the wolf plains of Garmgur. There they formed into communities called sichs, each a fortified town surrounded by farmland and governed by a democratic assembly. Among the Cossacks as they are now called all who live within the sich's walls are voting citizens, warriors, and farmers. All must contribute but in turn all are allowed to govern.

Culture

Culture and cultural heritage

While there are Cossacks who ascribe to same Naturalist or Dystheist beliefs as their Godhunter cousins, most instead believe their heroic ancestors to be gods, most especially those who first threw down the monstrous false gods of the jungle. Though the nature of this belief varies from orc to orc. Generally they believe either that the ancestors were manifestations of existing benevolent gods or that these mortal beings challenged the evil universal forces and became gods in the process.

Shared customary codes and values

Born to the Saddle- All Cossacks from a very early age learn to ride either on horseback or wargback. Riding comes as naturally as walking and journeys which would be insurmountable for any other culture are quite easily accomplished.
No Kin are Slaves- The Cossacks have a history of accepting refugees and runaway serfs from other nations, accepting them as full citizens after a short introductory period. As a result they have an extremely racially diverse population including elves and goblins fleeing the Empire's aggression. They are also frequently drawn into conflict with rulers who seek to keep their people in bondage.

Encompassed species

• Elves
• Goblins
• Orcs

Related Locations

• Garmgur

Real Life Inspiration
Zaporozhian Cossacks
Media Inspiration
With Fire and Sword (Film) - whole thing is on youtube subtitles are unfortuantely pretty bad, not streaming anywhere else I can find
Cossacks (Video Game)
Alexander Nevsky (Film) - it's about pre-Muscovy Russians but still relatively close