Orcs are a short lived and passionate people with an undeserved reputation for barbarism. They can most commonly be found in the
Wildlands, as well as in the border regions of the
Sleeping Lands.
Unique Traits
Orcs are widely known for prodigious feats of strength and endurance, though the source of the energy that enables such feats is not widely known, particularly to outsiders. Orcish skin has many of the same features as plant leaves - the pigments, small air vents, and so on, which allows them to gain energy from the sun. One would expect that this would simply mean they would need less food to survive, but while this is indeed the case, a well fed orc can derive far more from sunlight than simple nutrition. Sunlight empowers them physically, enhancing their strength and allowing them to endure injuries and conditions beyond what most other peoples would expect.
This ability to draw power from sunlight results in orcs tending to not use the heavy, tightly woven clothing worn by most other sophonts, preferring instead to use either loosely woven fabrics that allow air and light through or wearing clothing that leaves more skin exposed to sunlight. This, unfortunately, feeds into the stereotype of orcs as being barbaric, as they are averse to clothing themselves in what other sophonts would consider proper attire.
Appearance
Orcs are of a similar stature to humans, though they tend to be on the broad and muscular end of the spectrum. The most obvious distinguishing feature is their skin colour, which is altered by the plant-like pigments generated in their skin. Most orcs have skin in some shade of green, though some bloodlines have yellow, orange, red, or purple skin instead.
They also grow tusks that protrude from their mouths up and down, which grow slowly over time until they reach a maximum length - the upward tusks typically end just below the eyes, and the lower tusks end around the bottom of the lower jaw. Orc communities tend to vary widely on how they regard these tusks - some see them as attractive and adorn them with decoration, while others see them as simply a layer of protection against blows to the face. (Indeed, one story popular in the Sleeping Lands cites their role in an endurance test where a pair of orcs can settle a disagreement by taking turns punching each other in the face until the loser either breaks a tusk or is unwilling to strike their opponent again - punching a human face is painful enough; adding a solid protruding tusk to the outside would certainly make things worse.
Lifespan
Orcs are among the shortest lived of sapient species, often living little more than 60 years. As such, orcs tend to be a driven and direct people, even by human standards, and have little patience for wasting time. This has gained them an unfortunate reputation among the longer lived sophonts as being rude and short tempered brutes who refuse to take the time to appreciate the finer things of life.
Communities
Orc tend to live in nomadic groups, often hunting migrating herd animals. These bands typically number somewhere between 20 and 50 people, and are typically happy to welcome newcomers (most commonly humans) who can prove their worth.
Trade and intermarriage between groups is common, leading to some traditions being shared across many bands while others are unique to one, or a few close neighbours.
Tolerance
Orcs generally don't care so much about what people are, as long as they don't waste time in getting things done. They tend to be a very practical people, caring for functionality over aesthetics, and this tends to lead to mutual antagonism with elves and dwarves, who both tend to enjoy taking the time to make things beautiful, in their own way - a trait many orcs dismiss as laziness. They often get along with the more practical and industrious sophonts, and often see the benefit of inviting
Humans to join them, as the gift for magic many humans have complements their physical prowess rather nicely.
Environment
Orcs are most commonly found in the
Wildlands. The peoples of the
Sleeping Lands tend to see orcs as dangerous barbarians that threaten the stability of their homes, rather than simply being a people with a very different approach to life, so most Orcish bands in the surrounding lands try to avoid those lands. Orcs do not willingly dwell in the
Depths or
The Mer, due to their reliance on sunlight. While life in the dark is not fatal, spending time without sunlight grows increasingly uncomfortable, giving Orcs a strong incentive to prefer life on the surface.
Comments
Author's Notes
The idea of having a humanoid capable of photosynthesis is borrowed from John Scalzi's Old Man's War, which features bioengineered supersoldiers that require less food because one of the tweaks was giving them chlorophyll in their skin. I also borrowed other features of this bioengineering and attributed it to the plant-y stuff as well because I'm not as bound by science as Scalzi is, given I'm not writing a hard military sci fi.