Orc

Orcish culture is defined by the struggle. They are a tough and hardy people, native to harsh, mountainous environments. They are driven by community, unity, and protecting their kin.
Orcs have a natural connection to the wild and, as such, an orc that lives in urban enviornments looses some of its more prominent orc features. These orcs are represetned by the Half-Orc player race, and are reffered to as "half orcs" in the setting by orcs who believe that orcs that choose an urban life are not proper orcs and have rejected the struggle that exists at the core of orcish cultrure.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Orc names are simple, one or two syllable first names with hard contanants followed by their tribe name. A famous example of an orcish tribe is the Splithammer Tribe, and names similar to this are suitable.

Beauty Ideals

Orcs appreciate strength and, as such, many orcs are attracted to someone they think could take them in a fight. The orcish approach to gender is liberal, meaning that as long as an orc is big enough, other orcs will find them attractive.
Orcs also like to decorate their tusks with jewlery that varies greatly from orc to orc but usually takes the form of rings placed over them.

Relationship Ideals

Orcs take the phrase "it takes a village to raise a child" very literally. It is the responsibility of the whole tribe to raise new children, with each person at some point taking responsibility for that child's life. For this reason, orcs don't put large emphasis on birthing parents, since that is just a part of the creation of the child that they have contributed. It is not uncommon for an orc to have little to do with the child they gave birth do since they have already given much of their energy to them and it is time for the tribe to take over. Because of this culture, urban orcs often struggle with the lack of support when they raise their own children in this environement with a lack of commited child raising connections.

History

The orcs arrived around 12,000 years ago amidst the wars between the elves and the dwarves. They lived in the foothills and mountains of The Ridge Mountains, often ontop of Dwarven territory. Many orcs lived peacefully, moving from peak to peak as siutations required, but a few tribes formed raiding parties, taking a message from their gods to fight the struggle by taking surplus from others.
Orcs do not keep written record, preferring to pass down tales as a verbal tradition given their near constant movement so not much is known of their history, but some details can be inferred.
During the founding of The Kingdom of Mal Tarum, the dwarves spoke of making alies with the Splithammer Tribe, a group who are said to have been oppressed by the previous rulers of The Ridge and had land taken from them by those dwarves. Following the wars to overthrow the previous regime, the first King of Mal Tarum, Stründark Dwarfvater Kinderodertarum oderclan Gratvater, gave a city back to the orcs. However, orcs do not hold cities so modern day historians instead believe that they were instead given the land above the city, which the dwarves before presumably took from them.
In modern times, some groups of orcs have started to move into an urban setting which has had a dramatic impact on their physical appearnce, resulting in a smaller stature and less pronounced tusks. There are tribes in The Ridge Mountains and some still do raiding, but these are an unfortunate minority.

Lifespan

Half-Orc: 75 Orc: 50

Average Height

Half-Orc: 5' - 6'8" Orc: 5'6" - 6'8"

Average Weight

Half-Orc: 10 st 4 lbs - 27 st 2 lbs

Orc: 12 st 11 lbs - 26 st 3 lbs