Orcs
"No, we don't ride dire wolves. They good companions, and hunt alongside us, but riding wolf that will snap, attacks and pounce at the enemies? Madness..."
The lands of the The Great Steppes are no place for the weak: food can be scarce, and to follow the caribou and the mammoths, one has to be swift and strong; the peoples of the Steppes are people that have grown fond of their horses, and alongside them are the Orcs, fearless humanoids that have both adopted ways of the peoples of the Steppes, and enriched them with traditions of their own.
Due to their previous time as slaves to the Goblins, many used to view the orcs (and their human offspring, the half-orcs) as violent savages, but in recent times, after their liberation, many of the orc tribes in the Steppes have begun to retake their old traditions and once more take to the ways of the saddle, and hunt the wild beasts of the steppes... But, even then, there are those orcs that venture into the southlands, seeking fortune and fame.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Orcs vary in appearance, but all share certain physical qualities. Orcs of all kinds usually had grayish-green skin, coarse hair, large muscular bodies, and porcine faces that feature lower canines that resemble boar tusks. Many also have wolf-like ears that are pointed on the ends, similar to elves. Orcs are roughly the same size as humans and other similar humanoids, though usually robust and muscular.
Albino Orcs usually are taller and slimmer than most orcs, and in the tradition of the Steppes are considered to be envoys of the Rider of the Sun-Stallion.
Additional Information
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Most Orcs (if not all of the Orc population) lives in the Great Steppes, but also in the The Northlands, though northlander Orcs still retain the traditions and customs of the Steppe-peoples, but some orcs did live in the The Great Waste before the Devastation of the War of Winter's Fire, and some of those orcs moved into the The Valley Princes, but as they began to intermingle with the humans and half-elves in the area, the orc population in the Valley has slowly dwindled, leaving mostly Half-Orcs.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Orcs tend to see well in the Dark, but this is usually in black and white
Civilization and Culture
Average Technological Level
Most Orcs in the Steppes subsist on a simple lifestyle, depending on their skills as hunters, gatherers, and sometimes even a small knowledge of agriculture to go by; those orcs that have a knack for magic tend to be druids, or priest of the Sun Charioteer, or the Thundering Stag, keeping their people in good health, but there is also a sizable group of orcs (especially storytellers) that learn the arts of the Bard, not only keeping their tribe alive, but also their oral history, and each orc bard in the Steppes swears upon Subotai's Spear to never let their stories die.
On the Valley, Orcs help with the crafting and the maintaining of the buildings, and many orc masons are well-regarded as having a good eye for stout constructions.
In the Nortlands, while some orcs do still live as hunter-gatherers, a few live close to the cities, and their strength if well-received in the docks and other places that require good-strong arms, and the constutiton of an ox. Sometimes, a few orcs have actually have taken the trade of the engineers and metalworkers of good quality.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
In the Steppes and in the Northlands, orcs learn to ride in the saddle before even walk, and after riding the saddle, they learn to shoot the Bow and use the Spear and Javelins; theirs is also a culture that has a strong attachment to oral tradition and storytelling, and in certain special occasions the orc village might participate in what they call "tale-weaving" in which the entire village simply starts doing a story, usually about some great hero or terrifying beast. Animal husbandry, especially of horses and dogs, is also part of the Orc culture, and "Orcish horses" are highly sought after by nobles of other regions for their stamina, their beauty, and their intelligence.
Other parts of the Steppes culture, such as respect to one's ancestors, the worship of the other gods of the Old Faith, and several other parts of daily life in the Steppes were adopted from the human settlements on the Steppes, to the point that the constant intermingling of them made them one and the same.
Unfortunately, when the Empire of Hark-Narrath enslaved the orcs, they also took many of the humans of the Steppes as captives, and they were not so fortunate as the orcs, and today the number of humans in the Steppes is low, and so, but their culture and traditions live in the Orcs.
History
According to most historical sources, Orcs first appeared in the North of the continent, sometimes raiding the southlands, but in time, kings and lords soon gave these orcs land for them to farm and hold, in order to have a buffer between the raiders in them, this became more obvious with the Kannathi, whom the great emperors even made some of those Orcs into elite guard and charioteers of the nobility.
However, the Orcs in the Stepped would then be taken and enslaved with the Goblin empire of Hark-Narrath, and in the passing years, the goblin slavemasters would try and erase their culture, and turn them into a race of disposable shock-troops. They weeded out the weak and even tried to remove the storytelling culture form them, but it proved to be too pervasive into their heritage that eventually tried to twist that into instead using those stories as ways to keep the orcs in line. Rumors about that the existence of Ettins and other kinds of savage humanoids are the result of the Goblins using orc stock to make even stronger warriors.
But, eventually, the orcs rebelled, and from their warrior ranks came a hero: Subotai, the Unbent; this giant of an orc rode a Rhinoceros into battle, and led the orcs into open rebellion when the Goblins were busy with their campaign in the Northlands.
Eventually, when the war of Winter's Fire was over, Subotai planted his mighty Spear "Divine Wind of the North" into what it would be the city of Mogoi-Khot, and then rode North, saying that he would hunt down the "Narrathi bastards", and was never seen again.
Historical Figures
Subotai, Orc legend and hero-liberator.
Common Myths and Legends
According to their own legends, they were brought to this world alongside the Sun Rider (also known as the Sun Charioteer in the The Old Faith ), alongside the Storm Horse, when they were chasing the Moon-Stag in one of their nightly hunts, the star-riders fell from their heavenly mounts, and bled when they fell, the blood formed the orcs, so when they die, their spirits return to the saddle of their Starry steeds to once again, give chase the Moon-Stag alongside the Sun.
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