Marsh Orcs

Attributes: Increase Constitution by 2, Strength by 1
Speed: Marsh Orcs have a walking speed 30 and swimming speed of 30
Size: Marsh Orcs are medium, ranging from 5.5-6.5 feet at maturity.
Age: Orcs have a similar lifespan to humans, with an average of 80 years
Amphibious Nature: Gain advantage on sneaking in water, swamps, or at night. You can hold your breath for an hour.
Darkvision: You can see in the dark light as if it were dim out to 60 feet. You can see in dim as if it was bright out to 60 feet.
Relentless Endurance: Once per long rest, if you are dropped to 0 hit points, you will fall to 1 instead.
Savage Attacks: If you crit against a target, you roll one extra damage die.
Languages: You know orcish and one other language.

A Self Determined People

The Orcs of Laminarum were born into a world of opposition but have managed to claw away their own corner of Laminarum in the form of the Greylends. First summoned by the eldritch entity Kadelkonatl, the orcs were nothing more than mindless footsoldiers to fight its battles. While they were a prominent force in The War of Eyiliv, Kadelkonatl would eventually retreat to the depths of the Deep-Sea-Dwells in defeat, leaving the orcs to their own devices. Unguided for the first time since their summoning, the orcs would disperse across the marshes of Mot D'nir, usually to be rejected by society.
More determined than most, the orcs would spend generations gaining the trust of Laminarum's denizens, allowing them to integrate into cities like Jerborg, Gullivegur, and Vhan Kath. Their uncanny strength made them valuable assets to cities in an era when J'barri were rare in Trinen, particularly Eldurgrund. With no common culture, knowledge of their origin, or homeland, the orcs would slowly travel north with the goal of creating the home they had been denied. A small establishment of orcs would eventually settle in the northern regions of Eldurgrund, though the government would turn their attention to the new locals as they took part in raidings of nearby keeps such as Árkastali. In the year 1772 MD, the Augury would finally step in, formalizing the orc territory in exchange for halting the raids, giving the orcs a substantial portion of Eldurgrund's lands in the process.
In the heart of the orcish lands, Orovical and Az Athur were erected. These sites have been the source of several cultural discoveries by the orcs, such as their gods, magnesis, and potential answers to their interplanar origin. Overall, those in the heartland and abroad have proven the orcish people to be fueled by determination above all else.

Model Minorities

While uncommon outside of Newmot, Euvurcrest, and Goldwalk, orcs tend to be a welcome sight. While their proclivity toward hard labor often leaves them in the lower echelon of society, they are also revered for their hard work and determination. Their peculiar history has also taught them the value of assimilation into surrounding society, making orcs outside of Orovical highly sociable.
Although many orcs relegate themselves to laborious tasks such as mining and construction, they are also notably capable of more artisan tasks. Orcs often work as climbing guides, craftsmen, and engineers.

Unexpected Genius

While many consider orcs to be brutes, they have been capable of a variety of intellectual feats over the centuries. The orcs of Az Athur, for example, have invented forms of divination, Magnesis, functional prosthetics, and genetic engineering. While the depths of their genius remain to be fully unveiled outside of Orovical, they could surely change the world. Their ability to decipher their mysterious past alone deserves recognition, even if they have a long way to go.

Two Cultures

An orc can typically live in one of two worlds: the Greylends or abroad. Those in the heartland are typically more conservative and averse to interaction with other races (aside from Dwarves and Urrfolk). Their ideals tend to be more extreme as well, be it rules on reproduction, forced mechanical enhancements, or their rigid caste system compared to the surrounding territory.
Orcs from cities or villages tend to be more liberal and social due to their experiences. Typically, those who are not actively seeking refuge in the Greylends tend to reject its society, believing it to be unsustainable and extreme.

Orcish Gods

1. Naz Voresh, the Biomechanist

2. Atok Tirash of Whispers

3. Goth Urah, the Impetus

The orcs went hundreds of years without the guidance of gods, often finding themselves forced to heed the words of human or dwarvish deities. It wasn't until the formation of the Irz Ikar that dark magic allowed the downtrodden people to unveil secrets from their past. First, the orcs would discover Atok Tirash, whom guided them to find both Naz Voresh and Goth Urah. The relationship between the orcs and these gods is tenuous and contact between them relies on the gods choosing benevolence over spite. Viewing the orcs as traitors for leaving their dominions, the gods are often furious and require tithes of reconciliation. The most popular of these tithes is to birth orcs under a god's corresponding sign, which requires genetic engineering under the Irz Ikar.

Birthsigns of the Orcs

Under the Biomechanist

The Technocrats are engineered by the Irz Ikar to be intelligent, loyal, persistent, and inclined to the arcane. They are trained in the ways of Magnesis which may be used to construct buildings, prosthetics, or for defensive purposes. The technocrats have high respect but few options for using it, as they are bound to the desires of the Irz Ikar. These individuals are born under the Biomechanist but are given traits of the Impetus as well.
Toxicologists are engineered to be cunning, intelligent, risk-taking, and physically resilient. While their titles imply them to be brewers of poisonous concoctions, they usually serve as practitioners over the body in both physical and spiritual paths. They often assist technocrats in their modifications of other orc bodies. These individuals are born under the Biomechanist but have been given traits under the sign of whispers.

Under Whispers

Fieldsetters are engineered for their sociability, dexterity, craftiness, and innovation. Often used as mouthpieces for the tribes' begrudging foreign affairs, they hardly possess a welcoming countenance. Often heavily modified, most of their features are indistinguishable given their facial steel modifications. Regardless, they often have the knowledge of what others desire, making them the best individuals to facilitate negotiations. While social, the fieldsetters have skills which are two-fold. They are also crafty and are tasked with designing traps, walls, and other defenses for the tribes. Though born under Whispers, they notably share the craftiness of the Biomechanist.

Three Blades are engineered for their dexterity, strength, heightened senses, and confidence. These individuals serve the Irz Ikar but are typically more loyal to the direct desires of Atok Tirash. Three Blades make competent assassins and fighters; they are trained to work in squads with their ilk but are bred to stay cool when separated. These individuals are often outcasts from their societies from birth, making them the most likely orcs to abandon their lot (and the most to regret it, given their spiritual bonding to the path of whispers). While born under the light of Whispers, these orcs also share the strength and constitution of the Impetus.

Under the Impetus

Second Born are engineered for their strength, loyalty, constitution, and dexterity. Built to represent the impetus himself, these orcs may go through degrading amounts of training and body modification to serve their cause: combat. While they make sufficient bodyguards for the Irz Ikar, they are the only individuals who may as ascend to the rank of Chieftain or Talisman. While born to be an image of the impetus, these individuals share traits of Whisperers, such as their craftiness.
Deepfueled are the least understood of the signed orcs. Engineered for loyalty, speed, constitution, and endurance, the Deepfueled are often sacrificial lambs for experimentation or battle. The Deepfueled are experimented on by Technocrats and undergo levels of modification that would likely kill any other mortal. Whehter the entirety of their skin is replaced with steel or their blood is infused with flammable oil, most Deepfueled would be viewed as abominations by other societies. The purpose of these modifications is to advance their society or defend it, and this sign is considered the most respectable to its undeniable association with sacrifice. While the Deepfueled are born under the Impetus, they share the technological inclination of the Biomechanist.

Most orcs aren't ordained with birthsigns, and those without may be considered lucky: their loyalties aren't predetermined. Birthsigned orcs outside of the Greylends are unheard of entirely; however, these signs and form of tithing are now crucial to the core culture of "true orcs." While the signs of orcs may be explained away by the devotion to their new government in Orovical, there are further cultural ties to the desires of the Irz Ikar and the future they wish to achieve. Specifically, the Irz Ikar wish to fulfill a prophecy that would instate a revolution of orc society by creating a singular god for them to serve. This individual is referred to as the Technomancer, a god incarnate akin to J'bar, Korahaman, or the orcs' own Kadelkonatl. At present, most bioengineering efforts among the orcish population aims to create this individual, though most outsiders believe the prophecy to be fictitious.

More Reading

Related Organizations

• Orc-Urr Aegis