Ork

Known for: Big, powerful physique; tusks; constantly being seen as outsiders.

by Stella for Star, mage
"Orks are the most numerous and least respected metahuman race. These two facts are probably related. Larger than humans and heavier than elves, we are often feared because of our size (not to mention our tusks). This makes getting acquainted that much harder, which contributes to fear of orks because no one knows what we’re really like.
People have a lot of misconceptions about orks. For example, scientists said for several years that orks are nocturnal, but no one ever bothered to ask whether our preference for darkness was biological or simply the result of living in a society that doesn’t want to see us during the day.
Much of ork identity is colored by the trauma of sudden genetic expression, vulgarly known as goblinization. Any orks over forty years old were not born orks, but transformed, either in the mass change of April 2021, or on their own as adolescents. Either way, virtually every adult ork alive today faced rejection by family, friends and society upon becoming what they are. This cannot help but color our view of the world, and so there is a grain of truth to allegations that we see anti-ork feeling where none exists. Only a grain, however—many of the other races would prefer we didn’t exist, and do their best to keep us out of their daily lives.
Orks in most areas have difficulty finding employment, buying land, or otherwise supporting themselves within the larger community. Rampant discrimination leads many orks into lives of crime, as the only way in which to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. Young orks often band together into gangs for mutual protection in their harsh neighborhoods, and may turn on any outsiders as a potential threat. And then there are people like me, whose rare magical gifts would make us prized if we wore any shape other than an ork’s. But we are of a “goblin” race, and so must use our talents in other ways.
All of this reinforces negative images of orks throughout society. Orks who try to “work hard and play by the rules,” as the famous platitude has it, find acceptance that much harder to earn. Orks most often find work as laborers, where our size and strength is appreciated. Because we are nearly as strong as trolls but not so large, we have greater agility and can fit more easily into spaces designed for human convenience. We tend to live apart from other races because others shun us. At first, most orks wanted to live where they always had, in mainstream society. These days, many orks prefer to live among their own kind. Some want us to have our own nation, as the elves do. Organizations of orks are working on a variety of ways to improve life for our people; as more orks reach adulthood who were born orks, things may look brighter. As we develop our own distinctive customs and culture, other races may understand us better. The will need to do so for their own sake; ork women have a high incidence of multiple births, which makes us the world’s fastest-growing population. The other races will have to come to terms with us sooner or later."

Ork Culture

Orks have the highest birth rate but shortest natural lifespan of any metahuman race. For the bulk of the past several decades, orks have been simply trying to exist in a world where they don’t have the time to develop a culture because they have to put so much effort into just living. Thus far they have a culture of carpe diem, or more accurately ad diem vivunt: live for the day.
As the second-most populous metatype on the planet (behind humans) with a growing youth population working alongside the recent discovery of Or’zet and rise in popularity of orxploitation music and films, an emerging culture for orks has strengthened and penetrated the mainstream.
There is an interesting cultural trait that has been developed by the old and young alike, and that is the power of their women. From their youngest days orks are brought up in a mostly matriarchal household. Male orks often face harsher punitive measures by the justice system, leaving many ork mothers alone to raise the kids. Young orks learn to have a remarkable amount of respect for females of all metatypes, especially ork women. Hassle a female ork in the presence of her kin, is seen as unforgivably disrespectful (not a damsel in distress, mind you. Most ork women can bench their male counterparts). Whether they know her or not, expect some serious ork muscle to be coming your way.

HOW ORKS FIT INTO SOCIETY

Orks fit into society in two very different ways: by groveling at its feet or by pushing others out of their way. These are two very different sides of the same coin, a coin that flips and leaves orks in one of two predicaments. For many orks resources are hard to come by, but physical labor is relatively easy. Since the work is easy for them, companies don’t see a reason to pay orks well for it. This, combined with their numbers and almost universal lack of white-collar employment, leaves a large labor pool that is forced to work cheaply.
On the other side of the coin you have the orks who live in the wilder edges of society where they can use their bulk and physical intensity to push others around. They find their way to the top of the heap by being the strongest. Some would expect trolls to take this spot, but a solitary troll (which is their preferred lifestyle) is no match for a pack of orks. Packs that, incidentally, are growing in size and number at an astonishing rate. Latest figures present the world population of orks currently at twenty-two percent, but projections show that number to reach and possibly to exceed thirty percent by 2080

Basic Information

Biological Traits

Some orks have skin tones of green, gray or dark yellow.

Genetics and Reproduction

Ork gestation is roughly 6 months and the mothers often bear four children, though six to eight is not uncommon. Most of the children that appear as orks that grow up much faster than humans, reaching puberty at around 9 or 10 and maturity by 11-15.

Some orks (and trolls) can be born human and the majority of them will later goblinize at puberty. Orks born under these conditions traditionally live to human life expectancy. Goblinization is becoming less and less common as time goes on.

Ears
Pointy

Genetic Descendants

• Ogre
• Oni
• Satyr

Scientific Name

homo sapiens robustus

Lifespan

35-45 years

Average Height

1.9 (6'3")

Average Weight

128k (282lbs)

CHARACTERS AND ORK CULTURE

Being an ork is about making a choice about which ork you want to be, or accepting the role you’ve been stuffed into. Society doesn’t care how big you are. Yes, the locals may run or avoid looking at you as you intimidate them, but no one gives a devil rat’s hoop about you, or they’ll all slap the PanicButton to get you chased off by the local tin star. This means you can play the role and act the ignorant brute (or maybe it’s not an act) or you can work to elevate yourself. Stop fighting on the street corners, hanging at the local temp agency to snag some day-laborer work, or opting for a beatdown to get into the local gang. Instead, step up alongside your fellow orks to be the bigger metahuman, get together to demand a better wage, or look to those tusked brothers, your pack of orks, instead of the local gangers for a sense of meaning, home, and family.
Orks live a life that they know is going to be too short, but they fight to make it meaningful in the little time they have.