Orc-Kin
Origin
Having long ago lost the nuances of their history, and having little interest in splitting hairs over differences since the Empire conquered Yridos and nearly wiped them out, the various different species of orcs, and their cousin and sister species, along with the few surviving sapient Yridosian native inhabitants, have come to be known as the Orc-kin.
Once, perhaps, that may have bothered them. But they have long since set aside their blood feuds andgeneral distate for each other in favour of survival. There are some who catch the Sickness of the Wanderer, as they call it, and feel the need to leave their capital city of Dhol Gribad, deep in the The Silent Sea. Those that do often come back sharing tales of wonder and riches, and a burning desire to return to the comfort of the sands.
Basic Information
Biological Traits
Growth Rate & Stages
Orc-kin are quick to grow and mature, as their lives fighting for survival amongst the heat, sand, and wyrms of the Silent Sea demand that all pull their weight. Their adolescence is often filled with uncontrollable bouts of rage, and seeing two youngsters fighting to the death over a slight is not uncommon.
Ecology and Habitats
Their primary habitat is amongst the windswept sands of the Silent Sea.
Dietary Needs and Habits
They are omnivorous, opportunity eaters with little need for excessive comforts. The desert offers much in the way of protein, if one is willing to chew on a few scorpions, the leftovers of those poor victims of the climate, or go toe to toe with the beasts below.
Biological Cycle
Their natural lifespans are surprisingly long, as if the eternal day of Yridos' sunward side has tricked them out of aging. If only most didn't die tragically and violently before they could get there. The maximum lifespan of most Orc-kin isn't fully known.
Additional Information
Average Intelligence
Although many wouln never believe, the orc-kin can often be extremely intelligent. They have a great mind for cunning, improvisation, and an impressive knack for making tools, weapons, and other contraptions and machines.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Most orc-kin are given a surname at birth, that of their most prominent parent. But that surname is one only for the passing of family histories, and is not shared with others. Instead, orc-kin earn a last name through experience. The title is given by their family or friends, or sometimes taken, based on the most relevant and impressive, or souring, part of their life. These names regularly change, as new Happenings outstrip the old.
Major Organizations
The orc-kin organize themselves by clan based on loose familial connections. These clans mostly keep to themselves, but the Clan Kabal is held once every three years. A great celebration, the Clan Kabal sees all the great and powerful figures from each clan meet in the Sacred Teeth surrounding Dhol Gribad to social, reconnect, and chart their people's path forward. During this time, drinking, combat challenges, and other hijinks ensue.
Beauty Ideals
The bigger and more defined the tusks, the better.
Gender Ideals
The orc-kin have an extremely gender equal society. No one bearing a skill to help the clan should be wasted because they are not of the correct gender.
Average Technological Level
Shunning everything to do with Technomancy, orc-kin craft from wood, stone, metal, and sinew to make rudimentary machines. There are rumours of an ancient shamanistic magic that allows the impossible to become possible, but little is known about it.
Common Dress Code
Orc-kin dress with little care for appearance over practicality. They craft clothing from the furs they can find, and occasionally some will acquire the loose, breathable robes made for the gentler peoples to walk the deserts with a measure less discomfort.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
It is customary for a suitor to return to their bride to be bearing the tooth of a felled beast, to prove they can protect their family. The bigger the tooth, and more dangerous the beast it came from, the better.
Common Taboos
If a challenge is issued for legitimate reason, and trial by combat sought, to shirk it is not only an admission of guilt, but a guarantee of banishment into the dunes.
History
Viewed as barbaric due to their hardened lifestyles, the Empire's conquering of Yridos did not treat the orc-kin kindly. Once a wide range of distinct species with unique inter-species politics, grudges, and conflicts, they have become almost as one people, cousins.
The Saikar valued their hardiness and strength and enslaved many of their kin, throwing them in the mines with their most anicent of enemies, the dwarves. A hatred they could not bypass, there were often as many deaths from infighting as there were from exhaustion or the Handler's whips
When the Saikar fell, the chaos that ensued opened an opportunity for escape. In a series of violent revolts, often targeting the dwarves as much as the slavers, the orc-kin erupted from their mines across Yridos and the dwindling numbers that remained retreated to the most remote depths of the Silent Sea.
So complete was their subjugation, that their histories were all but lost. A few of the most ancient of clan elders and sages could recall their trraditional ways of life, and there was much suffering and death before the orc-kin re-learned their dominance of the sands.
Common Myths and Legends
Legend tells of a great warrior Kord (clan leader) who taught his people to tame and ride the great sand wyrms, but no evidence has been found, and though it has bveen attempted, those enterprising few made a good snack for the beast.
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