Orcs

The Fierce

Orcs are the largest and toughest race of Men. Originally created as the antithesis for Brethren, Orcs are one of the two original races of Overmen, the latter making up the other half. They appeared at the beginning of the Fourth Era, on the Third Plane, and for the past four thousand years have been a thorn in the side of civilization. Wild Orcs do not hold with ideas of governance, justice, nations, cultures, nor ethnicities, and are thusly categorized (like Goblins) by broad groupings that primarily relate to environment of origin. The first group encompasses those Orcs that live on the open steppe, generally in the Estaa Badlands, and are known as the Badlander Orcs. They are a few inches taller than the other Orcish groups, and have longer limbs and thinner bodies- though they are still powerfully built. Like all Orcs, they have green skin, pointed ears, generally squashed noses, black or gray hair, and a warlike appearance, with a strong jaw and defined cheekbones. However, the Badlander Orcs have no tusks to speak of coming from their lower jaw, which separates them from the other two clades. The second group, the Forest Orcs, can be found in the northern regions of Caldomare, in the thickets of the Adelpar Wilderlands or, more rarely, in the Red Vale. They have sizeable fangs jutting from their lower jaw, sometimes up to three or four inches long. They are also slightly shorter and more thickly built than the Badlanders, roughly similar in size and stockiness to the final group: Mountain Orcs. Mountain Orcs, unlike the Badlanders and Forest Orcs, grow thick body hair reminiscent of Dwarves. They also possess the largest tusks of any Orc group, with an average length of five to six inches of tooth sticking straight out in front of their faces. These are used primarily as weapons, and to attract mates. They can be found in all major mountain ranges.

Despite their physical strength, which is considerable, Orcs have the least magical power on average of any race of Men. They are also the slowest of the races of Men, though often not nearly as slow as their opponents would expect. Their lack of agility is made up for by considerable strength and endurance in combat- Orcish bones, like Dwarven bones, are far denser than usual and resistant to breaking. They are almost as tall as Elves, with both males and females standing six to seven feet tall, and usually weighing more than 300 pounds. Like Goblins, Orcs are seen as outcasts from civilized society, and are actively discriminated against by most societies of Brethren, Elves and Dwarves. Wild Orcs live primarily in their own solitary, nomadic communities, called Hosts. A single Host can number anywhere from a dozen Orcs to more than a thousand, though higher groups are rare. Essentially, a Host doubles as both a familial community and a war party. While Wild Orcs make frequent use of bone and stone tools, they favor metal tools far more, and often raid civilized settlements to acquire metal. Orcish camps rarely have any walls, with more than fifty percent of the population serving as guards and soldiers when need be, and thus are usually primarily composed of fur and skin tents. Within a Host, there is only one ruler: the Warlord. However, most Warlords have councils of elders, primarily females, who deal with the day-to-day running of the Host during peacetime. The only way to become Warlord is to defeat the current ruler in combat, generally in front of the entire Host.

Orcish Hosts each tend to choose a patron God- usually, the God of their Warlord. The most popular choices are Olmthu, the High God of war, and Yugrag, the God of Barbarous Combat and patron God of the Orcs.
Civilized Orcs do exist, however, living either on the fringes of society as Host-less bandits and raiders or as citizens of a realm. Their life cycle is roughly similar to that of the Brethren, reaching adolescence by 10 and adulthood by 20, and an Orcish child brought up among civil folk is often as civil as those around them- even if they are far larger, far stronger, and a bit more prone to bad tempers. Of course, these Orcs, as well as Half-Orcs, are treated with disgust by many others in their society. This has not stopped them from having often-illustrious military careers.

Badlander Orcs live primarily in the Estaa Badlands as well as the southern Plains of Yndrana. Mountain Orcs can be found all across the eastern mountain ranges- the Mountains of the Harpy and the Coldspine. Additionally, they inhabit the dry Morozar Valley between those two ranges. Forest Orcs can be found in every major forest, tropical or temperate, save for the Red Vale.

There is no derogatory term for Orcs. "Orc" is insult enough.