Murrdaan

Murrdaan is the most respected title in Orc society, denoting an exemplar of Orcish culture who works for the betterment of Orcs as a whole.

Description

Murrdaans are very rare, with an average of two per tribe, though they are not evenly distributed. A murrdaan must have unimpeachable honor, and a history of working for the advancement of all orcs, rather than being bogged down in tribal politics. Most have performed a great service for orc kind. They are usually strong warriors, but may be renowned for other skills as well. 
Murrdaan is a lifelong position. Most murrdaans are adult orcs, but due to murrdaans surviving to elderhood at a higher rate than normal orcs they are well represented in this age group as well.
As a murrdaan is supposed to focus on orcish society as a whole and to avoid politicizing such a respected title, he is barred from all leadership positions. A murrdaan cannot be a tribal chief, subchief, or Warchief. This tends to prevent chiefs from lobbying to have a close relative named a murrdaan.

Role

Murrdaans have one official role and several unofficial ones. Their formal duty is to join with the tribal chieftains to elect a new Warchief. The addition of murrdaans as electors prevents a gridlock of every chief just voting for himself as well as the chiefs increasing their independence by selecting a random orc with no backing as Warchief. Since the murrdaans outnumber the chiefs, they are normally able to make sure a capable chief from a reasonably powerful tribe is selected.
Outside of elections, murrdaans frequently act as advisors to their chieftains and mentors to the orcs of their tribe. Some murrdaans move to outlying settlements to work with orcs that would otherwise not receive much attention or development. Murrdaans are often looked to as judges in the absence of tribal leadership and are frequently brought as witnesses in trials, as the testimony of a murrdaan is normally enough to settle the matter then and there. 

Selection

New murrdaans are chosen by a vote of the existing members. Murrdaans gather once a year and half of all living murrdaans must attend for the meeting to be valid. During the meeting, any murrdaan may nominate a candidate. The sponsor argues why the candidate is deserving of the honor after which all the murrdaan vote. A sponsor may not nominate an orc from his own tribe. Sixty percent agreement is required to confer the title and no more than one member of a given tribe may be selected each year.  After the meeting, the selected candidates are informed of their selection and can accept of decline. New murrdaans are announced six months after the selection meeting. 

Symbol

All murrdaans have a tattoo of a burning shield on their right breast. This tattoo is made with enchanted ink, allowing priests to check its validity. Impersonating a murrdaan is one of the most serious crimes in orc society.

Type

Civic, Honorific