Ogre

Written by Heart

Barbarians, they call us. Monsters that feast on the flesh of our own and our enemies. They don't bother listening to us, learning from us as we practice our beliefs to protect them. They call us such things only because they hold power over us, as they have forgotten the deeds of our great Empire.
— Satori Ryuutei, Anax of Ryū, Heir of Tal'Gelrul

Anatomy

Ogre as a whole are quite similar to humans in overall build and shape. They tend to be significantly larger, varying from six to ten feet in height with a few outliers being even larger, and a few smaller. Their skin is generally of a darker hue, starting at olive and evolving to the point of being nearly pitch in hue depending on the lands their tribe calls home. Their arms and legs tend to be longer than would be normal for their size, ending in large hands and feet. Their feet especially are more simian than a humans, clearly evolved to grip vines as if they were large hands instead of the human foot designed for running. Both hands and feet end in deadly crescent retractable claws that can extend up to several inches in length. This is matched by having two extra sets of cuspids, for a total of twelve total curved teeth in their mouths. These fangs are capable of retracting and extending as well in order to puncture and kill their prey with a bite as required. Ogre tend to have incredibly sharp facial features, larger foreheads, wide nostrils, big-cat-like eyes, and strong jaws. It's not uncommon for their eyes to be unnatural colors such as orange, red, or yellow.

Abilities

Often compared to the best parts of apes and combining them with big cats, before adding in the sapience of a human, Ogre are feared for their flexible combat ability and brutal hunting tactics. They hold feline-like reaction time and flexibility, incredible mobility while traveling through their native jungles and swamps, and heightened senses of smell and hearing. Even holding limited natural night-vision making them excellent nocturnal hunters. This combined with their natural weapons, and size granting them unusual physical strength makes them deadly even when young. Ogre's metabolism is incredibly fast, making it incredibly difficult for them to ever be "overweight" as long as they perform even basic physical activities. Usually rippling with lean, defined and powerful muscle. An Ogre cannot get obese, and will only either be starving and anorexic, or athletic and strong. Similarly, they reach physical prime far faster than humans and remain in their prime far longer, usually not beginning to show traits of old age until they reach the last decade of their life expectancy. This also grants them a form of limited regenerative abilities, capable of recovering from minor scrapes within hours, and broken bones in a single week. With enough time, if they survive enough months they are even capable of re-growing entire limbs or lost organs. In return however, it's incredibly easy for an Ogre to go hungry as they are constantly burning a tremendous amount of energy with this metabolism. Finally, Ogre are one of the few species of the world that still actively utilize Blood Arts due to their regenerative ability. This magic is passed down through many tribes to this day.

Social Behavior

Unlike humans, Ogre tend to live much shorter lives and due to this tend to breed and mature much quicker than humans. An ogre grows into adulthood roughly twice as fast a normal human, entering puberty at around the age of six or seven years and some even earlier. This causes early life for Ogre to be quick, as children are often expected to kill and hunt for their own food or offer support for the tribe in some other way within their first years of life. Being trained as hunters and warriors by the age of three is quite common for most Ogre children. As a whole, Ogre tend to prefer jungles, and warmer climates full of life and game in order to support their tribe due to their need for great surplus' of food to sustain them. Many have been driven further into the swamps of the south as well, however. Partially due to their constant hunger, and partially due to their intricate respect for life and nature, Ogre tribes tend to often commit to ritualistic cannibalism. There is generally a strong beleif in an Ogre tribe that they must eat anything that they have killed as respect toward nature, even their own, or other sentient species. Though Ogre are considered brutal and primitive by many, they are hardly without their own faiths, cultures and teachings. Educating their children in the usage of martial arts, survival techniques, crafting and natural magic are all incredibly common. As they grow older they will also be taught and expected to learn many various tribal dialects, the common tongue of the humans, and begin diving into alchemy and runic magic which is often used in conjunction with totems to more easily cast their spells through spell components. When it comes to Ogre names, it varies heavily on their home continent. However, most names come in the form of two or one syllable due to the preference for simple nicknames, these hold little meaning for their culture. Instead, the name one earned through a great deed, triggering their ascend into adulthood tends to be the name that they are known by. Though Ogres do have powerful tribes, and a few warlords, for the most part, they lack organized focus. There are exceptions, and some Ogre turn to the life of being Mercenaries or similar occupations, but the majority tend to remain in their family groups that are called tribes. They often will be found along with other Giant-kin within these tribes. This is primarily due to the loss of the Tal'Gelrul Empire so many years in the past. Ogre tend to have very narrow views when it comes to beauty and attraction. They are some of the most primal sapients, and it is shown through their desires. Raw physical power, combat ability, hunting prowess, and to a degree physical appearance are the most important aspects of attraction. Despite this, there is no concept of "Gender Limitations", females are just as likely to bring in a powerful kill and claim a mate as a male is. Though the concept of "relationships" are fairly unknown in Ogre culture, they do have the concept of soul-mates like with most Giant-kin. It's not uncommon for Ogre to have multiple mates at any one time, but generally, there is a single "Alpha" that has multiple mates, and those subservient mates effectively "belong" to the Alpha, as per usual, gender holds no say in these statuses. How many of these mates are "Soul-Mates" are an entirely different matter, as it is viewed as a sacred bond just as with other Giant-kin. Ogre tend to wear furs, leathers, and similar clothing of their own make from the hides and skins of those that they have killed. Their jewelry, tools, and weaponry even supports for their buildings tend to utilize bones of those that they have killed. This is due to their hard set rules to use the body of anything that has died or has been killed by them to the most of their ability. Surprisingly, due to this they are often viewed as excellent craftsmen and their arms and weapons are even occasionally sought after by some humans. Practically any position in a tribe can be obtained through a challenge but this isn't always done through combat and is usually based on the position. Hard feelings afterward are forbidden, and the culture instead encourages that if you fail in your challenge to instead take it as needing to improve yourself. Often, individuals that win these challenges take in the loser as a pupil, and the loser accepts gladly in order to grow themselves and eventually replace their new teacher. The details of this differ from one tribe to the next. Ogre are well known for their ceremonial feeding based on the belief that you should always eat what you have killed, regardless of species or gender. This has caused them to be well known as cannibals, as when tribes go to war often there will be great feasts held as respect to the fallen, to nourish the victors, and gain strength from devouring their flesh. Ritualistic feeding of the heart is usually seen as a sign of respect to the fallen, and they are usually consumed raw. Due to their metabolism putting a preference toward meats, their alcohol and deserts are all based on blood, meat, or organs mixed with varying spices and herbs for flavoring. They are the creators of the alcohol known as Blood Wine, which many view as an acquired taste. There are few forbidden actions within Ogre culture, however, willingly leaving the corpse of any creature whether you killed it or not is considered a great sin that can lead to being removed from the tribe due to your disrespect of the fallen. Aside from this, there are few laws or rules that can be broken racially. Most are instead set on a tribe-by-tribe basis. Most Ogre are generally reclusive creatures, due to the difference in their own views of eating and combat compared to the other species of the world as well as the natural power and strength, they are often treated as monsters by others, even some other Giant-kin.

by Soldgarius

Seiken Akemu, an Oni.

Lifespan
60 Years
Average Height
9' (cm)
Average Weight
380 lbs (kg)
Genetic Decendants

Ogrillon: A term used to describe the offspring of non-ogre and ogre having children. This is a universal term as usually their ogre genetics will dominate their physical traits.
Oni: A sub-species born from the union of a Daevata and Ogre. This union generally spawns children that lack True Magic or innate magical talent and instead gain greater size, and raw physical durability and power as their Giant-kin blood is stimulated through the dark magic of the Daemon. Many awaken the power of Hellflames. Some of these unions have existed for so long, especially in Drakonia that they have become accepted Daevata tribes.

Notable Traditions: