GoCorral

Physical Description

Orcs are physically the strongest of the Conclave races. They stand above all other Conclave races with typical heights between six and seven feet. Their increased muscle mass has a similar increase in weight, with many orcs weighing more than 250 pounds. Their increased size is supported by a greater caloric intake of meat than the other intelligent species of Cimmeria. The typical human‘s diet is 10% meat, while an orc’s is 30% meat.

Orcs have a few other physical characteristics that set them apart from other races. They have large lower canine teeth that protrude out of their mouths as tusks. Orcs have skin ranging from green, grey, and brown with the occasional orange tones mixed in. Their eye colors are red, yellow, and brown. Orc eyes are also to see in the dark, making them excellent nighttime predators.

Culture

Orcs organize themselves by tribes. Each tribe has a name evoking some essence of what that tribe is. Most tribes have a chief or chieftess that rules the tribe and conducts diplomacy with other tribes. To become a fully-fledged member of a tribe, one must undertake a rite of passage. Each rite is a secret kept only by existing members of a tribe and the Maglibarjil tribal council. The rites vary wildly between tribes, from going on a vision quest, a hunt, or constructing a piece of art. The rites are attempted by those born within a tribe, but theoretically anyone could take the challenge and become a member of an orc tribe. Those who fail a rite of passage are dubbed Clanless and are no longer considered fully part of their tribe.

Clanless orcs have no official place in orc tribes but often find there are unofficial places. They provide much of the basic labor that supports society. Tribal members may hunt for meat, but those who failed the rites of passage work in the farms so that food remains plentiful in the winter. Sadly, there are not enough such jobs for all the Clanless in the Orc Lands. Groups of Clanless band together and raid for resources. While some of these raiders head away from the Orc Lands, others stay to pillage tribal villages. These conflicts rarely end well for Clanless as they are often poorly equipped and trained compared to tribal warriors. Some groups of Clanless are able to survive, construct their own means of initiation, and form their own tribe. To be officially recognized, they must petition the Maglibarjil for tribal status. There are about sixty such small tribes in the Orc Lands.

Orcs place a great emphasis on deeds before blood for what is valued in their culture. An orc’s children only inherit their property if they can prove they deserve it. The most common method of proving one’s self is through combat. As much aggression as possible is directed outwards towards other parts of Cimmeria, hunting animals, or the hazards of the Shacklack Desert. Unfortunately, orcs often end up fighting other orcs to prove their worth. This has led to a reduced population and a collapse of orkin national stability. Orc society is hierarchical, but rarely is there an individual at the top due to constant, violent challenges for supremacy.

Orc rituals often include blood in one way or another. Oaths are sworn by mixing the blood of the participants. Consecrations are performed with the blood of the priest or the blood of an involved party. Blood from livestock is also a common ingredient in orkish cooking. The most interesting blood based consumable in the Orc Lands is a fermented drink made from livestock blood. Each tribe has a different variation for their own blood drink. Smooth and clear, mixed with milk, spiced, and made with a broth are just some of the many recipes between the different tribes.

History

Orcs came to Cimmeria as one of the five Conclave races. They fought in the Goblin War alongside the other races. Over time, the goal of the war shifted from eradication to enslavement of the goblins. The orcs were unhappy with stripping another race of its freedom, so they left the Conclave. The orkin tribes formed their own leadership council named the Maglibarjil with one representative from each tribe. With their new government, the orcs became the protector of goblin freedoms. A war was fought with the humans that remained in the Conclave, which eventually settled the borders between Cimmeria and areas to the east.

The orc nation separated into tribes. Each tribe had secret rites of passage and rituals that made them unique. The orcs still had a shared identity based around freedom and merit by deed, not blood. Orcs proved their worth through action, often by slaying monsters or claiming treasure. Much of these activities were directed at the Shacklack Desert as a place of limitless monsters and occasional loot. Those who were unable to prove themselves were not full members of orc society. These lessers were the first Clanless, those without a tribe to call their own and protect them from the wilds of the Orc Lands.

Orcs met their first real threat in the Orc Lands due to the offspring of their goblin neighbors. The goblins had been exposing their bugbear children in the wild, but the bugbears had survived and returned to threaten the Orc Lands in huge numbers. The Maglibarjil attempted to organize the tribes, but each tribe wished to protect only themselves and not the orcs as a whole. Cannibalistic attacks continued until a powerful orc rose up and drove away the bugbears around their tribe. This orc continued to drive away bugbears from the other tribes and united the Orc Lands behind them in the process.

The powerful orc that defeated the bugbears was known only as the First Chief. No one knows for sure which tribe this orc came from or what the orc’s name was, but each of the oldest tribes claims this hero as their own. The First Chief died without an heir. The Maglibarjil ruled for a short period before the start of the Dragon Hegemony.

In the fires of adversity, a new leader of the orcs was forged. As the dragons abused the orcs during their occupation, Gorwinua the bard led her people in the fight for freedom. She and the other Heroes of the Dragon War fought to imprison the dragon primarchs in the Orbs of Dragonkind. For a brief moment the orcs were unified once more. Unfortunately, Gorwinua left to protect the Orbs along with the other Heroes. No heir was appointed.

The orcs went without a leader for centuries afterward. Internal conflict scoured the Orc Lands as the tribes fought amongst each other for the top spot. Outsiders intervened to prevent the rise of any promising tribe. Kruk-Ma-Kali recruited many orcs for his campaign in Cimmeria, but this did nothing to foster unity in those who stayed behind. The Maglibarjil attempted to keep the peace, but without an army of their own, the council was powerless to prevent internal violence. Wars between the tribes became the new state of affairs with no end in sight.

The divided Orc Lands finally reunited in recent history. The Chief of the Thunderhawk tribe, Gregor, brought the Orc Lands together under one banner. He took the title of Great King of the Orcs. His reign brought increased rights to Clanless as they are now considered a tribe of their own.

Subraces

Orcs define themselves by their tribe. There are no major physical differences between tribes, but the traditions and upbringing cause varied changes in the orcs’ abilities as they mature. There are close to a hundred tribes in the Orc Lands, making it impractical to detail them all here. Instead, four of the main tribes that pay fealty to Great King Gregor of the Orcs are described along with the Clanless group.

Clanless: Clanless are the lowest of orcs. Without a tribe there are no traditions that bring strength to the Clanless. Without a proper place in orc society, many of them leave to go west. Others stay and make a living as laborers for tribes or as bandits. Clanless are looked at with suspicion in the Orc Lands. Many tribal orcs believe that without a tribe, the Clanless have no honor and nothing to lose, so they are likely to harm others to support themselves.

King Gregor recently made changes to the Clanless position within the Orc Lands. He created a tribe open to all Clanless named Free Spring. The rite of passage to this tribe was two years of service in Gregor’s army every ten years. With that, the Orc Lands had a stable force to impose order and extend real power beyond the Orc Lands. The majority of the Free Spring live in the areas that were depopulated during Gregor’s rise to power.

Thunderhawks: The Thunderhawks are the tribe of King Gregor. They live in the Terror Mountains in the north of the Orc Lands. Every member of the tribe is a powerful warrior of frightening strength. They train in battle tactics and have a history of mercenary work in the Orc Lands. The Thunderhawks are supported by a large group of Clanless that perform agricultural work for them in a valley close to the tribe’s mountain town.

Blessed by Zeus during Gregor’s Chiefdom the Thunderhawks rose to prominence within the Orc Lands. They were set to take control of the Orc Lands decades before, but due to the manipulations of Amalganus, Gregor was kidnapped and sold into slavery. Gregor’s half-brother, Alexander, succeeded him, but Alexander was not Gregor’s equal. The unified tribes crumbled between his fingers. Depressed at his failures, Alexander turned to alcoholism. An accomplished young woman, Angor, challenged Alexander for the chiefdom. Alexander was a coward during the challenge. Angor spared his pitiful life and banished Alexander from the tribe.

Angor brought new life to the Thunderhawks, but they were nowhere near their previous ascendant position. After Gregor escaped slavery he returned to reclaim his chiefdom. He executed Alexander and Angor to ensure there was no dispute over his rule. He then led a campaign to unite the Orc Lands and exterminate a rival tribe in this endeavour, the Endless Autumn. With Gregor’s victory, the Thunderhawks are now positioned at the top of the Orc Lands with more power, position, and privilege than any other tribe.

The rite of passage for the Thunderhawks is a hunt. A tribal member must journey on a hunt and return with a slain animal. The tribal member gains greater position the less they bring with them and the greater the beast that they slay. King Gregor left on his hunt naked and slew a polar bear. It was this act that gave Gregor the initial boost in status that he capitalized on to become Chief of the Thunderhawks.

Nightsouls: The Nightsouls have a long tradition of hunting large monsters together as a tribe. They believe that the path to eternal life lies in death through combat or hunting. The tribe’s buildings are constructed using their kills. Their meeting house is within the ribcage of a slain dragon. Chief Kragshok leads the tribe.

Long ago the Nightsouls were known as the Wild Choir. They were a group of Amazon-like women who modeled themselves after Gorwinua, singing as they went into battle. The men of the tribe served as magical support for the warrior women. The men were secondary citizens within the Wild Choir. Eventually a male member, whose name has been stricken from history, summoned a demon to punish the women for treating the men of the tribe poorly. This demon killed a woman each night and left bloody carnage in its wake. The unnamed summoner had worded his ritual so that only a male member of the Wild Choir could undo his curse.

A different male magician, Umanamu, summoned a second demon and bound it within his own body. He used this power to banish the first demon, but the second one remained within his body. In returned for saving the tribe, Umanamu demanded that all the women of the tribe become his brides. Those who refused were killed or executed. Thus, all the members of the newly named Nightsouls are descendants of Umanamu.

Umanamu’s power from the demon manifested itself as lycanthropy, the first of its kind in Cimmeria. While the curse has dwindled in power over time, the tribe continues to draw power from the moon. The first demon was actually banished to the moon through a portal. This portal is hidden in the woods near the Nightsouls tribal center.

The tribe draws power from the moon using this portal before they go on hunts. The power synergizes with their lycanthropic energy and returns to the portal making it stronger. This ritual of absorbing power, hunting, and returning the power is also the tribe’s rite of passage. Thus only those descended from Umanamu can become Nightsouls. Any others who undertake the ritual will be unable to return the power and close the portal. If the portal were left open the first demon could return and wreak revenge upon the Nightsouls for its centuries of imprisonment.

Rock: The Rock tribe control the hilly land in the northwest of the Orc Lands. They are a small clan that wields a large amount of power due to their acceptance of Clanless. Rock tribe members are typically miners, smiths, or earth mages. They operate and oversee the mines themselves, with massive amounts of additional labor provided by Clanless. The earth mages of the Rock tribe are forbidden from using their magic to aid the mining and smithing process. The tribe is secretive and never reveals the underlying reason for this.

The Rock tribe was embroiled in a long term conflict with the Endless Autumn tribe. The Endless Autumn had occupied and conquered the Rock tribe, but a secret resistance continued, led by a brave Rock member, Hri’Jon. Gregor arrived to assist Hri’Jon in freeing his people. Upon victory, the Rock tribe promised fealty to King Gregor. Hri’Jon became chief and aided Gregor in his rise to power in the Orc Lands.

Due to the inclusion of so many Clanless in their daily lives, the Rock tribe rite of passage is well known. A Rock tribe member must find something of value within the mine and improve its value through hard work. Typically the rite is passed by finding some iron ore, smelting it, and then forging the iron into a nail. There is an additional secret rite known only to true tribe members. There is a portal to Erebos hidden beneath a giant boulder at the top of a hill that overlooks the Rock tribe town. The Rock tribe dispose of their dead directly into the portal. Using a communal, magical ritual, the Rock tribe lifts the boulder without touching it and pushes the corpses of their loved ones into the abyss.

Standing Horns: The Standing Horns are cattle ranchers in the south of the Orc Lands. The tribe is split into different dukedoms. At the top is a high duke who is voted into office by a council of dukes when the previous high duke dies. Standing Horns territory at the southern edge of the Orc Lands positions them well for trading with the hobgoblin cities further south. Lots of trade goods travel to and from the Orc Lands via the Standing Horns.

The Standing Horns secret rite of passage is to vault over a bull. A prospective tribe member must jump over a bull. Depending on their social status, they may be given advantages such as being allowed to vault over a sleeping bull. The reverse is also true. A hated person may be required to vault over a bull that has been prepared for a rodeo. An additional rite of passage known as the Gauntlet exists for the dukes of the Standing Horns. Prospective dukes must pass through a row of people within their dukedom. Each of the orcs in the row whips the prospective duke. This symbolizes that the duke must be able to take on their people’s problems as their own.

Location

Orcs live primarily in the Orc Lands east of Cimmeria. Within the Orc Lands, approximately half the population is in tribes while the other half is Clanless. The lack of resources and pressure on the Clanless sends many of them outside of the Orc Lands. These ostracized orcs end up forming raiding groups that head west. Without a place in the society of other races, the exiles harass and attack the communities of Eastern Cimmeria. It’s due to these groups that orcs have a negative reputation in Cimmeria.

Relations with Other Races

The other races of Cimmeria have adversarial relationships with orcs. While the Conclave races cooperated during the Goblin War, those days are long gone. Orcs that come into Cimmeria are often raiders and bandits. They are met with preemptive violence more often than not. Some orcs are able to prove their peaceful intentions and coexist without overt conflict. They are still viewed with suspicion and a watchful eye. The outlaw nature of many orcs in Cimmeria also means they are targeted by slavers. Many strong slaves in Cimmeria are orcs, with a large demand for them to work in the mines of Aractrash.

Orc settlement in the Orc Lands initiated a symbiotic relationship with the goblins that lived there since ages past. Goblins are everywhere in orkin society but always distinctly separate. The two cultures exist alongside each other, occupying the same spaces but rarely interacting socially. There is an unspoken business relationship between the two races. Goblins take care of the small household chores such as washing clothes, dusting, weeding, and feeding chickens. Orcs do most of the hard labor such as mining, smithing, and, most importantly, defending the tribe’s territory. Both races understand their responsibilities perfectly. Commonly, an orc will grow up surrounded by goblins but never engage them in conversation. All interaction is simple instructions to the other race to take care of their tasks when they are needed. This silent alliance between the two races has existed for centuries without disruption.

Orcs form occasional alliances with hobgoblins and all manner of giantkin. These partnerships are often made for the practical purpose of attacking a well-defended target or powerful mutual enemy. Once the raiding begins the alliance quickly dissolves. While the violence may be agreed upon, the splitting of the booty is rarely discussed before combat. In some cases, orcs turn upon their previous allies before their foes are even defeated, leading to chaotic three-way battles between the orcs, their allies, and their confused enemies.

Common Deities

The favorite deities of the orcs are Ares and Artemis. Ares for his battle oriented nature and focus on raw strength that many orcs possess. Artemis for the hunt due to orcs’ carnivorous diet as well as her love of fighting for female orcs. Hera is a distant third among common orc deities. Hera’s passive nature clashes with orc culture, but her dominion over animal husbandry provides blessings for a key part of orc diets.

Outside of these deities, many orc tribes have a patron deity. The Noon Shadows are devoted to Apollo. The Rock Tribe puts Hades first. The Night Souls owe their fealty to an evil moon demon. Many of these patron deities and their methods of worship are secrets as well, only known by those who pass a tribe’s trials and go through the rites of adulthood.

Place in Adventuring

Orcs often serve as enemies for adventuring groups. Clanless orcs earned a reputation in Cimmeria for raiding villages, slaughtering livestock, and murdering the inhabitants. Many adventurers get their first kill exacting revenge against an orc band that burned their village down. Orc life has been cheap and expendable in Cimmeria for a long time.

Orkish adventurers typically rely on their natural strength to overcome difficulties. Orcs are drawn to the barbarian and fighter classes. Those who surrender to their race’s darker urges follow the barbarian’s path. Others practice disciplined fighting styles to defeat their enemies as well-trained fighters. Either way, their predatory instincts serve them well in melee combat. Orcs are also useful as load-bearers to carry the weight of treasure collected on adventuring expeditions.