Orcs

Orcs are a race that lives within the realm of Aldris, born as a horrid experiment conducted by the gods Bane and Gruumsh during their unified attempt to take cover and colonize the Realm. Following the devolution of their union and the destruction of Grummsh himself, Bane was forced to retreat and the Orcs were left without their initial purpose and their warring, abusive progenitors. Thusly they have expanded to the far reaches of the realm and begun to build their own cultures.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Orcs have a humanoid shape and are often found to be stocky, able to quickly gain and keep muscle. Their bones have a strong density and their teeth are strong enough to break rocks, especially their powerful tusks that are known for goring.

Genetics and Reproduction

Orcs have an immensely high reproduction rate, their gestation period only lasting six months and their bodies always being in a fertile stage until the later ends of their lives. They also reproduce sexually.

Growth Rate & Stages

Orcs usually have short life spans, living to be between fifty to sixty in the most common occurrences. Orcish childhood lasts for ten years and adolescence for another decade before they reach full adulthood, and they usually gain their tusks during their second to third year. Due to their advanced speed of growth, orcs are actually subject to malformation, ranging from simple height differences or hunched postures to elongated skulls, heavy scoliosis or having one limb be larger than the other.

Ecology and Habitats

Orcs are extremely hearty and can often survive living in most if not all biomes so long as they have sustenance. Thusly, this leads to them having different shapes due to their diet, such as jungle-native orcs being thinner from their diet of leaves and vegetation, whilst grassland or mountain orcs are bulkier due to their constant hunting and meat-based palettes.
Orcs also are known to take on aspects based on their environment, similar to giants. Mountain orcs gain calloused skin like elephants to deal with the harsh terrain, jungle orcs have longer arms and prehensile feet to allow for easier running and climbing, and sea orcs have furiously developed lungs to allow for long spaces of held breath, and so on. All of this was made so that they could be the perfect soldiers to save Gruumsh and Bane.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Orc social structure depends primarily on the culture, but more often than not orcs rally behind the smartest, strongest, or most experienced member of their society. However, they often collect in tribal cultures that do not recognize traditional nuclear family values. Orc bands raise children together and each one pitches in their own bit of wisdom and understanding. It is ultimately fluid and an interchanging system of raising one another, but it fosters a deep connection that keeps orcs unified together.
In terms of having relations, some orcs keep single mates while others keep a more polyamorous attitude, breeding with those they either come to love or feel will foster strong children. Husbands can have multiple wives and vice versa, dependent upon the culture.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Orc bone is extremely dense, enough to sometimes rival plate mail in degrees of protection. As such, sometimes people make armor out of orcish bone and even grind up their bones into fine powder for alchemical uses.

Facial characteristics

The common distinguishing features of orcs are strong brows, square chins to accommodate their large teeth and jaws, and tusks that shoot out like a boar's. Sometimes they bend in or out, and orcs can dress them with charms or even piercings.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Orcs can be found everywhere in Aldris, from the cold north to the sandy hot deserts.

Average Intelligence

Orcs have a varied capacity of intellect, contrary to the expectation of others.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Orcs have exceptionally strong senses of smell, sight, and hearing, their eyes capable to switching between night-sight and common vision over time of exposure.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Orcs usually keep to one or two-syllable names for simplicity, as overly long names are found to be pretentious and taxing to deal with. If an Orc is given a longer name, they usually find a way to shorten it down to the accommodating length.

Major Organizations

• The Kingsleash Tribe: A vicious tribe of orcs residing within the Horned Wood, colossal beyond understanding in terms of numbers and warrior power. Worshipers of the war god Bane

Gender Ideals

Orcs run the gambit of the gender spectrum and are often found to have a frequency of intersex. Rather than having the traditional concept of male and female, they organize themselves by those who can and cannot bear children. Feminine and masculine traits do not exist in their eyes, as all can be strong, all can grow hair etc.

Relationship Ideals

Orcs run the spectrum between monogamous to polyamorous, with some keeping to only themselves while others breed and marry at their whim. It is not uncommon for one to have multiple spouses and multiple children by them, but they all still are considered one large family.

History

Orcs, like most beings, have their emergence and start as members of the ancient race known as the Astarta. When Bane and Gruumsh formed their fiendish union and burst into the Material Realm, their demonic armies served as a strong host but they ultimately needed to establish a foothold within the plane itself. And so began the experimentation and torture of their captured Astarta prisoners, a process that would eventually need to the creation of the duos war engine, a race impossible to defeat and versatile enough to exist in any environment. These would be the first Orcs, bred in the image and constitution of Gruumsh himself, with the intent of bestowing upon them his near-immortality and passion for blood and slaughter.
However their push to take over was ill-fated, as the combined response of Pelor, Kord, and the other gods managed to split their attention and force Gruumsh on a merry chase against the Stormlord. Aware that they could not kill Gruumsh outright, they instead broke apart his very soul into much smaller and manageable pieces. Losing his most powerful weapon, Bane was forced to retreat back into the Below and leave his ally to toil, and the shards of Gruumsh would end up reforming into what is now known as the modern Orcish Gods.
Unsure of what to do with the Orcs left behind, some god took some in while others kept solitary to try and find their own way, and the rest is history.

Historical Figures

• Zahm the Feybane: Zahm Fang'gore was a powerful Orcish Warlord, one of many Dominus claimants who rallied the Orcs to attack the Elves of Nyth Noelle. Laying siege to the whole of the Ivorwood, he was the first and only warlord to have ever successfully stormed the Tower of the Oracles, stealing not one but two Oracles away, one for consumption, and one for the future. It is said that Zahm literally did consume the first Oracle, thus gaining her power of foresight and divination, and that by use of the other oracle he would indoctrinate the power into his bloodline.
• Ohgrin Blightgrasp: Ohgrin Blightgrasp was an Orcish Warlord and Necromancer, a warrior who constantly battled against the forces of Sonora before coming across a powerful artifact, the Hand of Vecna. Attaching the hand to his cleaved stump from his latest battle, it put him in contact with the undead deity and gracious expanded his intellect and knowledge and introducing him to the power of necromancy. With this power, he bolstered the ranks of his armies and brought his fallen back to rise as undead soldiers.
• Morde Bloodheathen: Morde Bloodheathen was a masterful leader of the Orcs, one who stood connected tightly with his ancient ancestors up to the very first Blood of Gruumsh. With their wisdom, he led the Orcs to true prosperity and built a stronghold unlike any other to have existed before, able to withstand the constant assault on his lands by the kingdom of Sonora. This great city would be known as Ars Gorrum, and stands to this day as a statement to the people that the orcs will be savages only to those who threaten them, and that they want to be left to their own devices.

Common Myths and Legends

• The Dominus: The Dominus is a title that many orcish warlords and kings lay claim to in order to rally support for their causes. In reality, the concept of the Dominus is believed to be the embodiment of Gruumsh, the one Orc who will raise up and rally all of the tribes into one great herd.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Orcs are able to breed with many of the other races, predominantly Elves, Humans, Goblins, and Dwarves.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Astarta

Lifespan

50-60 Years

Average Height

8 to 9 feet

Average Weight

250 to 350 lbs

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Orcs more often than not have a base-skin color of green, brown, or grey, green being more common in forests or jungles and brown and grey in the mountains or deserts.