Half Orc
Though an insignificantly smaller race than orcs, they have a foothold within both orc and other race communities. Unlike the half elf race, half orcs may choose to freely walk between their two worlds. They have opportunities to lead orc tribes as war chiefs, but very few are known. They are able to use both sets of ancestry to their advantage in battle and fighting. They come from alliances and marriages between mainly humans who also follow under the god Gruumsh, believing that Orcs should inherit Oasis since they are the strongest race, and other indecent means. Half orcs also have the freedom to leave their tribe as they choose and venture out, trying to assimilate to civilized society. Through venturing out, they can easily find jobs within the military, arcane arts usually as assistants, or as adventurers proving to the world that half orcs are more than just orc.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Half-orcs’ grayish pigmentation, sloping foreheads, jutting jaws, prominent teeth, and towering builds make their orcish heritage plain for all to see.
Additional Information
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Half-orcs most often live among orcs. Of the other races, humans are most likely to accept half-orcs, and half-orcs almost always live in human lands when not living among orc tribes. Whether proving themselves among rough barbarian tribes or scrabbling to survive in the slums of larger cities, half-orcs get by on their physical might, their endurance, and the sheer determination they inherit from their human ancestry.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Half-orcs usually have names appropriate to the culture in which they were raised. A half-orc who wants to fit in among humans might trade an orc name for a human name. Some half-orcs with human names decide to adopt a guttural orc name because they think it makes them more intimidating.
Beauty Ideals
Orcs regard battle scars as tokens of pride and ornamental scars as things of beauty. Other scars, though, mark an orc or half-orc as a former slave or a disgraced exile. Any half-orc who has lived among or near orcs has scars, whether they are marks of humiliation or of pride, recounting their past exploits and injuries. Such a half-orc living among humans might display these scars proudly or hide them in shame.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Common and Orc.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Half-orcs feel emotion powerfully. Rage doesn’t just quicken their pulse, it makes their bodies burn. An insult stings like acid, and sadness saps their strength. But they laugh loudly and heartily, and simple bodily pleasures—feasting, drinking, wrestling, drumming, and wild dancing—fill their hearts with joy. They tend to be short-tempered and sometimes sullen, more inclined to action than contemplation and to fighting than arguing. The most accomplished half-orcs are those with enough self-control to get by in a civilized land.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Depending on where they grew up and who they are more influenced by, half orcs could hate other species indefinitely or be tolerant of them even though they are looked down upon who they are. Though accepted in civilization if they choose to be that does not stop others for generalizing them and closing them off in fear.
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