The Hordes of Krare (Kra-ray)

"Elves and Men can say what they want about my Patrón, and I won't mind. But a word about Krare and they'll regret that their god ever gave him a tongue!"

Originally, orcs were the one group excluded from Teravar. There were a lot of reasons given, but at the end of the day it came down to simple fear. Humans and Elves, while at each others throats could both agree not to let Orcs come into this unspoiled new world. But it was going at each other's throats that would eventually break that agreement. A lot of stereotypes about orcs aren't true. However, the stereotype of them being incredible fighters is very, VERY true. Mercenaries would be employed in small skirmishes at first, kept far away from major population centers and close to the front lines. Orcs served almost exclusively as heavy auxuliary units, saved until near the end of combat in order to break enemy lines. Orcs, who had long been the infantry of many an army, found themselves needing to enter the fray at very fast paces. It took breeding the fastest of drafthorses to truly make a rideable beast for these warriors. But soon enough, Orcs had the ability to ride and crash directly into enemy lines and dismount. Thus, the Orcish Dragoons were born.
For around 50 years, Orcs became a larger and larger dominating factor of mercenary forces in Terevar. Both sides continued to court more and more orcs who grew into larger and larger mercenary bands that perpetually stayed in a sort of soft war. These mercenary bands operated somewhat similar to back home. Instead of a great Horde moving across the lands, they were simply in smaller units with each orc caring for his own equipment and horse. Besides maybe Centaur cavalrymen, there was simply no other group that was so defined by the warfare between the great plains between the major states.

The rise of Krare

It wasn't warfare that brought about the Orc decision to unify. In fact, it was a lack of it. When Venrir began its great decline under a series of weak kings, coffers for waging a constant brush war with Pronia dried up. Pronia, no longer wishing to pay for such a huge sum of mercenaries, promptly fired all of their own as well. Initially, there was a fear that these orcs would start working together to attack both nations. To the relief of elves and man alike, all mercenary bands immediately descended upon themselves in a bloody conflagration Orcs call Tek ni Guerra which roughly translates to "To War as One". Each mercenary captain had his own objective. Some wanted to make a warband large enough to threaten one of the major nations. Others wanted to lead an exodus into the Innocian Empire. Still others fought over good old fashioned loot.
Krare was different. At least, according to legends and stories he was. As the leader of the Steelskin Riders, he had already amassed a reputation for ambition. Instead of bloody wars of annihilation, Krare proposed honorable combat between the two opposing captains. While duels between captains had been done in the past, Krare would spare his opponent and have them follow him. Bit by bit and duel by duel, Krare (or his new lieutenants going out to challenge their own mercenary leaders) united orcs in the New World under his banner. This would go unnoticed by men and elves alike as they simply figured they would fight endlessly among themselves. Instead, a series of surprise raids kicked off the start of the Reclim Guerra for the orcs. Pronia would struggle under these conditions, but Venrir would utterly fold as they were on the cusp of their own great civil war. Within a mere five years of conflict, Venrir would secede most of its easternmost territory: the county of Bizec. This would be renamed Krare in honor of the orc who led them there.

Government

The life of an Orc mercenary unit alternates between fighting for anyone with cash and the only profitable profession in the steppes: Cattle ranching. Thousands of cattle would follow behind every orc Mercenary band as slowly makes its way in search of fresh grazing land. While some live in the cities, the vast majority of orcs roam the countryside, caring for beef to be shipped across the continent when they travel to the main port city and Capital of Krare: Shiethik't. Over a century of Independence has changed these mercenary bands significantly into quasi-tribal bodies. Termed Estancias by the orcs, every other major nation calls these groups by what they were back in the old world: Hordes. Of course, this implies that orcs are still to be treated as monsterous beings, a notion which orcs reject. They are no longer led by a warboss, but instead by a Patrón. However, a notion orcs absolutely still agree with is that they are quite warlike. Even as tens of thousands of them travel by horseback day and night, the Patróns can call together a meeting in Shiethik't for the purpose of raiding or warring upon a rival nation. This leader, referred to as a Porfiria is the de-facto ruler of all of Krare until the military action is over. This is the only time there is a semblance of a central government in Krare, as Patróns not on campaign serve as an ad-hoc legislative council for the Porfiria. Still, any Orc Horde can wage war entirely independent of the rest of the community, leading to all other nearby nations engaged in a constant low level brushfire with Krare.

Founding Date

18 Baed 1595

Type

Geopolitical, Country