Orccap

PROSECUTION: The defendant was found wearing a dark green orccap at the scene of their attempted crime. I will indicate to the members of the court that the defendant is not an orc, and therefore has no ethnic ties to the Orcish style.
Master Calan, why were you wearing an orccap at the time of the crime?
DEFENDANT: I was told to wear one as an identifier. Since I wouldn't, umm, be normally wearing one, I would have to be wearing it for that reason only.
PROSECUTION: Who told you? Who told you to dress this way?
DEFENDANT: (pauses) The rest of them. The rebels.

— A court document from the Protectorate of Viley

From the early beginnings of the Orcish race of Renath, they have countered the cold air of the mountains with large caps. Being bald in most cases, orcs need caps or hats to help keep themselves warm. As time went on, the hats became more stylized and more complexly decorated, and now they are a staple of traditional orc fashion the world over.

Design and Decoration

An orccap is meant to keep out the wind, and so it doesn't have a large brim and it is fairly small. The wool for the hat comes from mountain goats, so the texture is rather rough in comparison to other articles of clothing. The hat comes to a gentle point in the back, but otherwise is rather smooth in shape.
The most important part of an orccap is its patterns and decoration. Traditionally, Orcish men would decorate their hats with designs based on the number of battles they had been in:

• For no battles, the hats could only have parallel lines or no decoration.
• After their first battle, an orc could put crossing lines or small triangles
• After two or three battles, an orc could put squares and rectangles on their hats.

Other designs, such as animals and other geometric shapes, are permitted for anyone. Since many orcs no longer live in areas that experience open war, they now decorate their hats based on personal accomplishments instead.

An orc wearing an orccap

Item type

Clothing / Accessory

Dimensions

20-25cm in diameter and usually only 10cm tall

Cost

Very Low

A Signal of Rebellion

One interesting development in the usage of this garment is that it is no longer just clothing. Many groups among the orc minorities of many nations have begun to wear these traditional caps openly. This is striking seeing as many nations had once outlawed them, and a handful still do.
A significant number of these groups have taken their actions a step farther, planning demonstrations and protests that are largely illegal. In every one of these groups, specific types and colours of orccaps are worn as an identifier or as a form of communication. The exact scheme of colours and meanings is a secret to all but these groups, but authorities in the major nations of Renath are trying to crack the code.