Scro
The Scro are a major spacefaring organization consisting of an alliance of primarily orcs, kobolds, goblinoids, and ogres, along with others. They are unified in their hatred of the Imperial Elven Navy (IEN) and the desire to see themselves as the new hegemonic protectors of wildspace.
Though unable to achieve their long-sought after victory over the IEN during the Second Unhuman War, the Scro have established themselves as a true force to be reckoned with, boasting arguably the most disciplined military force in wildspace.
History
Foundation
In the last days of the First Unhuman War, the orc warchief Dukagsh recognized that victory for the Imperial Elven Navy was all but certain. With a small ragtag fleet of the various races subject to the IEN's wrath, Dukagsh found and settled on a planet on the outer edges of the Known Spheres. There, Dukagsh and his followers remained hidden from the IEN's patrols and the Great Hunt that followed the First Unhuman War, where elven vessels hunted down any remnants of their enemies' fleets they could fine. On their new homeworld, Dukagsh began radically altering the society of the various peoples he commanded. He came to the conclusion that orcs, ogres, kobolds, and goblinoids could never have won the First Unhuman War. They were too disjointed, both inter and intraracially, too willing to resort to brutality for brutalities sake, and lacked the advanced strategies the IEN was known for. Burning for revenge against the IEN, Dukagsh taught his followers how to adapt, organize and discipline themselves. To symbolize this radical tranformation of culture and philosophy, Dukagash called his followers the Scro, literally turning the word orc backwards. Though originally meant as a term for Dukagsh's orc followers, the term Scro soon applied to all those who adopted his teachings. Crowning himself the Almighty Leader of the Scro, Dukagsh began instilling in his followers discipline and rigor in all aspects of life. Everything Scro did was expected to be for the betterment of the greater people. Strict gender roles were instituted and enforced to ensure that women spent the majority of their time caring for and rearing children to replace those lost from the Unhuman War. As the population ballooned and grew more stable, tehse gendered restrictions were relaxed. In addition, Scro were dispatched on covert missions to retrieve technology and debris to better their own understanding of other races' technology and to rebuild their decimated fleets. Upon his death in 1108, Dukagsh was said to have proudly stated that the Scro were on the path to victory. When he died, his body was entombed above the Scro homeworld's northern pole so that he could always look over the people he had formed. That world was also renamed Dukagsh in his honor.Growth
Contrary to some fear, Dukagsh's death did not fracture the Scro. Instead, his followers continued to follow his lessons and expand their knowledge and martial prowess. Over time, Dukagsh became more revered in death than he was in life, rising to the status of a diety that all Scor worship devoutly. Having grown larger in number and organized, the time soon came for the Scro to expand off world. Beginning first with colonizations and then later recruitment, the Scro's ordered way of life and worship of Dukagsh began spreading along the borders of the Known Spheres, taking pains to stay under the radar of the ever vigilant Imperial Elven Navy. This expansion also involved furhter infiltration of the greater spacefaring community for the purposes of studying current technological advancements and retrieving stores of weapons and equipment that had been abndoned during the First Unhuman War and hadn't been destroyed, including, by rumor, a few witchlight marauders. The Scro also went to great pains to hide the location of their capital Dukagsh, leading most spacefarers interacting with the unusually disciplined orcs and goblinoids to believe them to be part of a small clan.The Second Unhuman War
Though the outbreak of the Second Unhuman War officially began with the Battle of Lar, it had in truth been going on for years prior, even if the Imperial Elven Navy did not know it. Secret Scro bases began picking off lone IEN vessels and bases, staging them to look like bandits or raiders, subtly weakening IEN forces without raising any alarm. It wasn't until the 1479 Battle of Lar that the IEN started taking the incursion seriously, and even then it wasn't clear who or what these new attackers were. For the first official year of the war, Scro won victory after victory. The IEN began employing mercenary groups on espionage missions to uncover what information they could about the Scro and started mobilizing their forces in earnest. For their part, the Scro Tarantula Fleet had driven the elves entirely out of two crystal spheres and nearly conquered an elven world in a third before they were unwittingly noticed by the Rock of Bral, which passed word to the IEN. This unexpected windfall allowd the IEN to pursue the Tarantula Fleet, forcing heavy losses on the Scro even as the elves suffered as well. But more important than the vessels was the information on Scro battle tactics and beliefs that the IEN began learning. The Scro were not finished however, adding the remaining inhabitants of the planet Borka, destroyed by the IEN during the First Unhuman War, to their number and invading Armistice, freeing their long-suffering kin who had been exiled to the barren ice world four centuries previous. Bolstered by the grateful new recruits, the Scro and IEN fought for hours above the skies of Armistice. During the battle, it was reported but never verified that the Scro unleashed witchlight marauder tertiaries on elven Man-O-Wars, but this was never confirmed by the IEN. However, as the elves began to mobilize, the Scro began taking more and more losses. As efficient as the Scro were at fighting and countering elven tactics, the elves still possessed superior resources and alliances with other spacefaring communities. Near the ending stages of the war, Tarantula Fleet, the Scro's most successful, was ultimately destroyed in Gardenspace, while the promise of reinforcements from Armistice were dashed when the IEN retook control of Winterspace, destroying the burgeoning fleet gathering there. With little hope of victory, the Scro agreed the negotiate a cease-fire with the IEN, which was accepted.Present Day
Though the IEN "won" the Second Unhuman War, the Scro's repeated military successes damaged the elven fleet the worst it had ever been in centuries. The Scro meanwhile had lost many of their spelljammers and the element of suprise, but had firmly established themselves as a true spacefaring military to be reckoned with. Though the Scro and IEN are currently engaged in a truce, it is a tense one, and knowledge that the Scro can both recruit and breed faster than the elves has left the future of wildspace hegemony uncertain.Demography and Population
Government
The Scro are led by the Ultimate High Overlord and their council of 24 Alimighty Leaders, who each adopted the title the Scro founder Dukagsh gave to himself. Each of the Almighty Leaders heads one of the 24 Scro clans, which are themselves placed in a linear hierarchy of social rank, which can be adjusted as tribes rise and fall in favor. The Ultimate High Overlord is chosen for life by the Alimighty Leaders upon the death of the previous one.Demographics
Scro that are not actively in the military are referred to as the Goruruk. These can be individuals who either were unable to serve for one reason or another or had highly desirable civilian skills, be it engineering, farming, research, and so on. While the military is the most revered career path in Scro society, there is no shame in not fighting so long as one lives to better the Scro people and their condition. Scro workers are paid reasonably well, and the most demeaning and brutal labor is often saved for those captured in battle or from raids. The core races that make up the Scro are the orcs, ogres, kobolds, hobgoblins, goblins, and bugbears. Though united in common purpose, interraacial fueding is not uncommon, especially between goblins and kobolds and orcs and hobgoblins. While at times difficult, serious infighting between Scro is heavily frowned upon and disciplined. There are other races that have joined the Scro for one reason or another. Bionids, elven biologically enhanced warriors from the First Unhuman War, were largely cast out of elven society after that war's end. Some bionids, angered at their abandonment, have joined the Scro, though the elven bionids generally remain in their combat form so as not to be mistaken for a member of the IEN. Others, like humans, have often worked with the Scro as mercenaries or temporary allies, and it is not uncommon to find a few that have been drawn to the Scro's disciplined and militaristic way of life. However, these minority races are not represented in the highest levels of Scro governance. Polygamy is also a standard of Scro socities, a result of the peoples' early need to rapidly grow their population to replace those lost in the First Unhuman War. Though monogamy isn't discouraged, it is not the norm.Military
High Command
The Scro's military is comprised of the Scro Navy and the Scro Marines, both of which are led by the Scro High Command, a council of the seven most experienced admirals and generals the Scro have. An extensive staff of naval and marine officers assists the High Command in relaying orders, acting as inspectors, and serving as couriers to the various fleets and divisions. The High Command itself is split into four sections: Administration, Intelligence, Training, and Operations, each of which has an extensive support network.Scro Navy
The upper ranks of the Scro Navy are dominated by a collection of war priests, who are also capable of using the spelljamming helms required to pilot their vessels. In fact, the helm room for nearly all Scro vessels doubles as a shrine to Dukagsh and non-priests are barred from entry. War priests also generally enlist in the navy as lieutenants, bypassing thier peers. Life on Scro vessels are highly regimented, with each crewmate assigned to either weapon or sail crews and one of three watches. The ships themselves are organized into fleets generall named after the fleet's flagship, (such as the flagship Tarantula commanding the Tarantula Fleet). Despite the centuries since the First Unhuman War, the Scro Navy remains generally smaller than that of the IEN. Scro fleets make up for this difference through the recruitment of mercenaries and other allies. However, allies and mercenaries never serve aboard Scro vessels directly and are only allowed to board as passengers. Due to the destruction of so many of the Scro races' spelljammers during the First Unhuman War, Scro ships can be found in all makes and models. While the Scro have also designed their own spelljammers, such as the Mantis and the Battlewagon command vessel, Scro fleets often have to make do with whichever ships they have access to.Scro Marines
The Marines are the junior of the two military divisions, meaning that a naval officer outranks a marine officer of equivilent standing. Marines often view their naval superiors with contempt and suspicion, especially due to the navy's strong association to magic users with its war priests, leading to divisional rivalries. Despite this, the marines work hand in hand with the navy, and each fleet typically has a marine general and an accompanying battalion with them. Marine battalions are made up of 4 companies, which are in turn made up of 4 platoons each with 4 squads.Vozagogat
The Vozagogat are an order of half-orc and human spies and assassins. Understanding the need for subterfuge in war, the Vozagogat were selectively bred over centuries to lose their orcish traits, allowing them to seamlessly blend in to non-Scro society. Each member of the Vozagogat are raised from birth to be carefully indoctrinated in the teachings of Dukagsh, believing themselves to be great matyrs for the Scro cause. They number less than a thousand, but stories of their feats of sabotage and daring strike fear into non-Scro and Scro alike. Amongst the Scro, opinions on the shadowy Vazagogat are mixed. Some view them with contempt, viewing the need to selectively breed out orcish traits as a sign of weakness, while others are outraged at the dishonorable tactics the Vozagogat use. Still more are scared of the Vozagogat, recognizing how easily these radical warriors could be used to silence internal criticism, assuming of course that hasn't been done already. Outside of the Scro, truth abot the Vozagogat is muddled. They are objects of both fear, paranoia, and fascination, and the extent of their actions during the Second Unhuman War is unknown.Religion
The Scro by and large worship Dukagsh, the orc that founded the Scro and instilled in them the discipline they carry to this day. Though he died a mortal, he has been elevated to a diety in death and worship of Dukagsh infuses nearly every aspect of Scro society, from their spelljammers, whose helm rooms double as shrines, to their communities, where individuals are expected to regularly recommit to Dukagsh how they are working to uplife the Scro people.
Foreign Relations
The Scro have no greater enemy than the Imperial Elven Navy, the organization responsible for their formation. Since the end of the Second Unhuman War, chance meetings between IEN and Scro vessels and individuals is always a tense affair, each side holding on to grievances now centuries old. For most of the spacefaring community, it is considered all but a matter of time before the two attack each other again, dragging all of wildspace in to war.
Scro relations with other wildspace communities are more mixed. While the Scro profess no intention of conquering the Known Spheres, they do intend on dislodging IEN hegemony and replacing it with their own. Many communities that have long chaffed under IEN rules and codes are welcoming to the Scro's promised change of pace while others are more wary, either preferring the IEN's way of doing things or skeptical of the Scro's intentions.
The Scro also have an adversarial relationship with orcs, goblinoids, kobolds, and ogres that have refusen to join their ranks, viewing them as ignorant or unenlightened. Stories of non-Scro orcish mercenaries being used in recklessly dangerous maneuvers during the Second Unhuman War were not uncommon.
Education
Scro are generally raised and educated by their parents until they are roughly five years old. At that point, they continue to live with their parents but are educated at schools staffed by priests of Dukagsh with a basic understanding of math, science, language, and so on.
Upon reaching 11, Scro are given multiple aptitude tests and assisgned to either continue their studies at the Academy, pursuing a career in the military, the Temple, where they become priests of Dukagsh, or a civilian trade. These advanced studies continue until they are 16, where upon they are considered full adults.
Most Scro speak orcish, inherited from their orcish founder in addition to Wildspace Common. Most orcs are also raised to understand Imperial Elven, taking to heart Dukagsh's command to know thy enemy and so that, upon their defeat in battle, the elves can hear in their own tongue why they are being killed.
Demonym
Scro
Deities
Official Languages
Controlled Territories
Notable Members
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