Orc

The orc are a sad species whose history is wrought with pain and suffering. From their squabbling time before Gruumsh to his dictator stranglehold to their current disparate state, the orcs have endured existential hardships, sometimes self-inflicted.

Gruumsh and His Influence

Life under Gruumsh

Their societies are sometimes patriarchal, sometimes matriarchal, but all under the clergy of Gruumsh, the evil One-eyed god. This passage from many mantra books of Gruumsh tell of his involvement in their lives:

"One eye Gruumsh puts on all those, true; every orc, their children, and their children, too."

If an orc professes a desire to leave the religion, the clergy will fall upon them and kill them or cast them out into exile. This process is seen as purifying of the clan and ridding themselves of weakness. The total dependence and worship of Gruumsh is so great that mothers weep not for their children who are expulsed from the clan, instead praising Gruumsh and his power. Although highly controversial to orcs, it is possible to severe the ties with Gruumsh.

Severing Ties

The way of curing oneself from Gruumsh's control is a sojourn for the intrepid. It is known as The Dark Tread for its disturbing challenges and the loneliness it conjures. Those who undergo it are known as Born-again (Zukarash in Orcish), for they are free from Gruumsh's influence.
Orcs and clergy of Gruumsh detest this transgression, tantamount to becoming an elf. Of the Born-again that return, half die. Sometimes, Gruumsh commands the clergy to seek out Born-again and bring them back into the fold or kill them. This is called a Birth Hunt (Zukharwa in Orcish). Those who are taken back are called Reclaimed (Degarsum in Orcish).

Life outside of Gruumsh

Communities

Orcs are hunters and gatherers and live in close-knit communities. These clans sometimes war with each other over grazing grounds or prime raiding opportunities, but mostly their bloodthirst quenches when they attack other mortals. Trinkets, armor, weapons, livestock, sacrifices, all come from raiding. When orcs are on a warpath there is little to stop them.

Unite for a Cause

Sometimes clans unite against a particularly strong foe, seeking strength in each other to take down an elven stronghold or walled human town. The use of fear in these raids is their signature. Rarely do orcs amass to huge armies due to petty squabbling. When they do, it is called a Nothoktos, "orc-meeting." Any Nothoktos raises alarm to surrounding peoples.
Despite the rarity, it has happened before in Belor Daeg in the hills of Cryhton. The orcs devastated the humans homesteads and villages, dwarven outposts, and, their main target, a few elven strongholds. They wreaked chaos and destruction until a collection of armies subdued the threat.

Use of Fear

Fear is the orcs greatest weapon. Taught from young ages to terrorize by priests and clerics of Gruumsh, they hone their craft on homesteads and outposts before tackling larger targets such as towns. Their tactics involve gruesome and ruthless methods of catapulting severed heads of farm animals or prisoners, setting fire to all exits, recklessly slaughtering inhabitants, and the dominance over the helpless. All this they do to project fear into their quarry, to withdraw them from their fortified places or to dishearten them into submission.

Hordes

When orcs go on a religious warpath they form hordes. These hordes are made up of the capable warriors. A rites ceremony is held where the horde dedicate themselves to Gruumsh, societally dying. Hordes must be done sparingly else the entire fighting population will be away and leave the community open to attack.
These freshly "dead" orcs become one force whipped up into a frenzy. Hordes are particularly dangerous as the bloodlust cannot be easily slaked, so often times whatever plans the authority had are superseded by the horde's zealous destruction.
The hordes tend reach a cannibalistic point where if they go too long without killing, they turn on each other. Most hordes in recorded history end in this way.

Subspecies: Half-orcs

Half-orcs are their own subspecies, being half orc and half human. Orcs either despise, envy, desire, or ignore their half-siblings. The clergy and diehard faithful despise them. A few other envy their freedom from under orcish rule and, presumably, Gruumsh. Some other clergy desire them for propaganda purposes. As one priest said, "Nothing bespeaks of Gruumsh's power quite like a Reclaimed half-orc." The orcs who drove thought from their mind simply ignore the issue of "half-siblings."
Read more about half-orcs here!

Naming Traditions

According to myth, all orcs' names are the perversion of elven names by Gruumsh, and as such, all orc names are created by Gruumsh. Many orcs take pride in their names, even if they don't know their meaning or origin.

Generate Orcish Names

Genetic Descendants

• Half-orc

Origin/Ancestry

Cursed/sullied

The Dark Tread

The ritual the Dark Tread is a orcish trial that break their spiritual tie with Gruumsh