Overview[]
The savage orcs are infamous for their cruelty, dark mysticism, and seething hatred for all other races. The orcs have existed for thousands upon thousands of years, predating all other mortal races. Indeed they are the progenitor race from which all other meta humans evolved.
The story goes something like this, a story known by every warchief, every shaman, every warrior, and every child who would even think of calling themselves an Orc.
"In a time long, long since passed, a time before the trees, before the rocks, before the earth beneath our very feet, Kot'rogar and Orvar, the moon and the sun, were locked in a duel to the death. They fought with long, serpentine blades of stars, the moon's graceful strikes and parries matched with the unrelenting brutal strength of the sun. The battle went back and forth, back and forth. For a moment, Kot'rogar gained the upper hand, its blade pluging into Orvar's side, a torrent of earth spilled from the wound. And thus, Oshu'gun, the ground beneath our feet was born. The sun struck back, slicing open the moon's belly, thin wispy clouds spilled forth, swirling around the newly born world, forming the sky. In its death throes, the moon managed to score a final blow, piercing the sun's skull. From its brain, the first of the Kraar lept forth. The first Orcs. The Orcs found themselves on the virgin soil and lived in peace for generations, thriving under the celestial corpses of Kot'rogar and Orvar. Many years passed, a pair of twins were born, Oggum'rul and Kor'tar . Oggum'rul claimed that the sun, Orvar, had been the aggressor in the conflict, that Kot'rogar, the moon, had been wrongly murdered, and that the Kraar should honor its grace and strive towards that. Kor'tar preached just the opposite, revering the sun and its undying, raw strength. Each of the brothers gathered a large following, and the conflict between their beliefs plunged their tribes into combat once more, just as the sun and the moon had so many years ago. The battle was a stalemate. Eventually, the two tribes came to an agreement. They would separate, forever enemies. Oggum'rul went south, into the thick jungles of Kamramm and founded the Sultusk empire. Kor'tar took his people west, to the plains of Om'riggor, and founded the Warsong Clan.
Remember this story always. Though the glory of bloodshed may please the Celestials.
Often what the pleases the Celestials is not what is best for the Kraar."
Warsong Society[]
The Warsong on the plains of Om'riggor grew in close contact with the other metahuman races.
As a result they are significantly more reasonable and less dangerous than the Sultusk.
However, that does not mean the Warsong are not incredibly xenophobic. The Warsong will allow peaceful travellers to pass through their lands, though they offer little protection from "Independent Highway Bandits" (Known colloquially as Gib'sins, usually government organized raiding parties.) They inherently distrust humans especially, given their expansionist tendancies and eyes on the fertile land of Om'riggor.
The Warsong revere the sun's strength, and strive for physical perfection and perfection of their honor. The clan reveres the family, to die fighting for one's family or, even better, one's clan or empire is the greatest honor any Orc could hope to achieve.
They are fiercely shamanistic, revering the elements as a direct gift from Orvar.
Men and women are considered equal, for the most part, all that determines an individual's worth is what they can give to the clan.
The clan gets its name from their high pitched battlecries and the songs they sing of past battles.
Warsong Physiology[]
When one thinks of orc, they think of the quniessential Warsong orc.
Big, green, brutish, violent. They reach sizes up to 8 feet and weigh, on average 350 pounds.
Warsong society promotes the perfection of one's body and mind, so they can often be found training themselves to reach physical peak, regardless of occupation or gender.
Only the most ancient of shaman and the youngest of children lack rippling muscles.
They do not live very long, the oldest recorded Warsong orc being only seventy years old.
Sultusk Society[]
The Sultusk in the southern jungles took a far different path. Dense forest isolated them from other races,
causing them to grow more and more primal and inwardly focused.
The Sultusk, above all else, fear outsiders, a human wandering into Sultusk lands would likely be ambushed and torn to shreds almost instantly. They believe that they are above all other races, that the orcs were the progenitors to which all other races should pay homage, that they are to the humans and elves as the Celestials are to the Orcs. Sultusk orcs strive for mental perfection, for knowlege, and store a vast amount of ancient arcane scripture in their massive, underground libraries.
An extremely hierarchical society, the Sultusk are built on a very rigorous caste system.
The Sheyla are at the top, they are the priests, the scholars, the mages, they are said to have direct contact with the Spirit World and with Kot'rogar. They are extremely adept at their magical craft, their magical ability rivaling even the most powerful human archmage.
The Kutiko reside in the middle. The warriors, the grunts. They are the arms, the fists of the Shelya, and carry out their orders without question or hesitation. They have some magical power, weaving it in with graceful blade mastery, their magical ability is about on par with the average human mage.
The Kiruja lay at the bottom. Laborers. Peons. The feet of the Sutusk upon which they stand and step, but without them they could not walk.
And finally, Ngi'zo. Outsiders. The worms beneath the earth. Not fit even to be trodden upon.
Sultusk Physiology[]
Very few outsiders have actually seen a Sultusk orc. What little we know of them comes from observation of
one of the only docile Sultusks, Zuni the Wanderer.
From what we can observe, the Sultusk are far less physical than their Warsong counterparts, their limbs are long and lanky, skin pale as the light of the Moon. They are shorter than the Warsong, only standing about seven feet in height, and weighing a paltry 200 pounts.
How rapidly they age is almost entirely unknown, the Wanderer claims to have been alive for over 200 years, though there is no way to verify this.
Their magical affinity has caused some of their more powerful members to glow faintly with pale white light. Colloquially this is known as the 'Moon's Kiss'.
More information will be added as more is learned about the reclusive tribe.