Orc

Orcs, while often seen as warmongering brutes, are far more intelligent and cultured than one may initially think. They originate from the continent of Urmmosh.

Life Span
Orcs can live to be one hundred years old, though with their warring lifestyles, tend to die at any age before fifty.

Stature
Orc males are massive and brutish looking creatures. Weighing in at anywhere between 250 to 400 pounds, pending muscle mass, and standing from 7 to 8 feet in height, they are not a small race by any means. Even orc women tend to be only a half-foot or so shorter and 50 to 100 pounds lighter than most males (and some of them are equal in stature to their male counterparts), having broad shoulders and muscular, powerful bodies.

Hair
Orcs tend to have coarse and bristly hair and beards, often black or brown in color, graying with age. Hairstyles have various ranges in length and wear. Some keep their hair short, while others let it grow out. Other orcs may keep their hair nice and straight, or braided or in dreadlocks.

Orc males sometimes choose to grow beards that are wild and untamed, while others prefer them to be braided and tasseled. Orcs do not grow much hair on the upper lip.

Eyes

Orc eyes are typically small on their faces. Their eye colors have a wide range of colors: Brown, Black, Blue, Green, Yellow, Red, Purple.

Tusks

Orcs grow tusks where canine teeth would typically sit. The tusks jut straight up from the lower jaw, or straight down from the upper jaw. Males typically have larger tusks than females.

Other

Orcs have the smallest nose-to-head size ratio, having small noses that sit almost directly between their eyes. Orcs have five digits on each hand and foot.

Basics
The orcish species originated on the large continent of Urmmosh where they developed physically and socially. Orc culture and their society is based entirely on one major concept: Glory and Honor above all. Orcs strive for glory, to become champions or heroes and be revered in the eyes of those around them. They do all things with honor, and bring honor to themselves and their clan. An orc without glory is nothing but a meager peon, and must prove their self worth in combat or in some other form. And orc without honor is often outcast to be on their own and usually dies in the wilderness. Respect is also highly valued, and one must speak with such if they wish to see the end of a conversation with an orc, or not have their family, clan, town, or nation thrown into conflict.

Family
The orcish family model is similar to that of the humans, but differs in some key ways. Female orcs are valued as fighters, much like men, but are also safeguarded as breeders, thus there is little in the way of sexual discrimination among the orcs: A weakling, and a champion, are such, regardless of gender. A Warchief reserves the right to breeding with all females within their clan, so long as that female is not married. Marriage is usually practiced to ensure that a male, that isn't of a leadership role, is able to sire children.

Children are carefully raised, and adopt their mother's surname. As soon as five years of age, orc children are trained as warriors and work for their clan as gatherers. At the age of eighteen orcs are considered adults and hold a large celebration to honor their coming of age, and survival, as many orc children will die long before this day. The orc is then given a new surname to recall a feat of strength, and to also separate them from their parents, as they are now on their own. Family bonds are very tightly bound, and an orc would gladly die for one of their kin.

War, Clans, and Kings
The orcs are a war torn race, one's clan usually in a perpetual state of war. Many battles are fought for glory, honor, land, or resources, though they can also be fought in retaliation to insults. The orcish people are divided into many clans scattered across the land, the most notable being the warmongering Blackblood Clan, the Honor-bound Dragonbred Clan, the peaceful Mistwarder Clan, and the dissolved, though once-legendary Skyrender Clan.

For many years the orc clans have lived together through war and peace. The orcs were once ruled by a King, or an Overlord, known as the Uru-Khan, but after a few short generations, the orcish nation broke down into a savage civil war over the mantle of power that decimated their numbers, and forced them into their Clan-style of living that they continue to practice today.

Religion
The orcs are not a religious people, and therefore do not believe in much beyond what they can experience with the senses. The orcs do not worship, or have gods that they serve. Instead they honor the glories of deceased orcs. Some orcs lived so greatly, that it is believed they were able to triumph over death itself, and Ascending into a superior existence of near-Godhood. The orcs have had many Ascendants rise and fall. Over time, there are three who have stood as idols to the orcish people.

Vraggnar Considered to be the Orcish Ascendant of Peace and Renewal. After his death in Asmalur, many orcs believed he had ascended and blessed Urmmosh with peace and rid them of the evil clan that had plagued them for centuries. Vraggnar has become more popular than all the other ascendants, holding many shrines in the orc land and is the only ascendant to have a temple erected in his name.

Lo'Khan is the Orcish Ascenant of Order and Power. He was the first Reyesh, and many believe he was immortalized for this.

Kraag is the Orcish Ascendant of Wars and battle. Kraag was once a mighty warrior, who fought fiercely in the orcish civil war. It was said that five orcs fell with each swing on his axe, and that in the end the only thing that could kill him was a bolt of lightning from the sky, the bolt of lightning was believed to be his ascendance into God-hood. It was the way he died that caused orcs to begin believing believe in Ascendance.

Emun'Durg is the Orcish Ascendant of the Hunt. Emun'Durg was a masterful Archer, who could slay the mightiest of beasts with only his bow. There are claims that he slew giants and dragons, making him the mightiest hunter Urmmash had ever seen. On his last day, he claimed he was adventuring to find beasts far more challenging to hunt. His bow was later found, Emun'Durg nowhere to be seen. It is believed he finally met his match, but his previous triumphs and ever-going drive to better himself is what allowed him to become a god.

Krull'Nuk is the Orcish Ascendant of Wisdom and Magic. Krull'Nuk was among the first orcs to use magic, and had knowledge of spells that was the fall of numerous orc clans. In the end, he had such wisdom that he was able to destroy a vicious disease that was spreading through the land. He absorbed the disease from the land, killing himself in the process.

Along with the main gods, every clan has a Guardian Deity, a fallen orc with talents that superseded their clan, and often died in defense of their clan, or in battle for them.

Customs
If an orc has not spilled blood for an extended period of time, they must become a Wanderer to bloody themselves. The time to become a wanderer varies from clan to clan, and the amount that the tradition is enforced is also varied. Orcs who return bloodied are permitted to stay. Orcs earn their surname at the age of eighteen, but they are also able to receive new names through greater feats of strength, thus changing their surname, and earning more honor. If an orc becomes revered enough, they will sometimes drop their surname, being notable enough to own only a first name. The same applies if an orc should be found dishonored: they will be stripped of their surname until they can find honor once again.

Orcs highly value life and honor, and so when an Honorable Orc dies their life is celebrated in a day-long event. The allies, family, and clan of the fallen orc will gather at the Orc's Clan's Hold, where they will share tales of their life and feats of strength. During this time the body, if it's in proper shape, is set on a pedestal. If the orc died a warrior's death in combat, their body is burnt to honor them, and aid their ascendance into the after life. The body, or ashes, is then stored in a Hall of the Dead. Dying of old age or from disease are considered less-honorable deaths, but that orc's life is still honored, though they are not burnt.

The orcs believe that Werewolves, Vampires, and other similar aberrations are creatures created by the Ascendants. They were created purely to be killed in battle, bringing glory to the slayer. Obtaining the powers of such things is a glorious honor to the orcs, however the orcs with it are removed from their Clan, and home, to be hunted down to bring glory and honor to them and their hunters.

History
The First recorded history of the orcs was the victory of Loh'Kan Warborn over Thromash Soultaker for the mantle of Uruk'krom. Loh'Kan united the orcs under one banner, and for the first time a lasting peace was made. It was in this time that orcs learned how to carve stone, smelt and craft iron, and raise livestock, and was forever known as the the most prosperous period in orc history.

But after the death of the Uruk'Krom, nearly one hundred years later, a war broke out between the leading clans in a struggle for the mantle. The war eventually spread throughout the nation, causing a war that did not leave any orc or clan unaffected. The war caused the death of much of the orc population, and would have ultimately led to their extinction. The Clans that started the war had died out, and the remaining clans no longer had a reason to fight. They cut their losses and separated into clans.

First Contact
It was an average day in Urmmosh when the seen the first non-orc humanoid. Three small, frail-looking creatures emerged from the woods, wielding ornate bows. The orcs stared, not knowing what they were, but held their weapons, anticipating them to be something like an Enderman or other monster. The creatures attacked, more of them spilled out of the webs, tossing nets to capture, and firing arrows to kill.

Thrasha Outrunner, an orcish message carrier, was at the town when it was attacked. She quickly fled to bring the news to the other clans. None cared, not seeing them as much of threat. One orc town falling in battle was not exactly uncommon news.

An orc named Verguul Earthrender was from that area, and had been in another hold for trade. The town housed his wife, who was now gone, taken by the outsiders. Verguul spent years searching. He finally found a camp owned by the outsiders. There were orcs there as well, being used for labor. The sheer number of them turned Verguul back into his homeland. He pleaded for aid from the Clans, though none offered it.

Defeated, Verguul returned to mining, taking on another wife to ease his loneliness. But during his time mining, he found enough of something that would send the influence of the orcish people into lands beyond.

Verguul returned to a Hold that had refused him aid, and this time demanded it. The Warchief saw this as an insult, and immediately bore down on Verguul with an iron blade. It was then that Verguul drew his weapons, a blade and an Axe. they shined in the sunlight an outlandish blue. Diamonds were a rare sight indeed, but no orc had ever crafted them into a weapon, as it was too difficult given their technology and their disinterest in mining. Verguul's blade rent the Warchief's blade in two, who quickly surrendered.

Verguul was known as the orc who tore his blade from the very sky, using it to defeat those who opposed him. Verguul created a Clan, using his new Surname Skyrender. The Skyrender Clan was made up of the strongest orcs in Urmmosh, who had left their former clans to follow this orc who's prowess in battle was unmatched. Verguul's Clan scoured the country and abroad, destroying their foreign enemy, who were now known to be the Elves.

Many concentration camps fell to the Skyrender Clan. Orcs were liberated and many of them joined in the conquest. At the end of the journey, all the Elves were driven back, and Verguul learned of his wife's death, but that she had given birth to a son during her enslavement. Verguul searched for his lost son among the survivors, but none knew of him, and so Verguul believed him either dead, or lost, and gave up.

The Skyrender Clan settled back down into Urmmosh, their task completed, but their battles were not over. Word of their deeds had reached all of the land, and many Clans sought to defeat them to earn glory. Verguul dissolved the clan, not wanting to plunge the land into another war. Verguul eventually died, leaving his blade to his Eldest son, Gurol Stonesplitter.

And so it begins
History in Urmmosh retained it's usual pattern of War, rise and fall of clans, and more war. But now it begins to be written in a different land. A few splinter Clans traveled into a different land, and began to war against each other.

Gurol Stonesplitter and his half-brother from Verguul's second wife, Vraggnar Bloodsplinter, vowed to find the lost son of their father. Their search took them over the mountains to the West, into an unkown land. Verguul's name was the only thing that their brother knew, and when they finally found the lost son of Verguul, they had found Grak'kresh Boneshatter, the Warchief of D'Arok. He had ended the war between a splinter clan of the Dragonbred Clan, the Earthcrusher Clan, and a splinter clan of the Blackblood Clan, called the Kraag'ishi Clan.