Lore

What's the measure of an orc? On one hand, orcs are a race of large, talented warriors. On the other, when one looks closely at an "orcish horde" it is easy to find humans, goblins, cretox, and all manner of half-breeds. In this, orcs are a race to be sure, but so too are they a culture. To the orcs, that culture is far more important than any blood, and a disaffect human who joins a clan, lives the life, and attempts to tear down the so called "civilized" world is far more an orc than an orc who abandons their people to live in cities, dress in finery, and rebuke the gods of conquest and destruction.​​

Orcs are generally impatient and easily given to anger, preferring violent solutions and rarely consider multiple ways of approaching a problem. This attitude is reinforced by their religious proclivities stressing strength and conquest over anything else. Despite this, many orcs are excellent at getting results and pride themselves on being creatures of decisive action.

Traditionally, orcish culture is extremely warlike - when not at war, they are typically planning for it. Most orcs approach life with the belief that to survive, one must subjugate potential enemies and control as many resources as possible, which puts them at odds with virtually all other cultures, not to mention other orcs. This belief is spurred on in part by the mythos surrounding their god Gresh, and in part by the lived experiences of those so steeped in the cycle of violence that no other option seems sane.

Orcish culture is typically male dominated with women seen as prized possessions and sometimes little better than chattel, though this is not without significant exceptions, and most warbands do contain at least a few female warriors. Powerful chieftains pride themselves on their number of mates and sons, as well as scars from battles and rituals. Orcs also prize the possession of slaves, though relatively few own them.

 

Most orcs do not build cities or castles of their own, instead relying on those left behind by others and improving their own fortifications or operating out of small camps and dens, often in natural caves. Orcs are capable of iron and stone work but their tools are typically inferior to those stolen from other cultures.

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Quirks​​

• Orcs are genetically compatible with elves (including drow) and humans, producing half-orcs in each instance. Orcs are also compatible with goblinoids, with their offspring take after either parent at random.

• Orcs typically are ruled by strength. Challenges to leadership are often solved with ritual duels, with the loser expected to abide by the decree of the winner or face death - or by the challenger being beaten in the night by the ruler's loyalists.

• Orcs typically have grey-green skin, but it is not unheard of for them to have brown, grey, or charcoal skin as well.

• While the average orc is significantly larger than the average human, this does not stop the occasional much smaller orc from being born. These runts are typically seen as weak, and rarely given the needed time, attention, and resources to grow into their potential.