"I have heard that you have come far away, running long from the little men? I have heard that they pursue you like a hunter pursues a wildcat. Well, then you and we have accord; we are the same, and as such can drink of one cup, and sit by one fire. Let nothing trouble you here, least not the little men. They would not dare fight ten of our warriors, much less all of them."

-Shaman of the Gnarled Antlers Tribe, Vark-Nar Greyhair

Orcish Culture

The Tribal Warbands

The records of the orcs of Adra are spotty at best. The orcs themselves never were much to keep official records, instead relying on spoken word and oral traditions, open to change and evolution overtime. The other ancestries of Adra, those who kept such records, the Elves, and the Dwarves, had little interest in the 'lower races', and had even less interest in what they considered to be the lowest race of all. So, the orcs' origin is draped in legend. It is said that Arkomen, the Goddess of Blood created a race in her own image, and these were the original orcs. Alternatively, some believe that the orcs crawled out of the mud, a strange and anomalous accident, which then created the need for their own Goddess to unite them, and thus Arkomen was born in their image. Perhaps the Red Priests know, but they do not share such secrets with the common orcs, much less outsiders. Whatever their origin, orcs were quick to spread across the world, originating from, and then concentrating in, Adra Majoris. Hot-blooded and ill-tempered, the orcs did not make friends easily, and war was their original position with respect to their non-orc neighbors. Indeed, their prowess in battle may have led to an Orc Empire, had the orcs been able to collaborate amongst themselves. Instead, orcs were quick to form in-groups and out-groups within their own race, on an even more clustered basis than, for example, humans. Orcs formed tribes and warbands, and fought against each other, more even than they invaded foreign lands. The constant shifting of power dynamics and splintering of tribal groups led to great migrations, and orcs spread across Adra Majoris and Kelior. Eventually, with the rise of the Arissian Empire, the orcs finally had a foe that could unite them. The Arissians saw in orcs the perfect candidate for slaves; disunited political segmentation, no popularity among the established powers, and useful for manual labor. Indeed, it was the Arissian's hunt for orc slaves that truly birthed slavery in Arissia on a mass scale, one that would quickly morph well beyond merely the bondage of the orcs. This existential threat to their liberty was enough to unite many orcish warbands, and for a time, the orcs fought in broad coalitions against the halfling empire. However, this was at the apex of the empire's strength, and the orcs never stood a chance at anything other than prolonging the inevitable. Countless orcs were killed or enslaved, and most tribes within the borders of, or near to, the empire were made clients, expected to remain docile, and provide both supplies and soldiers to the growing power. The slave trade would spread orcs, and therefore orcish tribal culture throughout the world, in particular to Adra Minoris, where the Arissians built great farming estates in need of labor. Still, many orcs were freed over time, in the usual way of manumission, and these orcs often stayed with the Arissians, becoming soldiers, administrators, and craftsmen. This created a deep hostility in the still enslaved, and the free tribes, for those orcs that had betrayed their way of life; a divide that exists to this day. Eventually, as the empire's strength waned, and its borders shrank, the vast majority of the once client tribes became independent once more, and orc raiding parties swarmed through the unkept borders of Arissia during the Crisis of the New Era. In the modern day, the orcs have much returned to how they once lived, with most living in independent raiding parties, hated and reviled by many civilized places. Still, their captivity and submission to the Arissians has forever changed their ways, giving all orcs a shared struggle which they can use to connect with one another, even if old rivalries have returned to renewed prominence. Indeed, such divisions have paradoxically reached an all time high, with orcs being split between those who live in the old style - small tribal communities whose main sustenance comes from seasonal raiding, the powerful and more organized New Orc Tribes of the Great Khaganate, and those orcs who live among the Arissian Empire or the human kingdoms of the world, either as slaves, or as freemen.

          The Orcish Culture is one bred of war and hardship. Like many cultures that live on the fringe of the so-called civilized world, the Orcish have grown tough and tempered by hardship. They are reliable in the wilds, and easily able to take care of themselves while not at home. They have an affinity with the land, and a respect for it, but rarely a love for it; it is the wilds that brings wolves and monsters to swallow up your loved ones, and most Orcish are therefore keen to strike first and ask questions later when dealing with beasts and monsters. Normally they stay out of the worst of the wilderness, and shelter in large camps, often surrounded by a palisade wall, a trench, or both. The tribes that inhabit these camps form the basis of the Orcish political unit, and they are piloted by the two-pillars of the tribe, the Warchief, and the Shaman. The Warchief is in some tribes elected, but in many more fights the previous chief in single combat and wins. He or she leads the tribe in battle, and organizes its defense. The Shaman is usually elected, but is sometimes a hereditary position, and he or she attends to the spiritual needs of the tribe, healing the sick and wounded. Both together come to mutual agreement on all other tribal matters, and rarely come to blows, the Warchief fearing the wrath of Arkomen and Sorthal (or whatever gods the tribe worships), and the Shaman fearing the might of the chief. It is a deadly balance, but usually, it is a stable one. In a tribe, once in a millennia, it is said that one is born who becomes both the Shaman and the Warchief, and when this happens, this person, called the Hand of Arkomen, is said to never lose a battle, and to lead the tribe to glory on high. Despite what others make of the orcish peoples, they hold great respect for their traditions; they are chaotic in the grand scheme of things, for their way is the way of strength, but amongst their own, they see all as being ordered by the ways of their ancestors, for no other ways are to be trusted. This love of tradition is a much needed stabilizing force in most tribes, if not an atrophying one. However, it is only able to hold together small political units. Once tribes become large enough, usually over 1,000 members, they are rarely able to stay together (unless led by a Hand of Arkomen of course). Instead, they splinter into two or more tribes, who then log their rivalries in their oral traditions, told by the Speakers (the bards of the orc world) forever more. Some tribes hold rivalries with other tribes that have long since gone extinct, or live thousands of miles away; in the orcish world, accurate information is hard to come by, and tribes usually believe that their enemies are still just around the next hill waiting to get them. War between orcs is thus almost constant, only ceasing in the winter. The Orcish people also have little interest, perhaps due to their constant and unceasing warfare, for crafts or farming. Some tribes create farms, but often when they do, it is a waste; training farmers means not training warriors, which means the next tribe over who did train those extra warriors can just take your farms. So, the way of sustenance is raiding. Orcs in the far-off wilderness of the White Wastes or the Wild Steppe tend to cannibalize each other, and weaker tribes eventually wither away to nothing, only for the victorious tribes to splinter apart, and for the process to renew itself. Orcs on the borderlands though, close to Arissia, Oberbrücken, Zaltia, etc., raid the settled peoples. They choose one or two villages each year to strip of wealth and supplies; the lucky tribes pick undefended villages and live fat and happy, while the unlucky tribes are caught by disciplined troops, and are slaughtered or enslaved. Still, these tribes on the borderlands are rarely wiped out, both because it would be costly to do so, but also because they can provide cheap mercenaries for the settled peoples. It is often cheaper and easier for all parties involved to pay off an orc raiding party, and if you pay them handsomely enough, they can be directed towards your nearest rival, with little evidence that it was you that rigged the game. On rare occasions, orcs can even be paid larger sums to serve as the auxiliaries in professional armies, often sent in foolhardy charges as bait for enemy commanders. In even rarer cases, orcish tribes will settle permanently within the borders of a settled nation, and often form a symbiotic and parasitic relationship with their host. With their way of life, the orcish people would seem to be the spitting image of nomads, wandering the land - however, almost all of them are not. Nomadic life requires tending to cattle, which once again consumes energy from warfare. Furthermore, orcs believe the land they live on, their tribal lands, are theirs by right - their ancestors had lived their for a thousand years, and they should too. Their stubbornness to remain in a single area is often a weakness, making them easy pickings for any army that does wish to wipe a tribe off the map. However, it is also a strength, because orcish warriors always know their own lands better than any who would march through them. This tribal life is true of almost all orcs who live in the wilds, except for the New Orc Tribes of the Great Khaganate. These orcs have mastered the riding of Dire Wolves, and have fully adapted to the nomadic lifestyle, and forsaking the old ways. It has made them more successful than their kin, but has also caused their kin to hate them for it - for their success, and the betrayal of the gods.

          The Orcish people are dispersed throughout Adra Majoris, Adra Minor, and parts of Kelior, Qualaxi, and elsewhere; wherever their ancestors had trod, or their captors had sold them. They tend to live in the wilderness, on the borderlands, or far removed from major roads or highways. The races of the Orcish are most predominately orcs and half-orcs, but occasionally through capture or intermarriage, humans, goblinoids, and others can be found. Non-orcs however usually take a subordinate position within orcish tribes (as do usually half-orcs as well). The pantheon of most orcs is that of Sorthal, and in particular, the orcs worship Arkomen, who they take to be their patron god. However, orcs are often so geographically separated, that it is not unheard of for them to worship other pantheons. Orcish tend to be community-oriented, stalwart, and brave. They also tend to be belligerent, uncouth, and baleful. The Orcish speak Orcish, a simple derivation of Primordial, and one most non-orcs are loath to speak.

If you choose the Orcish Culture, you gain the following:

~Either a +1 to your Constitution score or a +1 to your Strength score~

~A -1 to your Intelligence score~

~As a known language, Orcish~

~A Sub-Discipline in every knowledge skill on checks relating to Orcish Culture~

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