The origins of the title of Orc Lord is shrouded in mystery. There is said to have been two holders of the title, however only one name exists. Gruumish, the Half-Orc that bound together all orcs and pierced the very flesh of Perun to forge a land, Bomor; for his people. However, there are also tales of another Gruumish that helped to overthrow the Lich King, however these donot seem to be the same Gruumish, or even Orc Lord.
Only Half-Orc shamans are said to refer to him by name. Most orcs call him He-Watches or He-Who-Never-Sleeps, and verbal accounts descibe him as 10 feet tall, clad in black plate mail, wielding a torch in one hand and spear that paralyzes in the other. With his one "unwinking" eye he is said to watch all of Orc kind, and expects fealty to all Orcish who die in battle, where in hell he commands a might army of spirit-orcs in an everlasting war with spirit-goblins under the dreaded Maglubiyet.
A violent, loot loving and ferocious deity, worship of Gruumsh requires blood from humanoids, especially elves.
For ages, the Orc Lord has been nothing but an old story, sometimes forgotten. The majority of the Bomor Tribes worship the Orc Lord as a deity, even though he is not within the established pantheon.
Quote
“I love cities. They burn.”
Usual Location
In The Underdark on endless campaign, or on the outskirts of civilization, probably but not definitely in the North or the West.
Common Knowledge
Orcs have always been a problem for the Empire, but not like the plague they are now. The idea that there is a true icon leading the orcs now makes terrible sense, given the number of villages being lost on the frontier and the increasing dangers of the wilderness. Most people think there may have been an Orc Lord at some point in the past, but only elves, historians, and people who pay attention to the world’s real problems are aware that the Orc Lord is a problem that has returned from the times of the war with the Wizard King.
Allies
The Orc Lord is a big unknown. This icon has shown up only once before, at the forging of the world, so it’s hard to predict what he will do. Destruction is clearly in the cards, and the other icons are mostly sensible enough not to cozy up to the Orc Lord. That doesn’t mean they won’t try to use him to their advantage.
Enemies
The Orc Lord helped bring down the Lich King before, when he was the Wizard King, so there’s
bad karma between them. As a creation of the ancient elves, the Orc Lord has a special thirst
for the Elf Queen’s blood. It’s the Emperor’s duty to defend the Empire against the Orc Lord. And the Dwarf King takes the Orc Lord’s claim on the mountains and the lands of the North as a
personal affront.
History
The elves (or perhaps some rogue faction within the elves) seem to have created the original Orc Lord as part of a successful bid to take down the Wizard King. No Orc Lord has appeared in the ages since then until now.
The True Danger
Without allies, the Orc Lord will dash his army against the Empire and die before he sees Axis. With allies. . . .