High Forest orc

The High Forest orcs were a culture of mountain orcs dwelling in and around the High Forest in northwest Faerûn in the mid-to-late 14 century DR.
==Homeland==
The orcs lived in small villages and underground tunnels in the High Forest, located around two days' journey from the forest's edge.
The orcs of the western High Forest saw Starshadow Vale as their sacred burial ground, and in early times had raised barrow mounds along the sides of the valley's floor.
==Abilities==
Owing to their woodland environment, the High Forest orcs were skilled in forestry similar to rangers.
==Dress==
They often wore earrings fashioned of bronze in a distinctive style.
==Weapons==
They were known to craft daggers of distinctive make.
==Religion==
Instead of the typical orc pantheon, these orcs venerated a god of hunting named Herne, whom they knew as the Wild Hunter or Herne Hurkgruum. For his holy symbol, they used a single antler, usually drawn as a stylized pictograph or made of wood. Orc shamans of Herne commanded the spells of druids and even sprouted stag antlers from their heads.
==Relations==
The High Forest orcs counted rangers of the humans, elves, and half-elves of the region as their greatest enemies. They were not particular foes of goblinoids. They faced suspicion and even open fear and hatred in cities like Loudwater.
==History==
===Early History===
In the , Lord Erthaer Javilarhhsson of Delimbiyran led a host of soldiers and settlers in seizing the land of Starshadow Vale from the local orcs and monsters. Following the collapse of Delimbiyran into independent realms and civil war in , however, desperate refugees turned settlers hunted the woodlands to depletion, logged the High Forest at an alarming rate, and finally began looting the orcish burial mounds that lined the valley. This came to a head in , when, enraged by the desecration of their holy sites, the nearby orc tribes formed the Horned Horde and swept through the Vale, killing Erthaer and his followers before going on to ravage the other realms of Delimbiyran.
The tragedy repeated in the , when the Waterdhavian Lord Ornigar Tchazzam led a fresh effort to settle Starshadow Vale. They rebuilt the ruins but repeated the mistake that doomed Erthaer's realm when some ill-advised plundering of the nearby burial mounds enraged the nearby orcs. The Horned Lord and Tanglethorn tribes gathered in the Blackhorn Horde and overran the Vale, ending it once more.
===Modern History===
From late spring of the , High Forest orcs began leaving their homeland in great numbers and moving eastward to the Graypeak Mountains, in an exodus known as the Gray Migrations. Loudwater's citizenry were consternated and supposed the appearance of the City of Shade over the Dire Wood had scared the orcs, that there was a disease in the area, or that they were fleeing something or someone. Despite the fear and chaos, the orcs avoided settlements and violence and the majority of migrations were peaceful; conflicts and deaths were few, but notorious. A story went around that a Loudwater Guard patrol had found five families in a homestead east of Orlbar massacred by orcs and their homes destroyed, that the orcs had taken nothing and done it for kicks. Another version had only two families killed and all their animals, including the cats. Because of such stories, Blaz Merrymar believed the orcs killed his sons and nephews, when it was in fact bandits of the Hark. Local paladins, rangers, Scions of the Green Regent, the Red Fellowship, and even some orcs themselves voluntarily patrolled the roads to keep the peace.
Some of the orcs migrated to the Graypeaks, but others chose to settle in and around Loudwater. They establishing a shanty town in the south outside the Forestview Gate and went into the city proper to take menial jobs to make enough coin to support their tribes. When a pair of orcs were slain in the street outside the Red Boar Tavern one summer evening, High Lord Kalahar Twohands made the Decree of Reception, granting the orcs rights similar to those of citizens. Yet old enmities would not fade fast and this was met with much opposition and many still distrusted and disliked the orcs and treated them coldly. The merchants, of course, appreciated them as a source of cheap labor. The orcs, for their part, remained peaceful and considerate. Yet six more orcs would be found dead in the neighborhood of the Red Boar and left with a predictable message: "The only good orc…"
Continuing the curse of Starshadow Vale, in the , Daela Swiftarrow gathered settlers from Loudwater and Secomber and arrived at the ruins of Erthaer's realm on Eleasis 17 and began rebuilding. A small celebration on Highharvestide was spoiled by three settlers going missing, and their remains were discovered the next day atop a burial mound seemingly torn open by huge claws. Daela's investigation found an extensive network of tunnels beneath the Vale, inhabited by large numbers of orc wights. Over the next few months, the settlers were besieged by orc wights and a dracolich. Their fate from this point was uncertain.
==Tribes==
They included a number of tribes:
* Bloody Eye
* Horned Lord
* Red Stag
* Sharpspike
* Tanglethorn
* Worgheart
==Appendix==
===Appearances===
:;Organized Play & Licensed Adventures
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===References===