Orkfeld

**Orkfeld** is a nation in western Eukitia that has existed since the First Era in varying different configurations and forms, primarily inhabited by orcs. It was originally founded by exiles from the ancient elven nation of Wastlur for having violent and aggressive ways. According to the origin stories of many orc tribes, as well as many Third Era anthropoligists, these elves eventually transformed into modern orcs. However, opposing theories present hypotheses that the modern orcs actually attacked and eliminated the elves of Orkfeld, taking over their nation in their absence.

## Geography

Orkfeld is a nation covered in forests and plains unique to the nation. Due to the disruptions of Focus caused by the Draconic Cataclysm, much of the nation is dry and warm. The grass here is somewhat yellowish colored, and the trees here are sparsely covered in branches and leaves with dark brown bark. Orkfeld, by all means, feels scorched - yet life continues on here anyways. The life that survives in this region, beyond orcs and the occassional giants, is typically quite hardy and aggressive.

## Government

Historically, Orkfeld was split into countless different tribes that fought amongst themselves, until early into the Third Era, a fight was organized in which all tribes would meet, fight in a ritualized combat game known as Mormdam, and the winner be named the ruling tribe of Orkfeld for the next five years. This is more or less a title of convienence used to prevent tribal warfare and destruction in the region, as for the most part all tribes are self-governing.

## Trade

Trade in Orkfeld is typically based upon individual tribes. Most tribes do not seek to trade with the outside world, and instead will trade amongst other orc tribes. In this way, much of Orkfeld is isolationist. However, there are certain tribes who do actively seek interactions with cultures outside of Orkfeld's borders. For example, the Rotgut tribe is known for interacting regularly with colleges from the Maldoaravan Commonwealth. Other tribes have established trade with various other outside powers.

Outside of internal trade and the rare interactions with orc tribes outside their borders, occassionally orc tribes will raid outside of Orkfeld. It isn't quite uncommon for tribes to send bands of raiders to the borders of Rha or the Gold Plains Kingdom to attack merchant caravans and steal from them. The Goldenskull tribe in particular is known for ocean piracy, setting off on boats to raid merchant ships passing too close to the coast. While this proves an annoyance to neighboring states, these raids are seldom enough to warrant any significant military retaliation.

## Culture

The culture of Orkfeld is predominantly orcish in nature. Less a nation and more a rough alliance of countless tribes, culture can vary greatly across the lines of different tribal identities. However, there is some rough semblance of a unifying culture in Orkfeld through religion - nearly all tribes worship Mork, a seemingly ancient orc who was so proficient in battle and so violent that he became known as "the greatest orc" to the tribes of Orkfeld. The orcs of Orkfeld often praise and hail Mork as a deity of combat and destruction, worshipping him through combat, fighting, and each tribe's individual warcries. This religion and worship-through-battle is the root cause of what other civilizations often see as violence and aggression from orcs, however from their own perspective, the orcs are simply practicing their religion.

Contrary to popular beliefs, orcs are by no means not advanced or civilized. Many orc tribes make use of agriculture, and nearly all possess a high level of skill in metalworking and craftsmanship. The tribes of Orkfeld are nomadic in order to not overuse their land, and the orcs belonging to them lead very different lives compared to most other nations. However, they are by no means uncivilized or savage.

## Tribes of Orkfeld

The most important social unit of orcs is the *tribe*, a nomadic group of anywhere from hundreds to thousands of orcs who share common blood and culture. The tribe of an orc will often make up their surname. Orkfeld, being the homeland of the orcs, is where the vast majority of orc tribes are. These tribes are collectively known as the Tribes of Orkfeld to scholars, and the *Ork'Gah* to orcs. There are roughly 45 major tribes within Orkfeld, however far more smaller ones. The following is a list of the major tribes of orcs residing in Orkfeld, and their Common and Orc names.

* ***An'toor*** or **Risingaxe**: A small tribe residing in an expansive cave network in northern Orkfeld, notable for their isolationism and rusty red skin.
* ***Ar Adakh*** or **Hogaxe**: A tribe known for raising and farming giant hogs both as mounts and as meat.
* ***Azzu*** or **Stormhorde**: An extremely violent tribe who revel in massacare and do not fear death. They believe that, when one of their numbers die, they await to be ressurected. The tribe shaman is given the duty of determining whose soul as inhabited a new baby's body, so that they can share that individual's name.
* ***Barziid*** or **Silenttongue**: A tribe that refuses to speak, believing that all words are lies and preferring to prove themselves through action.
* ***Bhadd'o*** or **Halfland**: A tribe of exclusively men, accepting only members who identify as such. Reproduction is performed during biyearly unions with the Khagod tribe.
* ***Bhor'kar*** or **Cruelhoof**: A tribe that sees horses as the perfect beings. They are raised alongside a horse from the day they are born, training as warriors alongside them, and when their horse dies, the orc may settle down and find another job for the tribe. They are known for having the best cavalry in Orkfeld.
* ***Bhucrir*** or **Firstember**: A tribe that all but worships fire. They wear armor with spots where they light fires, put thatch in their hair to light on fire before battle, and burn all of their meals to a crisp before eating. The ground around their settlements is often scorched.
* ***Brikh*** or **Standingcrow**: A tribe invisible for the fact that its members are spread out across many other tribes. On the occassion two Brikh meet, they communicate using a sign language incomprehensible and invisible to almost any other tribe.
* ***Brorog*** or **Phantombones**: A tribe that, unlike most other orcs, prefers assassination to direct conflict. Their members are known for their stealth and subterguge, and the tribe is rarely seen travelling.
* ***Chegh*** or **Freewater**: A tribe that adorns their horses with scales from local wildlife.
* ***Crogrok*** or **Treecleaver**: Members of this tribe are tied to a tree upon reaching ten years old, while the rest of the tribe packs up and leaves. If they manage to escape and catch up to the tribe, they are given a name and allowed to join it.
* ***Daldrer*** or **Darkeye**: A tribe that is constantly migrating, rarely stopping in one area for longer than a few days. Sleeping is all done on the saddle and tents are only used in the most rainy and unbearable of conditions.
* ***Dharmud*** or **Moonskin**: A tribe that, for religious reasons, resent the sun as being evil. They spend all of the daylight hours in their huts to avoid it, only coming out at night. The result of this is uncharacteristically pale, almost white, skin for their tribe members, akin to that of the moon.
* ***Dhugal*** or **Nightant**: A tribe that decapitates its members after they die, placing their heads in a jar of goats milk. Once the head has drank the milk (in other words, the milk evaporates), it is buried beneath an anthill. The members of this tribe believe the tiny worker ants will carry the soul to the afterlife.
* ***Dron*** or **Blackbat**: A tribe that has bred massive bats over generations. These bats are used as mounts in favor of horses, and while they cannot fly while being ridden, make for surprisingly fast and unsettling mounts on the ground.
* ***Gaard*** or **Bluefeather**: A tribe that, rather than worshipping Mork, worship elder orcish gods. They consult these gods before making any decision, whether that be where to migrate or what to hunt.
* ***Gezo*** or **Magichand**: A tribe that regularly paints their faces in bright, vibrant colors, changing them to represent their mood.
* ***Ghorad*** or **Warmbear**: A tribe with the strange cultural tradition of drinking a massive amount of water in order to bloat their bellies, in attempts to appear wealthy.
* ***Gron*** or **Brokensun**: A tribe that is astounding at training the various beasts of Orkfeld. It is said that a Gron horsewife can break even the most unruly of beasts in a week.
* ***Hurog*** or **Bravefist**: A tribe that wears suits of bone armor made from massive ocean eels which they kill with their bare hands as a coming-of-age ceremony.
* ***Igo*** or **Halffinger**: A tribe that has a coming-of-age ceremony in which an individual will chop off half of their left middle finger, which is then flayed to the bone and turned into a necklace they wear the rest of their life.
* ***Irdaa*** or **Rotgut**: A relatively calm (for orc standards) tribe that maintains diplomatic relations to the Maldoaravan Commonwealth, offering knowledge of orc culture and goings-on in return for various academic services.
* ***Khagod*** or **Halfsea**: A tribe of exclusively women, accepting only members who identify as such. Reproduction is performed during biyearly unions with the Bhadd'o tribe.
* ***Khecca*** or **Gravescar**: A tribe who fiercly protects their stretch of coastland, especially from the Roggon'bekh. For each enemy they fell in combat, they draw a new, small scar on their chest. The more scars one has, the more social prowess they possess.
* ***Krigg*** or **Purebird**: A tribe that speaks in a sing-song voice, attaching a melody to their words to convey emotion.
* ***Lagh'tor*** or **Freebull**: A tribe that sees all beasts as equals with sentient beings and, as a result, refuse to eat them or use them as beasts of burden. Their diets mostly consist of plants, shrubs and bread.
* ***Luz*** or **Tallwatch**: A tribe whose males have, through selective breeding, reached heights of nearly twelve feet. The females of the tribe remain the average orc height, for unknown reasons.
* ***Nog*** or **Mistribbon**: A tribe that practices fighting with unique bladed ribbons, inspired by a brief contact with Suli bladedancers hundreds of years ago.
* ***Nurghud*** or **Rapidfoot**: An extremely isolationist tribe that avoids contact with any other sentients. Lookouts are posted in outposts built by the tribe, who upon sighting a sentient creature approaching, will flee to their main settlement so the tribe can prepare to leave.
* ***Odann*** or **Redsun**: One of the few tribes that accepts non-orc members into its ranks, often adopting exiles from other lands who have found themselves in Orkfeld.
* ***Or'ail*** or **Angrytitan**: A tribe who, somehow, came into possession of a Steelbound Titan in a Raider-type chassis, who they have affectionately named "Gorg." The titan, while mostly nonfunctional due to a lack of maintenance, still maintains its intelligence and acts almost like a paternal figure for the tribe.
* ***Oregh*** or **Falseeagle**: A tribe well known for its extremely proficient female archers and hunters, known as some of the best across Orkfeld.
* ***Qazzez*** or **Swiftash**: A tribe that actively seeks trade with non-orc peoples, adopting aspects of their cultures into their own.
* ***Qero*** or **Blackash**: A splinter tribe of the Qazzez. Upon obtaining firearms from trade with the Malkenian Imperium, the Qero began solely trading with them in return for more "boomsticks."
* ***Qo'ourogh*** or **Darksister**: An all-female tribe that abducts orc women from other tribes at a young age. They live nocturnally and, rather than having one sole shaman, all members of the tribe practice magic.
* ***Raccu*** or **Bigskull**: A tribe that, rather than their shaman choosing an apprentice of their own volition, organizes a chess-like game for all youth to participate in. The winner of this game becomes the shaman's apprentice.
* ***Raggal*** or **Dreadmauls**: A tribe that wields clubs made out of the femurs of their ancestors.
* ***Ralk'ir*** or **Firstowl**: A tribe that, among the normal Orcish tongue, speaks a dialect including many clicks and whirrs not unlike bird chirping.
* ***Roggon'bekh*** or **Goldenskull**: A coastal tribe of pirate-orcs that often raids shipping lanes nearby, much to the frustration of other nations but not enough to warrant actually stopping them. They take much inspiration from other pirates, including their hats.
* ***Rur*** or **Graygiant**: A tribe that historically allowed giants into their ranks. As time went on, the tribe largely became made up of mixed half-giant half-orcs, who stand nearly ten feet tall and have greyish-green skin.
* ***Udkerd*** or **Dustbowl**: A tribe that, before migrating, carries a jar of dirt from where their settlement was before along with them, which is then dumped where they next make camp.
* ***Vegavoo*** or **Freewatch**: A neutral tribe with one of the few permanent orc settlements in Orkfeld, establishing a neutral ground for all tribes to meet and trade their wares amongst themselves.
* ***Vunn*** or **Risingriver**: A tribe that migrates entirely underwater through the rivers of Orkfeld to avoid contact with other tribes. When they are not migrating, they often build large boats to traverse the rivers and coast, which they may live on for months at a time.
* ***Zaggin*** or **Metaldemon**: A tribe whose ancestors told stories of travelling across the waves for years, only to encounter a land of massive grey spires and fire-spitting metal demons. They now fashion themselves with armor in the likeness of these demons.
* ***Zo*** or **Fourhand**: A tribe which, for some unknown reason, has members who always give birth to identical twins - and as such, each member of the tribe has an exact doppleganger. They use this to their advantage in attacks, with their twins being trained in combat together.

## History

Orkfeld's history is one of violence and warfare. The first documented existence of Orkfeld originates from the First Era, when a group of elves from Wastlur - now known as the First Orcs - were exiled from the peaceful nation for having "*violent and aggressive mannerisms in conflict with upper elven society.*" These First Orcs founded the original Orkfeld as a result of their exile and settled there. From here, two leading theories prevail - Third Era orcs claim that these elves, over time, turned into modern-day orcs. Critics of this theory state that orcish culture is too violent to hold knowledge that specific for such long periods of time, and chock these claims up to folklore and tradition. These critics, rather, state that the First Orcs were genocided by the modern-day orcs, who had already existed at the time of their exile. They then proceeded to claim the land as their own.

Regardless of which theory is true, Orkfeld faced regular incursions from neighboring empires during the First Era. These incursions regularly shifted and changed the borders of the nation, and - in the face of the transition into the Second Era - saw the nation shattered into a state of near-constant civil war. This is where orcs first turned from one unified state into numerous scattered tribes, which then began to fight amongst one another and their non-orc neighbors. The borders of Orkfeld continued to shift and change through these wars. Inevitably, towards the end of the Second Era, stronger borders eventually formed around the neighboring nations of Orkfeld, forming a bastion to contain the orc hordes as they clashed with one another. From this, the modern borders of Orkfeld were formed.

When the Draconic Cataclysm occured at the transition into the Third Era, much of Orkfeld fell into disarray. As Focus currents changed to lean more towards fire in the region, much of the territory became scorched and hot. Food became harder to find, and safe water became more difficult to locate. This upheaval caused much struggle in the tribes, who became more violent as a result of the chaos. This spurred a three major changes in their society - first, the organization of Mormdam, in order to prevent extensive tribal conflict; second, the development of more advanced agriculture and farming; and third, the rise of a more nomadic lifestyle, allowing orcs to not overuse the land that they live on.

## Plot Hooks

* The Blackash tribe has been gaining access to more and more powerful weaponry lately from the Malkenian Imperium, but what valuables could they be trading away for this power?
* The Goldenskull tribe has been pirating Malkenian ships, leading the Imperium to consider sending forces to quell the threat - however, them doing so would likely anger the nations of Eukitia. Can this seemingly inevitable conflict be avoided?
* The Malkenian Imperium has been manipulating orc tribes to view the nations of Eukitia as threats, telling the orcs that they are just waiting for the right moment to invade. The orcs, in turn, are preparing preemptive strikes against their neighbor, Rha.
* The Angrytitan tribe's steelbound titan, Gorg, wishes to walk again.
* A tribe has lost their shaman before they could pass on their teachings to their apprentice, putting the tribe at peril.
* The Stormhorde tribe has grown restless and is attempting to stir trouble with the Firstember tribe, which could potentially lead to a bloody and dangerous war.
* A Gravescar orc whose entire body has been covered in small scars has been ousted by his tribe for faking his kills in combat.