Bargob

Bargob is a small kingdom in central Andara that is home to the orcish tribes. The kingdom was established in the year 14 AA, siezing the land from Humania in a conquest known as the Severing of the East. The conflict got its name because when the orcs triumphed and took over the area that would become Bargob, all of Humania east of this new territory was completely cut off from the main kingdom.

## Geography

The majority of Bargob's land cover is taken up by the mountain range known as the Great Stone Spine. Outside of this treacherous rocky terrain are grassy steppes and a gnarled birch forest in the west known as the bloody wood, which was the site of much of the combat during the Severing of the East. To the north of the kingdom lies the river Werg, marking the border with Warmwood. A small stretch of coastline to the south-east allows some of the salt marsh common in Shadowfen to reach into Bargob.

## Settlements

There are few large settlements in Bargob; most of the native populace live in close-knit clans that occupy yurts and huts scattered throughout the steppe, with the average clan rarely exceeding thirty members. A tribe consists of a few clans that have neighbouring territories and compatible ideals, but all tribes answer to Warchief Blagrudag; the Chief of a Hundred Tribes. He rules from Mount Gazhol, a heavily populated peak that sees the largest single gathering of orcs in the known world. Aside from Mount Gazhol and the steppe, there are a few tribes that live in the bloody wood, tasked by the Warchief to protect the borders in the event that Humania tries to reclaim lost territory. A gathering of tribes on the southern banks of the river Werg function as the closest thing the orcs have to a trading settlement, and thus the smallfolk have set up a trading post on the other side of the river and constructed a bridge between the two kingdoms.

## Culture and Tradition

Though the kingdom has only existed for a little over two centuries, the orcs of Bargob have a rich and vibrant. The orcs claim to originally hail from a land beyond the Dawn Sea, and the Adventus Arcanum opened up a portal called the "wound between worlds", and the pioneering orcs who traversed this portal were the ancestors of all Andaran orcs today.

### Religion

Orcs believe that the gods of their old homeland hold no power over Andara, and thus were quick to convert to worshipping a number of Andaran gods. As such, the orcs follow the wild faith, paying particular respect to Scoeth, mother of the sky. Orcish religion holds that all life comes from the sky, in the form of sun, rain and wind, which is why the sky features so heavily in orcish ritual and tradition.

When an orc dies, their body (or at least some piece of it) is carried to the peaks of Mount Gazhol. There, priestesses carry out a sacred sky burial whereby the remains are prepared and left upon the mountain to be consumed by mountain worgs and vultures. This is believed to return the orc's soul to the cycle of nature, so that they might one day be born again once their life force has cycled through the land to replenish what the orc took during their life. Because of this, it is seen as taboo for a child to be named after a recently deceased family member, as they believe it might encourage their soul to return to a body before they have given enough life back to the land.

### Marriage and Family

Orcs typically wed members of another tribe, preferably from somewhere far away so that they might bring new knowledge and stories to the tribe they join through marriage, making orcs stronger and smarter as a people. Marriage with other races is therefore widely accepted and around 30% of the population are in fact some form of half-orc.

### Hunting

Hunting is central to orc culture, and every hunt is seen as a sacred act that must be done with honour. Orcs believe that what they take from the land in life, their soul will replenish in life. Any kill which is not made respectfully, or in which the creature's body is wasted, will mean their lifeforce spends longer giving back to nature. As such, orcs make sure to perform quick, clean kills to the creatures they hunt. Additionally, they try to utilise every part of the creature's body, which is why orcish food is so diverse and creative. Orcs often use bloodhawks and wolves to help them hunt, and always ensure that their beasts eat their fill before they do.

The Fen Hunter's Pact is an agreement between Queen Olorae of the Underdark and the orcish tribe that permits orcs to hunt beasts on the surface of Shadowfen. The treacherous mire is filled with great and violent beasts that orcish hunters take pride in slaying, and many will use these hunts as a right of passage. Queen Olorae devised this pact as a way of deterring would-be invaders from the surface; as the orcs spread tales of the horrifying monsters they encountered upon the kingdoms surface, she believes that those with ideals of conquest become dissuaded upon hearing the orcs' stories. Since the underdarklings rarely use the surface of their kingdom for anything, this pact has proven to be incredibly beneficial to both parties.

### Food and Drink

Unsurprisingly, orcish food consists of a lot of meat. Orcs generally view hunting small creatures as a sign of weakness, so most of their kills provide a lot of meat. As such, orcs are masters of preserving meats through drying and smoking. Orcish jerky is unmatched in the rest of Andara, and keeps longer than any other kind. Aside from this, the orcish diet includes foraged berries and wild mushrooms. Traditionally cooked or roasted meat is seen as a particular delicacy, as an orc can usually only afford to consume a small amount of a carcass in this way.

Alcohol is a relatively new concept to orcs, having only been introduced in the past half a century by half-orcs sharing the cultures of their human or elvish parents. Nevertheless, orcs were quick to adopt the practice of brewing, and have since created a number of their own alcohols. Orcish beer has a strong smoky flavour given by the smoking of any grains or hops before and during the brewing process; smoky flavours generally suit the orcish palate the best. Additionally, some tribes create wine from foraged berries and mix it with small amounts of fresh blood from a recently slain animal. Though seen as a delicacy by the orcs, the unavoidable metallic tang leaves it as an acquired taste for most other races.

## Ecology

Orcs are far from the only hunters that live in Bargob. It is not uncommon to see a pack of worgs chasing down a herd of wild horses or bison across the steppe, with a flock of ravens or vultures in tow to pick at the carcasses once the worgs have had their fill. Higher up the mountains, mountain tigers prey on goats that graze upon the sheer cliffs of the mountain range. In the bloody wood, herds of elk and outsiders who stray too far from the paths are hunted by wild wolves that claim the forest as their territory.

The mountains of Bargob have a wealth of forage to reward the keen eye. Bilberries and cloudberries are a staple food of many birds that live in the mountains, and provide vital nutrients to anyone traversing the untamed wilderness. In autumn, the bloody wood is filled with mushrooms that can be used to bolster soups and stews during the winter months.