Orcimar

The **Orcimar** (literally "People of the Orc") is the umbrella term most commonly used to describe the tusked green-skinned race of large humanoids, and their society that governs the islands of Sudern and Vurullus, as well as the settlement of Kurzog in southern Ghallen, and Orcalon in Netheren.

Members of any race who adhere to the teachings of the Orc can become "Orcimar", but those other than the original giant race, that is humans, elves, and dwarves, are called **Couveren** within the Orc. Humans of Ghallen and elven slaves of the Adamantium are especially susceptible to conversion, although it is not unknown for members of other groups to embrace the Orc.

Members of the aforementioned race born outside of the Orc are not considered to be Orcimar within their own society. They are called "Graa", which means "grey ones"; likewise those who abandon the Orc willingly are known as "Avrue-Graa", "true grey ones". Most Avrue-Graa are former soldiers and become mercenaries, and are considered by Orcimar to be worse than *avha*; non-Orcimar foreigners.

Members of the Orcimar race are rarely seen outside of their lands, with the exception of Ghallen.

## History

Before their arrival in Morgaea, the aforementioned race were once known as the voshu, which predated the foundation of the Orc. The earliest known voshu contact with Morgaea was when a colony of them had settled in the northern Welserine Wilds in **-410D**. It was overrun by fiends during the First Scourge, and it's presumably this colony which led to the fiendish hordes developing ogres. There were no other recorded sightings of the tusked race for another thousand years.

They returned as the Orcimar en masse on warships, called dreadnoughts, and arrived in Morgaea from the south in **6A30**. It's said that they originate from an unknown western land across the Delsuren Ocean. They once threatened to conquer all of the known world but, after several Crusades during the Orcimar Wars, they have lost much of the conquered land. Since then, peace has been made with every nation except the Adamantium; with whom they are still involved in a prolonged war for dominance of the south.

## Appearance

Orcimar are generally taller and more physically robust than humans. They have black hair, pointed ears, and tusks, and skin of varying colors, such as green, grey, and olive.

## The Orc

*Main article: Orc*
The Orc is the religion of the Orcimar founded under the Aveachas Ouhgran, though it is closer to a philosophy than a full-fledged religion. It governs every part of Orcimar life, and even the governance structure is dictated by its ethics. It gives every Orcimar individual a defined and fixed place in their society, either as a soldier (part of the body), a craftsman (part of the mind) or a priest (part of the soul).

## Society and culture

The primary symbol used to represent the Orcimar as a people is the House of Tides icon, meant to signify the inevitable triumph of the Orc. It symbolizes the Orcimar avrinavaus, the three pillars which govern all of Orcimar society through its three primary leaders in all matters of body, mind, and soul.

Duty is paramount in Orcimar culture, and their society is seen as a living entity, whose well-being is the responsibility of all. Each person is like a drop of blood in the veins of the being, and they mustn't do what is best for them, but what is best for all.

### The Avrinavaus

The Avrinavaus, or "Tridaram" in the Orcairi language, is the governing body of all of Orcimar society. They represent the three pillars of Qunari society, and create a whole; Vorkhim the body, Lorakh the mind, and Ariorkh the soul.

As the head of their respective paths, the Avrinavaus divide and govern all Orcimar under the "nation that must be". Since they represent the whole of the Orcimar, they govern those who have also been assigned to their respective paths. The Vorkhim governs the soldiers, the Lorakh governs the craftsmen, and the Ariorkh governs the priesthood.

This difference of government to that of nobility backed monarchies (the norm in Morgaea) would be fairly striking to a human, elf, and dwarf. However, as it can be said that the brain governs the body (in the case of monarchies) the Orcimar believe that other parts of the body do so as well, such as the heart and the lungs governing their respective spheres. They are simply part of the whole.

### Personal identity

The Orcimar do not have a concept of personal identity. While they possess names, they do not use them, primarily using titles rather than names to identify and present themselves. The names are in fact simply strings of genealogical information used only by the Avhoukes for record-keeping. Some of the name-titles include Rogdul, Vorkhim, and Argha. They do make frequent use of nicknames, however.

### Family ties

Orcimar have no "family units": they do not marry, choose partners, or even know to whom they are related. A father's role ends at conception, a mother's ends at birth. A Orcimar's "family" consists of their peers.

Orcimar usually do not associate mating with love. They do have the capacity to love, even having friends, and forming emotional bonds with one another; however, they simply do not have sexual intercourse with each other to express it. If they do, then they are sent to be re-educated by the Zemar-Roulshum. If a child is produced, the same thing happens as with all other Orcimar children: it is sent to be raised by the Avhoukes, evaluated, and assigned a job. Orcimar do not waste resources unnecessarily, people included.

Orcimar have been bred for specific roles for a very long time. Parentage is no longer the issue, more like pedigree. However, breeding does not determine a Orcimar's assigned task. If an Orcimar was bred to be a soldier, but turns out to be more intellectual, the Avhoukes may move them into the priesthood, researching weapons technology, or the Zemar-Roulshum to police the populace, depending on what roles need to be filled by someone with their specific traits.

### Reverence

The Orcimar are known to hold dragons sacred, and are called Taraski, "glorious one" in Orcairi. This comes from the belief that Avhoukes cultivate dragon blood within the Orcimar, allowing some to tap into combat abilities similar to Reavers. This, however, does not translate into reverence, as most Orcimar accept that dragons are savage creatures that have to be put down in order to establish civilization. It is said that before converting to the Orc, the tusked race prayed to animist gods, but such practices were outlawed by the Orc, and thus it would be against the law to openly revere the dragons.

*See also: Funerary rites*
The **Orcimar** call the Dreaming "the Land of the Dead". Entering this realm while still alive is forbidden by the Orc, and the Orcimar claim they do not dream like others do. The corpse of an Orcimar is considered an insignificant husk that is no longer the individual that it once was, and thus is afforded no special treatment, rather disposed of in whatever manner is most practical. Instead, their tools which they used to perform their job are collected, for example warriors' swords are considered to be their "souls".

### Education

Orcimar society is based upon learning as well as military might. Few speak the common tongue that is used among Morgaeans, and even fewer speak it well. For this reason, Orcimar often keep quiet among foreigners, out of shame; in a culture that strives for perfection and mastery, to possess only a passable degree of skill is humiliating, indeed.

The Avhoukes wield a great deal of influence in Orcimar society. As it is primarily a female gender role (as all administrative tasks are), this might lead an outsider to believe that their society is female-dominated. Orcimar do not, however, look upon government in quite the same way. The brain could be said to rule the body, but so too do the heart, the lungs, the stomach. All are part of the greater whole.

The Avhoukes raise all the children, give them their general education, and evaluate them. Orcimar are officially assigned their roles when they are twelve years old. The Avhoukes do conduct some tests, but nothing that requires a pencil. They also have something of a head start on the process, as they are the ones who control the Orcimar selective breeding program.

### Gender roles

Orcimar strongly believe that the genders are inherently and intuitively better at certain tasks. No matter how much aptitude and promise a male shows for management, he will never be considered as good at it as a female, therefore it would be considered inefficient, and a waste of resources, to place him in a role where a woman would serve better. Instead, the Avhoukes find another role that he shows aptitude for, and will place him there instead. The same goes for females, most Orcimar will find it odd if a female becomes a warrior. The odd, very rare exception is made however. A male Orcimar will farm if he must, just as a female will fight, depending on the circumstance. The Orcimar also have the concept of "Urothlok," which means "born as one gender but living as another". A female who shows sincere interest, and outstanding talent at fighting, will be considered male regardless of biological sex. For the Orcimar, gender is a secondary trait compared to their duty to the Orc.

There are fields like philosophy or sciences that make use of both genders, but even then, there is division by discipline. Men will do one kind of research and women another. The Zemar-Roulsham also count both genders among their ranks, but they too are separated by specialization.

## Economy

The Orcimar reject private property. They also don't have currency, nor do they engage in direct bartering: they don't buy and sell things amongst one another. "Merchants" in Orcimar cities have the job of making sure goods are distributed appropriately. They will however, trade with the rest of Morgaea in a limited matter. To the Orcimar, this trade is less a way to obtain goods as an opportunity to learn more about those who do not yet accept the Orc as law.

The Orcimar actively work to improve methods of production via research and borrowing from conquered people and neighboring cultures. On the other hand, demands of the individuals are quite limited, as having "more houses and clothes" would mean more work to maintain them. In the countryside, Orcimar houses are identical and arranged along perfectly orthogonal lines.

## Tuurm

The Tuurm serves as the Orcimar's military branch and are led by the Vorkhim. The Tuurm are metaphorically considered to be the eyes, ears, legs, arms, and hands of the creature that makes up Orcimar society; everything that one needs to interact with the world, and so most Orcimar encountered by Morgaeans belong to the military.

All Orcimar are given a tool which signifies their role in Orcimar society; for soldiers, this tool is always a weapon of some kind. In the case of soldiers, at least, to lose this weapon brands the owner as soulless, and one who is to be executed on sight by the Tuurm. These items are held in high regard, and upon the owner's death the Orcimar may take the item to honor the fallen individual.

In Orcimar society, females cannot be soldiers.

## Technology

The Orcimar are more technologically advanced than the rest of Morgaea, with the exception of the dwarves. Their capital city of Orcandar is famous for great domes and aqueducts, their architecture likened to beehives. They have developed an explosive powder ("garnlok") that is safer than lucenium-based dwarven explosives. Its formula is a secret they carefully guard.

The Orcimar cannons and dreadnoughts (or "floating fortresses" - massive wooden ships) allowed them to sweep across southern Morgaea, and advance far into the mainland within ten years from their arrival on the continent. The allied nations relied heavily on the Institute of Magic to counter their cannons, and on the Jubilosa Armada to counter their fleet.

The Orcimar had also developed a deadly poison ("tumn-konouuk"), which instills madness in the victim before eventually killing them. This poison can be inhaled, or put on blades to affect a target's bloodstream, however there is at least one antidote that can be taken preemptively that will reduce or outright neutralize the poison's effects.

## Magic

The Orcimar call their own mages "jatnavha", which means "a dangerous thing" in Orcairi. As the Orcimar believe that mages are ultimately unable to master themselves, each jatnavha is entrusted to a "Mabaj" ("one who holds back evil") who bears a control rod. The Orcimar do not blame them for their "defective" and dangerous nature, so they frequently pity and honor jatnavha, for lack of a better word. In practice, they are treated little better than attack dogs: They are leashed, shackled, collared, and their mouths are sewn shut. Should they be found practicing forbidden magic, their tongues are cut out to prevent them from corrupting others. The penalty for leaving is death, as they are assumed to have been corrupted by demons. The Orcimar view this sacrifice, this selflessness, however unwilling, as the greatest virtue of the Orc. Lacking proper training, jatnavha are essentially hedge mages, which does not preclude the Orcimar from usage of jatnavha forces in warfare.

## Outsiders and converts

The Orcimar view other nations as inferiors, avoaveach (literally, "those who need to be taught") who are to be conquered and "enlightened", i.e. converted to the Orc. In newly subdued areas, they dismantle families: children are torn away from their parents and raised as Orcimar, while adults are sent to "learning" (labor) camps for re-education performed by a branch of the priesthood called the Zemar-Roulsham. The latter appear to be reasonable if an individual doesn't resist their severe teachings, and a new convert, or couveren, may take a high position in the Orcimar society.

In fact, it is possible for a human, elven or dwarven Couveren to become Ariorkh, Lorakh, or Vorkhim, should they show the merit for the role. This is naturally less likely than an Orcimar taking the role, however, given their far greater numbers in the Orc.

Refusal to cooperate is seen as illness to be cured, and those who resist are taken to the couvethlok, temples dedicated to healing. What happens later is not quite clear, but it is known that the Orcimar use a substance called konouuk to turn them into mindless laborers forced into indentured servitude, or sent to mines or construction camps. Some would return, changed in profound ways, some would perish of exhaustion or starvation, and some would be slain.

### Golzarga

The Orcimar call outsiders *avha* ("thing") and consider them unfortunate beings who have a potential to grow if the Orc's wisdom is imparted to them. The best an outsider can hope for amongst the Orcimar is to be considered a golzarga, "worthy of respect"; a golzarga is a worthy foe, and one that can be negotiated with to an extent, but still avha regardless.