Orudei

in: Races

## Introduction

A nomadic people of fierce familial loyalty and cunning battle practices. These nomads are known for raiding into various lands for riches and supplies to support their nomadic life. Known throughout the world for their horse archers and light cavalry, the Orudei are a fearsome foe to encounter on the field of battle.

## The Basics

* **Appearance:** The Orudei are a people with a range of skin tones from a light to dark shades of brown. The vast majority of Orudei tend to have dark brown skin akin to saddle leather due to their long days beneath the sun. They are athletic people well used to the rigors of work and labor. Their hair and eyes both tend to be darker with hair tending to black and rarely deviating. Eyes are a range from blacks to browns.
* **Lifespan:** 75 Years
* **Height:** 170 cm (5'7") - 190 cm (6'3")
* **Regions Found:** The Orudei are a nomadic people by nature, but they have been known to travel the entirety of the south-eastern continent, visiting places such as Khemet and appearing on the outskirts of Nocturnum. Lóng-Qīn's regions are often beset by Orudei raids, so their presence is quite prominent there as well. The reasons vary, but usually it is a result of seasonal migration and conflict alike.
* **Culture:** Much of their lives now revolve around the survival of their people and their nomadic ways. Though they have a few sacred sites, the Orudei do not build cities or villages. Nomads in the truest sense, the Orudei travel frequently across their homelands. Hunting game from horseback and living almost entirely out of the saddle. Their lives are not easy and hardship comes frequently to the clans and as a result they place a great deal of trust in one another to help each other and support one another.
* **Common Character Roles:** Tribal Nomad, Hunters, Warriors, Raiders
* **Common Allies:** The Orudei keep to themselves, but they have been known to engage in trade with Khemet.
* **Common Enemies:** Nocturum, Long Qin, Nihon
* **Religion:** They care little for deities and gods and trust instead to the grasslands and the rolling hills. They see their gods in the blades of grass and open skies.
* **Views on Magic:** The Orudei tend to have a negative view on magic after their travels throughout the continent they inhabit. They distrust most magic wielders and sorcerers, aside for the ones they can sustain control over.
* **Government:** The Orudei do not have a traditional form of government like many nations of the world. While they consider themselves a single people, they are not at heart united. Born from the original horse clans of Lóng-Qīn the Orudei have varied clans at work in their lands.
* **Quirks:** The Orudei do not believe in those things they consider foolish concepts. Concepts of honor and respect for one’s enemies. Dealing with foes without trickery or clever tactics. To the Orudei winning is what matters, not how the winning is done.

## Appearance

The Orudei are athletic people who are accustomed to the rigors of their nomadic lifestyle. Like the neighboring people of Lóng-Qīn, their hair tends to be darker shades of brown, or even black. Their eyes also favor those same dark brown hues, though colors such as hazel and amber are not unheard of. Long days beneath the sun give the Orudei a wide range of skin tones: from their naturally fair and olive-like complexions to those alike to dark and tanned leather. In the Orudei valley, a long stretch of plains bordered by the forests of Lóng-Qīn, Nocturnim, and the deserts of Khemet, the summers are hot and the winters are cold. In the cold months, thick and colorful ensembles made from furs and animal skins keep the horse-lords warm and snug. In the spring and summer, those thick furs are shed for lighter (but equally colorful) leathers and animal hides. Silk, however, is rarely worn by anyone but the most wealthy and successful of the Orudei.

## History & Culture

### Culture

While originally people of the Long Qin, the Orudei have long since left behind their old traditions and attitudes on life. Much of their lives now revolve around the survival of their people and their nomadic ways. Though they have a few sacred sites, the Orudei do not build cities or villages. Nomads in the truest sense, the Orudei travel frequently across their homelands. Hunting game from horseback and living almost entirely out of the saddle. Their lives are not easy and hardship comes frequently to the clans and as a result they place a great deal of trust in one another to help each other and support one another. Though most of the bonds of the Orudei are forged in blood they are known to induct others into their clans if they have proven themselves of skill and merit. Loyalty to the clan is quite important to the Orudei and any betrayal of the clan is seen as the highest of offenses against the whole. While the clans abide by strict codes in regards to one another. Rules of challenge, protection for one another, even respect for men and women alike. Both genders are allowed to fight and war, in fact every member of the clan is expected to be able to ride as soon as they are able. These adherences to codes of respect however don’t go far outside of their own people. The Orudei do not believe in those things they consider foolish concepts. Concepts of honor and respect for one’s enemies. Dealing with foes without trickery or clever tactics. To the Orudei winning is what matters, not how the winning is done. Outsiders beset by the clans are lucky to keep most of their useful belongings if they manage to escape slavery.

The Orudei are prolific slavers, capturing others on their raids to be put to labor or sold to the highest bidder. They do not often keep slaves themselves as there is little use for large numbers of slaves for nomads. However they do often have at least a couple of slaves in their camps. Many young warriors take slaves to tend to their needs and wants whether those are carnal or more mundane in nature. Most captured by the Orudei however are likely to be sold to one of the nearby civilizations and most frequently the dark elves whom they have a working relationship with. Usually because the dark elves desire to reclaim their own after raids… and have found it the easiest solution to the matter.

## Government

The Orudei do not have a traditional form of government like many nations of the world. While they consider themselves a single people, they are not at heart united. Born from the original horse clans of Long Qin the Orudei have varied clans at work in their lands. They are all held together by the struggles and hardships they endured and treat one another well. Though there are always differing views on how things should be done. To satisfy all of the clans, the Orudei clan leaders created a system of governance in which all of them gather to speak on matters of their people. These gatherings are often a time of sacred ceremony in the way that Orudei gatherings are considered such. In practice however they are grand feasts and parties for the clans while their leaders discuss politics, leadership, and plans for military conquests and raids into neighboring kingdoms. The clan leaders of each of the four major clans of the Orudei, The Morin, The Numchid, The Daichid, and The Chono, meet and discuss status as well as plans for the season’s targets. Though these gatherings can happen more often than once a season, they are typically done at the change of seasons to determine a change in patterns and territory. While there is occasionally a leader named to lead the entirety of the Orudei it is becoming rarer that they elect a grand commander of their forces. Choosing instead to remain separate but still one in their actions.

While each Clan has a leader elected from their varied families, each family has a head that is chosen from among their numbers. These families are quite often made up of a core of blood relatives and all of those that have either married into the familial unit or been accepted by merit. These familial bands are in service to one of the larger clans and all part of that clan, working toward its goals and fighting its enemies. When it comes to familiar groups they gather to choose a chieftain among them. It is these chieftains that determine the course of the clan and meet with the other clan chieftains to discuss the matters of their people as a whole. These chosen leaders are usually the most cunning, intelligent, and charismatic members of the tribe. While not always the strongest warrior, the Orudei value cunning and wisdom just as much as strength.

## Religion

While the Long Qin have old traditions, the Orudei abandoned the gods of those who cast them out long ago. They care little for deities and gods and trust instead to the grasslands and the rolling hills. They see their gods in the blades of grass and open skies. The winds that carry the hawk and perhaps most of all, the stalking wolves. For the Orudei believe themselves to be the inheritors of the wolf spirit. They see themselves as a hunting pack, tight to family and always working toward the goals of the pack. It is no surprise then that when they worship, they pray to wolf gods and totems. While they see these ‘gods’ more as a representation of their own familial bonds and the way they live their lives. They still use totems and markings of the wolf to represent these concepts. Usually made from grass and branches of the local area in which they dwell. It is not unusual to stumble upon some oddly carved or woven wolf statue in a place where the families had recently lain their heads. Unlike most cultures the Orudei do not give names to their wolf gods. Instead referring to them as the watchers of the way or the guardians of the path.

## Perception of Magic

The Orudei tend to have a negative view on magic after their travels throughout the continent they reside on early in their exile from Long Qin. They are distrusting of most magic and of sorcerers in general. However they find those that they can control to be an exceptional boon. Healing magics and those that can affect storms and skies are the most favored by the Orudei. As a result of their distrust, they rarely allow sorcerers to walk freely among their people. Any who does practice magic is usually kept as some manner of slave. While those born among the clans with a touch of magic rarely seek to learn more about it. There have been occasional Orudei mages throughout history, though more often than not they are viewed even by their own clan with suspicion. As a result of their distrust, they view Angels, Demons, Elementals, and their offspring with a distrust only lessened by chains. Particularly brave clans or families have been known to keep demons or cambions as slaves, though by the nature of those creatures it usually doesn’t end well.

## Famous Individuals

### Dei-Nogai

Chieftain of the Daichid and leader of the Orudei’s most prolific warriors. Dei-Nogai is a warrior chieftain at heart and seeks to bring battle and bloodshed to the enemies of his people. He is known to be a gruff man who prefers to let his axe speak for him, often leading raids into neighboring lands with his blood brother at his side. Though he leads the clan he is known to speak very rarely, instead letting his blood brother do the talking in his stead. The pair of them are outspoken in their belief that the Orudei should claim the continent for themselves. Though the true goal of the pair is to eventually attack Long Qin itself.

### Odval

Chieftess of the Numchid, she is the leader of the most skilled archers and hunters in all of the Orudei’s lands. It is said she is capable of plucking a feather from an eagle while it is in flight without harming the bird. She is a soft spoken woman with a mild temper but has proven to be a dangerous foe to many who think her weak. Where the more hot headed Orudei wish to expand their territory, she instead counsels patience and a slow expansion.

### Altan

Chieftain of the Morin and most known horse lord of the Orudei. His skill from the back of a horse is known throughout the land. Though he prefers riding the open plains to warfare, his clan and their skill at tending the horses of the hordes make them invaluable to all. Like Odval he prefers peace and patience to outright warfare but is never upset to get his hands bloodied. His family is one of the oldest of the Orudei and his desire for vengeance against the Long Qin is strong… but his passion does not outweigh his reason.

### Gantsetseg

Chieftess of the Chono, she lives more akin to the men of the Orudei than the women. She fights and drinks alongside her warriors and wears her hair and clothing in the style of male warriors. She is known for her bloodthirsty rages and violent outbursts, leading her tribe to act more like savage beasts than men. A woman who prefers to fight with daggers to feel the spray of blood on her face when enemies die. She is a dangerous, unpredictable warrior who inspires the savage ferocity of her people. In terms of politics, she rarely involves herself, rarely offering her opinions on matters… which are always a push toward violence.