Orcs

As far as anyone on Iporis knows, **orcs** arrived fleeing from Gatsia as war refugees and started making their homes in the mountains and then spreading across the lands once their numbers increased. Gatsia is not actually their home continent, however. Their home continent is actually Byselon. Orcs spread to Gatsia, Iporis, and even Melaris. Not only have they spread there, there are orc populations that only exist there and nowhere else in the world.

## Stat Changes

### Ability Score Increase

Your Strength score increases by 2 and your Constitution score increases by 1

### Age

Orcs reach adulthood at age 12 and live up to 50 years.

### Alignment

Depending on their clan and where they're raised, it varies. However, many orcs are some degree of neutral.

### Size

Orcs are usually over 6 feet tall and weigh between 230 and 280 pounds. Your size is Medium.

### Additional Features

All orcs regardless of lineage gain the following: Darkvision - You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray; Aggressive - As a bonus action, you can move up to your speed toward an enemy of your choice that you can see or hear. You must end this move closer to the enemy than you started; Primal Intuition - You have proficiency in two of the following skills of your choice: Animal Handling, Insight, Intimidation, Medicine, Nature, Perception, and Survival; Powerful Build - You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

### Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Orc.

### Male Names

Deneh, Feng, Gell, Henk, Holg, Imsh, Kelh, Krusk, Mhurren, Ront, Shump, Thokk, Stunkbug, Gunkbog

### Female Names

Baggi, Emen, Engong, Kansif, Myev, Neega, Ovak, Ownka, Shaulha, Sulha, Vola, Volen, Yevelda

### Current Spread

Byselon, Melaris (gray orcs and descendants only), Gatsia (mountain orcs only), Iporis

## Description

Orcs vary in appearance, based on region and subrace, but all share certain physical qualities. Orcs of all kinds usually have grayish skin, coarse hair, stooped postures, low foreheads, large muscular bodies, and porcine faces that featured lower canines that resembled boar tusks. Many also had wolf-like ears that were pointed on the ends, similar to elves. Orcs were roughly the same size as humans and other similar humanoids, though usually robust and muscular. They all typically have very well-kept braided hair that can be done in several different styles, but are usually done up in a bun or a ponytail.

### Subraces and Related Races

#### Mountain Orcs

The **mountain orcs** comprise the oldest and most numerous of the various orc subraces. They are the oldest subrace of orc and are the oldest orcs found on Gatsia and their descendants continue to live in the northernmost parts of Iporis. Mountain orcs look vaguely like primitive humans but are a fair bit taller at seven or more feet in height; a rare few exceed eight feet in height. They have stocky, powerful necks, and their bestial heads seem to sit directly on their massive shoulders. Their eyes are always a deep shade of red, and their faces are dominated by porcine snouts and large tusks. Mountain orcs often weave braids and tiny bones into their thick hair, which is usually black. Their clothing is crude and primitive, often composed of colors like blood red, mustard yellow, yellow-green, and deep purple. They delight in decorating their bodies with scars and paint. They gather in immense tribes and are not nomadic.

#### Gray Orcs

A less bestial subrace of orcs, **gray orcs** and mountain orcs look very similar. The main physical difference is that gray orcs look more humanoid than beastial than their mountain orc cousins are and while they do gather in tribes, they are a nomadic race and they travel frequently. They rarely stay in one place as even on their home continent, gray orcs were rather migratory. They never formed an attachment to a specific homeland or place, traveling to stay close to their main sources of food as they are adept hunters. On Iporis, they tend to keep to the east. On Gatsia, they stay close to the south. On Byselon, they're sort of found everywhere. Gray orcs also don't worship the pantheon of their people as other orcs do and are considered atheistic as far as religious beliefs go. They are the only subrace of orcs from the original line of orcs that migrated to Melaris and all other orc subraces there are descendents of the Melari gray orcs.

## Stat Changes

### Additional Features

Orogs gain the following: Martial Adept - Because of your training, you can perform special combat maneuvers. You gain the benefits of the Martial Adept feat; Tactical Genius - Orog are master tacticians. If you miss an attack roll with a weapon, you can choose to draw upon your knowledge of warfare, gaining a bonus to your roll equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum 1). Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you complete a short or long rest.

### Current Spread

Iporis

**Orogs** are descendants of the mountain orcs of northern Iporis. They once lived in dark mountain caves and only came out at night, but have since migrated south to the mountainous regions of the west of Iporis where they call home. They look like their mountain orc ancestors but are slightly taller, with larger ears and huge pale eyes. They're also much more muscular and strong and live in much smaller clans. Their beliefs in their pantheon are also a bit looser, seeing their gods less as literal beings of worship and more as figures whose ideals are worth preserving and living by. It's more of a way of life than it is a religion.

#### Ogrillons

**Ogrillons** are the result of relationships between orcs and **ogres**. Ogrillons look very similar to orcs, but are often a little taller. Roughly 10% of ogrillons inherit the physical attributes of their ogre parentage and were clearly distinguishable from their orcs. Although roughly the same size as orcs and other humanoids, ogrillons are considerably stronger. Most ogrillons have bony protrusions on their shoulders, elbows, knuckles, hips, knees, and toes. They live in tribes and often cooperate with orcs and are regularly used by orc tribes as extra manpower. Despite little use for currency, ogrillons often consider gold coins lucky and most ogrillons carry coins with them. Although most ogrillons pursue barbarian or fighter roles, a minority choose to become clerics, monks or shamans. They are very adept in combat and are uncomfortable and restless if not in a battle due to the way they're treated by their orc brethren. Despite being used as extra muscle, they are not treated kindly by their orc family and are always on edge expecting a fight they have to survive.

## Stat Changes

### Ability Score Increase

Your Strength score increases by 1, your Constitution score increases by 2

### Age

Ogrillions age similarly to orcs, but mature slightly quicker, being considered fully grown by 16 and elderly by 80.

### Alignment

Ogrillons due to their place in orc society are typically neutral or chaotic in nature.

### Size

An average ogrillon stands at 8 feet and weighs around 400 pounds. Your size is Medium.

### Additional Features

Ogrillons gain the following: Menacing - You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill; Brutish Strength - When you roll a 1 on an attack roll using Strength, a Strength ability check or saving throw, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll; Ravenous - You require twice as much food as a normal Medium-sized creature; Hardy - Your hit point maximum increases by one, and it increases by one every time you gain a level.

### Languages

You can speak, read and write Common, Orc, and Giant.

#### Tanarukks

**Tanarukks** are the offspring of an orc and a **half-fiend**, supposedly. Most commonly tanar'ri demons. They are extremely rare on Iporis, but only fairly uncommon on Gatsia. They appear as short, stocky orcs with bristly hair, horns, or ridges along the sides of their heads. They display razor-sharp teeth and tusks that jut out prominently from their lower jaws. Tanarukks also have the distinctive smell of brimstone about them and have a limited ability to manipulate fire. They are nasty, brutish, and extremely dangerous fighters. In spite of their lack of personal magnetism, the tanarukks' instinctive ability to control flame leads many to become sorcerers. More still can be found acting as manpower for cambions and other fiendish creatures. But they most commonly aid their orcish allies on Gatsia whom follow the ways of their god, Gruumsh, religiously.

## Stat Changes

### Ability Score Increase

Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 1.

### Age

Tanarukks mature slightly faster than humans, reaching adulthood around age 14.

### Size

Most tanarukks are slightly larger than orcs and covered in muscle. They range from 6 to 7 feet tall, with some of the largest reaching nearly 8 feet. Your size is Medium.

### Additional Features

Tanarukks gain the following: Demonic Blood - Your creature type is both fiend (demon) and humanoid (orc); Fiendish Resistance - You have resistance to fire damage; Menacing - You are proficient in the Intimidation skill; Natural Armor - When you aren't wearing armor, your AC is 13 + your Dexterity modifier. You can use your natural armor to determine your AC if the armor you wear would leave you with a lower AC. A shield's benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armor; Unbridled Frenzy - In response to being hit by a melee attack, as a reaction you can make one melee weapon attack with advantage against the attacker. Once you use this trait you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

### Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common, Abyssal, and Orc.

#### Half-orcs

**Half-orcs** are the result of unity between the orcs and the **humans**. While not uniform, some orcs choose to live in the established societies and factions as the rest of Iporis while some human clans and organizations make peace treaties and alliances with some orc clans. Thus, half-orcs have a rather scattered connection to their cultures depending on the circumstances and the more common they became, some even established their own communities. They are not uniformly accepted by either side of their parentage and it really depends on circumstances. However, half-orcs have their own distinct culture separate from either. Most half-orcs have grayish skin, jutting jaws, prominent teeth, a sloping forehead, and coarse body hair, which cause them to stand out from their human brethren. Though their canines are noticeably smaller than a full-blooded orc’s tusks. Half-orcs, as such, appear bestial to humans, though amongst orcs are considered human-like physically. Half-orc hair is most often black, though it greys very quickly with age. In general, half-orcs do not live as long as humans, maturing by their sixteenth year and often dying before their sixtieth.

## Stat Changes

### Ability Score Increase

Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 1.

### Age

Half-orcs mature a little faster than humans, reaching adulthood around age 14. They age noticeably faster and rarely live longer than 75 years.

### Alignment

Half-orcs tend to lean towards chaotic alignments regardless of which side of their parentage they choose to lean towards.

### Size

Half-orcs are somewhat larger and bulkier than humans, and they range from 5 to well over 6 feet tall. Your size is Medium.

### Additional Features

Half-orcs gain the following: Menacing - You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill; Relentless Endurance - When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can't use this feature again until you finish a long rest; Savage Attacks - When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon's damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.

### Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Orc.

## Society

### Culture

Orcs are perceived to have poor temperaments and quicker to anger than some races. In actuality, they're just very honest and open and blunt and express themselves without much restraint. Some of their ways of expressing themselves can come off mistakenly as anger. They are, however, easily offended and impatient. Despite their seemingly brutish nature, they're actually very sensitive and don't take disrespect towards their people or their clans lightly. Orcs are creatures that are quick to answer a call to action and are not content sitting idly by.

They're also perceived to be stupid and unintelligent when this could not be further from the truth. Their bluntness and lack of tact comes off as stupidity when really, they just prefer being straight-forward. In their culture, it's seen as a sign of great disrespect to be dishonest or to refuse to be up-front with your true thoughts because it shows both a lack of respect for the individual you are speaking to and a lack of respect for your own thoughts and cognitive capabilities.

Their mistakenly perceived "blood-thirsty" and "warmongering" nature is also something that's very commonly misconstrued. In actuality, Orcs are intensely protective of their clans and their kin. They will fight tooth and claw to defend their homes and their families and are intensely loyal and devoted to their kin. They are also very territorial and inherently distrustful of outsiders.

Another very common misconception is that they're dirty and unclean. Orcs are actually one of the cleanest races, constantly maintaining their hygiene and health to ensure the longevity of themselves and each other. They're constantly cleaning each other and themselves, communal preening and grooming being an extremely important part of how they maintain their bonds with one another. To be unclean is seen as dishonourable and disgraceful and an insult to your kin. Self-care is very important to the orcs. If you do not respect and care for yourself, how are you expected to be responsible for the lives of your kin, either on the battlefield or in the infirmary?

This actually leads to a very little-known truth about orcs and its that they are nearly unparalleled in their medical prowess. When it comes to predicting, containing, and treating illnesses, plagues, and generally treating and keeping injuries clean and free of infections, there is no race that matches the expertise of the orcs. As adept as they are on the battlefield, they are equally if not more adept at being doctors and medics.

Orcs are also primarily carnivorous, thus smokehouses are a very common thing in their formal villages and towns. Smoked meats are a delicacy and in the cases where they actually have formal relationships with other more established races, smoked meats serve as a very valuable export.

### Ideals

* Protect and defend your clan and your kin at any and all costs.
* Honour in life and honour on the battlefield is paramount and to dishonour your people or act dishonourably is a great disgrace.
* You must take as much care of yourself as well as others. If you cannot treat yourself with the honour you are deserving of, how can you hope to treat others honourably and how can you expect to be granted that same honour in return?
* Lies and deception serve us no purpose, so we do not need to resort to it, even in the smallest aspects.
* Defend your territory and your home, for outsiders will seek to destroy us and no good can come from trusting them with it.
* If outsiders wish to learn our ways, they must abide by our codes and our way of life. They must be as willing to accommodate to our culture as we are to allow them to experience it.
* Act and act decisively and immediately. You cannot hesitate and you cannot stand by if you know something stands against that which is most important to you.
* Proficiency in healing and medicine is equally, if not more important, than proficiency in war and battle. It is more important to heal your own warriors than to destroy another's warriors.

### Pantheon

#### Gruumsh

**Gruumsh** is an orc god and a greater deity. He is envisioned with one eye by all who named him a god and is a deity mainly worshiped by the mountain orcs of Gatsia left behind during the great exodus. He is symbolized by one eye. Gruumsh's sacred animal is the giant rat and his holy day is the new moon. He is worshiped in orcish lairs where blood is sacrificed to him monthly. He is the unblinking god of destruction who unleashes savage multitudes against outposts of civilization. Gruumsh tells his worshipers to do the following:

* Gather and breed, and your numbers shall flourish.
* Rise up in hordes and seize that which is rightfully yours.
* Raid. Kill. Conquer.

Those faithful to Gruumsh were called Gruumans.

Gruumsh is a god of conquest, driving his savage multitudes to expand their power by whatever brutal means they wished. His shamans advised chiefs and warmongers to raid, kill, and conquer.

Only mountain orcs on Gatsia still worship him. Orcs on Iporis are forbidden from doing so as it goes against the will of their cave mother, Luthic, who wished for them to be free from his tyrannical reign and to devote themselves to each other and to themselves as a mighty people who have no need for conquest to be great. Worship of Gruumsh is seen as an act of disrespect and ungratefulness among Ipori orcs. Due to the magical imbalances of magic on Iporis, Gruumsh is thankfully not able to reach those on Iporis to bend them to his will. He represents the War and Tempest domains and his alignment is chaotic evil.

#### Luthic

**Luthic** is the orc goddess of caves, fertility, medicine, family, and protection and is often referred to as the Cave Mother or the Blood Moon Witch. Luthic was the wife of Gruumsh and mother of Bahgtru, but she was also involved in a secret romance with Grumbar, the elemental deity of earth, behind Gruumsh's back. She's the one who openly defied Gruumsh's law and vision for their people. They engaged in a terrible battle that left their people scarred. More orcs were loyal to Luthic than they were to Gruumsh and she willed them to flee Gatsia to find a better life, to build a new identity for their people under her care as their mother. So, on Iporis, she's worshipped as their primary deity. Her sacred animal is the dire cave bear. Her symbol is an orcish rune meaning "home." Followers of Luthic observe holy days on the new moon, symbolic of orc fertility. She represents the Life and Nature domains and her alignment is neutral good.

#### Illneval

**Ilneval** is a lesser deity of the Orc pantheon. He represents strategy, hordes, unity, and victory. A cunning war leader inspiring great loyalty in his followers, he is very diligent in planning his strategies for victory. He is considered the patron of mixed blood, encouraging the mixing of blood with orcs both before the exodus and afterwards, leading to the creation of ogrillons and tanarukks.

During Gruumsh's reign, the Church of Ilneval occupied a prominent position in Orc tribal life, second only to the church of Gruumsh, and they worked in concert to oppress other faiths in order to ensure that position remained unchallenged. Although the church of Gruumsh was responsible for issuing the call to summon the horde, it fell to the temple of Ilneval to marshal the fractious tribes into a horde united against a common foe.

Clerics and adepts of Ilneval pray for their spells at dusk in preparations for the nights battles. Ilneval is not interested in remembering past victories but plotting new ones to come, which was one of the reasons he defected from Gruumsh to Luthic and remains loyal to her as her lieutenant. His symbol is an upright blood-splattered sword and represents the War domain. His alignment is lawful neutral.

#### Bahgtru

**Bahgtru** is god of pure physical strength who scorns both weapons and magic alike. He is the son of Gruumsh and Luthic and is often referred to as the Strong or the Leg Breaker. Bahgtru's followers are often the strongest of the orc tribes, and are required to be unwaveringly loyal to their clan. Among Bahgtru's faithful, loyalty only extended to the clan and rivalries between clans were encouraged.

Luthic's son represents the intensely loyal, strong, and distrustful part of orc culture. He is extremely distrustful and wary of outsiders and of magic. In his eyes, orcs must defend their territory and be wary of whom they trust because they have no interest or experience with lies or deception, which makes them vulnerable to others who do. He represents loyalty, rivalry, honesty, honour, and territory. His sacred animal is a dire cave bear, like his mother. His symbol is a broken thigh bone and he represents the War domain. His alignment is lawful good.

#### Shargaas

**Shargaas** is the orc deity of darkness, fear, and the undead and is often referred to as the Night Lord, the Blade in the Darkness, and the Stalker Below. His symbol was a skull on a red crescent moon. Shargaas lived in the Night Below, an immense cavern system below the lowest known layer of the plane of Gehenna, Krangath. It was said that his caves extended forever, and all were pitch black. When the orcs migrated to Iporis and had to survive in caves when their numbers were small, it was he who reminded them that they were creatures of the dark. Of the night. That they were not only strong and mighty, but stealthy and cunning. That they were creatures that could survive in darkness if such circumstances forced them to such as this.

He represents the night, courage, instinct, restraint, and poise. His sacred animal is the bat and his holy days are on the new moons. His Symbol is a red crescent moon with a skull between its horns. He Represents the Trickery domain and his alignment is neutral.

#### Yurtrus

**Yurtrus** is an orc god of death and disease and is often referred to as the White Hands, the Lord of Maggots, and the Rotting One. Where Shargaas symbolized the fear of what lurked in the bowels of the earth, Yurtrus embodied the constant threat of death and plagues with which the orcs lived every day. The Lord of Maggots did not speak or communicate, but is sometimes receptive to prayers to save an individual or a tribe from the ravages of disease. He is depicted as an orc whose body is covered in sores, except his hands, which are white and unblemished.

By his very nature, Yurtrus had little relationship with anyone. He offered silent support to Shargaas when he tried to counteract the influence of the three orcish gods of war before the exodus, but is now a lesser deity loyal to Luthic. Yurtrus certainly maintained links with other gods of death and disease, such as Talona, but perhaps it was more a rivalry than a real alliance.

Apart from some monastic orders, Yurtrus's church is not organized and its clergy is dispersed among numerous tribes and clans. Clergy are intermediaries between the tribe and Yurtrus when the community is the victim of a disease or an epidemic. In addition, priests of Yurtrus handle the bodies of those who succumb to disease, die in battle, or pass away with old age (which is very rare for orcs). The priests of Yurtrus are also responsible for overseeing the food stocks of the tribe, determining when meat is rotten or water too polluted to drink. Thus, some tribes began to worship Yurtrus as a god of food and health. The priests and followers of Yurtrus pray at dusk for their spells.

He represents hygiene, entropy, fungus, carrion, food, and frugality. His holy days are the Ceremony of Contagion, celebrated on the Midsummer's Eve, and the Putrescent Death, celebrated on the Eve of Midwinter. His symbol is a white hand, palm facing outward and he represents the Death domain. His alignment is neutral.

### Celebrations

#### Feast of the Moon

A yearly "Feast of the Moon" is celebrated by worshipers of Luthic to observe the changing of seasons, when many of her followers were forced to take refuge in caves for the coldest months of the year during their exodus from Gatsia. This event enabled the conception of many young orcs to add to the deeply wounded population. Now, Luthic's clerics and adepts work to ensure a healthy crop of orc citizens are born each year.

#### Ceremony of Contagion

The Ceremony of Contagion is celebrated on Midsummer's Eve. It is said on that day, Yurtrus's seed would spread to swallow the earth and consume every living creature on it. In order to appease their god of death, priests of Yurtrus would gather a particular mushroom, known as the White Hands, and dig up the body of the priest of Yurtrus who had last died and would plant the mushrooms in the body of the priest. It is their belief that Yurtrus consumes the offering through the mushrooms and is appeased for another year.

#### Putrescent Death

To contrast with the Ceremony of Contagion, the second holy day of Yurtrus, known as Putrescent Death, is celebrated on the eve of Midwinter. During that night, the clergy of Yurtrus celebrates the eventual death of the world. They take the skeleton of the priest they allowed the White Hands to devour and consume during the previous holy day and would burn it, symbolizing the fact that eventually all will be swallowed and that even bones wouldn't remain of them once the world succumbed to the eventuality of its entropy.

## History

Orcs were exiled to Gatsia along with their gods as imprisonment for their heinous actions under their god, Gruumsh, from Byselon. The only orcs that remained on Byselon were the gray orcs who were allowed to remain after denouncing their god. Some gray orcs did go with their mountain orc brethren, however. The gray orcs that somehow made their way to Melaris ended up flourishing and their communities bloomed into their own peoples unique from the orcs that live on both the other continents.

It is estimated that they've been imprisoned on Gatsia for centuries before the Albatross settled on Iporis. It was shortly after this when conflict started to rise within the orcs between their deities. Their ruling patron god, Gruumsh, wanted to take over all the races of Gatsia and the world through force and extermination while Luthic opposed his beliefs, believing that that would not be what was best for their orc children.

In the aftermath of a large scale battle on Gatsia, many orcs were killed and the rest were divided. Gruumsh commanded the orcs to be eternally loyal to him and to destroy and purge the world of "impure races," encouraged by Yeenoghu, the demon lord of slaughter and destruction, and Luthic opposed him. In their battle, a heavy toll was paid and the orcs who were loyal to Luthic fled Gatsia and arrived in Iporis as refugees. Some of these orcs managed to find their way back to Byselon and ended up repopulating it. Some even found their way to Melaris and unique lines of orcs were born from the years spent there. Many of these orcs didn't wish to live in the factions to be governed by their people and instead established clans in the mountains that were available, making their homes and establishing their cultures and following the ideals of Luthic's desires for her children.

## Relationships with Other Races

### Gnolls

Gnolls and Orcs have a shared history on Gatsia. Both races were exiled to Gatsia from their home continents and shared in a mass exodus from their patron deities and from Gatsia that led to a large number of them arriving on Iporis. On Iporis, gnolls tend to keep to themselves more than orcs do, but some gnoll clans have formed symbiotic relationships with some orc clans and tribes.

## Notable Orcs

### Stephanos

**Stephanos** is a half-orc merchant traveling with a fortune-teller.

### Dr. Calliope Stoneturner

**Dr. Calliope Stoneturner** is a half-orc teaching and researching botany at the Nosarth's Academy of Arcane Arts in Eastshire.