Orc

Falling from grace is blinding. The beginnings of the banished were savage. They never remembered the Old World, but in the root of all Orcs there was disdain for this world. The pillaging and settling on the scars they made were not enough for the call within. Packs of Orcs gathered to find the way to no avail, until the discovery of the mirrored obsidian stone.

For the first Orcs who touched the Standing Stone, they were harmed. Their nails fell off, poison settled within their veins, and the flesh of the mortal world crumbled at their touch. Of the wounded, there would be those who returned to face agony, only to find there waited something deeper.

Connection, The Monolith spoke to them. Spirits spoke within their form, and they chose the alien voices lingering within. The returned awoke, magics permeated from them, their dedication to the past cemented the power of the Orcs. A choir of spirits spoke to the connected Orcs. They found the Orc who had connected before were able to pass into this world they had once lost.

In connecting, the Orcs found a resounding voice. Before long, however, they found their sight.

## Returning To The Monolith

The Voices of the newly connected Monoliths were chosen by the Spirits to bring back the fallen Orcs, to appease the failing of their forgotten past, and to return to the Spirit World. The Packs became Tribes when they settled on these Monoliths.

The Spirits chose Voices to lead the Tribes to connecting to the past, and in the reign of their ancestral knowledge they chose Gazers to lead their sight. This Mortal World, however, created the illusion of safety and freedom. To return, you must be chosen, and to latch onto this world meant that they would stray further from the path. In this, the Voice made the SightStealers.

The Voice listened to the Spirits guidance, passing on the ancestral knowledge, teaching the SightStealers the ways of protection and returning. The Gazer brought the Spirits within themselves, searching out the meaning of the lost ones, seeing what lies deep within the black hurricane of the world beyond. Lastly, the Sightstealers gave up their torn eyes to the Ancestors, to bring themselves closer to the past, and to empower themselves to protect against all enemies.

All tribes took these roles, they would lead not only in the practice of returning, but also would tend to take place within family life as well. Most gazers would tend to farming, protecting the home, while SightStealers would protect the land and fight for the Voice.

## The Human Struggle

The innate magic of the Orcs drew scorn from many, but none was more potent than that of Humankind.

Ideologies clashed into bloodshed, child ripped from parents and land was harvested until it bore nothing. The suffering chose sides. Would they keep their faith in the end, or give in to the humans. Some cloistered to hidden dwellings, protecting their Monoliths, but others fought back.

For Norenian Orcs, they fought against the tides Doroborough until the Orcs could spare no more lives. Their kind rested, while others challenged the Human threat till death.

The fallout of the First Monolith left many Norenian Orcs shattered in spirit. Homes and magic were decimated, but as all Orcs before them they found solace in the past which drove them to find life beyond.

## **Racial Relations**

* **With High Elves:** *Generally Indifferent, their upright ways cause awkward, but welcome relationships.*
* **With Wood Elves:** *Respected, their ideals intersect amicably.*
* **With Dark Elves:** *Indifferent, the path of those deemed weaker are often viewed with disgust, but all Orcs face the same from any race. In that way they are akin to one another, but only if they commit to the Orcish ways.*
* **With Dwarves:** *Respected. Dwarves keep to their dwellings, so there is no need for fighting their borders. Disturbances are what both despise.*
* **With Orcs:** *Generally Indifferent, spiritual and non-spiritual cross often. The Tribe remains regardless of the struggle.*
* **With Humans:** *Hated/Complicated. It is impossible to forget the wars of the past, but opposites attract in thought and in love. While wounds have yet to be healed, the ways of the Humans creep into Orcish homes more and more.*

## **Notable Norenian Orcs**

* Voice Behrshenrin
* Old Sage