Orcs

A muscular orc.

**Orcs** are tall, bulky, and slightly aggressive sentients that originate from the lands of Orkfeld. Originally elves that were ousted from their homelands for being too rowdy and slowly evolved into their current form, orcs maintain this innate rowdiness in their cultures even in the Third Era. They are known for their unique lifestyles and preference for heavy and destructive weapons.

## Description

Orcs are tall and muscular by nature. Formidable walls of flesh and bone, their tough skin alone can act as a basic form of armor, and their fists as proficient weapons - although orcs love to use more destructive weapons, the bigger the better. Many orcs tend to have demeanors that lean towards solving problems with violence, primarily as a result of the warlike cultures they are born in. This often gives them an unfair reputation of being thoughtless, violent brutes. In reality, however, orcs are just as intelligent as any other race on Eukitia, but simply live a far different lifestyle than most.

## Society

There are two prominent orc societies - those of Orkfeld and those of the interior of Eukitia. The orcs of Orkfeld are the more populous of the two, with the interior orcs only building their culture late into the Third Era.

### Orkfeld

The orcs of Orkfeld live in semi-nomadic tribal societies. These tribes all have significant differences between one another, however are ultimately unified by a intertribal leader in order to prevent conflict between tribes. This title is mostly honorary, as the tribes tend to operate independently. Most of the orcs in this region are somewhat isolationist, and prefer to keep to themselves and their tribes. This leads the tribal affairs of orcs to be poorly understood by the rest of the world.

Despite appearances, orcish tribes are actually quite civilized. They will typically settle in one location for a few years in order to farm and use basic industry like forges and pastures, before moving a few years later. This nomadic lifestyle is a result of the climate of Orkfeld, as the region is not very fertile, and orcs will attempt to avoid wasting the region's nutrients by settling somewhere for too long.

### Interior Eukitia

The interior orcs stem from a group of orcs that left Orkfeld around 550 3E. They ended up settling in the interior of the continent, and rather than forming new tribes, chose to cooperate with the already existing civilizations there and assimilate into them. As a result, the orcs of the interior are much more well-read and have a far different culture than the orcs of Orkfeld. They typically have much calmer demeanors, and have shed most of their cultural ties to Orkfeld. However, many orcs in the interior still hold onto their tribal system, using their tribe as their surname and living nearby their kin.

### Morkism

Almost all orcs worship a being known as Mork. Mork was once a mortal orc who, through their deeds of violence and adventure, became known to all of Orkfeld as "the greatest orc." Other orcs began to worship Mork, especially after their death. This eventually culminated in the development of Morkism, a religion in which orcs will worship Mork through honorable battle and do their best to "be like Mork." Worship through battle is the most common form of Morkism, however there are also other tenants included in the religion, such as helping others.

## Combat

In combat, orcs tend to prefer the most destructive things they can get their hands on using their immense strength. This usually manifests in the form of clubs, hammers, maces, and axes. However, many tribes have weapons unique to them that they prefer to use over other weapons. Due to the violent culture of orcs, there are countless different forms of combat they have pioneered - almost all of them indistinguishable to non-orcs.

Most tribes of orcs view it as disrespectful to fight in combat with armor on, seeing their skin as more than enough to protect them. Some orc tribes permit the wearing of armor, however only when the armor is crafted themselves - typically from bones, or as part of a coming-of-age ritual.

Nearly all orcs possess a unique warcry, specific to their clan. While other species can rarely differentiate, this warcry is used to intimidate others and rally their tribemates into combat. Most warcries tend to fall into a category of "*WOOOOOOOOOOO*"s or "*WAAAAAAAAAAA*"s, with varying pitches and tones based on the tribe in question.