Kuahi Warpath

"Warpath" is the name given to the ancient custom of the Orcish tribes of Kuateoha to put aside their differences and unite under a single banner and leader - named the Warmaster - and embark upon a nomadic, partially migratory military campaign for the sole purpose of seeking out battle to glorify the Great God Morrokh (Kuahi: *Kahura Taikahi*) and earn a seat in his feasting hall in the Golden Glen in the afterlife. Although warriors on the Warpath were also concerned with taking plunder and slaves, the primary purpose of any Warpath was to please Morrokh (*Kahura*) by showing valour and capturing prisoners to be sacrificed.

Warpaths did not have the intent of occupying territory or conquering cities, and often simply travelled past fortifications where they could - but they would commit to sieges if a proper open battle could not be found. The wrath that the Orcs of the Warpath typically unleashed upon the denizens of a city which impeded their progress was terrible - though this is not to say that they normally refrained from causing destruction, which they most certainly did not. A Warmaster leading a Warpath could not be negotiated with nor satiated; their sole aim was to seek the glory of combat, and they would continue their bloody campaign until they believed they had satiated Morrokh's will. They burned and pillaged everything in their path, and would send any emissary sent to negotiate back to their master in a wooden box, cut up into little pieces. They despised and reviled those who surrendered and tried to make concessions, but they admired and respected those who put up a valiant fight, trying to grant them clean and quick deaths and leaving their corpses intact and their homes untouched.

Warpaths roamed all across the continent of Inecuria, reaching every single nation of the continent except Nesaria, which was only protected because of the Borderlands. The further a Warpath travelled before returning home, the more prestigious and glorious it was considered to be, and the furthest Warpaths went quite literally to the other side of the continent and back again.

Warpaths did not entirely cease once the continent was unified under the Nesarian Empire, but the Empire was far better equipped to halt the Warpaths than the fragmented and disunited realms of the land before unification. The last Warpath of the ancient period was waged under Empress Rixa in the mid-140s AD, led by Warmaster Earstealer, though this was not the last Warpath; several raged during the Time of Troubles, and two were undertaken during the Civil War.

## Warmaster

The Warmaster was the leader of a Warpath, a revered and highly respected figure amongst all the Kuahi tribes who usually had the endorsement of most - if not all - of the tribal chiefs. Becoming a Warmaster was not a standardised process - technically, it merely just involved gathering a group of followers and receiving the blessing of a priest - but there were several conventions which governed who could become a Warmaster. It was exceedingly rare that aristocratic families produced Warmasters, and the overwhelming majority of them were commoners; it is assumed that this was because an aristocrat from a land-holding dynasty would cause conflicts of interest within the Warpath and could cause disputes at home to spill over into the Warpath. It was also convention for aspiring Warmasters to not simply act on their own accord, but to receive the endorsement of the chiefs, from whom he would gain soldiers and supplies. The distinction between merely the leader of a group of bandit raiders and an honoured Warmaster involved the support of the chiefs and the blessing of the priesthood, as well as attaining a certain army size; small forces were unfit to be called Warpaths, whereas large forces suited the name.

Warmasters were highly honoured even if their Warpath failed, but only as long as they ended along with their Warpath; a Warmaster who came back home despite his Warpath failing was hated and ostracised, and encouraged to seek out a death in combat to redeem himself. Warmasters who died, however, were revered just as much as those who returned from glorious successes, as it was believed they went straight to the Great God's feasting hall.

The moment when an Orc became a Warmaster was when he picked his Warname, abandoning his old name and becoming permanently known by the new name he chose. Warnames resemble epithets more than actual names - examples of the Warnames of famous Warmasters include Ironskull, Bonebreaker, Gorehound and Earstealer.