Orc

## Talents

**War**

For you, war is life. You live for combat and prefer to resolve any conflicts you have with other in armed combat rather than any other means. A peaceful life is a very boring and at times painful lifestyle that will drive you towards committing crimes and violence in order to placate your boredom by any means necessary.

**Weapons**

As a member of a warrior culture, your weapons are the most valuable resources you can possess. A good weapon is a symbol of status, and many of your race enjoy elevated possessions in society for simply owning a well renowned weapon, even if they never use it. Ascertaining the value and efficiency of a weapon is second nature to you, you naturally know the value of any given weapon and can identify the differences between iron and steel or the relative strength of enchantments of weapons without effort. Your kind also have a strong understanding of the forging and crafting of these weapons, and many of the most respected or lethal weapons in the realm are credited to a smith of your race.

**Armor**

Next to a storied or powerful weapon, the most important possession that a member of your race can own is a particularly resilient or legendary set of armor. Just like with weapons, your kind are highly capable of intuiting the value of any piece of armor as well as how to forge and craft most types of armor. You are also highly trained in how to use all types of armor and shields and how to best position yourself on the battlefield to maximize your survivability in a fight.

**Rage**

The members of your race are inflicted with a very strong anger impulse from birth that never lessens over time. While most members of your race learn to control this rage, they also learn how to let the rage consume them when appropriate and how to dampen it back down when the threat they called on it to defeat has been dealt with. This rage never leaves your race alone, it is always present and always wanting to be externalized.

**Blood**

Your culture teaches its members that the source of each person's power is found in their blood. Powerful creatures and monsters have powerful blood, and collecting this blood to use in rituals can grant a portion of that creature's power to you. Elder members of your race and particularly strong warriors and shamans will have large collections of the blood of fallen enemies, monsters, and allies that they keep and use in rituals to grant themselves increased power.

**Savage**

Etiquette, honor, and chivalry are all dead, or more accurately were never born to begin with, in your culture. Those that live in accordance to these ideals and any other ideal that emphasizes kindness and order are generally shunned in your culture. It is the rude, the brutish, and the selfish that thrive in your culture, and members of your race do not do well typically in those cultures or races that idealize civility over savagery.

## Notable Members

Chief Scribe Amalel Naz'dur of Malerok (Whisperstalkers Guild)

## Little Details

Orcs live in a feudal culture, with the various tribes constantly engaging in small-scale wars with one another. These wars are usually over minor disputes, are resolved quickly, and have very few casualties. Regardless of this, the act of fighting one another is essential to Orc social bonding and the real reason why they wage wars against one another.

They treat outsiders and prisoners of war very brutally, with little regard for their welfare and safety. Most aspects of Orc culture are brutal and savage, especially when compared to the societal accomplishments of other races. Outsiders can earn the respect of the Orcs they live with by performing well in battle and not backing down from a fight. Their lifestyles of constant warfare have lead them to master the art of designing and crafting weapons and armor, so much so that their arms and armor are greatly sought after by members of the other races.

They are practical to a fault, having no room in their culture or lifestyles for aesthetics or comfort, which has led to almost everything in their settlements, homes, and even what they wear mismatching as long as the configuration is efficient at its purpose. The only exception to this seems to be sharp metal points which seem to have a purpose on almost anything they build.

All disputes, especially civil ones, are resolved through armed combat, with the victor having their version of the dispute upheld and enacting whatever resolution they desire. This very rarely results in the deaths of either combatant unless the loser refuses to admit defeat until death. If someone dies as a result of one of these disputes, all of their possessions become the belongings of the survivor.

Orcs live in a constant state of repressing their nearly uncontrollable anger. When they feel their lives are in danger, they will willingly release their hold on this feral rage and fly into an uncontrollable murderous frenzy. This state enables an Orc to accomplish extreme feats of physical strength and endurance. The rage lasts until no potential threats remain, however all but the most disciplined of Orcs will also view their allies as potential threats in this state and may continue to fight until their friends are also defeated.

They form strong bonds with others only by surviving trials by fire together, and their respect is earned through expressions of strength and fortitude in combat. Outsiders are dealt with in a very different manner, as they are seen as a kind of lesser person than the Orcs and those that have proven themselves worthy of belonging to the community. They are dealt with in whatever way an Orc wants to, without any legal recourse to protect them from the Orc's aggression.

They believe that anyone particularly powerful has that power stored in their blood, and when a strong opponent or ally falls in battle an Orc will collect a sample of that creature's blood in order to strengthen themselves. Especially zealous Orcs will devise rather ingenious methods of draining as much blood as possible from a great fallen hero or villain in order to increase their personal power as much as possible. The most powerful Orc Arts require blood from powerful creatures to activity, giving at least some level of credence to their beliefs.

Orcs very rarely live to their maximum lifespan of around 250 years, due to their constant warring with one another. The maximum lifespan for an Orc is just under 200 years, however do to the constant warfare in their culture, the real average life span is somewhere between 75 and 100 years.