The Monster Races of Cumar

No information about a kingdom would be complete without a study of the monster races sharing twerritory with Man, and the Kinship of Cumar is no different. Children attending school learn all about these monsters, how to identify them, and especially how to flee and report the monster to an adult so there is no logical reason for a resident of Cumar to be ignorant of these races. He may feign ignorance for whatever reason, but he'd never be believed.

**Orcs**: Orcs, also called Yuruk, yrch, Ork, and Urch, are probably the most prevalent of the monster races in the Kinship. They live underground, no more than a hundred feet below the surface. There are two know major orc cities in the Kinship: Yurum-Amar in the Pellator Mountain Range in the Marches, and Goblyntown in the Grey Hills in Uriel. Orcs come in two breeds.

**The Common Orc** is the most likely type to be encountered by adventurers. The Common orc stands about 5 and 1/2

      feet tall, with pale green skin, beastial faces, and bad attitudes. They hate and fear light, which blinds them.Those that look down on orcs are in for a world of hurt, because orcs produce some fantastic smiths. Their weapons are functional but not pretty, consisting mostly of long chopping swords, axes, and hammers. They also make and use machines of war, and are experts with explosives. Unfortunately for many heros, the 'egg' is the worst of the orc arsenal, it's a grenade. Common Orcs sometimes breed with Easterlings, producing a hybrid half-orc offspring.

The **Black Orcs** were created in the Second Age. During the Kinslaying, Adunaphel the Soundless wanted orc soldiers that could move about freely in the light. So utilizing selective breeding and dark magic she created the black orc. These monsters stand a head taller than the common orc and are distinctive by their heavy muscularity, black skins, more upright stance, and generally better weapons and armor. Bred for war, the Black Orcs generally serve as the generals and ccommander of evil forces on the battlefield, many of them have proven to be superb tacticians. They are almost never encountered except for on the battlefield; otherwise they stay hidden in the deep caves and tunnels under Adunaphel's fortress, where they bully lesser orcs and keep all the good spoil for themselves.

**Trolls** are the monsters that most Disciplined hope to never have to face. Created originally as an unnamed race by Teoza, the trolls are true giants whom stand between 10 to 18 feet tall, have round noseless faces, and have scaly hides that are very hard to pierce. They the strongest of the humanoid creatures found in the Kinship. Trolls come in two types: Mountain trolls which lead solitary lives in the unoccupied hills of Uriel and

   sometimes Dunland, or jungle trolls which are found ony in the Trafalgar Rainforest.

Trolls are generally grumpy, but surprisingly intelligent and capable of speaking. A party that encounters a troll by accident is likely to be told off, with the troll demanding they leave but otherwise not attacking unless threatened. All in all they seem to just want to be left alone, some scholars have put forth the idea that trolls aren't beasts at all and are actually peaceful creatures. The idea has caught on, and every so often heroes can encounter a troll working a farm or owning a pub or tavern in a larger city.

**The War Trol**l is a differnt proposition entirely. War trolls first appeared in the Second Age during the Kinslaying. As she had done with orcs, Adunaphel the Soundless desired a breed of troll that was fierce, easily enraged, and with only enough intelligence to obey a simple command from an officer. War Trolls

    are a real horror on the battlefield, capable of taking on entire units alone. Thankfully, when there is no war happening this dangerous breed of troll is only found in Adunaphel's fortress, standing as guards.

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