The Castle-cities of the Ihlkug

### Summary

Ihlkug Tarkardik is the current leader of a quasi-legitimate settled territory named "The Castle-Cities of the Ihlkug" that operates way-stations and oasis' along the southern region of the Brass Triangle road system created by the Parthians to link their various satellite states at the height of their empire. Tarkardik is the 4th descendant ruler of the land, which was formed under his great-great-uncle, the famous Ihlkug Shardashyik, the orc who turned a roving hoard of bandits into a sizable, advanced society.

### Ihlkug Shardashyik

In the days of Shardashyik's youth, orcs in his tribal homeland lived as pillaging nomads on the grassy steppe, content to murder each other freely in between raids on the human groups in the realm. These orc bands operated in between the villages and cities among the trade routes of the Brass Triangle, and were a constant menace to the people there. Fortunately for the humans, the orcs kept themselves somewhat in check, as they would go to war with each other as soon as one band of raiders returned with the spoils of a human conquest. Indeed, whenever a human city was being especially plagued by an orc band, a standard strategy would be to bribe a rival set of orcs to come in and fight the original ones. This strategy didn't always work out, as the orcs would occasionally cooperate with their brothers, but more often than not, orcs from competing tribes would savagely attack one another over the smallest of provocations or the rumor of stolen goods.

Shardashyik rose up as a young tribal chieftain of a small set of orcs whom where known for their wit and cunning, and for a willingness to adopt non-orc ways and strategies when needed. Shardashyik continued consolidating smaller neighboring orc bands with a surprising amount of tolerance and generosity, often times giving up large amounts of loot and treasure to his sub-commanders and their families, whereas the normal orc chieftains would jealously horde all the gold for themselves rather than spread it among their subordinates. By this way, he recruited talented orc warriors and commanders to join his tribe, even if they had been at war previously. Famously, one of his best generals, Gharshtarak the Claw, had slashed off 2 of Shardashyik's fingers during a tribal fight between their tribes. Shardashyik's tribe won the day, and instead of skinning Gharshtarak alive, Shardashyik instead offered him a place in his own tribe, based on Gharshtarak's prowess as a warrior.

Benevolence among orc leaders is more often than not repaid by their subordinates with a brutal uprising, as most orcs view benevolence and generosity as weakness, but for Shardashyik, he understood just the right amount of leniency to give his conquered orc brothers, all the while preaching the idea that the orcs should unite to rule the land as a central group, rather than kill each other as often as they attacked the humans. The message slowly took hold over the course of Shardashyik's 40 year reign as "Ihlkug", or "highest chieftain".

During his reign, and throughout the next four generations of Ihlkug's who followed him, Shardashyik implemented a set of policies that transformed the orc hordes in the region from roving bandits into a cohesive force. Practices like cannibalism that weaken the orc culture through disease & parasites, were abolished. As it turned out, orc intelligence was being slightly blunted due to brain-based parasites they get from eating orc-flesh. Shardashyik learned to delegate responsibility down, and not charge into every battle himself, as well as employing tactics like feigned retreats that previous orc leaders would call "cowardly". He used this tactic continuously with great effect, to vanquish his foes.

He downplayed the importance of previous orc religion, which could never tolerate any rival clerics among the conquered. Shardashyik learned how to collect taxes from local farming human societies instead of wiping them out in the normal orc fashion. He banned the orccish custom of allowing orc fathers to cull 50% of their offspring ("Strong-culling", usually done to the physically weak or crippled orc children), and creates a caste for weak but smart orcs to serve as messengers, advisers, strategists, planners, and diplomats.

These directives were carried on past Shardashyik's death by his nephew, who inherited control from his uncle in an incredibly smooth transition of power that occurred before Shardashyik was dead, a feat that even human kingdoms struggle with occasionally. Before stepping down from his role as Ihlkug Chieftain, Shardashyik decreed a way for the local sub-chieftains to gather and elect the new Ihlkug, and while this process is not always conducted without some violence, the transition from leader to leader is smooth enough to prevent civil war.

### Social Reform

Before he retired, Shardashyik conducted one final alteration to the orc way of life on the steppe, this change being even more radical than his previous social reforms. He converted the most diplomatic orc families in his great nomaidc tribe to become settled into permanent village and townships. These villages were usually the remnants of sacked human settlements along the roads of the Brass Triangle, and Shardashyik did so to push his people into the role of merchants and tax collectors. Travelers on the roads at this time were very prone to assault from the orc bands, both Shardashyik's and his remaining rivals alike. The small villages grew into fortified garrisons which offered protection along the roads for caravans willing to pay Shardashyik's tribe a tax for protection from the other orc tribes and bands. As the villages grew in size and wealth, Shardashyik brought in human workers to help farm the surrounding lands, and eventually these families integrated into the main villages as well.

Shardashyik's plan to settle some of his people into villages was opposed by several factions of traditional orcs over the years, but by the time he bequeathed the title of 'Ihlkug ' to his nephew Yraartuskrig, all major opposition had been defeated. Over the next several decades, the orc garrisons along the Brass Triangle increased in size and power. Travelers in the land quickly realized that they offered the best protection against the marauding orc bands in the area, whereas the governments of the human kingdoms at the endpoints of the Brass Triangle were too far away to effectively combat the raiders.

 However, it is a barely-kept secret that while the "Castle-cities of the Ihlkug" are safe-havens against the orc bands, the Ihlkug leader himself is often in close contact with the raiders as well, whom are often his cousins. Truthfully, since the time of Shardashyik, the remaining marauding orc bands have secretly been under the influence, if not the outright power of the reigning Ihlkug. During Shardashyik's life, this was more of a familial relationship, where Shardashyik allowed certain areas to remain fairly wild, to allow his raider cousins some chance to capture some loot. However, the current Ihlkug, Tarkardik, is actually in firm tactical control of practically all the marauders, and uses them strategically when needed.

### Ilhkug Tarkardik

 From an outsider's perspective, Ilhkug Tarkardik is a sort of merchant-chieftain whom controllers several garrisons and trading villages along the Brass Triangle, offering travelers shelter, lodging and protection against the roving bands of orcs whom plague them in the remote sections of the road. His fortified towns are occasionally harassed by orc bands, but are never seriously threatened, and his mercenaries rush after the orcs to chase them away whenever they harass the towns or are particularly troublesome for a given caravan passing through the area. He charges "fair" prices for food/lodging in the towns, which is a bit expensive to some, and a small taxation on anyone passing through, in order to maintain security on the roads. Larger caravan negotiate contracts for constant protection while passing through the area, and his orcish warriors are much less prone to fits of rage than their marauding cousins, so are easily to live alongside in the towns themselves. Tarkardik seems to be at odds with his wilder orc relatives, who want to murder and plunder freely. He appears to be trying to reign them in and create a permanent settled society in the area, where orcs and humans can peacefully live together.

The reality of the situation, however, is that Tarkardik is practically in full control of the "wild" marauding orc bandits, and uses them strategically to maximize his taxation and protection money schemes. He stages mock conflicts between his "civilized" orc mercenaries and the "wild" orc marauders to promote his image as the protector of the area, but the casualties of these battles are often low. The orcs in the area still feel the desire to fight to the death with one another over various blood feuds, so the mock battles almost always have some small pockets of real fighting. Truthfully, there is an element of random chance in every attack. If a marauding orc squad leader is mad at his 2nd cousin, who happens to have the job of pretending to protect a given caravan, the orc raider might actually swoop down, murder the orc guards (his cousin included) and sack the caravan. Tarkardik allows for a small amount of this kind of behavior, usually in cases where the sacked caravan was small, and the grievance between the orc cousins was legitimate. His leniency for this kind of behavior, however, evaporates any time the overall ruse is threatened. If an orc warrior is plainly faking it in a battle, to the point of humans becoming suspicious, Tarkardik will privately have that orc killed once human eyes are averted, usually in the old orcish custom of stomping his head in, and having his skin removed and stitched into a cloak. In this way Tarkardik walks the line between the old orcish ways of violence and the new ways of a civilized, settled society. Any whisper of the deception among the humans in his area is enough to send him into a frenzy, and any human noticed to be discussing how odd it seems that orc marauders are never fully caught and vanquished often find themselves expelled from the townships for minor crimes as best, or murdered and buried out in the steppe at worst.

Because Tarkardik keeps his taxation and protection rackets at a "reasonable" level, the nearby human governments, despite their suspicions in his activities, allow him to continue to operate his towns and garrisons as they exist now. Both Partha and Bhesina tolerate Tarkardik, since without his cooperation the region would descend back into lawless banditry, and also since many of their citizens have business interests now along the Ilkug's road.