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--- lore:races:orcish [2023/08/11 21:01] – quiddlesticks
+++ lore:races:orcish [2024/04/30 02:29] (current) – [Goblinoids] quiddlesticks
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 ====== Orcish ======
+Orcish races are one of the rarer peoples on [[:settings|Jaern and Cahyali,]] making up only a minority of most places they inhabit. A long history of oppression exists against them in many places, still alive and well at some locales and dying out in favor of equality in others. Most orcs have large, pointed ears, tusks coming from their bottom row of teeth, and strong builds.
-===== Orcs =====
+Orcish is a language with many subtleties and is highly contextual, and many phrases and words take on different meanings when spoken with different tones and body language. The same phrase can be either a compliment or an insult depending on how one says it, and what they do with their hands while saying it. Sarcasm, in-jokes, and subtext are the meat of speaking Orcish.
-Orcs are a stout race and generally have a low center of gravity. They average at five feet in height and are usually heavy in build. Orcs seem to have a similar gender physiology as humans do. They have large,
-protruding canines and lower bicuspids, and usually have flat noses.
-==== History ====
+To compliment an orc, for example, one could say “you are the filthiest, most sickening piece of horse manure I’ve seen ever to come out the rear passages of a lizard” but should use heavy eye contact and open palms with a lowered voice - on the other hand, the same sentence spoken louder with closed fists would most likely start a brawl. Orcish has no single written script, as different orc tribes tend to be isolated and many develop their own scripts with very few similarities, even if the spoken word is mutually intelligible.
-Orcs were for much of history on Torandor considered uncouth. Because they have a very keen sense of smell, they used various perfumes, colognes, and other methods to craft a personalized "scent" that was just as important as one's clothes. When other races encountered these pungent scents, they believed that Orcs do not bathe often, and the scent was instead body odor, leading other people to steer clear of
+Scholarly studies into orc biology have revealed an interesting part of their physiology: orcs show an uncanny ability to physically adapt and evolve to their environments. After moving to somewhere new, the next generation of orc children can look completely different from even their parents or grandparents. At this moment, it's thought that orcs have the ability to pick up genetic material from other mammal species surrounding them and adapt accordingly. For example, orcs living in cities around [[lore:races:humanoids|humanoids]] often develop a more human- or elf-like appearance, while orcs living in forests may begin to resemble wild beasts or boars.
-Orcs. Fortunately, this misunderstanding has long since been corrected.
-In historical Orc societies, scuffles and disagreements with each other were common since Orcs consider verbal debate and argument as a proving grounds, leading them to gain the reputation of being stubborn. They argue fiercely when bargaining, and even mundane conversations can lead to bombastic verbal exchanges. An argument between orcs is a truly impressive sight. The pungent scents of their perfumes and their tendency towards arguing made other races believe Orcs to be vulgar and savage people, which led to persecution and discrimination during Torandor's tumultuous past. Many people used to see Orcs as monsters to be quelled and exterminated, and so their history is marred with long eras of conflict and war.
+===== Orcs =====
+  * Lifespan: 60-70 years
+  * Jaernian Populations: [[settings:jaern:therhine|Rhine Archipelago]], [[settings:jaern:ageron|Ageron]], [[settings:jaern:lojem|Lojem]]
+  * Cahyalian Populations: [[settings:cahyali:leyork|Ley'Ork]], [[settings:cahyali:vervand|Vervand]]
+As the most common of all orcish races, Orcs proper are a stout race and generally have a muscular build. They average at six feet in height. Their skin tone ranges from those that one might expect on a human to all sorts of green shades. For a long time, orcs were thought to only live 30-50 years; however, this has been discovered to instead be immense statistical error on scholars' part. Due to a cycle of oppression, disease, hunger, and violence, many orcs died young in decades past; in truth, an orc living in peace and health has only a slightly shorter lifespan than a human.
-==== Lifestyle ====
+The origin of orcs is mysterious, but a common Orcish creation myth states they were creations of the natural gods, [[gods:osiris|Osiris]] and [[gods:neptune|Neptune,]] who fashioned them out of clay, animal bone, and tree leaves. Desiring to create a race who could live in true harmony with the rest of nature, these gods commanded the newly created orcs to live within and protect the wild. This does indeed match with the lifestyle of many orcs, who live in tribal societies in untamed areas of the world, acting as stalwart guardians of nature. They are known to either collaborate or clash with elvish communities in the same areas, standing together against anything that would threaten their homes or warring over those same tracts of wilderness.
-Orc technology was driven mainly by military research and development, in order to create more powerful weapons and armors. Even today, many military engineers will use Orc developments and concepts when designing siege weaponry and city fortifications. However, their technology in other sectors can seem primitive in comparison to some other cultures. Orcs generally use the technology and developments of others in those areas for their own.
-Orcs like traveling in wagons or in sedan chairs. A symbol of wealth and power in Orc culture is to be seen as lazy and fat, letting others perform the physical labor of transportation while the elite lounge around. The more wealthy one is, the more sedentary their lifestyle can be.
+Each tribe has its own distinct culture, but a commonality in most are values of strength, valor, and courage. Orcs are famous for being stellar warriors, unstoppable in battle, loyal to their comrades, and stubborn to a fault.
-Orcs were thought to build haphazardly and awkwardly, but in reality their buildings stress stability and function over form. Their strange looking abodes are very sturdy, and use many simple geometric shapes in order to give them stability and fortification from both raids and natural disasters. Orcs tend to build dense towns and cities, and it is a feat of civil engineering to crowd so many (functional) buildings in so little space.
-Orc societies generally don't employ a lot of farming or animal husbandry, as they are repelled by many of the smells involved given their keen noses. Instead, they trade and barter aggressively to get the best deals on foodstuffs from others. In times of need, Orcs will hunt and gather.
-Orc medical skills are primarily focused on emergency triage and treating wounds from battle, but it can suffer when it comes to treating disease and infection, as well as chronic conditions. Orcs generally live to an age between 40 and 64.
-==== Culture ====
-Orcish was considered quite a rude, vulgar language, littered with curses and vulgarities. However, outside perception was incredibly skewed as the language was usually encountered as other races slaughtered and razed Orc camps.
-Orcish is a language with many subtleties and is highly contextual, and many phrases and words take on different meanings when spoken with different tones and body language. The same phrase can be either a compliment or an insult depending on how one says it, and what they do with their hands while saying it. To compliment an orc, for example, one could say “you are the filthiest, most sickening piece of horse manure I’ve seen ever to come out the rear passages of a lizard” but should use heavy eye contact and open palms with a lowered voice. Orcish is not a written language, given the highly unspoken nature of conversations.
-Orc art primarily exists in the form of theatre and plays, and other forms of story telling, but their culture does not have a large emphasis on painting, dancing, or music. Many of the plays must be memorized and told through oral tradition, and exact verbiage and script matters little compared to the plot and themes. Some of the more famous plays have now been translated and written down in other languages.
 Additionally, Orcs consider weapons handcrafted from bones and ivory to be items of great artistic value (even if they may not be as effective in combat). These weapons are displayed or used in rituals or sporting events as a symbol of cultural heritage. Many of these weapons have carvings along their hafts as a way to memorialize events in a village's or town's history, and are an ongoing work of record keeping. Older Orc cities may even have dozens of these scrimshaw weapons as a historical timeline all the way from the very founding of the city.
-A rather rude and grotesque caricature of Orcs in the past depicted them as creatures that only saw art in "creative and unusual methods of procreation." This may have stemmed from Orcs generally preferring polyamorous relationships and a more sex-positive attitude among Orc society.
+===== Goblinoids =====
+  * Lifespan: 60-70 years
+  * Jaernian Populations: Worldwide, small groups
+  * Cahyalian Populations: [[settings:cahyali:leyork|Ley'Ork]]
+Goblinoid is the general term for a group of different orcish races, including goblins, bugbears, and kobolds among others. Despite notable differences between these, all goblinoids are rather short, ranging from three to five feet tall. They are very agile folk, able to slip into cramped spaces and escape bindings others could not.
-Orcs enjoy "war games" such as Capture the Flag, and are fierce competitors. Many of these sports originally started as ways of training recruits or soldiers on the best way to defend themselves from raiders, and put up a strong offense against invaders. In officiated sporting events, the losers not only lose the game, but receive the social stigma of being perceived as weak, usually leading to a lowering of social status or expulsion from a society, or indentured servitude to the winner.
+The origins of goblinoids are as diverse as goblinoids themselves; some are believed to be magical. Bugbears and kobolds, for example, are thought to have arisen from the [[settings:planes:dreaming|Dreaming]] and from draconic influence, respectively, while goblins are believed to have simply evolved from orcs, having spent a long period in isolation. Some draw the comparison: "goblin is to orc as halfling is to human".
-Orcs commonly worship Orus, since debate and expression of emotion and ideas are so important in their culture. Orcs also have quite intricate funeral rites and there is a strong following of Anubis. Additionally, many Orcs now worship Zepherin as a patron god of their sporting events. Unexpectedly, many Orcs do not worship Mishra as a Goddess of War, and instead see her as a symbol of the Destruction and War that was levied against Orcs, and the cause of their misery in the past.
+Common among goblinoids is their ability to work together in large groups, every individual assisting the whole towards a goal that is more than the sum of its parts. Unfortunately, due to this, goblinoids have fallen victim time and time again to abuse and exploitation by those who would take this ability and use it for their own ends. Evil wizards, corrupt rulers, and malevolent [[lore:creatures:greatbeasts:dragons|dragons]] are included among these. Many goblinoids who adventure do it in hopes of escaping these overlords, and perhaps one day returning to their families to free them as well.
-==== Governance ====
-Orc law is focused heavily around possession and ownership, and they treat bartering and bargaining almost like legal debate. Generally, Orcs try to get the best deals and take whatever they can get away with.
-Since war and conflict was such a predominant aspect of their past, Orc government was usually ruled by their war generals, and is highly militaristic. This can still be found to this day, despite a more peaceful era, and other cultures can sometimes find it hard to work with Orc ambassadors since very often, these ambassadors have primarily studied military tactics and stratagems rather than diplomatic and political strategy. Very few can keep up with an Orc ambassador when it comes time for a debate though, as their methods of evidence gathering and argument refuting are unparalleled.
-===== Goblinoids =====
-Goblinoids are generally shorter and more agile, and because of their ability to work together well and follow commands, have unfortunately been subjugated to the service of powerful, evil masterminds in the past. However, since adventurers have kept most large-scale evils at bay, the goblinoid peoples of the world have developed their own culture and settlements. Some keep to their militaristic tendencies, while others create small sprawling settlements to trade and barter. In either case, goblinoids often feel the call to adventure, especially to search for more treasure and make more allies.
 ===== Beasthides =====
+  * Lifespan: 70-80 years
+  * Jaernian Populations: Worldwide, small groups
+  * Cahyalian Populations: [[settings:cahyali:leyork|Ley'Ork]], [[settings:cahyali:vervand|Vervand]], [[settings:cahyali:arenti|Arenti]]
+Beasthides are beings covered in hair or fur, usually taking after an animal in anthropomorphic form. Usually found in small hunting groups, there are many varieties of Beasthides, as plentiful as there are environments to suit them. Out of all the various Orcish races, beasthides are perhaps the most diverse. Many different types of Beasthides exist, each with their own distinct cultures.
-Beasthides are beings covered in hair or fur, usually taking after an animal in anthropomorphic form. Usually found in small hunting groups, there are many varieties of Beasthides, as plentiful as there are environments to suit them. Out of all the various Orcish races, beasthides are perhaps the most diverse. Many different types of Beasthides exist, each with their own distinct cultures. Many Beasthides believe they are blessed by Osiris, giving them their animalistic appearance and distinguishing them from other orcs. Below are examples of the most common Beasthide types, though many others exist.
+Many Beasthides believe they were blessed by Osiris in days past, giving them their animalistic appearance and distinguishing them from other orcs. Other myths state that they are enlightened animals, raised to intelligence and personhood by the gods. Below are examples of the most common Beasthide types, though many others exist.
 **Felidans:** Catlike in appearance, Felidans are rather more independent than other Beasthides. Many simply assimilate into other societies, though many enjoy lives of adventure. An old wives' tale persists that Felidans despise water, but this is generally untrue, and one can find many Felidans on the high seas of Jaern. Felidans can resemble domestic cats or big cats.
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 ===== Giantkin =====
+  * Lifespan: Up to 200 years
+  * Jaernian Populations: Worldwide, small groups
+  * Cahyalian Populations: Worldwide, small groups
+Distantly related to the towering folk that are giants, the giantkin are one of the tallest races of all, averaging about 8 feet in height. Their skin tones range from all those possible for humans to shades of gray. Many giantkin are heavily tattooed: these are signs of their clan affiliations and marks of maturity.
+In the distant past, when the dragons ruled over the skies and land of Jaern, the then prolific giant-folk of the world attempted to seize control, but were devastated by dragon attacks and reduced to only the few giant species seen today. The giantkin still hold an intense fear of dragons and their kin, as legends of the brutality and danger dragons pose are still widely told to this day.
-Giantkin are distantly related related to the beasthead and plains giants that are found on Jaern, but are generally much smaller, only averaging about 8’ in height. In the distant past, when the dragons ruled over the skies and land of Jaern, the then prolific giant-folk of the world attempted to seize control, but were devastated and reduced to only the few giant species seen today. The giantkin still hold an intense fear of dragons and drakos, since their ancestors were almost wiped out many, many millennia ago. Giantkin, like their giant brethren, are particularly adept at catching and throwing rocks, as well as fighting with their bare hands. Many giantkin sports involve the catching and throwing of heavy boulders, most of which are large enough to easily kill a human or gnome...
+Giantkin societies are small, with the largest clans only having a few constituent families. Many wander the lands alone, ranging plains and mountains. Once a year, many clans and individuals in a region will come together to meet, feast, and share stories. This event is known as the Heorot (HEY-oh-roat), and normally occurs on a solstice or equinox.