Plash Orchold

Monsters of the Plashins

The Plash Orchold is an Orchold of scattered Orc tribes. These people travel in small groups of around a dozen, living a nomad life in the Plashin Range. In the lands around the mountains, their people have been hunted to extinction. They see themselves the last of their kind and are determined to survive. This means they live a hidden life, avoiding the Human around them, when possible. This makes them no less deadly, however. The Plash will attack party of adventurers in the mountains, or a merchant caravan, if they know it will be a success. They never leave survivors or evidence of their attack. They are one of the many reasons the Plashins have a reputation of travelers vanishing without a trace. The native Plasha people are often blamed for their attack.

The Plash are a matriarchal society. Unlike many orc communities the birthrate of females nearly equals that of the males, given a balance to their numbers. The females run the camps and decide when and where to move. They are often left alone, for weeks or months, while the men of the tribe travel out to hunt and scavenge. The oldest female reigns over the camp with the younger raise the children in a community effort.

The Plash revere strength. Any deformity or weakness of a young child is seen as a liability, and that child is killed in a ritual bond fire witnessed by the entire community. The deadliest male, he who can claim the most human kills, leads the male faction of a camp. This status often shifts quickly, as most orc rarely encounter humans. When humans are attack, many of the war party gain a kill or two, which can easily change the social dynamic of the orc males. This makes the orc ruthless in their attacks, as each wanting to claim as many kills as possible, and children do count in the orc's eyes. Outside of their need to remain hidden, this is the other reason there are never survivors in their attacks.

The Plash orc are largely monogamous. Orcs are paired off at a young age to be mates. When they reach the age of maturity, they consummate the 'marriage' in front of the community and are partners for life. If an imbalance appears in a generation, unmated males are expected to wait for an opportunity to claim a human female in a raid (this is the only time a survivor is allowed). This human woman is seen as disposable, and more for pleasure than reproduction, though some orc form a bond with their slave, and keep them for years. Children from this mating are seen as weak and thus usually exterminated. Unmated female orcs will join with an already established couple, becoming a second in the marriage, as it means the possibility of more pure orc children.

Meat in their primary food sources, with humans not off the menu. Most of their supplies are looted from stealthy raids on humans. The Plash waste nothing from their attacks. Animals, like horses, are eaten or used for labor. Supplies are taken to the camp to be distributed among the tribe. Wagons and tools are used or broken down into parts to be used in other ways. Any bodies salvaged are consumed by the tribe

The Plash have a deep hatred for the Plasha people of the mountains. They seem them as their ancestral enemies who pushed them out of their cave homes in the mountains, forcing them to forever wander. The orc can do little to destroy their mortal enemies because of the Plasha's greater numbers. Male hunting parties outside their hidden camps will team up to raid Plasha when they can. More often they only keep watch on the Plasha and relay the information among the tribes. They wait for small bands to seperate into remote locations to be ambushed.

In the north of the Plashin Range, the Plash orc tribes live more isolated and remote lives and are more numerous. Few humans beyond the Northern Plasha dwell in the far north, less travel the deadly mountains. This has given the northern communities the ability to establish long term camps, with several of the tribes agreeing upon territories. While the tribes in the south might abserve, but avoid the Southern Plasha communities, the northern orc are in an active war with the Northern Plasha, fighting for habitable regions, supplies, and limited food. Both sides claiming the fighting will never end until one side or the other has gone extinct.