Half-orcs are among the taller races, with sloping foreheads, jutting jaws, and prominent lower teeth. Some have more pronounced lower canines that present more as tusks than teeth. They typically have pointed ears, belying the ancient fey ancestry of their orcish ancestors.

Half-orcs usually have names appropriate to the culture in which they are raised. A half-orc who wants to fit in among humans might trade an orc name for a human name. Some half-orcs with human names decide to adopt guttural orc names because they think it makes them more intimidating.

Male Orc Names: Dench, Feng, Gell, Henk, Holg, Imsh, Keth, Krusk, Mhurren, Ront, Shump, Thokk

Female Orc Names: Baggi, Emen, Engong, Kansif, Myev, Neega, Ovak, Ownka, Shautha, Sutha, Vola, Volen, Yevelda

Half-orcs on Cisum are almost always found in the south-western Tenor region of Basscliff, Cisum's southern continent. This is home to the largest tribe of orcs, and so is the most common place for half-orc parentage to happen. As rare as half-orcs are, it is more rare still to see them raised by their human parent amongst non-orcs. They aren't historically great swimmers, and so often stay away from the coastlines and island nations of the Middle Sea.

Most half-orcs feel the callings of the War Pig, the god who created the orcs. Always the War Pig craves violence, invasion, and killing. While the human side of a half-orc may help temper their orcish rage, some give in to the War Pig's calling and join their orc brethren in pillaging and raiding nearby settlements.

Half-orcs have existed for nearly as long as orcs and humans have had to interact. Many early half-orcs were born of humans taken as slaves during pillaging missions, and often became slaves themselves. It wasn't until a few half-orcs challenged the warchief and his generals and won that the orcs began to consider them as something other than slaves. These early half-orcs, lead by Myev, often called Rebel Girl, seized control of the clan and brought the orcs into a new era or relative peace for the orcs.

Tempered by her human side, Myev was able to throw off the lesser-than status of her half-orc bothers and sisters. The Rebel Girl became the warchief after winning her challenge and tasked some of her greatest warriors with traveling farther than any orcs had before from their homes in the Basscliff Mountains. Some of those who left decided to carve out their own tribal lands across Basscliff. These newer hordes still keep to the ways of the Orc and the War Pig. Their smaller size still limits the number of half-orcs that can trace their parentage to them.

Each half-orc finds a way to gain acceptance from those who hate orcs. Some are reserved, trying not to draw attention to themselves. A few demonstrate piety and good-heartedness as publicly as they can (whether or not such demonstrations are genuine). And some simply try to be so tough that others just avoid them.

It's usually safe to assume that a half-orc is belligerent and quick to anger, so people watch themselves around an unfamiliar half-orc. Shopkeepers might surrepetitiously hide valuable or fragile goods when a half-orc comes in, and people slowly clear out of a tavern, assuming a fight will break out soon.