Orcs

Orcs are primarily characterized by their great strength. They are slightly taller than Humans, and much more muscular, with green to mottled brown skin, large noses, a prominent brow-ridge and an underbite featuring tusks. In Elthelas, they were also the most populous race in the world save Humans, and had they the same room to expand, they probably would have outbred Humans long ago.
 

Orc Culture in Elthelas

Orcs in Elthelas were generally tribal, and orcish society revolved around rule by the strongest. Unfortunately this did not lead to stable societies, but rather warlords who rose and fell, usually within a few years, and who warred amongst themselves.
  Orc culture was focused on achieving personal strength and skill. Every town of size had regular gladiatorial tournaments, where warriors, both free and slave, would compete against each other. Success in the tournaments was considered an excellent way to attract a mate, for both men and women, and came with substantial prizes that could help to jumpstart a new household. Farming among the orcs focused on the raising of livestock, particularly pigs, chickens, or other animals that require little feed to raise to adulthood.
  Medicine and magic among the orcs is most often practiced by witch doctors or elites who use their sorcery to outwit their peers.
 

Orcs in Materia

The years before the End were a difficult time for the orcs. For fifty years they had enjoyed an unexpected period of unity led by the Prince of Fiends, only to have that come crashing down right as they were on the cusp of total victory over their enemies. Within a period of a few months, they went from occupying vast swathes of foreign territory, to having their own nation split in three and subjected to occupation by foreign powers. For the final eight years before the End they chafed under the yoke of either foreign occupation in the south, or puppet governments in the north. As they venture into this new world the question remains of how they will react to The Mixing, and equally so, how their once enemies will react to them.