Orc

Origin Stories

The Dying Birth

According to the Dying Birth, the Orcs are the descendants of a Demon called Paahisan from the Dapfoth Wilderlands. Paahisan wandered Kakon for a great long time, searching for a place to rest his head, but he was finding it troublesome to find a place that was suitable for him, and similar to his home. Paahisan then climbed the Kentror mountains to get a better view. From the top, he could see that the many places had already been taken up by other survivors of the inundation. When he saw a wood that looked very much like his homeland, he was excited to have a place for himself. But when he saw the children of Vorstemor already there, he cried out in rage and vowed to destroy them and take their land.

In his arrogance, however, he fell into a deep fissure in the stone and became stuck. He fought the mountain stone with all his might, but could not break free. So he fell into a deep slumber from which he never awoke. His body was eaten by the birds of the air until he was nothing more than bone. These bones, being imbued with his dying rage, became alive and quick. These bones, made in the image of Paahisan, were the first Orcs, and their legacy is the hatred of all living things, especially the Elves.

Orcish Folklore

Although The Dying Birth is a popular creation myth around Kakon, most Orcs tend to disregard it as an Elvish lie, particularly the fact that it insinuates that all Orcs are inherently demonic and born of hatred. Instead, they believe in a history of creation and passion in line with their traditional cult, Vadhan'Tariik of The Dead Path.

When the First Gods Thanras and Fenu created the world and their first children, they came to understand that balance was needed, so they made their second born, who in turn bore their own children. Balance was needed once again. Yet when Fenu went to create the balance, Thanras refused, telling him that all was perfect. Fenu in his wisdom saw that Thanras was mistaken, and so made Vadha and Uzozughoro. Vadha was a deceiver and trickster, and hated order, for order made the unorderly to be enemies.

And so Vadha began crafting a brave and beautiful army out of the stones of the mountains in his own image, children of violence and beauty. Vadha and his children worked tirelessly to free the world of order, and promulgate creation and liberation in their wake. They brought war to the other Gods who were imbalanced and strove for power beyond their needs, and made a chaotic landscape.

When Thanras had seen what had been done, he shattered the land and sundered the Gods from it, making them weak. The Children of Vadha, however, remained strong and faithful to their creator and continue their quest to make the world safe for all. This group was the first Orcs.

Civilized Orc Cultures

Utamaii

The Utamaii Orcs are a proud and noble race of civilized orcs in Nedia. As a people, they value stoicism and nobility. When their ancestors first began to distinguish themselves from their more zealous and brutish brothers deeper in the Kentror mountains, they sought to emphasize their differences as much as possible. Utamaii values are very much tied to the superiority of reason over emotion, and the spirit over the material. For the Utamaii, this is easier said than done, of course, as their Orcish ancestry causes them to feel emotions much more powerfully than other mortal races. Nevertheless, the Utamaii celebrate overcoming one’s emotions in a similar way as their mountain cousins would laud a serious victory in battle. In fact, there exists a trend among the Utamaii to mark themselves with scars of different shapes and sizes which represent the emotional battles they have overcome in their lives.

Their homeland of Utamad'Zum lies in the foothills of the Kentror mountains, bordering the Askros and Harefo men to the south and the Arakhur Dwarves to their west, and pushing northward into the mountain range. It is a valuable land, boasting rich adamant mines and a rare breed of shaggy cattle commonly called Utamad Cows.

It is also a controversial land, hosting the lengthiest and most successful resistance movement called the Utamaii Uprisings. A great portion of the Ethelan military and managerial might has been spent on supressing this uprising for nearly four centuries, which has singlehandedly stalled future Imperial aims of further incorporation of other lands, and significantly hindered the Empire's ability to resist the Belsumese threat in Maletsok. The Uprisings were also a catalyst for the Utamaii Diaspora, which saw hundreds of thousands of refugees leave their homelands in favour of more peaceful lands within the Empire, notably Maletsok, Argellor, and Margathra. In these places, successful Utamaii enclaves have formed.