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First-born of the races, with not-quite-right proportions that bestow tremendous strength upon them, at the cost of a shorter life span than other races. Orcs are intrepid explorers that retain a wanderlust true to their savage origins, and make masterful sailors, skilled traders, and fearsome warlords. Basically, vikings with tusks. Orcs have low-light vision, and receive +2 to Strength, in addition to the traits shared by all races (+2 to any stat, -2 to any stat, +2 to 2 skills). =Racial Characteristics= ==Appearance== As one of the earliest races, the orcs are very irregular in appearance. Standing anywhere from 6 to 8 feet tall, they are often asymmetrical, with thick limbs, dangerous tusks, and shaggy fur that grows in thick patches on their bodies. Their tusks regrow when damaged, and the race as a whole heals their wounds remarkably well - to bear any scar at all, an orc would have to have lived through a very serious injury. Not fans of meticulous personal grooming, orcs prefer to decorate their bodies with tattoos or metallic inlays into their tusks. Orc skin tones are uniformly grays or tans. ==Lifespan== Orcs live violent lives, so it is difficult to ascertain exactly how long their lifespans are. Based on the rare orc that has not suffered any mortal wounds, they appear to average around 60 years. As they age past their prime, orc bodies seem to deflate, with their asymmetry and muscles becoming less pronounced, and their statures and tusks shrivelling. It can sometimes be difficult to tell a very old orc from a very old human. =Orc Lands and History= ==The Great Host== The Host was the very first civilization, a confederation of small nomadic tribes banding together at the dawn of history to defend themselves against attacks by elder beings and elves. Since the first orcish town of Spearpoint was built on the coast of the Inner Sea, the orcs have relentlessly expanded both east along the rocky shore and south into dense forests and fertile flood plains.<br> Orcs have a very strict social hierarchy, a relic of the days when disciplined armies made the difference between life and death for the race. Military rank is equated with social standing, and tightly woven into the responsibilities of citizenry. The lowest class, apprentices and students, are relegated to militia status, expected to learn their trade first and foremost, for in times of war they will have to manage things at home while the skilled warriors fight for their country. They do not have the right to self-enterprise, and must work under a master. The next step up consists of professionals of their craft. They must maintain a passing acquaintance with the art of war in addition to their work, and are permitted to labour for their own profit. As an orc’s ranking increases (through achievements on the field of battle as well as in his craft), he is expected to spend more time practicing combat, and less on his work, which is why experienced orcs usually take on apprentices and underlings to perform time-consuming tasks (without sufficient rank, no orc has the right to do this). The orcish nobility trains regularly, convening rarely to make general decisions that are then passed down the chain of command for execution. It is said that the greatest of orcs are so skilled with the blade that they are tireless and can move through the motions of their training while asleep. The high marshal of the Host certainly conveys that impression, as he has a habit of shouting orders to his subjects while in the heat of mock battles.<br> This combination of martial prowess and skill in their craft has allowed orcs, among other things, to build and man the best ships of all the races, and use them to establish trading outposts along the coast of the Inner Sea and the Tusk Islands. With trade comes piracy, and orcish buccaneers often venture as far as human and elven shores to plunder and pillage.<br> The majority of orcish trade exports go to the kobolds, in exchange for weapons and minerals that the orcish lands are poor in. They grudgingly maintain trade with dwarves as well. Elves have little to offer the orcs, who hold an ancestral grudge against them. Orcs are perhaps the only race to dislike the gnomes, seeing them as little different from elves, and thus suspicious at best. As the only nation that does not border human lands, orcs are largely indifferent towards them; they see humans as hardy, resourceful, and dependable, and will often hire them as sailors. ====Adventuring in the Great Host==== By the most part, the Host is too well policed and too far from the frontier to experience many problems that can be solved by violence. Due to the age of local settlements, it is one of the few places where one can actually expect to find abandoned ruins - fortifications destroyed or fallen into disuse after shifting borders, or testing facilities abandoned by the army and not covered up well enough. Nearer the Greyjaws, where mines bite deep into the earth and lumberjacks mow down forests, it is possible to find rampaging primordials awakened from their slumber. To the west, nearer the border with Brinkwood, escaped feral elves sometimes threaten the populace. The one place in Host lands where adventurers can distinguish themselves is further south along the shore of the Inner Sea, where the Host has expanded to cut dwarves off from the sea. The large distance from the orc heartland makes it difficult to provide consistent supplies and reinforcements to the area. Supply lines both by sea and along the narrow strip of land that separates the Deeplands and Windgrove from the shore are constantly being raided by pirates, bandits, and the occasional monster wandering in through Windgrove. Many of the locals are of the opinion that the Host has overextended its push into the frontier lands, as the lack of supplies often means that the authorities cannot even pay those adventurers that come to their rescue. ===Spearpoint=== Jutting out above the Inner Sea, the 200-year-old orc fortress of Spearpoint stands at the tip of the eponymous peninsula, and is considered the oldest settlement in the world. It is practically the symbol of the Great Host, as orcs all over know it for its history and significance to orc culture, and others are treated to a sight of its mighty walls as they sail into port. Orcish coins are stamped with the image of Spearpoint, so that even those who have never seen it in person at least know what it looks like. Since its original construction, repairs and additions have greatly expanded the fortress. The original site is now surrounded by three walls, each named after the marshal who commissioned it. The outer wall, separating adjoining farmland, peasant dwellings, and slums from the merchant quarter and docks, cannot be seen from the sea, because it does not go around all the way. This was a calculated effect, as the wall is made of wood due to its great length, which would have made other materials more expensive. While it is constantly patrolled by guards, fires from the slums occasionally set sections of the wall alight, and as a result, there is usually at least one section of this wall that is under repair at any given time. Officially named after the late Marshal Rasheg, this wall is colloquially known as the Warning Wall - both for the heavy guard presence here that warns would-be criminals of the rule of law, and the head spikes mounted above each gate for more serious offenders. The zone beyond is named the Golden Ring, for its mercantile activity. The middle wall is made of white stone, beyond which lie the barracks of soldiers, training grounds, armories, and other army installations. Outsiders are rarely permitted here without an escort, though during tournaments, melees, and other such events, all are welcome to attend or even try their luck and fight. Citizens (though not foreigners) are permitted into the stables, which double as a zoo and contain many exotic mounts, monsters bred for fighting, and dangerous beasts used for miscellaneous purposes. The white wall is named after Marshal Algarak, and the section it surrounds is known as the Steel Ring. The final wall is comparatively small, and made of solid adamantine. This wall surrounds the city's administrative section and the housing of high-ranked officers. No outsiders are allowed in, and even visitors to one of the residents are treated with great suspicion and are never without an escort of elite soldiers. This section of the city is littered with monuments to great victories and fallen heroes. The wall is named after Dormannul, the very first Marshal of the orcs, and the sector beyond it is referred to as the Parchment Ring, for nowhere else in the Great Host is the pen actually mightier than the sword. Beyond lies the original Spearpoint. Though its fortifications are diligently maintained, they were never particularly impressive, and the site is not that defensible in case an attacker breaches the other walls. The fortress is still the seat of the marshal and his closest circle, and many of its rooms, no longer necessary for their original functions, have been refitted as museums. Currently, the orcs are constructing a fourth wall, meant to encompass the slums. Officially for protection, it is well known that the new wall is supposed to stop trafficking of contraband into the city. ====Adventuring in Spearpoint==== The sheer weight of military presence makes crime beyond Algarak's Wall a non-issue; while there are investigations into corruption and the occasional tribunal for dereliction of duty, the orcs don't let outsiders participate, or even gather evidence. The only exception is when an envoy of another nation is the victim of a crime, in which case that nation is usually permitted a small contingent to work with the local investigators. Since these affairs are mostly paperwork, nobody really tries to help except some particularly misguided gnomes. The Golden Ring and slums, though, are rife with smuggling activity, as merchants are unwilling to pay the steep tariffs levied on goods that pass through Rasheg's Wall. There are many rival trafficking gangs, each with their own secret tunnels, guardsmen on the take, and unhinged dwarven artificers trying to knock together a device for passing through walls or flying over them or some such. The thieves of Spearpoint may not all be the best at thieving, but the ones that are still alive are definitely the best at not being caught. These smuggling gangs also invest heavily in enforcers who tactfully remind merchants about their debts, and duke it out with other gangs over territory and clients. While the guards may be able to keep roads into the city secure, few dare to dwell into the deeper portions of the slums. Dock workers have their share of trouble, too - both with the smugglers and with various nasty beasties that roam the Inner Sea. Though sahuagin rarely make attacks on population centres, the large concentration of fish on the docks makes them a tempting target for aquatic beasts up to and including krakens. Young and reckless orcs often buy fish by the boatload and take it back out into the ocean in an attempt to lure out one of these leviathans and then defeat it. ==Tusk Islands== In addition to the contiguous territory controlled by the Host, it also claims the Tusk Islands, a chain of nine islands that defines the boundary of the Inner Sea to the east. Gradual expansion has added small areas on both continents to the Tusks, as the colonies are informally known. Each island is ruled by a knight-captain of the Host, who must pay an annual tithe of goods to the high marshal, as a demonstration of administrative competence, in order to retain the position. Unlike all other high ranks in the Host, other races have earned the rank of knight-captain in the past, mostly human sailors or mercenaries taking the initiative after their employers were killed or abandoned their posts. Most Tuskers (permanent residents of the Tusk Islands) consider themselves a separate nation and people from the far-off Great Host. ====Adventuring in the Tusks==== Remote and surrounded by the sea, the Tusks are not a place for the weak to gather. To the north, giants are a constant problem - though they are often friendly with the orcs, these relations are often fragile. To the south, continental monsters are always a threat, and along the islands themselves, sahuagin raiders are never far away. The need for powerful warriors is so pronounced that many sea captains, when given the choice between hiring sailors or paying more for brutes that wouldn't recognize a main-mast unless you nailed a goblin heart to it, will always choose the latter. Law in the Tusks is more often than not the will of the man with the most swords. That man is usually the knight-captain in charge, but not always, especially when some of those brutes come into port. =Religion= Though orcs are a militarized society, their gods exist outside the hierarchy of rank, and command retinues that report directly to them. To serve in such a retinue is a great honour reserved for the best of the best, and many orcs that have grown old attempt to join, either to receive a spark of divinity to prolong their lifespan or to die gloriously. The latter is very likely, as the role of orcish gods in their society is to throw themselves and their men into the thick of battle wherever they are needed, providing relief to troops that are on the verge of breaking. In peacetime, these retinues usually break up into adventuring parties with lines of communication to their patron, travelling across the world to bring relief to orcs in need. Due to their dangerous lifestyle, the turnaround on orc gods is relatively short. Only one has managed to stay alive for a notable length of time - Dormannul, the first marshal of the orcs. He holds the portfolios of War and Planning, and it is said that his cunning rivals that of the oldest dragons.
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