Orcs

The Orcs are an ancient and short-lived race of intelligent humanoids who believe themselves to be descended from a now-lost race that was uplifted into sapience by the Firekeeper in the early prehistory of Wisteria. While time has served to give them a relatively broad distribution, their culture and population is chiefly represented in the Orcish Nation, which is to be found in the Lordless Lands. Orcs are however a highly adaptable people and can be found in small pockets across the entire continent. Orcs are inter-fertile with many of the sapient races of Ahren and partial orc heritage is common in many cultures outside their own.

Origin

Orcs were created deep in the mythological age of early History. After the Enemy brought the Humans to Wisteria, their industry disrupted life on the Ahrenic surface to such an extent that the Firekeeper was inspired to create a counter-balancing race. She selected a primate-boar species known to Orcish history as the Princes of Beasts and imbued them with full souls and burning minds, in an act known as the Kindling of the Orcs. This resulted in the totality of their precursor species becoming the Orcish race; no wild population of "unkindled" Orcs exists.

Culture

The Orcish culture is best represented by the culture of the Orcish Nation.

Physical Attributes

Lifespan

Orcs are born after a nine month gestation and achieve physical maturity around the age of 18, with mental maturity around the age of 20. Whether due to dietary and ecological forces or the limits of their physiology, they are considered quite ancient by the age of 60 and rarely live past the age of 70; a shorter lifespan than even many humans. Many orcs consider this to be a function of the "fire in their belly" that the Kindling supposedly created. Some orc scholars suggest that over-indulging in rage (a cultural phenomenon of the orcs) burns this fire hotter and shortens orc lives. Others believe that fostering the fire by staying angry preserves life.

Physicality

Orc skins are green, darker green in situations of hyperpigmentation or when living in southern lattitudes - they tan green based on sunlight exposure and many deliberately pattern their skin by masking their bodies temporarily during the summer to show off impressive patterns during the winter. Hair tends to be black to red (passing through brown. Orcs are sexually dimorphic, with the majority population being male or female, though intersex orcs have been known to be born - intersex half-orcs are actually extremely common especially when breeding with elves or humans. Orcs have tusks formed from their lower incisors which are pronounced and extend over the upper lip. Body hair is present in both sexes but not to the same extent as humans or dwarves; limited to the scalp, sideburns, and the outer faces of the arms and legs, in most cases.

Orcs carry a musculature similar to dwarves, especially orcs who are sexually male, but at over twice the height of the average dwarf this gives orcs extreme mass and strength. The Orcish culture values physical strength and their lifestyle both requires significant physicality and fosters that physicality in those who are living that lifestyle. Orcs tend to be lean and muscular as a result. Orc skin scars readily, causing rapid healing of survivable physical wounds.

Orcs experience a profound sexual dimorphism. Physiologically male orcs on average weigh 25-30% more than their female siblings and are roughly a head taller. Orc arms are proportionally longer than their human rivals (again, very similar to the physicality of dwarves). Despite these physiological size differences, gender is not strongly coupled to physical sexes in the Orcs and their culture expects a degree of fluidity and dynamism in this respect.

Spiritual and Mental Attributes

Fire in the Belly

Orcs are possessed of a natural predilection toward anger and rage to a greater degree than their Human rivals, but this should not be confused for bloodthirst, unreliability, or madness; orcs are fully emotionally complete beings the same as any other sentient creature, and the oldest and wisest are some of the most emotionally-intelligent individuals on the face of the Ahren. The Orcish "Fire in the Belly" is a manifestation of a powerful system of the body's humours. For a limited time and only at need, an Orc can work themselves into a frenzy, during which their humours surge. When this happens, they lose the ability to distinguish colour but gain remarkable physical strength and stamina. Orcs in such a "blood rage" have been known to ignore otherwise lethal wounds for several minutes, and there are reports of orc parents of both genders lifting several times their own body mass in a blood rage when necessary to protect their children.

Some orcs believe that the Fire in the Belly is a divine gift which should be cultivated and used as often as possible. Others believe that it's more like a weapon of last resort, and that "burning oneself to feed the Fire" necessarily shortens orc life spans.

Ghosts of the Ash

Orcs believe that their deaths consume the spiritual parts of them, if not their physical bodies, in the Fire in the Belly. To the extent Orcs go to an afterlife at all, they usually persist as shades in the Bardo. This is sometimes different for Orcs who have entered into pacts with other supernatural forces.

Spiritual Attunement

Orcs may more easily develop the necessary skills to see, interact with, or at least sense the presence of spiritual forces, especially spirits of the Bardo which are "near" Ahren. This knack manifests in most as misgivings, aches, and pains, but to a not-insignificant minority of the population develops into the gifts needed to learn Orcish Shamanism. An orc who is going to fully develop this skill usually gains "the sight" before their teen years.