Prayer is useless.  The gods have fled.  The Orcs have come.
                                                                     Old Dwarven saying.

It is said that the gods created the first man and woman.  They lived in blissful ignorance and watched over by the long lived Elves.  Then Grumesh came and strangled the first man, and raped the first woman.  And not long after, the first orc was born.

This orcish tale is not widely accepted as fact, but the orcs take great joy in telling it.   It never fails to get a laugh during the long marches.  But it does hint at the all too horrible truth.  Orcs are a mongrel race created by rape and inbreeding.    It’s not known if the first orcs were degenerate elves, or degenerate humans, but generation after generation of inbreeding, and countless outbreeding with captured elves, humans, halfings, dwarves and even the odd troll, have produced the most feared monster mankind has ever dealt with…the orcish horde.

The orcs spread fear where ever they go.  They are tireless machines of murder.  They delight in torture, rape, cannibalism, and murder.  They will march for miles only to capture a few hundred humans and torture them to death, if they are lucky.   The unlucky ones, the women, are raped and confined until they give birth the next generation of monsters.   The weak are eaten.  The strong are bullied until any humanity is crushed, and they are strong enough, or clever enough to be a serious threat to their bullies.   You are either a strong orc, or you are lunch. 

Most orcs are part human.  These make up the most of the orcish armies.    Orcish leaders, though few will admit it, have elfish blood.   While slighter than most, they have a rare gift of cunning, and leadership.    Keep in mind, that since they are usually weaker than their brethren, they have earned their place.  That means they are the meanest, most ruthless, and most dangerous sons of bitches alive.   The only thing scarier than a huge orc coming at you with an axe, is the small, old orc behind him.
The orcs, while regarded as stupid, are in fact quite smart.    They are just not interested in the things that we as civilized people value.   Orcs channel their minds into fighting, tactics, war, torture, and weapons.   
Orcs with Dwarfish blood tend to be smaller, but stronger and can fight the longest.  As such, many such orcs form small raiding parties.   These are the special forces of the orcish world.  Many Necromancers pay a high price for a party of Half Orc, half Dwarf commandos.

Due to all this genetic variety, there is no true orcish look.    Some can be truly monstrous, with hog like visages, some can be more human, and even, while rare, and can be beautiful.   What makes and orc and orc is their total disregard for the non-orc, and hatred of weakness. 

A charismatic leader can, once he has shown his strength*, can create a nearly fanatical army of disciplined, skilled, nearly in fatigable soldiers.    As long as there is raw flesh to consume, females to rape, and blood to spill, the orc will follow with a blind loyalty. 

The orcish hoard’s greatest weapon is the fear that they bring.   Most civilized people fear the hoard, and rightly so.   They can break a city’s moral before the first drop of blood is spilled.    When rumors of an Orc March is heard,  many will flee and take their chances in the wild alone,  for that is better than ending up in a rape camp, or on a dinner plate.

Their second best weapon is disease.    The orcish lifestyle has made them resistant to most disease.   However, they are excellent carriers.   Most orcish sieges are won shortly after the orcish leaders select the smallest of their warriors to catapult over a city’s walls.   Only a few short days after, the silence of the dead, and the arrival of the carrion birds alert the hoard to their victory.

The only thing the orc fears is magic.   Some rare orcish females live after their childbearing years because they develop the talent to “sniff magic.”     Woe is the female orc who is discovered to be a fraud.   

Magic Sniffers are highly valued, and Females who show true talent the rest of their lives protected from harm.

Some orcish females live solitary lives, far from the hoard.   Some form small communities, fearful of discovery, and as such will not tolerate news of their discovery.   Runaway orc women live in fear, and are shunned by all.   

Some orcs make pacts with dark powers.  Always, they want to make more war, more blood and protection from magic.   Orcish Shamans will practice the vilest of magic’s, the cruelest of spells.

The title Orcslayer is a name given to but a few.   For many a young adventurers will ride off to make a name for himself.   Few return.

So next time you laugh at the lowly orc, remember, you are lucky.  You have the luxury to laugh at them.  But I guarantee, if you were to face an army, or even a small squad of these most hideous, cruel creatures, laughing would be the last thing you would want to do.


*Martin the Nasty once proved himself a true leader of Orcs by casting a chain lighting spell that roasted no less than 23 orcs in 3 seconds.   When the laughter was over, the orcs were so impressed that they painted Martin’s face with blood and swore an oath of loyalty to him on the spot.    Had he not died of pox a week later from the contaminated blood,   Martin surely would have made a name for himself.

Bumping for Fear and Horror purposes.....

I Game terms nodoil users save ed100 per minute to shake the drugs effect.  While under the influence of nodoil the use never checks for cool, nor do they get stunned or knocked out while they still have hit points.    

Even if reduced to zero hits a user would roll wake up vs d20, not 100.

While afflicted Humanity is halved.

and would someone educated in Orc Lore know how long it takes to brew and how long these feasts last?