Orcs are the scourge of Otraxis. Even goblins, widely seen as brutish barbarians, despise orcs. They are able to survive on nothing more than rocks, lichen and dirt, although they prefer more nutritious fare, especially fresh meat. They breed prodigiously, often whelping litters of 12 or more. They produce almost nothing; orc craftsmanship is limited to badly tanned hides and weapons. Everything they need, they acquire through raiding, theft or the actions of slaves.

Orcs live in clans, often with names chosen to inspire fear in their enemies: Fleshtearers, Blooddrinkers, Worldeaters, Speartongues, Cleftskulls, and so on. Social standing is linked solely to how many orcs you can cow, through force of arms, magic or treachery. Only the strong survive; they have no patience or sympathy for weakness of any kind.

Orcs belive the gods are malevolent spirits, who hate the orcs (after all, everyone else does). After creating the orcs, the gods were so terrified of them they made the other (weaker) races to try to eradicate them, at which they have never succeeded. They therefore live their lives in spite of the gods, nihilistically destroying the handiwork of the gods to prove their own mastery. While orcs have clerics and other divine spellcasters, they see prayer as more a means of extortion than piety: orc clerics “steal” magic from the gods to power their spells.

 Although brutish, orcs are intelligent enough to realise that half-orcs often possess talents they themselves do not, like reduced sensitivity to light and increased magical abilities. They therefore rape their slaves in an attempt to breed spies, day guards and spellcasters. The half-orcs are treated appallingly until they can wrench some standing in the tribe, and then are treated according to the fear they inspire (i.e. as orcs). New half-orcs are often bred at the behest of the older generation of half-orcs. 

Current news:

High in the Palir Mountains, a great orc barbarian is welding the tribes into the greatest raiding party ever seen. They intend to sack the city of Otraxis. Buoyed by excitement, even the lowlander tribes are becoming rowdier: raiders have already attacked some of Otraxis’ satellite towns, raizing the town of Arenburg, kidnapping several villagers and stealing livestock and valuable goods.