Orcs

Orcs are a dominant race on the continent of Vatain. A single orc nation, Kkruruk, was formed over 1500 years ago. Since that time, the nation has split and reformed no less than 7 times. Nowadays, orcs of Kkruruk reside in one of their many cities located in the Vachinae Mountains.

Orcs are, at heart, a chaotic people, and the only reason their empire has continued existing is due to the raw charisma, strength, and intelligence of their leaders. That strong leadership is the cause of almost all of the orcs various successes, from the civil wars, to the destruction of dwarves and dragons, to establishing ever increasing territory.

Orcs serve the fiends.

In game mechanics
Orcs in this setting are buffed as a half orc should not be just as strong and constitution-y as a full orc, with better racial traits such as relentless endurance and savage attacks. 1 free save from death once a day, and 2x/1.5x better critical strikes are much better than the orcs racial trait of aggressive.

'Ability score increase. 'Your Strength score increases by 3 up to a maximum of 20, and your Con score increases by 1.

'Age. 'Orcs reach adulthood at age 12 and live up to 50 years.

'Alignment. 'Orcs are strict followers of Fiends, but not laws. Orcs tend to chaotic alignments.

Size. Orcs are usually over 6 feet tall and weigh between 230 and 280 pounds. Your size is medium.

'Speed. 'Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

'Darkvision. 'You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in the darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in the darkness, only shades of gray.

Aggressive. As a bonus action, you can move up to your speed toward an enemy of your choice that you can see or hear. You must end this move closer to the enemy than you started.

'Violent Tendencies. 'You have proficiency in the intimidation skill, but disadvantage on any Deception, Performance, and Persuasion checks to any dwarves, or friends of dwarves.

'Powerful Build. 'You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

'Languages. 'You can speak, read, and write Common and Orc.

Government
Ginat Durgan VIII currently leads Kkruruk

Founding
Around 1500 years ago, there was a scourge of magical creatures in the Vachinae Mountains, mainly dragons, dwarves, and giants. The dwarves, being the largest source of civilization at the time, used the orcs as slaves, and treated them as truly stupid and unnecessary brutes, if they deigned to speak to them at all. The highly familial bound giants, did not care to notice the orcs, instead dealing with dwarves as they found necessary, as the entirety of the giant race, from hill to storm variety, had larger issues to deal with, those issues being dragons. Dragons and Giants hate each other, compete for the same territory, and had frequent battles, which in turn dealt collateral damage to the various scattered orc tribes.

At this point, Orcs had been mistreated for hundreds upon hundreds of years. And so they united. Or rather, one Orc forced unity. An orc named Ginat Durgoon at the age of 10, killed his tribes leader, the name of which is lost to time. An incredibly intelligent orc, he used tactics (honestly not great ones but it didn't matter with the orcs of the time) to subdue other tribes, killing their leaders, and assuming their loyalties. Within 5 years, Ginat had united all the orc tribes into a unified host. They turned to the giants for help in defeating their former oppressors, and the giants agreed, so long as the orc people helped destroy the dragons in any way they could. A deal was struck.

The Dragon Giant War
The orcs, with their giant kin, began an offensive against the dwarves and dragons, the celestial backed host. With the power of the orcs, the giants gained a decisive edge in the conflict. The orcs were better warriors than the dwarves, and while the dwarves could supply armor, weapons, and materials to the dragons, it could not match the orc armies ferocity and fighting strength. Better scouts, and better fighters, the orcs turned the tide. 162 years following the unification, the dragons of the Vachinae mountains were either dead or driven out.

The orcs turn on the dwarves
With the defeat of the dragons, the giants left the conflict, retreating to their lives of seclusion, art, and family. The orcs were fine with this: while the might of the giants would be appreciated in any battle, this battle was personal, and the orc armies were strong enough to destroy the dwarves on their own. They waged an offensive lasting ~350 years, killing and enslaving dwarves, and destroying their beautiful cities to small piles of rubble. The last 100 years of the war were focused on one conflict, the 100 year siege. The giants were eventually brought in as tie breakers to the siege, and the orcs finally won against the dwarves, though the cost was great. To this day, orcs watch over the city of Goird, never venturing into it, but watching nonetheless.

The sixth civil war
Following the Fourth and a Half civil war, the orc historians, rare though they may be, decided that it counted as the the fifth and thus skipped straight to the Sixth civil war.

A time of relative peace
Following the last civil war's end just 25 years ago, the Orcs have been satisfied in their desire for war, allowing them to have peace with most other species, though it is unknown for how long that peace can last. With the newest leader, Ginat Durgan VIII, the orc people are acting welcoming to visitors and traders currently, allowing for a rare opportunity of trade and tourism to the daring.

Of course, relative peace is the term. Orcs are still conducting raids on those they deem vulnerable, though the numbers are low currently.

Culture
The people of Kkruruk are an extreme people. Violent yet intelligent, disputes are usually solved via debates or battles.

Weak family bonds and communal child rearing
Orcs, while passionate, do not have strong family bonds. The mothers and fathers of orcs raise a group of children communally with those most effective and wanting to do the main job of raising them being considered more important than the actual parent. As a result of this detached method of child rearing, individual parents have no strong ties to their children.

Broods number around twenty child orcs generally, and during the course of being raised, anywhere from one to five of the brood may be killed by the rest or other causes. These targeted members are most likely the failed leader of the brood, while a competing leader, chosen by a combination of strength, charisma, and intelligence, leads the rest of the brood against them. The orcs allow this to happen as they feel it builds character. The brood mothers ensure that no brood loses more than accepted, cleverly playing the children against each other if they look to be too evenly split. The brood mothers are the exception to the generally weak bonds of the orc race, as those they raise will put their lives on the line to protect to them due to their strong bond. This often leads to brood mothers being not just brood mothers, but persons of authority and leaders as they effectively have a standing fiercely loyal army. Any who harm a brood mother would face dire consequences.

Adaptable to loss
While orcs do have a feeling of loyalty to their brood mothers, and to a lesser extent the other members of the brood, this does not prove to be enough to keep them in one place. Adult orcs move frequently in between professions and the cities of the orc people. This has the effect of making the orc society incredibly able to adapt to loss, as most orcs are crosstrained in a large variety of jobs. As an orc becomes older, around 30 years old, the orc has often found a favorite profession, choosing to continue working in that profession for much longer than others, though they may occasionally become wanting of change and move or switch professions again. Generally elder orcs will return to their favorite profession after a time.

Common violence
Orcs are a violent people and while violence will mainly advance an orcs goals and ambitions, sometimes it is just done for fun. It is not uncommon to see an orc pub, full of drinking and merry orcs, quickly turn to a brawl that leaves some few orcs badly injured or dead for no reason whatsoever.

While it is often used as a fun recreational activity, orcs are not limited to just fun. If an argument arises between two orcs, it may be settled with words or a fight and it is hard to tell beforehand just how it will be settled. This has led to several regressions in the total knowledge of the orcs, but is a decisive way to prove a point. It has actually led to entire colleges being destroyed, as in the example of the fourth and half civil war and the sixth civil war. It is a dangerous thing to argue a point with an orc historian, especially over naming conventions.

As a result of violence being so ingrained within the orc people, they are never truly at peace. Orc leaders are not absolute, and laws are more suggestions than actual laws. As a result, orc raiders are a constant threat to any near them, except for giants. Orcs raid loxodon tribes, elven tribes, human cities, and any other peoples they can find at irregular intervals. While these raids are often small and inconsequential, resulting in a few dead from the raided party as well as the raiders, they can become bigger issues. There was once a raid where an entire city of orcs, Luu, all joined in a raid and accidentally started a small war between the Kkruruk and Vatain, only ending once the Luu was destroyed, as they destroyed Korinh.

Mountain Cities
Orcs are often inspired by the stark and dramatic landscape of the mountains they live in, and the cities show this. Orc architects and builders are professions that few orcs are good at. Orc cities follow a building style known as brutalism, which mimics the harsh cliffs of the mountains. These structures are strong, and beautiful to the right observer, but they also serve as camoflage, the gray of the building blending in with the gray of the mountains. If it weren't for the orcs living there, an orc city in winter would be near impossible to make out from the surrounding mountain when blanketed under snow.

Relations with other races
Orcs are a hard people to get along with and they have few who could be called allies or friends.

Giants
Giants are an example of a race that orcs get along with just fine. The giants are long lived with even longer memories and remember the orcs valiant efforts in the Giant-Dragon War. Orcs trade with them rarely as they are seclusive, but what little they trade is more than any other race. Occasionally giants will become bored and join an orc society for months to years in search of excitement. These giants are utilized by the orcs in their violent tendencies, helping with raiding parties, and settling arguments. The combination of giants and orcs working together allows for interesting interactions, such as gliders and orc paratroopers, and the Siege ball, which is a large metal ball filled with orcs and cushioning that is thrown by a giant into a city with walls, or through wooden structures. When the ball stops moving, orcs stream out and wreak havoc from their new positions.

Humans
Vatain has a rocky relationship with the orcs. While the orcs have been peaceful, accommodating, and enthusiastic in their efforts to build a relationship with Vatain, the leaders know that their current attitude is temporary, and they remember the raids conducted in the past, and even while the orc leaders attempt to better relations. It is counterproductive. As a result, the current relationship could best be described as cautious and wary.

Dwarves
Orcs and dwarves only relation is that of hate for ancient slights that each has committed to the other. The only known time that an orc or dwarf has not attempted to attack the other on sight is that of dwarven slaves in the orc cities. To find anything else would be rarer than dragon spotting.