Orcs

The Orcs are a proud people whose earliest history begins on the northern lands of Morrigon and the misted slopes of Mount Arteth. They later became closely associated with the Bloody Isles of Rendun and Remun. Across Omniluxia, Orcs are highly valued as soldiers, guards, and mercenaries, and an Orc in a royal or imperial retinue is not unusual.

Early History¶

The Timeline records the Orcish race emerging from the mists of Mount Arteth around 20,000 BLC. Early Orcs spread across what would become northern Morrigon as nomadic tribes loosely led by shamans.

Their expansion was checked by repeated conflict with Old Dragkhan and later Dragkhan groups. By around 17,000 BLC, Orcish society had begun to coalesce around great warchiefs, with shamans serving as religious legitimizers. This period developed into the Age of a Thousand Chiefs.

Gotzon and the Inner Flame¶

In 14,771 BLC, the Party of Great Heroes came to King Onageter of the Great Nurhagorkan seeking an Orc companion and hoping to halt Orcish expansion. Guer defeated Onageter in the Igeoris by using a charm from the Zerywani Twins. Onageter died trying to match the feat, and Guer returned with an obsidian stone and the king's crown.

The Orcs crowned Guer as a god-king and remembered him as Gotzon, the Chosen. Following the Twins' instructions, he taught them to develop the Inner Flame through reflection, isolation, and ritualized opium use. The new faith spread across the Orcish isles as calmer and more disciplined Orcs defeated or banished those who refused it.

The Inner Flame remains central to Orcish identity. It is a spiritual need that develops over a lifetime and can become dangerous if left unregulated. Many Orcs struggle with consuming desires, most often blood or flesh, and tribes maintain rituals and arts to keep the flame intact.

Society¶

Orcish society diverged after the fall of the Great Nurhagorkan. On Rendun, Orcs organize around fortified Nurago palaces ruled by noble Egerya, and these palaces host the few foreigners permitted on Orcish soil. In western Remun, many Orcs live in clans that roam jungles, swamps, and mountains while preserving older traditions.

The dominant powers are the Great Families at the head of the Nurhanuoragias, who fight viciously to preserve their authority. Earlier M'Koros religious and war-chief traditions gave way to the Age of Pious Blood, then the Age of Palaces, and eventually the rise of m'orokoros as god-kings.

Beyond the Isles¶

Some Gozen Orcs adopted the ways of the wider world as mercenaries across Morrigon. In 742 LC, Orcish refugees invaded and established colonies on the Morrigon mainland. By 880 LC, Orcish traders from Rendun were founding opium ports, and by 934 LC these colonies were expanding against their rivals.

The Nazani Empire later supplied Orcish colonies in hopes of destabilizing the Borderlands and nearby Marshlander regions. These mainland colonies helped Orcish power become a persistent factor in Morrigon politics rather than an isolated island tradition.

Black Flame and Krozon¶

A feared court is rumored to worship the Black Flame, teaching that one's Inner Flame can be regulated only by consuming the flames of others. Many Orcs reject this as monstrous, but the rumor captures the danger at the center of Orcish spiritual life: discipline can preserve the flame, while appetite can corrupt it.

Many Orcs still await the Krozon, a prophesied unifier who would bring order to the scattered Orcish powers.

See also: Onageter, Guer, Morrigon, Old Dragkhan, and Borderlands.