Orkhai
Contents
Fast Facts
Height: 6'2"-6'10" Males, 5'10"-6'4" Females
Weight: 250-330(lbs) Males, 180-240(lbs) Females
Lifespan: Adult (18 years), Elder (70 years), Deathly (70 years)
Notable Features: Red, Brown or Green Skin, Thick Muscles, Robust Physiques, Tusks, Sharp Ears, Black Hair, Orange Eyes
Player Restrictions: None
Racial Ability: Rakish Might: Orkhai are known to be considerably stronger and more enduring than other races, due to their powerful physiques. Their muscles are thicker and more dense than others, which appears to give them enhanced strength as well as durability. While this difference is not all too vast, it offers them a predisposition towards being dangerous melee brutes.
Population: 42,000,000
History
The Orkhai, or Orks, have a recent history on Atharen. They have only existed in the world for a matter of around six hundred years. This is because -- as is well known -- they are originally from the plane of Bel, as brute servants to the Corrupted Gods, acting as their green-skinned mortal tools who participate in the Endless War and feed souls to the Corrupted Gods upon their death. Made by Jaxkael to serve his ambitions, they fought and changed over a century's time, evolving and separating into four distinct Clans.
The first of their kind to escape through the Gate of Markhan flooded through the Wastes, only to make their way towards the mountains overlooking Radenor, Daravin and the other nations of Mornoth's border. From there, their relationship with the other races quickly soured, leading to the first Dreg Wars.
WIP.
Physiology/Biology
The Orkhai draw their name from the Druskai, who they were modeled after by Jaxkael. Always admiring their ruthlessness, violence and command over the seas, the God saw a strength in them he wished to emulate. Orkhai are not very different from the other humanoid races on Atharen, at least on the surface. They have two arms and two legs, with roughly similar proportions to their peers. What makes the Orkhai different is largely their physiques; they are brawnier, with thicker muscles, stronger hearts that allow for more endurance. The Orkhai barely need to exercise in order to have a brawny, bulky form, though to refine it and bring out their body's absolute potential, many do.
Aside from their bulk and height, they tend to have sharp ears, though they are roughly equivalent to a human ear in length. All pure Orkhai develop tusks, usually their bottom two canines extending beyond the parameters of their mouth. Their teeth in general are stronger and sharper, allowing for cannibalism. Orkhai are capable of digesting raw meat, an advantage in the wild or within their constant state of war. Most of them have green skin, but many have an accent or undertone to their skin such as red, brown or grey, and many from divergent clans have a more matte form of these colors.
The Clans
Clan Saraghen: Clan Saraghen was the first Orkhai Clan to exist, formed of the original group of Orkhai created by Jaxkael. Originally, the Orkhai were an all-male race, with Jaxkael believing their physiologies to be superior for the Endless War; brawnier and more durable, created for nothing but combat. In his short-sightedness, he did not give the Saraghen Orkhai the ability to reproduce, and so their numbers - which were limited to begin with - continued to dwindle as they were sent to fight the Dregs of other Gods. This issue was later alleviated, but only as Gods began to capture Orkhai and repurpose them for their own uses.
Y'shendra first constructed the female Orkhai within Clan Drakaal, and their race began to proliferate, with other Gods eventually capturing and adapting their own variations of the race. Reluctant to admit the design-flaw in his 'apex species', Jaxkael instead altered his original Orkhai to be able to reproduce without sexual conception: through cannibalism. He installed a birthing tract into their throat, one that would receive the genetic information of other Orkhai they devoured. Within a week, a throat lump similar to a goiter would form, which would only expand until - around two months later - the Orkhai would vomit out their child, and shortly after begin training them as a warrior.
Clan Saraghen are a uniquely brutal group of Orkhai, and given they primarily expand their people through murder and war, they tend to do so. They are violent and rash, but powerful, enduring warriors. They tend to have either green or brownish skin, and notable tusks. They are also known to be among the most hot-headed of their kin.
Clan Drakaal: Clan Drakaal was originally built by Y'shendra as a method of self-defense; an army to defend her own dominion against the warring madness of Valteran and Jaxkael, who assaulted her followers, culled her Dregs and sought to push her to the fringes of Bel. She captured and learned to alter one of Jaxkael's Orkhai, creating a female companion for him, the first female Orc. As their numbers continued to grow and as decades went by, Y'shendra became increasingly comfortable with her new domain of Undeath, and so began to alter many of her Orkhai to become undead abominations. Through her own advanced form of Necromancy she would alter them by the hundreds, adapting and shifting their forms to turn them into true weapons of war, nearly unkillable and brutally eager to fulfill her will.
In recent decades, Y'shendra has been turning many of her Orkhai into Dunash, and pushing them out through the Gate of Zahn. Those who settled Rokhan beforehand, after the migration of the Orkhai into the Mortal Plane, tend to be strange Orcs with variable undead traits, burnished into their genetic code so that they pass down onto their children. The Drakaal who live in Rokhan have grey undertones to their skin, tend to live longer than others, and usually have at least one or two additional appendages that were added to their family line to make them more viable as soldiers.
Clan Variant: Clan Variant was made by Venadak and Saryn, initially, the two of them speaking into the minds of the Orks of other Clans. Invited to Adena to meet with the Creator-God, many Orkhai could not resist the opportunity. Once brought there, they were given the chance to swear fealty to Venadak and to fight for equilibrium within the Endless War. Those who agreed, the vast majority of them, had their souls melded with the essence of Venadak's Dregs. In the process, they gained a unique familiarity with Bel that most other Orkhai could not claim to have. They became able to sense the location of Barrengates, becoming effective navigators within the Infernal Plane. Their skin became a brownish or deep red, their eyes a dark orange.
Clan Variant serves Venadak's purposes within Bel, ensuring that no God becomes too powerful within the Endless War. In recent decades, this means they have begun to align with the interests of Valteran, who continues to lose territory to Y'shendra within Arun. Those who go to the surface, such as those who reside in Rokhan, continue to be able to sense the Barrengates as if a distinct calling.
Clan Grontern: Clan Grontern was forged by Valteran as his secondary tool within the Endless War. Unlike the other Orkhai, who tend to rule their own Clans with some level of autonomy, Clan Grontern serves as the lapdog auxiliary of the Dranoch Huntsmen beneath Valteran's command. Trained to be their brutish hounds, they lash out relentlessly at their foes, known for their resilience, hunger and inability to be routed in the face of death. Grontern's warriors are physically dominant; stronger, larger, but utterly commanded by their perpetual state of starvation. Most are unintelligent brutes, the only incentive they desire for serving Valteran being a chance at the fleshy spoils of victory. When a battle ends, the Orkhai of Clan Grontern will derange into wild feeding binges, licking even drops of blood from the floor.
The members of Clan Grontern who settled Rokhan are the scourge of the rest: they cannot be reasoned with, viewing all other Clans as their sworn enemies, who they must batter and devour to the last.
Technology
The Orkhai wield surprisingly potent weaponry, their Clans harnessing siege weapons native to the Infernal Plane. These weapons include battering rams that produce massive explosions of red, kinetic energy, easily battering through gates; trebuchets that fire rapidly oscillating blades, and most rarely, firearm-like condensers that draw and convert raw ether from the air into a piercing red blast. These weapons are most often utilized against Grisic Skyvessels or Krish Harbingers, a well-aimed shot capable of puncturing holes in their hull. Most Orkhai technology tends to be built of Obsidian with red accents, offering it a sleek red and black tone.
Psychology
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Culture
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Clothing, Grooming and Art
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Religion and Worship
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Reproduction, Aging, and Death
The Orkhai weren't intended to live long. They were intended to be used as a power source for the Gods of the Endless War, living a quick life as a soldier only to shortly after fade, surrendering their souls to their creator. For this reason, they have short lifespans, do not really have reproduction cycles, and if born on Bel, they tend to be born fairly developed, reaching full adulthood in a matter of a few years.
Orkhai within Bel were created without any reproductive functions. While male Orkhai were not sterile, there were no other mortal species for them to reproduce with. Because of this, their original number of around a thousand quickly began to diminish as they fought within the Endless War. As stated previously, Y'shendra created a female Orkhai, and then more, and since then the majority of the Orkhai Clans have been able to reproduce biologically. Reproduction in an Orkhai is virtually identical to that of reproduction in a human or another sapient race on Atharen. If an Orkhai is born on the surface, typically in Rokhan, they will become sexually mature at the same age as humans, and their fertility period or cycle roughly mirrors the human one as well.
Orkhai of Clan Saraghen tend to reproduce... 'differently'. Jaxkael eventually altered them to possess a peculiar method of reproduction. Installing a tract in their throat that receives and incubates the organic material of another sapient mortal they consume, the Saraghen Orkhai are capable of furthering their Clan by cannibalizing enemies. A terrifying, gruesome and unsavory practice, this allows them to expand their domain through nothing more than violence. This process is odd and brief. After around a month since consumption, a goiter-like lump will appear on their neck. It will expand until a very large bulb forms on their neck, and after around three months they will vomit out their child, who has their blood as well as the blood of the one they slew and devoured. This strange method of reproduction has led many to consider the Saraghen a non-viable future for the Orkhai, as they typically can only further their Clan through slaughter and cruelty. While they are capable of reproducing sexually like other Clans, they tend to stoutly follow the traditions imbued upon them by Jaxkael, and view themselves as the original and 'true' Orkhai.
Orkhai age benevolently until the last moment. They tend to remain strong, fit and healthy until their late sixties, at which point they will often spontaneously die despite appearing to be in peak health. Orkhai do grieve their fallen Clansmen, with different approaches to their grief. Saraghen burn their dead ones in open fields, Squall mages manipulating the winds of their ashes as the Clan dances within them. Drakaal rarely pass from age, but those rare ones who have not been afflicted with undeath are buried around or beneath their homes. Clan Variant will go on pilgrimage to bring their dead loved ones to one of the high mountains of Rokhan, where a powerful Resonance mage of their Clan - known as the High Shaman - will transport them to Bel. Finally, Clan Grontern will gather around their fallen Clansmen and consume them, often embittered by tears as they devour their fallen kin.
Language
The Orkhai speak Mor'drub, the common tongue of Bel. Mor'drub is a guttural, ferocious tongue, involving a lot of snarling and harsh annunciations. The vocal range associated with Mor'drub spans from cold and unexpressive to furious and uncontained. Being the primary language of the Infernal Plane, most Dregs also communicate in Mor'drub, though with most of the Adac communicating in Eldhan.
Orkhai names tend to sound strong, with Male examples being: Groghan, Korgak, Varbuk, Vorgarag, Margulg, Rosh'khan, Cagan
Female Orkhai names might be: Yukhar, Urzul, Ghorza, Garakhis, Lazgara, Durzana
The surnames of the Orkhai are simply those of their Clan. So, if Groghan is of Clan Saraghen, he will either go by Groghan Saraghen, or 'Grogan of Clan Saraghen'. Clan names are typically kept upon leaving Bel, with Orkhai fiercely loyal to their Clan above all. Even through the separation of entire planes, the Orkhai on the surface consider themselves merely the successor or 'surface Clan' of their original Clan.
