An Alternate Ecology of Orcs, part 3: People

If you're just joining us, go back and read parts 1 and 2 for context.

https://www.ofgodsandgamemasters.com/blog/an-alternate-ecology-of-orcs-pt-1

and

https://www.ofgodsandgamemasters.com/blog/an-alternate-ecology-of-orcs-part-2-demons

The first one is a sort of overview of the tropes and issues, while the second covers a take on orcs as evil monsters but without bioessentialist baggage.

In this installment, though, we're going to go ahead and explore a different perspective on orcs more in line with the modern conception of them as just another kind of people, a playable ancestry in games, while divorcing them from their 'barbarian' or 'noble savage' tropes, which have their own problematic associations with, and misrepresentations of, indigenous and hunter/gatherer cultures worldwide.

Orcs, in this new approach, are roughly human height, sometimes slightly taller. They tend to be broader, and a bit heavier, than humans of the same height, due to high bone and muscle density. As such, the average orc is stronger and tougher than the average human, but of course individuals vary widely. Broadly speaking, orcs are of equal intellect to humans.

An orc's senses are tuned to a life in deep forests and jungles, from which their people first emerged. Unlike humans, they had no long developmental time on the wide savannas, or on the coasts. As such, they have wide flat noses, with large nasal orifices for efficient breathing. The are very fast over short distances, but are not adapted to long distance running in the way humans are . . . ambush hunters rather than endurance hunters. They climb well, but occasionally have trouble swimming, as their shoulders are not adapted to it, and they are too dense to float as well as a human might. Their diet is omnivorous, and originally consisted of mostly roots, vegetables, and fruit, with occasional supplementation with small animals, carrion, insects, worms, etc, though they do hunt larger prey if other food is scarce. An orc has a finely tuned sense of smell for finding food that is usually buried, and they tend to love mushrooms. An orc's distance eyesight is not quite as good as that of a human, but they have better vision in lowlight conditions, and quite keen hearing. The underslung jaw and tusks were, in ancient times, used for digging their food from the earth or out of rotten logs, as well as self defense and dominance struggles. Their existence now is mostly vestigial, although the size and quality of one's tusks is often seen as a secondary sexual characteristic in both sexes. Female orcs do breastfeed their young, but they tend to remain flat chested and muscular with only slight swelling around the mammary gland during breastfeeding. If not breastfeeding, there is very little actual sexual dimorphism in the species, and the culture is egalitarian in that regard, from the most primitive tribes to the most advanced nation. They recognize at least three 'gender' roles in society: provider, caretaker, and helper. These roles are not firmly attached to sex, and in their more advanced societies they often mix and match them without concern.

Despite their tusks, orcs are as unlikely to bite someone as any human at the same level of cultural development.

Orcs reach physical adulthood around 12 years old, but are not considered true adults, or of mating age, until closer to 20, which is when they develop pronounced tusks.

Culturally speaking, orcs vary widely. There are, indeed, quite a few hunter gatherer groups remaining in isolated rainforests, whether tropical or temperate, and those groups tend to organize on a tribal level. A tribe is made of several family units, and might also be part of a larger clan, though the tribe is the unit that moves and lives together. They tend to be semi-nomadic, following the food, foraging then moving on so as not to over-hunt or over-gather any small area.

However, more common in modern times, the orcs have established advanced civilizations, with temples and cities of stone and wood, the smithing of iron or steel (tin is too rare in their rain forests for bronze) , and governments ranging from monarchies ( the monarch can almost always be of any sex and/or gender) to true democracies. There are also cities in some places that they have established with dwarves, elves, humans, or others that neighbored their lands . . . these originally started as trade outposts, but some have become independent city states where all the varied folk live in harmony as equals . . .and some have become oppressive imperial outposts. Orcs are no more immune to ambition and power hunger than humans.

Most orcs, however, are not inherently warlike. Few embark on campaigns of conquest. They are, however, territorial, and will fight to the death to defend the land they see as theirs from invaders or colonists, if those new folk do not approach them with caution and kindness. Some become warlike, if faced by attempted conquest or oppression over a long enough period, and begin to conquer and expand an empire. Usually this begins for the expressive purpose of pro-active self defense, or perhaps revenge, but as with any mortal race, such things can easily go too far.

Next time I think I'll make some example nations. Stay tuned!