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Icelander
Master of Realmslore

1864 Posts

Posted - 13 Aug 2018 :  16:04:30  Show Profile  Visit Icelander's Homepage Send Icelander a Private Message  Reply with Quote  Delete Topic
quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One

Ed replies:

Some time ago, Gray Richardson asked in this thread (or rather, an earlier year’s incarnation of it) for more orc lore. At the time, what I’d worked up was firmly NDA (as Rich Baker and Bob Salvatore were both at work on Obould, and might well take things in different directions than all the details of clothing, cooking, customs, and the like that I’d done), and I regretfully had to remain silent. Some of that lore is still NDA, but I can now say this much:

Orcs recount great victories and defeats and heroics through long chants uttered in unison over fires by elders, and learned by the rest of a tribe who are expected to echo all they know of such chants, until they learn them “entire,” themselves. Here’s a typical snatch of an orc chant, rendered into Common:
“Well remembered is Grishnakh, who first bore the Black Fang/Founded our tribe and fathered bold Halrak/Then came Great Halrak, four-armed, four-fisted, tall as small mountains, who made Black Fang feared, and fathered many/Regrarl Blackhide, who slew his sire Halrak, then killed many brothers to lead us, but fell to poison/Orglul, son of Regrarl and sly in battle, who turned to dark magic/Then skull-faced Lularleg, servant of shamans, who took us to new crags . . .”
Orc history is indeed hampered by its oral nature. Not only do different tribes contradict each other constantly in their chants (“We the Cloven Skulls beat the Black Fangs!” vs. “Then did we crush the Cloven Skulls, we Black Fangs, as we always do!”), but whenever many elders die - - in hard winters, in a horde sweeping down into human-held lands, or when a tribe is nigh-exterminated by another tribe or a greater foe such as a hungry or angry dragon - - the chants are either lost, or get so distorted because only a few are left to continue them that they become utterly unreliable as historical record (sometimes, it only takes the faulty memory of just ONE old, loud, stubborn orc to get an entire section of chant shifted out of place in the chronology, and if this happens several times over the “life” of an ancient tribe or clan, the mixing up “who came before who” can be very thorough). Moreover, deciding who was REALLY important or dominant can be hard for any later historian, because every tribe has its own self-centered viewpoint.
I’m dancing around something here, because I’m trying to avoid giving you the names of long-gone historical dominant orcs (thanks to the surviving NDA), so here are a few currently-active orc heroes (adventurers, war leaders, and “chiefs” [I’ve put that last word in quotations because actual orc ruling titles vary so much from tribe to tribe]):
Narrgh Longtooth, Glorundoun, Ahrkragh, and Ruglukh.
Details of these “hukrym” (“bold tusks”) will follow in later posts.

quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One

In the meantime, here’s the first of those four hukrym Ed mentioned last time:

Narrgh (“NAR-hh”) is a grim adventuring warrior, a Conan-like loner who attracts followers constantly but whose deeds kill most of them off swiftly (he never turns on them; he just leads them boldly into greater and greater dangers). Several orc tribes claim that he came from their ranks, but all that’s certain is that he was first active near Glister, and has generally ranged east into the Great Dale, Rashemen, and even down into warmer human-held lands, in a three-decade-long career of lurking, raiding, and working with various improbable allies (such as the human sorceress Nlamra of Alaghôn, who cast spells on Narrgh to let him pass for human, several times gave him refuge and nursed him back to health, shared her bed with him on yet other occasions, and benefited from some dangerous slay-rivals-and-seize-valuables missions he undertook on her behalf).
Narrgh is aging now, but is said to be still out there, lurking and pouncing on caravans and lordlings (some say he’s in Chessenta, some put him in the Vilhon, and some swear he’s in the Border Kingdoms). Orcs who “speak with the gods” swear Narrgh is “doomed” to carry out one last great exploit, some great and violent achievement in which he’ll die, yet win victory. (“Longtooth” refers to his longevity, but it’s a nickname Narrgh himself proudly uses, and referred originally not to age, but to his improbable survival as his adventuring career grew longer and longer.) Narrgh has a long, flat head and small tusks, is taller than most orcs but very broad-shouldered, and the skin of his head and shoulders (but not the rest of him) is slate-gray. He has a habit of snapping his head around to cast quick glances over his shoulders, often and suddenly.

So saith Ed. Who uncovered his orc lore with some glee.

quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One

Hi again, scribes. Herewith, details of Ed’s second hukrym, straight from the creator of the Realms himself:



Glorundoun is that rarest of things; a shrewd schemer, a truly foresighted orc who plans years ahead, spreading rumors and founding alliances and sending the orcs he commands (a rogue band of outcasts and misfits from many tribes, including “misshapen” orcs visibly different from the norm [such as having three left arms but only one right arm, or long, prehensile tails], plus a few humans, half-orcs, and others - - who at his firm and sometimes violent insistence are treated as “full orcs” by the rest) on missions to accomplish specific tasks that will shape the opinions, deeds, and settlement locations of others.
Active in the Vast, Impiltur, and the Moonsea North, and moving about often, Glorundoun has been behind much of the “orc dangers” that imperil human mining and travel away from the Inner Sea shores; he wants to keep humans from settling, taming, and then spreading over all of the region (so as to prevent all “monsters” [such as himself] ever being crowded right out of non-frozen areas where they can forage).
Glorundoun has no interest in ruling any orc tribe or disputing with tribes, but expects other orcs to cooperate with him once they know what he’s busy doing; if they don’t, he customarily ignores chieftans and warband leaders and speaks directly to the orcs being led by them. If any orc defies him or hampers his schemes, he won’t hesitate to destroy them - - but won’t engage in open confrontation he’ll likely lose, calmly withdrawing to strike at them later.
Glorundoun enjoys eating, drinking, and sex (with partners of all races), but will never let pursuit of such enjoyments lull him into being exposed to the attacks of foes, or distracted from what’s afoot right now.
Glorundoun uses the non-orc members of his band in deceptions, so as to deal with humans and others without them (initially, at least) realizing they’re “treating with orcs,” and seizes and caches items such as weapons and tools, coins and gems, and other useful goods whenever he can, for use later. Over years of successful exploits, he’s established dozens of hidden caches that each hold enough wealth to purchase buildings in many human-dominated cities outright, as well as scores of smaller caches (if buying a building, ship, or caravan will help a scheme succeed, he’ll boldly do so).
Glorundoun himself is gigantic, standing 14 feet tall at his shoulders (which are fully six feet across), and having a flattened, “toad-like” hairless head twice as large as most orcs. His left front tusk is broken off and yellowed with decay, and several wide white scars wander across his features.

So saith Ed, creator of literally scores of interesting and campaign-useful NPCs down the years . . . not to mention a world or three for them to frolic in.


1) Do we have any further orc lore from Ed than this 2009 lore?

2) In particular, did Ed ever detail Ahrkragh and Ruglukh? What part of the world they were from or anything else?

3) Glorundoun stands 14 feet tall. Assuming orc flesh and bone is not of a lesser density than human flesh and bone, it makes him around 1,500 lbs. if he's built like Manute Bol and closer to 4,000 lbs. (2 short tons) if he's built like Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson. That's about the weight range for a mature rhinoceros and only slightly lighter than an allosaurus.

Edit: I noted that Glorundoun is noted as standing 14 feet tall at the shoulders. This, of course, means that he's probably fully as tall as most true giants, at 15'8" to 15'10" and probably weighs well into that third short ton.

---

Do pure-blooded orcs on Toril usually range in size from human scale up to forms this gigantic?

If someone looked human, but stood 9' tall or more, no one would consider him human. He'd be regarded as someone of giant blood, perhaps an ogre, firbolg, hill giant, mountain giant or some other type of giant.

Is Glorundoun descended from giants who mated with orcs or is he perhaps a throwback to giant-sized orcs who might have arrived in Faerun through the Orcgates, perhaps in the entourage of orc gods?

How common are orc hukrym who stand 9' tall or more? How common, for that matter, are multi-armed orcs or the other “misshapen” orcs visibly different from the norm [such as having three left arms but only one right arm, or long, prehensile tails] mentioned in Glorundoun's writeup?

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Edited by - Icelander on 14 Aug 2018 06:15:04

Gary Dallison
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United Kingdom
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Posted - 13 Aug 2018 :  16:26:00  Show Profile Send Gary Dallison a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I've read of a few large and or multiarmed orcs but they seem to be only in the moonsea/thar/vast region so I would surmise that they are limited to the mountain orc subrace.

The orcs of Thar and Vastar are related and are also related to the blood of ogres. Not all orcs are related to the ogres but some do.

Orcs seem quite prolific and will go with anything, including ogres,giants,anything perceived as strong. But they could have a natural propensity towards mutation in a similar manner to the sahuagin.

I'd make them ogre blood as that is already established, then the 14ft high one is just a really extreme example possibly augmented by some random magic exposure during development.

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Icelander
Master of Realmslore

1864 Posts

Posted - 13 Aug 2018 :  16:39:08  Show Profile  Visit Icelander's Homepage Send Icelander a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by dazzlerdal

I've read of a few large and or multiarmed orcs but they seem to be only in the moonsea/thar/vast region so I would surmise that they are limited to the mountain orc subrace.

The orcs of Thar and Vastar are related and are also related to the blood of ogres. Not all orcs are related to the ogres but some do.

The old orc kingdom of Vastar was established by grey orcs and those are still the most common in the area. I get the feeling that in Thar and the Moonsea, the highly religious and comparatively civilised grey orcs of Vastar encountered and mixed with savage mountain orcs, most likely with results familiar to any student of history, complete with the 'barbarians' being employed as mercenaries and frontier guards in the provinces and eventually coming to conquer the civilised home region.

quote:
Originally posted by dazzlerdal

Orcs seem quite prolific and will go with anything, including ogres,giants,anything perceived as strong. But they could have a natural propensity towards mutation in a similar manner to the sahuagin.

Exactly. I've always known orcs would mate with anything they could stun enough to make it hold still, but until I read Glorundoun's write-up, I hadn't really considered orcs to be quite so variable.

I wonder if the orcs of Toril are all meant to have an innate tendency toward mutation or if it only happens in populations descended from certain bloodlines or exposed to certain conditions.

quote:
Originally posted by dazzlerdal

I'd make them ogre blood as that is already established, then the 14ft high one is just a really extreme example possibly augmented by some random magic exposure during development.


Well, it's unlikely that an orc (usual height range 5'6" to 6'6") and an ogre (usual height range 8'6" to 10') would have offspring that almost reached 16' of height.

Glorundoun is taller than any ogre I've ever heard about. He's even taller than hill giants in most D&D editions. In fact, only cloud and storm giants are taller than Glorundoun in most D&D editions.

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Bladewind
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Netherlands
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Posted - 14 Aug 2018 :  15:33:49  Show Profile Send Bladewind a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Aye, the huge size of Glorundoun is exceptional. But it might not be that uncommon. Descendants from divine bloodlines such as Baghtru or Gruumsh might grow as long as they are mature, only stopping when reaching venerable or old age (at about 45 years or so). Some orc clan warriors of giant bloodlines or those that mingled with fiendish ancestors could well reach baffling sizes.

Glorundoun does give DM's a lot of leeway in creating monstrous orc BBEG's, so I am glad you dug up this lore for us.

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Icelander
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Posted - 14 Aug 2018 :  15:59:26  Show Profile  Visit Icelander's Homepage Send Icelander a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Bladewind

Aye, the huge size of Glorundoun is exceptional. But it might not be that uncommon. Descendants from divine bloodlines such as Baghtru or Gruumsh might grow as long as they are mature, only stopping when reaching venerable or old age (at about 45 years or so). Some orc clan warriors of giant bloodlines or those that mingled with fiendish ancestors could well reach baffling sizes.

I agree with this, as I like the idea that orcs can grow monstrous in size or other attributes either because they are a throwback to some more exotic being who once bred with orcs or because they have some tiny fragment of divine essence, from the orc deities who once trod Faerun, in their veins.

quote:
Originally posted by Bladewind

Glorundoun does give DM's a lot of leeway in creating monstrous orc BBEG's, so I am glad you dug up this lore for us.


Yes, but now the existing orcish chieftains and champions in my campaign all feel very inadequate, what with their merely 6' to 7' heights and just the regular number of arms, not to mention complete absence of tails.

Seriously, though, I've introduced an orc chieftain from the (southern) Earthfast arm of the Earthspur Mountains who wants to extend his rule from the neighbouring tribes to encompass the bounds of old Vastar, but he's merely 6'6" and some 280 lbs., which is pretty much a sweet little child in the hands of Glorundoun or anyone of similar scale.

I'll have to make the point that huge orcs, goblins and hobgoblins are a phenomenon that seems linked more to the Giantspire Mountains, the wilds of Thar and the northerly parts of the orcish domains.

The orcs of the Earthfast, by comparion (and because when I detailed them, I hadn't found this lore), are much closer to humanity, in that even their great lords and champions are still human scale in size, and usually have no mutations.

In culture and personality, my Earthfast orcs are also more congenial to humans, being more like very warlike human cultures (e.g. some periods in Germanic history, such as the raiders among Angles, Jutes, Frisians and Saxons in the 5th to 7th centuries, the Vikings among Danes and the Norse in the 9th and 10th century, etc.) than the utterly inhuman kind of society implied by rulers growing more than twice as tall than the ruled.

King Urbakh the Undying, of Ilneval's Horde, is no more (nor less) inhumanly cruel, savage nor terrifying than a Saxon lord or Viking Jarl in an era of upheaval and opportunity for successful warlords. His son and presumed heir, Othrag Urbakhson, appears to be even more civilised and restrained than his sire, though admittedly that is by the judgment of a PC who strives mightily to see the best in everyone and is predisposed to favour anyone of courage, athletic ability and swordcraft.

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Bladewind
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Netherlands
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Posted - 14 Aug 2018 :  16:34:46  Show Profile Send Bladewind a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Orcs in the Ed Realms are always shown as a hugely fecund and a near mongrel type race with huge variety of prominent facial features such as flat heads, pignoses or thick jaws with tusks.

Orogs are an example of how relatively quickly a tribe (the Skullbiters) became a new strain of orcs. In five thousand years of isolation and a diet on fungi and underdark foes they grew longer ears, became on average taller (and subsequently stronger) and got the paler near-white eyes of the current Orogs. With the oratory songs jumbling within a generation, the history of the Orogs is lost to them in 500 generations of retellings.

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Icelander
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Posted - 14 Aug 2018 :  16:43:26  Show Profile  Visit Icelander's Homepage Send Icelander a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Bladewind

Orcs in the Ed Realms are always shown as a hugely fecund and a near mongrel type race with huge variety of prominent facial features such as flat heads, pignoses or thick jaws with tusks.

I thought the 'uglier' and more non-human looks were more prominent for mountain orcs, with grey orcs having smaller tusks and less porcine facial features.

quote:
Originally posted by Bladewind

Orogs are an example of how relatively quickly a tribe (the Skullbiters) became a new strain of orcs. In five thousand years of isolation and a diet on fungi and underdark foes they grew longer ears, became on average taller (and subsequently stronger) and got the paler near-white eyes of the current Orogs. With the oratory songs jumbling within a generation, the history of the Orogs is lost to them in 500 generations of retellings.


Fair enough. Note that these were mountain orcs, as gray orcs have only been on Toril for less than 2,500 years (in my campaign, set before the Spellplague).

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Icelander
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Posted - 14 Aug 2018 :  22:25:34  Show Profile  Visit Icelander's Homepage Send Icelander a Private Message  Reply with Quote
In George Krashos's Impiltur timeline, I found references to these orcish heroes, leaders and champions:

fl. ca -1,050 DR: Namrane, a fearsome four-armed chieftain of gray orcs who conquered the dwarven kingdom of Felimar, in the Earthfast/Earthspur Mountains of the modern Vast. The city of Halrunedar, later known as Earthfast City, survives the onslaught, but Namrane's fate is unknown to me.

fl. ca -744 DR: Vas 'the Redeye', great orc shaman who united the gray orcs of the modern Vast to form the kingdom of Vastar. Vas the Redeye might have ruled as shaman-king and warlord both or he might have appointed warlords to some subordinate position. I'm not aware whether the Redeye still held sway in Vastar as the Teeth of the Vastar overwhelmed the elven city of Yrlaphon in -722 DR, but if he was, the survivors of Yrlaphon might have managed to slay him as they escaped to safety under Lady Oluevaera Estelda.

fl. ca 512 DR: Ulbror, orc chiftain of Vastar who led the Blackfang Horde out of Vastar, over the Earthspurs by means of countless small mountain trails, against the kingdom of Impiltur. The Blackfang Horde defeats King Sharaun, slaying him and his sons, but the King's son-in-law, Duke Harandil Durlarven later routes the orcs at the Battle of Bloody Reed. Ulbror's fate is unrecorded, as far as I know.

d. 572 DR: Ologh “the Overking”. Ruled from the Hollow Mountain. Vastar fell into chaos with his death in the jaws of Iyrauroth the black wyrm. Apart from his dramatic death, I know nothing of this orcish ruler.

fl. ca 580 DR: Grimmerfang claimed the title of Overking of Vastar and renamed the court of the Hollow Mountain to Mount Grimmerfang, after ceremonially spitting, cooking and eating his rivals for the position. Grimmerfang lived and ruled for a long time, for an orcish king, until he was defeated by the dwarven warlord Tuir 'Stonebeard', of House Starforge, in 610 DR.

---

Do we know anything more about any of these legendary orcs?

Are the orc overkings, kings, lords, shamans, chiftains and champions of other historical campaigns of Vastar named anywhere or is their history fertile grounds for a GM's own creations?

I'm talking about the leaders and champions of such historical events as:

-1068 DR to ca -1,050 DR 'The Scattering of the Tusks'; the initial wars and ongoing battles between the gray orcs who survived the Orcgate Wars against the elves of Lethyr and probably goblins, hobgoblins and bugbears of descending from the scattered survivors of fallen Haekrukkha, as well as mountain orcs, gnolls, giants, ogres, beast-men, trolls and minotaurs who lived in the modern Vast, the Earthfasts, Earthspurs, Giantspire and Troll Mountains before the gray orcs arrived.

-1,050 DR to ca -750 DR 'The Forging Wars'; the internecine warfare, as well as the wars against the dwarves of Felimar and any surviving goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, gnolls, ogres, beast-men, minotaurs, trolls and giants of the Dragonreach, southeastern Moonsea coast, Earthspur and Earthfast Mountains, Troll Mountains and Giantspire Mountains.

-722 DR 'The Taking of Yrlaphon'; the killing of the elf-Lord Rhalffros Ilnatar and the defeat of the elves under his rule in the city of Yrlaphon. Some mighty orc chieftain held the conquered fortress in the name of the realm of Vastar, but I have not found his name or any record of his deeds.

ca -700 DR to ca -150 DR 'Battles of Blood River'; time after time, the Teeth of the Vastar were stopped at the River Nuathlis, which the orcs dubbed 'Blood River', by the archery of the elves of Cormanthor.

331 DR to 339 DR 'Capture of the Elven Court'; the Teeth of the Vastar conquer lands in Cormanthor east of the Old Elven Court and later move in and explore the ruins, as the elves of Myth Drannor and Cormanthyr launch four campaigns to recover their lost lands. In this war against the elves occurred the 'Darkwoods Massacre' of 335 DR, where some unknown masterful chieftain defending his new lands against the elvish armies led his warriors to a sweet nighttime victory over a thousand elven invaders with his cunning and stealth.

443 DR 'Year of the Thousand Enemies'; a great human army of Impiltur, led by the conqueror King Meldath, invades Vastar from the direction of Proeskampalar (modern Procampur). After great slaughter, the Teeth of the Vastar finally joined together and defeated King Meldath and his invading human army. King Meldath was carried out of Vastar by a few bedraggled survivors and some great orcish chieftains led their hordes in pursuit of the greedy humans, threatening all Impilturan lands near the mountain passes through the Earthspurs and Earthfasts. He Who Watches, fear his name, found no one among his warlords and chieftains worthy of rewarding with ultimate victory over the ugrukh kingdom, but the human King Meldath received the One-Eyed One's final justice in 445 DR, when he succumbed to his wounds after long torment. King Meldath's son followed him into deserved death in 447 DR, after the great battles of the avenging Teeth of Vastar had successfully driven the ugrukh back to the elf-infested Grey Forest and caused them to start fighting among themselves for the crown.

512 DR; War with Cormanthyr. As Ulbror led his Darkfangs Horde against the kingdom of Impiltur to the west, other orc chieftains fought against Cormanthyr in the east.

649 DR 'Battle of Deepfires'; one or more great heroes of orc-kind led the vengeful Teeth of the Vastar against the dwarves of Roldilar, when the Realm of Glimmering Swords fell.

661 DR 'The Year of the Bloody Tusk', perhaps the greatest defeat of the orcs of Vastar occurred southeast of present-day Calaunt, when Duke Hlintar Shimmercrag led a powerful army of Impiltur to victory over a great orc horde. After this battle, the orcs of Vastar were so weakened that the human settlement of the modern Vast could proceed apace, without major wars for three human generations.

736 DR 'Year of the Gleeful Noise'; King Halanter of Impiltur defeats orcish raiders from the Earthfasts and then rides on a vengeful campaign against orcish lands, burning many camps, slaying old tuskers and young grunters too feeble for war, hacking down breeding dams and throwing their litters on the fires. The massacres reduced the power of the orcs enough so that Vastar is a mere memory and the dwarves of the Earthfasts rejoiced, forming the pact of the Twinforge Treaty with the human butchers.

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Edited by - Icelander on 14 Aug 2018 22:26:19
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George Krashos
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Australia
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Posted - 15 Aug 2018 :  00:22:25  Show Profile Send George Krashos a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I like the “Orcish history” take on the timeline entries. The 3E FR Campaign Setting book had boxed text on orcs in the Realms.

— George Krashos

"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus
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Icelander
Master of Realmslore

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Posted - 15 Aug 2018 :  00:45:31  Show Profile  Visit Icelander's Homepage Send Icelander a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos

I like the “Orcish history” take on the timeline entries. The 3E FR Campaign Setting book had boxed text on orcs in the Realms.

— George Krashos


Great!

Thanks for reminding me of that box. Not only did it contain the names of great hukrym of the past and present, but it also had hidden in it a gem of lore of great price, i.e. that orcs denote 'son of' by the orcish word 'sug', thus the young orc known to humans as Othrag Urbakhson is properly referred to as 'Othrag sug Urbakh'.

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LordofBones
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Posted - 15 Aug 2018 :  08:58:40  Show Profile Send LordofBones a Private Message  Reply with Quote
With four arms, Namrane doesn't strike me as a pureblood orc. I'm guessing he was a half-fiend with a marilith parent.
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Icelander
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Posted - 15 Aug 2018 :  15:03:00  Show Profile  Visit Icelander's Homepage Send Icelander a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by LordofBones

With four arms, Namrane doesn't strike me as a pureblood orc. I'm guessing he was a half-fiend with a marilith parent.


That's just it, though.

Namrane, a legendary orcish leader, had four-arms and we don't know how many other orcish hukrym and legendary leaders have had more than the usual number of arms. Is it a clear sign of breeding with something otherwordly or at least exotic, or are orcish elites so different from humans that having extra limbs might be something like blue eyes among humans, a recessive gene that is still common among certain populations?

Ed's text about orcish followers of Glorundoun almost makes it seem that just having four arms is not all that remarkable in an orc champion. It's just having three left arms and one right arm that is viewed as being misshapen.

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Icelander
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Posted - 15 Aug 2018 :  22:11:24  Show Profile  Visit Icelander's Homepage Send Icelander a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I've seen a theory that the lands of Thar, the Moonsea, Vaasa and the Vast were nearly exclusively settled by gray orcs, after their arrival through the Orcgates in modern Thay, subsequent defeat in the Orcgate Wars of -1,076 DR to -1,069 DR and the 'Scattering of the Tusks' in -1,068 DR, when armies of orcs bereft of their divine patrons came into conflict with the elves of Lethyr, crossed the Easting Reach in crude boats and finally defeated the dwarven kingdom of Felimar to seize the lands of the modern Vast.

I felt it was important to note that despite the emergence of 'gray orcs' into the area at this time, the Vast and a lot of area around it, has evidently always been home to fecund orcs swarming in horde after horde. At least, going back as far as the elves and dwarves have records.

To support this, I note that in TSR1165 Cormanthyr: Empire of Elves, Uvaeren fights a series of great wars with orcs in the mountains surrounding it from -7,400 DR to -6,900 DR. That puts orcs in the modern Thunder Peaks and Desertmouth Mountains mroe than eight millennia ago. In addition, the modern Vast was already known as a great battlefield when the elves of Arcorar stood beside the dwarves of Sarphil and saved them from an orc horde there in -6,400 DR.

This means that there were probably orcs living around the Moonsea before the glacial era of -2,550 DR began. I'm pretty sure that the orc population that fought for centuries against the elves of Uvaeren managed somehow to have enough offspring so that a few of them could drift north and east, settling around the western coast of the Moonsea and mixing with the goblinoids and gnolls of the area. And the mountains around the modern Vast seem to have held goblinoids, orcs, ogres, trolls, beast-men, giants and worse for as long as anyone can discover.

I imagine that the gray orcs of -1,068 DR arrived as a warrior aristocracy over the already existing orcs in the area that became Vastar. Unlike the indigenous orcs, they were neither prepared to accept living only in areas no one else claimed, nor without the means to conquer mighty kingdoms like Felimar of the dwarves. I imagine that the Vastar, for most of its history, was bounded in the north by the River Vesper, in the south by the Grey Forest, to the west by the Dragon Reach and the east by the Earthspurs.

The northwest, i.e. from the Troll Mountains to the Dragon Sea coast and bounded to the west by the Nuathlis River, were bitterly contested lands between the orcs and elves in -722 DR to the 600s DR, ruled at different time by either of them or by neither, as wars and skirmishes without number were fought. The north of Vastar, the area from the River Vesper to the Glacier of the White Wyrm, was likely contested between them and the minotaur kingdom of Grong-Haap, as well as beast-men, goblinoids and various other threats.

After -350 DR, the fall of Grong-Haap meant that Vastar could claim more of the contested lands north of the River Vesper. Depending on how much was ice free, that could mean a land link to Thar by the eastern coast of The Dragon Sea. In any case, whether they'd walk or sail, by the time the Teeth of Vastar first reached Thar, they'd find orcs living there already, having gotten there before the ice reached so far south.

By the time anyone was recording history about the Moonsea North, orcs had certainly 'always' been there and it's very plausible that when explorers and warlords from Vastar (or what would become Vastar) first saw the shores of The Dragon Sea in the 11th century before DR, they met orcs there along with goblinoids, beast-men, ogres, gnolls, barbarian men and the bright-eyed elves who guarded their border of the Nuathlis River with showers of deadly arrows.

Most of the eastern and northern shores of The Dragon Sea would have been under ice until only a few hundred years before the common era of the Realms, it is true, but that wouldn't prevent orcs from living in the ice free areas and moving around as the ice receded. Remember, the original orcs were there long before the ice covered so much of the area.

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Edited by - Icelander on 15 Aug 2018 22:12:18
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Ayrik
Great Reader

Canada
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Posted - 16 Aug 2018 :  08:17:11  Show Profile Send Ayrik a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Sahuagin are goblinoid fishmen, basically aquatic orcs. 1 in 216 of them is born with a four-arm mutation (and invariably becomes a champion or chieftain). They also apparently continue growing throughout their entire lives, some known to reach 9' or even 12' tall.

Some Kreen individuals (or tribes/clans) are four-armed. That is, they have two more "front" arms than the usual Kreen breeds. Which they use to hold twice as many tools/weapons.

1E-era Greyhawk had an enclave of four-armed elves somewhere ... a shamelessly-imported Gamma World species (originally mutated by exposure to radiation and bioweapons).

Ettins are sometimes born with one or two extra arms. Although they're already accursed and misshapen things, sort of like giant mongrelmen, so a little extra variation or malformation isn't noteworthy.

Just saying that many species can have four arms without requiring a link to extraplanar or half-fiendish bloodlines. Other forms of "natural" or magical mutations are often implied.

I wonder where one could obtain a 4-handed sword ...

[/Ayrik]

Edited by - Ayrik on 16 Aug 2018 08:24:42
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Icelander
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Posted - 17 Aug 2018 :  02:31:27  Show Profile  Visit Icelander's Homepage Send Icelander a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Has it ever been revealed in what era the hukrym Glorming, of Glorming Pass over the Earthfasts, between southern Impiltur and the Vast proper, flourished, became a hero to his people and eventually fell?

I imagined he might have fallen defending the pass that bore his name in 443 DR from the unexpected human invasion of King Meldath or that he might have been a leader of one of the avenging hordes invading Impiltur at the heels of the defeated human army in the next years.

Another option would be a champion of the Darkfang Horde who fell in the initial invasion in 512 DR, but that appeals to me less, largely because we know that the invasion route was through small mountain paths in the Earthspurs, not further south through a pass in the Earthfasts.

A plausible option would be Glorming having fallen as he attempted to defend his lands from the powerful army of Duke Hlintar Shimmercrag in 661 DR (or the year before, if we assume Duke Hlintar might have wintered in the Vast after a hard-fought season, before going on next spring to win his great victory southeast of River Vesper).

That last might be my personal favourite, right next to the delightful option of having King Halanter slay Glorming as he crosses the pass over the Earthfast before unleashing against the orcs ---vengeance, fire and blood, that burned their holds, hovels and camps, broke their power, shattered their population and reduced Vastar to ancient history in one terrifying summer of slaughter in 736 DR, that gained King Halanter the name of Aurusamman '(Great Friend') among the dwarves of the Earthfasts and made his name synonymous with Sherman south of the Mason-Dixie Line among orcs.

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Edited by - Icelander on 17 Aug 2018 02:38:26
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Bladewind
Master of Realmslore

Netherlands
1280 Posts

Posted - 19 Aug 2018 :  14:54:13  Show Profile Send Bladewind a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Perhaps Glorming fell in a clash with a hobgoblin army, as the auxiliary regiments of clans from the Giant Spire mountains started to swell enough that they were eventually stopped by a host led by King Thorodil that was sent to stop hobgoblin raiders.

Also the 'warrior code' of orcs tends to make their Warlords vulnerable to deception or well executed tactics favoring ranged weapons, as they are 'honorbound' to give battle when a rival host appears in their domains. Many orc chieftains have been lured into a less favorable battles over the years, and I suspect that quite a few have died trying to break hobgoblin formations through sheer ferocity. Hobgoblin raiders are too harmful to ignore; when consolidated into a standing host with heavy infantry, dire wolf cavalry and ferocious beasts controlled by tamers, hobgoblins form a real threat in open battle (I suspect even greater then a typical Impilturan host of paladin cavalry).

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Icelander
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Posted - 19 Aug 2018 :  16:35:25  Show Profile  Visit Icelander's Homepage Send Icelander a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Bladewind

Perhaps Glorming fell in a clash with a hobgoblin army, as the auxiliary regiments of clans from the Giant Spire mountains started to swell enough that they were eventually stopped by a host led by King Thorodil that was sent to stop hobgoblin raiders.

Also the 'warrior code' of orcs tends to make their Warlords vulnerable to deception or well executed tactics favoring ranged weapons, as they are 'honorbound' to give battle when a rival host appears in their domains. Many orc chieftains have been lured into a less favorable battles over the years, and I suspect that quite a few have died trying to break hobgoblin formations through sheer ferocity. Hobgoblin raiders are too harmful to ignore; when consolidated into a standing host with heavy infantry, dire wolf cavalry and ferocious beasts controlled by tamers, hobgoblins form a real threat in open battle (I suspect even greater then a typical Impilturan host of paladin cavalry).


I appreciate that it is interesting to highlight the antipathy between orcs and hobgoblins by having an orc cultural hero fall to goblinoids and not to the genocidal warfare between humans and orcs.

However, the geography makes it a bit questionable in this case. In order to reach Glorming Pass through the Earthfasts, hobgoblins from the Giantspire Mountains would first have to cross the whole of Impiltur. And while there are no routes passable by an army with cavalry through the Earthspurs, there are canonically mountain paths that an orcish army once used to invade Impiltur.

More importantly, why would hobgoblins who had travelled through the entire land of Impiltur want to turn north and start a war againt new foes in the Vast? Without supply lines, any source of mounts, any bases to fall back on or any obvious strategic goals on the other side of the Glorming Pass?

Assuming they were defeated by the hosts of War Captain Imphras the Great in Impiltur, it would be the height of folly to flee north through a more-or-less level pass where a cavalry army could massacre them from behind. Taking refuge in the Grey Forest, as remnants of the hobgoblin horde were canonically noted to have done, seems more logical.

If the reference to King Thorodil is meant to set this in the 6th century DR, it seems that at that time, the orcs were a much greater threat to Impiltur than hobgoblins were and that Vastar was still strong in the reign of King Thorodil. Hobgoblins were probably not as numerous in the Earthspur Mountains at that point in time, not until after the fall of Vastar and then Roldilar.

I can't see any way for hobgoblins from the Giantspires under Grolag 'the Blackmande' to plausibly make their way across all of Impiltur in sufficient numbers to invade Vastar through the Glorming Pass.

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Edited by - Icelander on 19 Aug 2018 20:59:32
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Icelander
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Posted - 15 Nov 2019 :  16:51:32  Show Profile  Visit Icelander's Homepage Send Icelander a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I'm looking for historical orcish hukrym ('boldtusks', i.e. heroes, champions and warlords) from the Vastar region who might have been associated with Ilneval the Horde Leader.

1) First of all, is it canonically established what god Vas the Redeye, the shaman whose effort founded Vastar, served?

While him being a shaman of Gruumsh seems fairly likely, the role of shamans of Ilneval in orcish tribes, as well as the dogma of Ilneval himself, also makes it very logical that the shaman who united the gray orcs of Vastar after hundreds of years of chaos would have been a servant of Ilneval War Maker.

2) Second, could orc tribes exist where worship of Ilneval is the most important? With Gruumsh perhaps acknowledged, but not directly served by the religious caste.

I'm presuming that most orcish hukrym pray and sacrifice to more than one deity and powerful warlords are generally served by shamans of multiple orc gods.

Exceptions do exist, with some strange tribes worshiping just one deity, generally because shamans of that deity have achieved complete power within the tribe.

3) Might any of the grand figures in the history of Vastar, like Namrane, Ulbror, Goolgog Elvenbane, Glorming, Ologh or Grimmerfang be especially associated with the faith of Ilneval War Maker?

If I was going to posit so in my campaign, which of these are least likely to conflict with any canon if chosen as champions of Ilneval?

4) For that matter, does anyone have a good guess as to when the 'ancient times' when Goolgog Elvenbane lived and won his great victory over elves and humans might have been?

See the article linked here on the Wayback Machine under Ghostly Portals for the Arch of Goolgog.

Would this have been at some point in the heyday of Vastar?

At any rate, it was probably at a time when the elves and dwarves were not allied, as they were during certain famous times of warfare against the orcs of Vastar, because there is no mention of dwarves.

And it was obviously after the arrival of humans in these lands.

What's a good era to place Goolgog in?

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Edited by - Icelander on 15 Nov 2019 16:54:38
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore

Australia
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Posted - 16 Nov 2019 :  01:10:15  Show Profile Send George Krashos a Private Message  Reply with Quote
The proper place to find information on those portals is here: http://archive.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=fr/pg20020731z

I created Vas the Redeye and fleshed out some Vastar information for my Impiltur Timeline but what is there is there. There are no concrete answers to your queries and any responses would be mere postulations from other fans. So in other words, you have free rein to come up wioth stuff yourself that suits your campaign and story.

There is an interesting tidbit about the orcs of Vastar from Ed and contained in "The City of Raven's Bluff" accessory as follows:

"In such raids, in crude farming, fishing, and mountain-hunting to feed themselves, and in mining and the forging of weapons, the orcs of Vastar occupied their time. Proud and reckless, they often mounted raids to seize goods in short supply but never staged strategic attacks to weaken enemies gathering strength nearby nor worked any diplomacy or trade with the lands around. They formed no formal tribes but dwelt in groups following the most charismatic (or brutal and feared) orc heroes, large living groups known as glauraur. Human sages are correct in labeling glauraur as the forerunners of tribes but most erroneously believe they were large family groups, or clans formed of allied families. In truth, the orcs of Vastar were all interrelated, and once children were reared little attention was paid to the human idea of family. They concerned themselves with power and hedonism, chiefly enjoying the torture and devouring of hunted-down prey and gossiping about the endless struggles among the orc chieftains to gain greater standing and so win "closer to the Overking." The orcs were a mighty people, who so long as some prudence was practiced when dragons were a-wing or elves about gave little thought to any foe ever rising to challenge "the teeth of Vastar."

Anyway, make it yours and just create some stuff.

-- George Krashos

"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus

Edited by - George Krashos on 16 Nov 2019 01:11:47
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Icelander
Master of Realmslore

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Posted - 16 Nov 2019 :  15:44:24  Show Profile  Visit Icelander's Homepage Send Icelander a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos

The proper place to find information on those portals is here: http://archive.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=fr/pg20020731z

I created Vas the Redeye and fleshed out some Vastar information for my Impiltur Timeline but what is there is there. There are no concrete answers to your queries and any responses would be mere postulations from other fans. So in other words, you have free rein to come up wioth stuff yourself that suits your campaign and story.

There is an interesting tidbit about the orcs of Vastar from Ed and contained in "The City of Raven's Bluff" accessory as follows:

"In such raids, in crude farming, fishing, and mountain-hunting to feed themselves, and in mining and the forging of weapons, the orcs of Vastar occupied their time. Proud and reckless, they often mounted raids to seize goods in short supply but never staged strategic attacks to weaken enemies gathering strength nearby nor worked any diplomacy or trade with the lands around. They formed no formal tribes but dwelt in groups following the most charismatic (or brutal and feared) orc heroes, large living groups known as glauraur. Human sages are correct in labeling glauraur as the forerunners of tribes but most erroneously believe they were large family groups, or clans formed of allied families. In truth, the orcs of Vastar were all interrelated, and once children were reared little attention was paid to the human idea of family. They concerned themselves with power and hedonism, chiefly enjoying the torture and devouring of hunted-down prey and gossiping about the endless struggles among the orc chieftains to gain greater standing and so win "closer to the Overking." The orcs were a mighty people, who so long as some prudence was practiced when dragons were a-wing or elves about gave little thought to any foe ever rising to challenge "the teeth of Vastar."

Anyway, make it yours and just create some stuff.

-- George Krashos


Right.

(A)D&D rules for 'shamans' have varied between editions, with some published examples being close to the real-world ancestral and spirit worship that 'shaman' evokes and others amounting more or less to a priest in a less structured society.

Would it contradict any Realmslore for orc shamans to be able to gain power from more than one deity at a time, paying homage to the entire pantheon (or perhaps a favored part of it)?

Or for them to be circumspect about the deity they truly worship, for example, according He-Who-Watches proper respect in public, but receiving spells and powers from Ilneval War Maker?

I'm looking to present the clergy of Ilneval, canonically the closest thing to an educated class in orc society, as a force for unification between tribes (and historically, glauraur), and as kingmakers in Vastar's history.

Overkings of Vastar and the various chieftains under them would rule in the name of the One-Eyed God, but what administration and organization went on in Vastar at the supra-tribal level would have been in the hands of Ilneval's priests and shamans.

Vas 'the Redeye' has a name that suggests both Gruumsh ('One-Eye') and Ilneval (whose colour is red). I want to propose that while the shamans of Gruumsh claim him as one of them, the clergy of Ilneval preach (in considerable secrecy) that the great shaman founder of Vastar was a servant of the Horde Leader.

This is relevant because a sect of Ilneval's clergy from the western Earthfast range believe they have found the leader that can reunite Vastar and are sponsoring a quest to the Hollow Mountain to recover various unspecified relics and regalia of the Overking that they believe lie in the hoard of Iyrauroth.

At the present point in my campaign, one PC is present at religious ceremony at the Arch of Goolgog, where orcish chanters and a Hordemaster of Ilneval recount the legends of great hukrym of the past, the glories of Vastar and the myths of the founding.

I want to write a short blurb recounting glorious feats of hukrym most strongly associated with Ilneval.

I think that Goolgog Elvenbane might have been the unnamed orc warlord commanding the orcs in the war with the elves from 331 DR to 339 DR and during the 'Capture of the Elven Court'. As this was after 'the Opening' of Myth Drannor, Goolgog might indeed have defeated both elves and humans, as the article where he is introduced mentions. Does that sound plausible?

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Wrigley
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Czech Republic
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Posted - 16 Nov 2019 :  22:09:42  Show Profile  Visit Wrigley's Homepage Send Wrigley a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I have been dealing with this issue for drow clerics and I believe that the solution is worship.
Both main deities demand their worship by all of their people but that doesn't mean they cannot worship other gods. This means that every orc has to pray to He-Who-Watches but his patron can by any other god as long as he is not antiethical to Grumsh. If such person was found he would be treated as heretic. Only exception are clerics of other orc gods who can worship only their patron and are allowed to move in orc territory unhindered.
Said Vas could have been a chieftain worshiping both Grumsh and Ilneval and using support of both churches...
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Icelander
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Posted - 16 Nov 2019 :  23:09:13  Show Profile  Visit Icelander's Homepage Send Icelander a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Wrigley

I have been dealing with this issue for drow clerics and I believe that the solution is worship.
Both main deities demand their worship by all of their people but that doesn't mean they cannot worship other gods. This means that every orc has to pray to He-Who-Watches but his patron can by any other god as long as he is not antiethical to Grumsh. If such person was found he would be treated as heretic. Only exception are clerics of other orc gods who can worship only their patron and are allowed to move in orc territory unhindered.
Said Vas could have been a chieftain worshiping both Grumsh and Ilneval and using support of both churches...


Vas 'the Redeye' was canonically a 'shaman'. Assuming that this means a divine spellcaster, Vas must have been granted his spells by someone.

Anyone who is not a divine spellcaster can obviously offer worship, sacrifices and prayer to any number of gods.

I'm wondering if shamans in orcish culture always have to worship exclusively one deity or if they might be closer to real-world shamans in feel, i.e. operate as interpreters between the tribe and the spirit world, including any and all spirits and supernatural beings, i.e. gods, ancestors, ghosts, nature spirits and the spirits of locales.

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ericlboyd
Forgotten Realms Designer

USA
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Posted - 16 Nov 2019 :  23:37:27  Show Profile  Visit ericlboyd's Homepage Send ericlboyd a Private Message  Reply with Quote
In 3.5e terms, I would make most orc spellcasters to be spirit shamans or warlocks. Maybe dragon shamans. Makes it more interesting than clerics, wizards, or sorcerers.

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Icelander
Master of Realmslore

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Posted - 17 Nov 2019 :  00:08:59  Show Profile  Visit Icelander's Homepage Send Icelander a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd

In 3.5e terms, I would make most orc spellcasters to be spirit shamans or warlocks. Maybe dragon shamans. Makes it more interesting than clerics, wizards, or sorcerers.


As I play in the Realms without using D&D rules, when I hear 'shaman', I tend to think about the real-world concept. So the spirit shaman sounds like what I'd like orc shamans to be, with the assumption that spirit shamans don't usually distinguish between deities and other spirits, other than recognizing that they are at the very top of the spirit hierarchy.

So an orcish shaman might call upon He-Who-Watches for victory and the War Maker for wisdom in war, gain strength from Baghtru, sacrifice to Luthic for an orcwif during a difficult birth and to Shargaas for vengeance over a hated foe. As well as dealing with spirits of animals, ancestors and locales on other occasions. From his perspective, they are all spirits.

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Wrigley
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Czech Republic
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Posted - 17 Nov 2019 :  19:12:57  Show Profile  Visit Wrigley's Homepage Send Wrigley a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Icelander
Vas 'the Redeye' was canonically a 'shaman'. Assuming that this means a divine spellcaster, Vas must have been granted his spells by someone.

Anyone who is not a divine spellcaster can obviously offer worship, sacrifices and prayer to any number of gods.

I'm wondering if shamans in orcish culture always have to worship exclusively one deity or if they might be closer to real-world shamans in feel, i.e. operate as interpreters between the tribe and the spirit world, including any and all spirits and supernatural beings, i.e. gods, ancestors, ghosts, nature spirits and the spirits of locales.


In older days there was a difference between priest and cleric in the sense that one was deity specific and other was worshiping all of them. You can use that for this shaman tradition if it suits you.
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Icelander
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Posted - 14 Dec 2019 :  00:31:08  Show Profile  Visit Icelander's Homepage Send Icelander a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Ok, so one PC is present at an orcish ceremony at the Arch of Goolgog, where a great black bull is sacrificed by a young orcish warrior, the son of a great chief. The following is what is chanted around the fires, as the orcs stamp, dance and chant in unison with the more famous verses.

Can scribes please comment, address any inconsistencies, errors, information not in line with canon or just plain things that could be better?


---

(Huge, muscular Maur-Gjakdada [‘War Chanter’] with bellowing voice and nose ring like a fighting bull): “Hear now of Uryth Vastar (‘The Teeth of the Vastar’), Yurtan [‘The Matter of the Ancestors’] and of the hukrym [‘Bold Tusks’, i.e. champions or heroes] founders who walked with the gods.”

(Old, wiry shaman with blue tattoos all over wrinkled skin): “First among the founders were Uruth Brokentusk, Urjeddar Daraka [‘Grand Warlord of the Mighty’], who shattered the Legion of the Sun and burned in the blinding fires of the Blazing Pharaoh; Saurogh Darkbringer, Urshatak [‘Grand Caster of the Runestaves’], Lord of Terror, Slayer of the Dancer of Death; and Elrukh Crookback, Guldak Eroka (‘Speaker of the Lost’), who led us to the northern wastes and called Nerdryhta [‘The Fell Hosts’] against the elves of the Cursed Woods.”

Yuraurgh Farseer: Many hukrym who should never be forgotten fell in the Urmaurzok [‘Great War’]; Mhaeruth of the Swift Spear, Gerrus Helmbreaker, Yurg of the Shining Sword, Ugrolagh Witchbane, Ulog Grimtusks, Orgh the Eldest, Neglarg Baleface and Uthrund Godcaller. Many others fell as the Daraka fell out, divided, scattered over the lands, fighting humans, elves, Mauthaug [‘Worms’, i.e. goblinkin] and monster alike.

Thormang Horsekiller stood against the Urgaur (‘King’) of the Horse Barbarians and died on a mound of his warlords, with his glaive in the spine of the human king; Urmae the Warwitch defeated five sorcerer lords of the elves of the Cursed Woods before she was overcome with arrows and spells; Hald Half-Face led the Horse Barbarians into ambush and won the Battle on the Ice; Ongrong the Fierce scythed the Mauthaug for season after season as he carved out his domain in their lands; and Garm the Reaver, who had fought on the flank of the gods themselves against the false gods of the Gungrukh [‘the Brittle Bones, i.e. Humans], stayed in the Cursed Woods as the hordes left, laying about him with axe and knife, slaying elves and raiding their lairs, and none now know how many seasons he and his fierce warband fought there before they were overwhelmed, to live forever in legend.

(Tattooed old shaman): They were dark days, Rymak Erdan (‘The Scattering of the Tusks’], when our forefathers were betrayed by the Zardtan [‘sorcery’] of Gungrukh from the Old Empires of the South and the titanic powers of their false gods. Ambition, envy and strife turned warlord against warlord, chief against chief, priest against priest, as the greatest host the world has ever seen was forever scattered, hordes travelling north and south, east and west, fighting the hated Horse Barbarians, paid by agents of the false God-Kings to harry the Daraka [‘the Mighty’, i.e. Orcs], at every step.

(Young priest in red mail with ritually scarred face): “All Daraka must remember Ilagh sug [‘son’] Ilneval, the Favoured Son of Maurzokdak [‘The War Maker’], he who at six winters stood as tall as a warrior and was wiser than any longtusk, he who taught our forefathers to build boats to sail the Endless Blue Waters, to our homes of Vastar, leaving behind the arrows and poison of the elves of the Cursed Woods.”

Yuraurgh Farseer: “Ilagh sug Ilneval who bore the Red Blade of Victory and in his seventh autumn with his chosen warriors outflanked the slavering beast-men host and slew their greathorned warlord even as he was he himself was pierced through, granting victory to the Daraka on new shores. Ilagh sug Ilneval, who as he lay dying, spoke his visions to the servants of Jeddar Dryhtan [‘The Horde Leader’] and who ascended to the side of his Divine Father, where he leads the elite of his Eternal Armies.”

(Bullish War Chanter): “Long were Draakhek Maurzog [‘The Forging Wars’] and many hukrym made their names in those blood-spattered centuries. The greatest of them was never-to-be-forgotten Namrane, Urjeddar Gogker Daraka [‘Grand Warlord of the Western Orcs’], four-armed, four-fisted, tall as small mountains, who led our forefathers against the dwarves scurrying beneath the peaks of our new homes in fair Vastar. Many kingdoms have risen and fallen since the victories of great Namrane, but the dwarves still fear his name, for he slew them in their thousands as he seized their caverns and their mines.”

(Young Priest): “After great Namrane, there were Maurog the Crusher, who broke the power of the Yellow Face goblins; Ghaurukh damog [‘blood of’] Namrane, who bore the Bloody Spear and fell to Ulda of the White Wolf; Sharl the Scalper, who with his hatchet and cleaver killed Maergh sug Maurog and the bugbear lord Keglogh the Striped; the warchanter Red Thumggok, whose drum beat the Epic of Ilagh and whose axe beheaded foul Ahtrogh the Apostate; Mahgtru the Mighty, who slew the beast-men in their hundreds and took the head of the White Wyrm; and the warlord Raghkh of the Ram’s Skull, conqueror of the Troll Mountains.”

(Tattooed old shaman): “Under such hukrym, the Teeth of the Vastar grew mighty and proud, but our forefathers were not yet united under the Gods. Still the wounds of the Scattering of the Tusks endured. Jeddar [’Warlord’] fought Jeddar, Gaur [‘Chief’] fought Gaur, even Guldak [‘Speaker’, i.e. shaman or priest] fought Guldak. Damun tor an haugh mal gar [‘Blood flows where no oaths bind’].”

(Fat Grongdan [‘Drummer’] with shaggy hair and beard): “In all the history of our lands, our hukrym and Uryth Vastar, none can stand beside the wise and fearsome Vas ‘the Redeye’, who united the glauraura [a glauraur was the forerunner of tribes, the following of a single chief] and acclaimed the first Orgaura [‘Kings’ / ‘Great Chiefs’] of Vastar.”

Gharr: “Wise in war and hunt, intimate with all spirits, wielder of powers unknown and mysterious, Vas ‘the Redeye’ spoke for the gods and the spirit world.”

Huthraug Skinwalker: “Vas ‘the Redeye’ who ran with the deer, flew with the owls, rutted with the boars and fought like a cave bear roused from winter sleep.”

(Tattooed old shaman): “Born under Zelad Dam [‘the Blood Moon’] and the eternal gaze of He-Who-Watches, reared by Luthic Nozluth [‘the Cave Mother’] and taught to arms by Ilneval Maurzokdak, Vas ‘the Redeye’ had but one eye in honour of He-Who-Never-Sleeps, crimson and rimmed with blood, in honour of the Lord of War, Ilneval the Horde Leader. ‘The Redyee’ was favoured by the gods and the spirits as no hykrym or Guldak had been since the founders who walked with the gods.”

Yuraurgh Farseer: “It is said that when mighty Vas began his life’s work to unite the glauraura, he performed sacrifices to all the gods and spirits, and was rewarded with signs and portents that favoured his endeavour. The heavens parted in a fell storm as the spirits of the ancestors were present, the One-Eye sent a great cyclops giant to show his favour, Luthic sent a Cave Bear and Ilneval the War Maker sent a Urkazaht [‘Great Bull’] to be the sacrifice for Vas ‘the Redeye’.

In all the glory of the Teeth of Vastar, all the victories over beast-men, the great-horns of Grong-Haap, the dwarves of the mines, elves of the great forests and the humans who came over the oceans, no warlord, Guldak or hukrym was ever blessed by the gods as Vas ‘the Redeye’ was.”

(Young Priest): “Mighty were Dzakh sug Kuur and his sister Uhrae Ormcaller, who won great victories against the elves; fearsome were Vulauruth damog Fahgtru, Harl Bonemail, Eglukh Hornbane and Alogh the Old, victors of Grong-Haap; glorious were Wugrail Wyrmslayer, Ghaurgh the Mighty, Hargell Sharpsword, Thold sug Gruurl and Uldegh damog Dzakh, but for all their feats, their glory and their power, they could not boast the closeness with the gods that Vas ‘the Redeye’ had, nor the signs of their chosen status.”

(Tattooed old shaman): “In his wisdom, Vas ‘the Redeye’ chose among the Aukha [‘Kings’] and Orgaura [‘Great Chiefs’] of Vastar, one hukrym to be warlord and Loraukh (‘Over-King’). Great and mighty was Loraukh Uhgtrogh Axelord, sug Shurogh, sug Olaugg, sug Umggul, sug Thahgtru, sug Ghaurukh, damog Namrane, damog Ilagh sug Ilneval Maurzokdak.”

(Young Priest): Many Loraukha came after Uhgtrogh Axelord, all favoured by the gods to lead the Teeth of the Vastar in war. There were Hudoul damog Maurog; Vuthraul damog Ghaurukh; and more than the wisest War Chanter can recite.”

Yuraurgh Farseer: “Even mighty Loraukh Goolgog Elvenbane, at whose greatest monument we stand, who won victories who will stand until the end of time against the elves and humans of the Empire of Cormanthyr and the sorcerous city of Myth Drannor, was made Loraukh through the favour of the gods and the signs and portents sent from Vas ‘the Redeye’, as potent as a spirit as he was as a Guldak. It is said that when Goolgog went to war against the elves, he sacrificed a great black bull to Ilneval War Maker, an aurochs of great ferocity and size, the like of which had not been seen since the days of Vas ‘the Redeye’.”

(Bullish War Chanter): “Later came Grishnakh of the Black Fist, bold Halrak, great and mighty four-fisted warlord; Regrarl Blackhide, who slew his sire Halrak, then killed many brothers to become Loraukh, but fell to poison; Orglul sug Regrarl, sly in battle, who turned to dark magic; then skull-faced Lularleg, servant of shamans; and Ulbror of the Blackfangs Horde, conqueror of the humans. After him Ordrogh sug Saulogh, damog Orglul, damog Goolgog, wise and foresighted; Orblagh sug Ordrogh, the Hound of the Horde Leader; and Orgul of the Iron Legion, builder of forges.“

Hulglog: “Then came Ologh the Overking, rich beyond imagining, who died in the jaws of the great black wyrm of the Peaks. Winner of the wars of the tribes, who spitted and ate the last of his rivals, was fierce Grimmerfang.”

(Tattooed old shaman): “Grimmerfang who fell to the treachery of the dwarves, who came from below with swords of poison. With Grimmerfang came to end the Overkingdom of Vastar”

Yuraugh Farseer: “Mighty hukrym still led their tribes and warbands, but none could unify the Teeth of the Vastar. None had been chosen by Vas ‘the Redeye’ and the gods. Mighty were Orrail damog Ologh, Throng damog Ulbror Fulnesk damog Ologh, Kergraug damog Grimmerfang, Kuhtrogh of the Crossed Blades, Ghalg of the Bloody Tusks and Glorming of the Bloody Spears, but none could be Loraukh. None had the favour of the gods. None had the Bloodspear of the One-Eye, the Waraxe of the War Maker, the Red Sword of Victory or the Helm of the Cave Mother. None could sit the Throne of the Overking.

We stand here now, at the Arch of Loraukh Goolgog Elvenbane, with Othrag sug Urbakh, a young hukrym, who is the son of the mighty Orgaur of Ilneval’s Horde and the Aukh of the Bloody Spears, Urbakh Zozdeztrag [‘the Undying’], the Urgaur Gogker Daraka [‘King of the Western Orcs’], Dragonslayer, Warlord and Victor of a Hundred Battles. His father’s father was Urugh sug Uhraug, who slew five giants in the Battle of Black Peak; his father Uhraug sug Wurcull, Orgaur of the Bloody Spears, who broke the Hearttakers, Earbiters, Kneebreakers and Spinemashers; damog Grimmerfang, damog Ulbror, damog Vas ‘the Redeye’, damog Ilnagh sug Ilneval Maurzokdak.

Othrag comes of other mighty forebears, in addition to his father. He is the son of the War Chanter who fights with Glorundoun, Orvaega zo Ghaurgh, sug Yuraurgh of the Crimson Sword, damog Ologh, damog Goolgog, damog Uhgtrogh Axelord, damog Vas ‘the Redeye’, damog Ilnagh sug Ilneval Maurzokdak. Othrag has the blood of gods and heroes in his veins. He is his father’s son and heir, but he is heir to more than that.

All here know of the prophecy of the Naraukh [‘Prince’] who will unite the tribes in strength and honour, whom all warlords and chiefs shall follow, who shall carry the Red Blade of Victory and sit the Throne of the Overking. As we stand here, in this storm, with the blood of the great black aurochs on us, I chant that Othrag sug Urbakh is the Naraukh who slew the Urkazaht [‘Great Bull’], gift of the War Maker, portent of power and glory, and that Othrag sug Urbakh shall sit the Throne of the Overking.”

Za uspiekh nashevo beznadiozhnovo diela!

Forgotten Realms fans, please sign a petition to re-release the FR Interactive Atlas

Edited by - Icelander on 14 Dec 2019 00:34:40
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