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Half-Orcs
The
villains in many Human stories, Half-orcs are the heroes on their own.
Their race borrows heavily from both sides of the fence. They have the
brutality, despise for weakness and lack of manners of their Ork ancestors,
the ability to think and plan and respect for knowledge inherited from
Humans. By choice they tend towards the boisterousness and rudeness of
the Orks, as they consider themselves closer to them. Yet even as they
scream and grunt the loudest there is very often a strong brain ticking
steadily behind the façade. It is neither coincidence that they
achieved their independence while all other races suffered heavily, nor
that for a thousand years they managed to keep their city and prosper
against the opposition of Humans.
Scratching their balls or various itches, collecting vermin on their own
bodies, wearing mismatched colours and drinking, eating, farting and belching
with gusto, Half-Orcs leave their mark in the world.
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(Extract from the "History of the World", by Vontalagon the
Black)
"From violence and pain was injustice born", said the poet.
As regards the people known as the Half-Orks by humans, by Orcs and Half-Orcs
as either Kat'Fula-Urkon or simply Orcs, these words were proven time
and again.
As I have said on other occasion, Orks share with Humans one characteristic:
they can both be savage and cruel.
(
)
Their
name says it all. Humans deny their part of the inheritance, remembering
only the Ork half. Half-Orcs on the other hand think of themselves very
often as simply "Orcs", staking their flag clearly on that side
of the field.
(
)
For centuries, there was a constant trickle of raiding and spoiling, raping
and enslaving. On the borders where the wild tribes of humans met the
wild tribes of Orks, the distinction sometimes became blurred. Both sides
fought the same way, dressed alike, lived off the land and whoever crossed
their territory, carried their houses on their backs and gave allegiance
only to the tribe.
Moreover, despite frequent Human protests to the contrary, it is well
known that the same instinct that makes humans such sturdy survivors also
makes them
sympathetic towards the charms of some Ork maidens.
Ork males have no qualms about expressing their appreciation of Human
females, of course. Actually as far as I know Orks have no qualms whatsoever
about anything, with the sole exception of work.
Is it then any surprise that, what with one raid here and a few slaves
there, children were born of both races? I most certainly think not, and
history agrees with me.
From the very beginning, the fruits of such matches were not well regarded.
Humans proved harsher than their hated foe. Almost universally they simply
abandon the babies to the elements or smother them.
Ork mothers have a strong maternal instinct and, I am told, a ferocious
temper when their children are threatened. Besides that, Orks are rather
merry and good-natured creatures with their own. They raised those children,
though of course it cannot have been easy for them. Children are cruel
to each other and they do not forgive difference.
(
)
Half-Orks soon showed to be a breed apart. They are stronger and more
resistant than Humans, and faster than Orks. More important even, they
have the full intelligence of their Human half. There are no poets or
artists among them; their intelligence is channelled by an angry viciousness
that combines the stronger elements of both Human and Ork. Their strength
of emotion and impulsiveness is greater than that of either race, which
sometimes brings them to grief.
(
)
It would seem obvious that Half-Orks would take control of Orcish tribes,
but that is not how the race of Orks functions. True-blood Orks do not
take well to leadership, much less one other than their own kind. They
have all the despise of bullies for those smarter than them.
A grown Half-Ork is a full match for a grown Ork, but there are far more
of the latter. There is nothing in their laws, such as they are, that
stops an Half-Ork from taking the chieftain's mantle, but those same laws
allow challenge by combat.
Whenever a Half-Ork rose to a position of prominence, he was challenged
mercilessly until he fell.
Denied that route to achieve their ambition, it is no surprise they found
others.
(
)
All through their long and often sad history, Half-Orks have always been
keen to take off on their own away even from the Ork tribes that nurtured
them. In the deep woods they built their own communities, which until
they suddenly burst into written history, have always been so small as
to be considered meaningless.
These small communities would occasionally war with Orks, but this was
rare; they have always preferred to keep their predations in reserve for
their human neighbours
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