Reef Raiders

The Reef Raiders are the orcish clans of the frostbitten @Frostfang Isles —ferocious mariners who thrive where others freeze, raid where others falter, and hunt leviathans with ancestral precision. Scarred by ice, salt, and victory, they are the unbroken edge of Aethertide’s northern frontier.

They do not fear the deep. They feed their children to it and call that love.

Appearance

  • Pale, sea-green, or ice-blue skin etched with voyage tattoos

  • Massive frames wrapped in bone-laced furs and whalehide

  • Hair worn long and frozen, braided with coral charms or sharpened hooks

  • Eyes like glaciers—slow, cold, and deeply focused

Culture & Code

Reef Raiders are guided by the Code of Horn & Harpoon:

  • Strength is proven by the hunt, not the kill

  • A ship is a body—its crew, the blood

  • Betrayal is punished by "reefing"—binding to coral and left to tide

Elder shamans weave whalebone runes into armor, weapons, and even sails.

Roles in Aethertide

Reef Raider Orcs excel as:

  • Leviathan hunters and deep-sea harpooners

  • Boarding shock troops feared for grappling-hook tactics

  • Ice pilots, guiding ships through berg-fields

  • Whalepriests, using blubber and bone in ancestral rites

They often serve with:

  • The @The Free Keys Confederacy , as muscle-for-hire

  • Independent fleets in @Frostvein Sea

  • Occasionally, @The Veythane Empire for polar campaigns

Territories & Clans

Most hail from:

  • @Icejaw – Cliffside stronghold of the Jarlclans

  • @Hearthsmoke – Warm harbor and trade port among southern orcs

  • @Drumcaller of Bleakshore – Ceremonial site for death and drift rites

  • @Glaciermaw – Rumored resting place of a sleeping frost-drake

Clans are vast, sea-bound families divided by ship-lineage.

Traditions & Traits

  • Frostbrand Rites – Tattoos seared by magical ice to signify survival

  • The Leviathan Call – Horn-blown ritual to summon or challenge sea titans

  • Saltbone Armor – Crafted from whale ribs, coral, and ice-woven sinew

  • Drift Trials – Adolescents are cast adrift and must return with a worthy trophy

"Let the sea take the weak. We return with the strong."

Reef Raider Orcs do not conquer—they endure, outlast, and carve their stories into ice, storm, and bone.