The **Orcs** are a proud and formidable people, descended from elves who rejected servitude to the Verdant Heart after the fall of the Dragon Lords. Choosing to rely on strength and will rather than bowing to nature or magic, they journeyed south into the **Southern Crags**, where they carved their destiny in iron and fire.
Scorning sorcery as weakness, the orcs turned instead to metal and invention, mastering the forge and steam. Their greatest achievement is **Ironspine**, a vast industrial city of fire and smoke, sustained by ogre slaves and goblin miners. Among all mortal races, only the giants’ mythic craftsmanship surpasses their steel.
- Tall and broad, averaging 7–8 feet in height, with corded muscle and grey to ashen skin.
- Their features bear faint traces of elven ancestry — angular jaws, long ears — now reshaped into something harder and sterner.
- Hair is thick, often worn in braids or topknots; eyes are dark, reflecting the glow of forge-fire.
- Many scar their bodies with ritual brands or clan-marks, signifying triumphs or blood-oaths.
- **Forge-Masters:** Renowned smiths and builders, their steel is unmatched by any save the giants.
- **Steamwrights:** Orcs pioneered steam-powered machines, lifting their civilization into an age beyond their peers.
- **Warlike Strength:** Orcs are trained from youth in battle, favoring axes, hammers, and heavy armor of their own craft.
- **Anti-Magic Creed:** Magic is seen as weakness; rune-carved goods are often destroyed or melted.
- **Clans & Hierarchy:** Orc society is clan-based, with constant rivalries and blood-feuds. Unity comes only under strong warlords.
- **Iron Law:** Orcs respect strength above all else — a weak leader is swiftly overthrown.
- **Industry & Labor:** The forges of Ironspine define their life. Ogres stoke the boilers, goblins mine the ore, and orcs themselves shape weapons of war.
- **Funeral Rites:** The bodies of allies and subjects alike are burned in furnaces, a practical means to prevent Corpse Plague outbreaks.
- **View of Others:** Humans are seen as fragile but resourceful, elves as weak dreamers, goblins as cursed but useful, and giants as rivals to surpass.
- **Smiths & Craftsmen:** Their weapons and armor fuel not only their wars but trade with humans—though always at a cost.
- **Expansionists:** Orc clans push from Ironspine into the Great Swamp and Southern Crags, claiming land through strength.
- **Anti-Magic Bastion:** They stand in direct cultural contrast to elves and humans who wield runes, proud of their rejection of sorcery.
- **Industrial Titans:** With steam technology, orcs stand at the forefront of mortal innovation, shaping an age of iron that rivals the lost grandeur of the Dragon Lords.