Orcs

Orcs are a species of brutal humanoids, very closely related to humans, but very different in terms of evolutionary development. Massive creatures that would be well over seven feet tall if it weren't for their pronounced stoop, orcs have short tusks, leathery skin, and dense muscles. They have coats of thin fur, as well as thick hair on their heads, manifesting in beard-like growths and manes. There is little sexual dimorphism, and the lack of clothing meant for covering-up is often shocking to those who hear of orcish raids.

There is very little complicated industry amongst the orcs. Their weapons are usually the tools they use for felling trees, butchering meat, or grinding food, and they are produced by slowly chiseling one stone with another until the desired shape is formed. This striking head is then either bound to a sturdy branch, or wrapped to make for a hand-held tool. Hide production has been noted, too; skinning animals, tanning hides, and turning them into rudimentary armor seems common enough. Orcish bands that have had luck raiding settlements will often collect the arms and armor of the settlement, and use them as best they can. Orcs avoid settled places, preferring to live in the wilderness and attack provincial places.

In communities, orcs divide themselves into bands, with several warrior orcs following the largest or strongest orc in the region, and traveling from encampment to encampment with mating stock, which can sometimes include terrified humans stolen during raids. Orcs communicate in a spoken language of hoots and grunts, and those scholars who have been able to study it describe it as being very utilitarian; there has also been evidence of them using relatively simple pictographs, daubed on walls or carved into the ground or into trees, to leave more lasting messages. It has been reported too that they make use of striking branches against trees or logs to signal over long distances, or howl at times.

Half-orcs

Half-orcs come in multiple varieties. A few halff-orcs are born looking very much like orcs, and are accepted in the band as such, and will show a higher level of intelligence than their fellow band members, and will be treated with deference as they age. The majority will be born scrawnier and more human-like, and will be left outside of the community to die if the mother is unable to give birth to them away from the orcs. These individuals who survive into adolescence will often be intellectually identical to their human peers, but will be treated poorly by most, due to the stigma of being a half-orc, and will often join war-bands or criminal groups, or sometimes become sailers or soldiers to exist in a protected structure.