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78 KB I Wanna Be Like You Anonymous 05/23/10(Sun)22:14 No.10014970  
Copying relevant stuff over from the old thread, which has hit auto-sage. tl;dr, idea for an Orc nation set after the fall of the Dark Lord that was their puppetmaster, and now Orcs are looking for direction, which they find in humanity.

Let's say Orcs are made to be evil. Their god is evil. Their purpose is evil.

But they have free will. They can choose not to be evil. They can strive to do good. Obviously they probably have less choice while good old Evilor is staring down at them and telling them to rape nunneries and pillage puppies, but.. what if this is set after the death of Evillor? Suddenly there's this big horde of Orcs blinking dumbfounded in the light and.. well, free for the first time in the existence of their entire species. Free of their Creator's corruption, they begin to rebuild what was lost during the war and to make amends for whatever they were made to do. They live distinct from other races due to stigma from the war, and so form cities. Never having really had to think before, they don't know how to form societies, so they mimic human and elven ways, although in a cruder, more strength-oriented fashion.

Basically, after the fall of Psuedo-Sauron, orcs want to be humans.
>> Anonymous 05/23/10(Sun)22:15 No.10014997
>>10014970

So, the Orcs used to have this evil god that did all this thinking for them, right? This is why Orcs aren't as intelligent as humans - they didn't need to be. Anything more advanced than basic survival, their god handled for them. He needed them to be strong, so he made them strong, simple enough. And then he went away. And there's no one to do the thinking for them. So they do the next best thing - they find someone and copy their thinking. Humans make the most sense since they tend to be the most prolific race in fantasy. The Orcs can't fully mingle with human society because, fuck, the humans just got done fighting a war with them, but the humans get along well. So the Orcs do their best to copy that.

Of course, one consequence from being enslaved by the evil god may be a strong vein of independant thought among Orcs; they're very suspicious of anyone bringing the news of another god to them, in case it turns out to be another Sauron. That's not to say there's no religion, in fact they probably pick up some human gods thanks to emulating human ways, but they may deliberately choose the most hands-off and least militant gods out there.
Now, we've established that Orcs aren't as intelligent as humans and are learning by doing, so the first few generations are probably pretty rough for them. They need to get the hang for farming instead of just taking what they want and so on. The evil god would probably have some infrastructure left over they could build on though - mines and forges to produce their armour and so on. A lot of stuff might be stuff that they... didn't know themselves but watched their god make them do a thousand times, so they can have a pretty good first stab at it.
>> Anonymous 05/23/10(Sun)22:16 No.10015012
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>>10014997

Naturally, combat is something they're still seeing as a first-resort rather than a last, so this makes Orcish attempts at creating cities... tense. Get a lot of Orcs in one place and soon violence is going to happen. But the same is true of humans, and they don't burn their city down every two weeks. So the Orcs keep trying. They might come up with some new laws on their own to harshly regulate aggression, or at least make sure there's one formalised way to let it out so that it doesn't spill over into civil war. Something like a gladitorial arena, or a government sponsored Fight Club where you can go and blow off steam by beating the hell out of some random stranger.

If we go by Orcs trying to be like humans, that means trade and diplomacy too. This is obviously going to be tricky and probably not going to happen for at least a few years after they've gotten on their feet as a culture and started to move away from the whole Evil Horde thing they had going on. This also explains why Orcs go after human mates - Orcish culture greatly promotes humanity as paragons of virtue, so they try to improve themselves by making the next generation literally more human.
>> Anonymous 05/23/10(Sun)22:16 No.10015022
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>>10015012
So, Orcs are actually quite used to physical work like construction, farming and the military; that's what Not-Sauron used them for, and it's what they're good at. This means that an Orc city is sturdy and well built, although not very ostentatious. It's practical - they build what they need and that's it. They'll figure out how to do the fiddly luxury bits later. It's practical and it's strong - good stone, built to last a seige. It probably even has an uncomfortable resemblance to Not-Sauron's old Castle Of Fear, since that's the last thing the Orcs all got together to build.

In terms of more abstract and esoteric trades, however, the Orcs aren't so good. For instance, you'll find a dozen Orcs who can work in a quarry, but none that can make sculptures. You might be able to find some particularly bright ones that served as lieutenants to Not-Sauron, but they mostly died during the war. So Orcs have very little in the way of art or decoration. They have trophies taken from notable hunts and kills, and maybe some simplistic paintings. That's about it. Their buildings are bare stone, their clothes rough hide and fabric. But the more they mimic humans, the more little things creep in - where a human might wear a full outfit of many colours and different fabrics, an Orc wears the same outfit garment-wise, except it's all hide and one colour.
>> Anonymous 05/23/10(Sun)22:17 No.10015033
>>10015022

Since they've lost most heirarchy following the war, there may be a chaotic, pseudo-anarchist thing going on. Every Orc has a say in how the city is run in theory. Assuming he can be heard over the shouting of the others, that is. In practice, however, it's quite different. Sometimes an Orc will get it into his head to appoint himself the new.. chief, or president, or King, or whatever the human title they particularly like the sound of. And pretty much all you need to do is declare it, and then you are it. You say you're chief? Fair enough, what're your orders? The Orcs accept it, glad to have someone in charge. Competition is rare, especially since most Orcs are fine having two people in charge just as much as they are having one.

Eventually, you get a Ruling Caste of some description, the people who have ruled because they've always ruled and that's what their parents did. Theoretically, all you need to do to join the Ruling Caste - or any caste, really - is to declare your intent to and then start acting like you mean it.
>> Anonymous 05/23/10(Sun)22:21 No.10015115
>>10015012
Sir, you had me at
>or a government sponsored Fight Club
>> Anonymous 05/23/10(Sun)22:22 No.10015131
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>>10015033

Now, we mentioned earlier that this Orc culture actively promotes human qualities as virtues, to the point that a lot of Orcs go out of their way to find human mates to have offspring with. The resulting halfbreeds are really seen as good signs towards the human-becoming of Orcs as a whole. If nothing else, your average half Orc is smarter than a pureblood, albeit not as physically power. This means that a lot of the Ruling Caste is actually made up of half Orcs. None of the purebloods protest or resent it because, as we mentioned earlier, by their perception someone has to be in charge; it might as well be the smart ones who literally embody the virtues we're driving towards.

Orc emissaries and diplomats in human lands are just as much cultural observers as they are negotiators and politicians. Orc culture is very keen to mimic human culture, to the point that the fashions in Orcland tend to be last season's fashions in the human lands. Half the job of an Orc ambassador is to study humans, see what they do and then carry the message back to the rest of the people, so the Orcs can do it to.
>> Anonymous 05/23/10(Sun)22:27 No.10015239
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ITT: Orcs are niggers
>> Anonymous 05/23/10(Sun)22:28 No.10015251
>>10015131

But Orcs aren't as intelligent as humans, so by the time they get reports of human behaviour, fashion and so on, and then implement if themselves, the point is sometimes lost. For instance, one Orc diplomat was shown a play in a theatre. He didn't grasp that it was a fiction and thought the drama unfolding in front of him was some sort of court proceeding or public airing of greivances, culminating in a fight to the death between two males over the love of a female. So the next season, something like a theatre had been built in the Orc city which served a purpose more or less like a court does in human cities. Executions are sometimes held there too.

Next, morals. As a race that was in the thrall of the literal embodiment of evil for several centuries, Orcs have a strange world view. What they wanted, they took; what they didn't need, they burned. Except once they were free, they found that wasn't sustainable and they couldn't live that way. They've started emulating human morals, but don't quite grasp the reasons behind them. They don't have a concept of the value of life, for instance, but murder is still a crime because that's one less warrior for the army.
>> Anonymous 05/23/10(Sun)22:30 No.10015299
>>10015115

Not gonna lie, that's pretty sweet.

As long as you're winning, of course.
>> Anonymous 05/23/10(Sun)22:38 No.10015468
>>10015251

Now, let's talk about the Dark Lord himself. We're going to need a name for one thing. Let's say... The Autarch. Basically, the Autarch was like all the other gods in that he made a race to know and worship him, except he didn't like the thought of losing control over his pets - and he wanted a weapon he could use against his brothers, just in case. So he made the orcs out of grey mud, making them strong to serve as his army, and sunk his fingers deep into their hearts. So whenever he wanted, the Autarch could see through their eyes, control the bodies, their minds. They could act on their own, but he could compel them to do whatever he wanted. He was the puppetmaster, and they were his puppets.

When the Autarch chose to strike out, it was truly a frightening sight to behold; all the orcs moved as though literally one will, one mind was driving them. Because literally one will, one mind WAS driving them; the Autarchs. His massive horde, all co-ordinated and acting as one, seemed unstoppable and washed over human and elven armies in a tide. But it left the Autarch distracted long enough for a small group of powerful wizards to sneak into his throne room and slay him where he sat.

As one, the entirety of Orc-kind suddenly woke up and experienced free will for the first time in history.
>> Anonymous 05/23/10(Sun)22:46 No.10015577
Damn, /tg/ is in a funk if all that shit is on the front page instead of this
>> Anonymous 05/23/10(Sun)22:48 No.10015632
>if all that shit is on the front page instead of this

>orcs are suddenly free of lolrandum bloodlust
>they try to form a society
>doesn't at all sound like it's been done before
>> Anonymous 05/23/10(Sun)22:50 No.10015654
So, we have Orcs that are warlike in nature but desperately clinging on the civilisation. They have no ruling instinct and little in the way of self determination, relying primarily on halfbreeds to tell them what to do and humans to tell them what to think. Violence is still in their nature, outlet in productive means so as to keep their fledgling society from shaking itself apart. Interbreeding with humans is actively encouraged and Orcishness is... not shameful, but considered something they are working to elevate themselves from, like man's bestial nature.
>> Anonymous 05/23/10(Sun)22:52 No.10015685
>>10015632

>orcs are suddenly free of their lolrandom bloodlust

Uh, no? Have you actually read it? Orcs still have violent impulses but because they're working to humanise themselves, they try to restrict them to the aforementioned Government Fight Clubs.
>> Anonymous 05/23/10(Sun)23:01 No.10015818
I can see the humans basically seeing the Orcs like redheaded stepbrothers; heart's in the right place, but fuck are they more trouble than they're worth. Always needing you to hold their goddamned hand. Priests and diplomats sent to Orc lands are done so as punishment as much as anything. Of course, the snoo snoo isn't too bad.
>> Anonymous 05/23/10(Sun)23:05 No.10015887
>>10015632
0/10
>> Mahou Shoujo Beautiful Sanguine Mus 05/23/10(Sun)23:07 No.10015914
No, this really is pretty terrible. It really shouldn't be on page one
>> Anonymous 05/23/10(Sun)23:20 No.10016087
>>10015914
said red machine profit
>> Anonymous 05/23/10(Sun)23:36 No.10016292
You know what the problem with emulating humans is? One day they are going to find a different society of humans that looks and acts differently from the humans they are used to and there's going to be a lot of confusion.

If one day they are looking up to typical western fantasy humans and then the next, Ghengis Khan comes knocking on their doorstep with horse-archers and plague ridden corpses to throw into their cities to kill them all than this society is going to rip itself apart. Some Orcs are going to be in favor of these new guys and the existing half-orc rulers are going to want to keep to the morals and traditions they are most familiar with.

Orcs are going to either kill themselves or if they are lucky, will agree to disagree. Then you have Orcs scattering across the globe. Where there's a society of horse riding nomads you'll find a smaller bunch of Orcs doing the same thing.

Or they'll revert to more barbaric mind-sets and those seeking to rule will emulate their creator any way they can manage.
>> Anonymous 05/23/10(Sun)23:38 No.10016315
A long, long time ago; Great Giants were the dominant species. They were a shamanistic people who lived off the land. One day they began to discover that magical storms could be used as portals to another "realm", and many of them decided to set out and settle. Most of them lead to other parts of the planet, but some to other planets int he solar system. One of these portals dropped a group of Giants on the Moon or a massive planet. Generations of adapting to the lower oxygen levels and icy world made them much smaller, stockier and Grey in appearance instead of their original green and brown.

They did eventually find a portal off the moon and onto the planet itself and a mass exodus to the planet. There they found that Two simultaneous races had emerged with them and began to form their early civilization.

The first contact with these races were peaceful and the Orcs shared with them their knowledge of writing and tool making.

But eventually as more and more Orcs poured through the portal, they became hostile to the newcomers as they began to overwhelm the lands that surround the Portal. They were labeled as invaders and the Dwarves and Elves united to drive them out of their homes. At first the Orcs had the upper hand, their weapons and armor and years of combat training against the creatures of the frozen moon had benefited them against the Dwarves and Elves who has still fought with clubs and spears.

Eventually the Orcs were outmatched when the Dawrves had invented bows. These bows cold easily penetrate the ancient tin armor that the Orcs wore and in the hands of the Elves, they were extremely deadly.

The Orcs were chased out of the kingdom and the portal shut down.
>> Anonymous 05/23/10(Sun)23:49 No.10016441
>>10016315
The Remaining Orcs scattered to settle new areas. Eventually they settled on most of the major continents and settled in areas where the Dwarves and Elves found too harsh. Many Orcish kingdoms are carved from rock formations or massive sequoia trees. But their oring still haunts them as many people hold prejudices against them for their brutish looks and defensive nature.

Today the Orcs are sought after for their skill in battle and craftsmanship. Orcish artwork decorates the halls of nobles and wars are won and lost by the hands of Orcish Mercenary Generals.

But still, it was the Orcs who brought knowledge to the world and it's the Orc who the races turn to when the world is threatened.
>> Anonymous 05/23/10(Sun)23:57 No.10016542
>>10016441
Meanwhile the original Giants had died off. Natural disasters had reduced their home world to a desert and the few remaining survivors were desperately seeking the once plentiful portals to escape the planet. One day, the last great Magical storm had appeared over the last remaining giant city. The Portal produced was so massive, it teleported the entire city to the new planet. A thousand years later, the inhabitants of that city had adapted to the much smaller surroundings, they were almost entirely black and brown, with an increasing populations of lighter skin tones. These smaller giants called themselves the New Men and quickly spread across the planet where they quickly discovered their long lost ancestors.
>> Anonymous 05/24/10(Mon)00:20 No.10016953
>>10016292
And you know what?
All of this would be great for a campaign.
>> Anonymous 05/24/10(Mon)01:43 No.10018371
never gonna tell a lie
>> Anonymous 05/24/10(Mon)03:23 No.10019839
bamp
>> Anonymous 05/24/10(Mon)03:31 No.10019942
>>10019839
ALWAYS
>> Anonymous 05/24/10(Mon)03:32 No.10019953
>>10019942
I WANNA BE YOU
>> Anonymous 05/24/10(Mon)03:33 No.10019960
>>10019953
AND MAKE BELIEVE YOU
>> Anonymous 05/24/10(Mon)03:34 No.10019971
>>10019960
AND LIVE HARMONY HARMONY
>> Anonymous 05/24/10(Mon)03:36 No.10020001
>>10019971
OH ORCS