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sparkindarknessSee? I'm not obsessed with elves!
Ok,. there is some elvishness here. But it's about the orcs. Honest!
History
The Reign of the Ortharok
Centuries and even millennia before most of the kingdoms of man arose, in a time before human history, before even the rise of the first dwarven kingdoms, there were the orc empires ruled by the Ortharok.
As noted in the types of orc section, Ortharok have a powerful magical link to other orcs of their clan, granting a degree of control over the actions, behaviour and even thoughts of these other orcs. In addition, through inbreeding and manipulation, the Ortharok could even change orcs during gestation, creating new subspecies of orcs ideally adapted to various tasks. It was through these careful adaptations that the vast variety of orcs were created, each adapted to different tasks, different locations and different conditions according to the needs of the clan decided by the Orthorok.
The orc clans grew, Orthorok produced many Orthorok children who established their own clans but remained linked to their parents - creating vast nations and empires of hundreds and thousands of clans all under the head of one dominant Orthorok who had ultimate power over every last subject in his domain. It was a golden age for the orcs as vast cities were built, huge empires raised, new discoveries made constantly and vast wealth beyond measure was traded between the orc nations and their neighbours.
The Orhorok were wise and they were highly intelligent - a fact that stuns any modern student of orcs. But they were still orcs - lacking in compassion or respect for others and appreciation for many of the gentler arts of civilisation. The cities of the orc empires were huge, but they were not beautiful or comfortable - everything was functional. The orc races didn‘t appreciate beauty and with every orc created for a purpose, only the Orthorok had any need for comfort or time for anything beyond the labour they had been created for. The orcs would cut swathes through the wilderness for resources without a thought for a damage they did beyond ensuring renewable resources remained sustainable. They cared little for their neighbours and if it ever became easier to take something by force rather than trade for it they would not hesitate to declare war - whether their neighbours were non-orcs or even other orc nations. All orc nations maintained a part of their wealth and prosperity from raiding, enslaving or extorting other nations with their military might.
It came to an end when the ancient orc nations met the equally ancient elven nations. The elves had little tolerance and less patience with the orcs and the two often fought.
The elves found the greed of the orcs, the destruction they wrought and the ugliness they left behind intolerable. They answered raids (which other powerful nations considered a perennial nuisance to be endured and ignored) with overwhelming and disproportionate devastating force (sometimes destroying whole towns down to the last child in response to a raid on a trading wagon) and often defended lands far from their borders simply to deny them to the orcs. Not caring for any goods the orcs could produce and being impossible to sway with greed, the elves refused any and all trade with the orcs. As the conflict grew, the elves pursued the animosity further, killing any orcs they found on sight and maintaining bands of elves on their borders who waged a constant battle to do as much damage to the orcs as possible.
The orcs in turn were enraged by the elves. The disproportionate elven response to their raiding was viewed as an embarrassment, a challenge and an insult. The elven defence of lands far beyond the elven borders was viewed with fury at elven meddling and that paled besides the campaigns of sheer destruction the elves launched against them. But most of all, the orcs coveted the elven lands. These magically saturated lands produced items and raw materials that couldn’t be found anywhere else in the world - enchanted woods, metals, earths, even water and air and creatures. Things that were highly valued for their magical properties in a range of crafts and products, things the orcs lacked and wanted badly.
The orc empires struck a historic and unprecedented alliance among themselves to invade the elven lands (much to the elves‘ shock and horror since they never imagined the orcs could co-operate on such a level).
The war was long, bloody and brutal. The orcs have overwhelming numbers and a savage will to sacrifice them, but the ancient elves had had centuries to practice the art of war and their mages wielded powers the orcs had never even dreamed existed. The death toll was obscene and the destruction to the lands intolerable - the elves decided to act and formed a council of several nations’ leaders and the most powerful elven mages of their day.
A summit was proposed with the orcs. The elves announced their desire to meet with the Orthorok heads of each nation - they would meet where and when the orcs wished, on any territory the orcs wished and under whatever guard the orcs wished. The only stipulation was that the elves demanded to meet with the Emperor of each orc empire to ensure that any deal reached would be binding on all orcs.
The Orthorok agreed happily. In many ways the war was going their way - orcs were dying by the tens of thousands - but orcs were quick to breed and replace and ultimately expendable, elves most certainly were not. To the orcs, this looked very much like elven capitulation - even surrender.
The meeting was held deep within orc territory, surrounded by an orc army and the most powerful mystics in all the orc empire. Three elven diplomats were allowed into the meeting and were taking blindfolded to the spot and all trace of their passage was carefully erased. The orcs put there most powerful wardings over the site and set their most elite guard on look out.
It wasn’t enough. Easily tracking the diplomats by the enchanted clothing and diplomats they wore, a coterie of the most powerful elven mages were able to smash their way through the orc wards, killing several of the orc wizards in the process and teleport to the meeting zone. In a few, brief shocked seconds the elven wizards had driven back and walled of the orcish guards who could only beat uselessly at the magical barrier the elves erected until their own magic users could break their way through.
The orcs had faced elven magic, but never truly understood the power of it. They had never understood that the devastation on the battlefield wasn’t caused by a coven of elven mages - but by one powerful wizard. They had never seen the true extent of their power, least of all when the mightiest among them acting in concert.
The elven wizards cast the Gara Mirelka on the helpless Orthorok Emperors. This spell not only destroyed them but targeted the psychic connections - the hive minds of the orcs.
Those closest to the Emperors (those the emperors themselves ruled directly over) died or were driven irreparably insane, untold thousands of orcs reduced to corpses or vegetables. But the spell did not stop. It travelled from the Orthorok emperors to the lesser Orthoroks within their empires, and from them to the Orthorok beneath them until every Orthorok within the empire was affected. It didn’t kill these or their lesser orc servants - but it warped the hive mind. The Orthorok could no longer us it to control their underlings - worse, the hive mind caused waves of insane anger and agonising pain to be broadcast through all orcs who were controlled by Orthoroks.
The carnage was incredible. Orcs bred to be warriors lashed out in pain and rage against their less aggressive cousins, wiping out whole species of orcish races. Those that survived fled from their raging kin and from the torturous presence of the Orthorok.
The Orthorok themselves fared worst of all. Raging orcs could sense where their pain was coming from and lashed out at their former masters in a desperate attempt to gain some respite. More intelligent orc species actually recognised the slavery the Orthorok had had them under and hunted them down now the control was broken.
In the aftermath, the orc empires were shattered, the orc nations warring hellholes with sky blacked out as ravens feasted on the mountains of orc bodies rotting in the sun. Many races of orcs were considered extinct - including the Orthorok and the warrior races of the orcs began breeding indiscriminately and lashing out at all around them, still consumed by the agonising death rage of the Gara Mirelka
The destruction of thousands of years of orc culture and the death of tens of millions of orcs took less than 2 months.
The orcs never recovered. With most of their artisan and scholar races annihilated and their leaders, the Orthorok destroyed they had no foundations on which to rebuild. But the elves left nothing to chance. Moving quickly in the stunned aftermath of the devastation, the elves drove the orcs from Sonnarelis, the elven homelands. Even today there are little more than scattered enclaves of orcs on the continent. They dispatched squads that hunted down any surviving Orthorok they could find as well as any orc races with notable magical talent. The destruction of the orcish nations was complete, never to rise again.
The elves were extremely pleased with the outcome.
Ok,. there is some elvishness here. But it's about the orcs. Honest!
History
The Reign of the Ortharok
Centuries and even millennia before most of the kingdoms of man arose, in a time before human history, before even the rise of the first dwarven kingdoms, there were the orc empires ruled by the Ortharok.
As noted in the types of orc section, Ortharok have a powerful magical link to other orcs of their clan, granting a degree of control over the actions, behaviour and even thoughts of these other orcs. In addition, through inbreeding and manipulation, the Ortharok could even change orcs during gestation, creating new subspecies of orcs ideally adapted to various tasks. It was through these careful adaptations that the vast variety of orcs were created, each adapted to different tasks, different locations and different conditions according to the needs of the clan decided by the Orthorok.
The orc clans grew, Orthorok produced many Orthorok children who established their own clans but remained linked to their parents - creating vast nations and empires of hundreds and thousands of clans all under the head of one dominant Orthorok who had ultimate power over every last subject in his domain. It was a golden age for the orcs as vast cities were built, huge empires raised, new discoveries made constantly and vast wealth beyond measure was traded between the orc nations and their neighbours.
The Orhorok were wise and they were highly intelligent - a fact that stuns any modern student of orcs. But they were still orcs - lacking in compassion or respect for others and appreciation for many of the gentler arts of civilisation. The cities of the orc empires were huge, but they were not beautiful or comfortable - everything was functional. The orc races didn‘t appreciate beauty and with every orc created for a purpose, only the Orthorok had any need for comfort or time for anything beyond the labour they had been created for. The orcs would cut swathes through the wilderness for resources without a thought for a damage they did beyond ensuring renewable resources remained sustainable. They cared little for their neighbours and if it ever became easier to take something by force rather than trade for it they would not hesitate to declare war - whether their neighbours were non-orcs or even other orc nations. All orc nations maintained a part of their wealth and prosperity from raiding, enslaving or extorting other nations with their military might.
It came to an end when the ancient orc nations met the equally ancient elven nations. The elves had little tolerance and less patience with the orcs and the two often fought.
The elves found the greed of the orcs, the destruction they wrought and the ugliness they left behind intolerable. They answered raids (which other powerful nations considered a perennial nuisance to be endured and ignored) with overwhelming and disproportionate devastating force (sometimes destroying whole towns down to the last child in response to a raid on a trading wagon) and often defended lands far from their borders simply to deny them to the orcs. Not caring for any goods the orcs could produce and being impossible to sway with greed, the elves refused any and all trade with the orcs. As the conflict grew, the elves pursued the animosity further, killing any orcs they found on sight and maintaining bands of elves on their borders who waged a constant battle to do as much damage to the orcs as possible.
The orcs in turn were enraged by the elves. The disproportionate elven response to their raiding was viewed as an embarrassment, a challenge and an insult. The elven defence of lands far beyond the elven borders was viewed with fury at elven meddling and that paled besides the campaigns of sheer destruction the elves launched against them. But most of all, the orcs coveted the elven lands. These magically saturated lands produced items and raw materials that couldn’t be found anywhere else in the world - enchanted woods, metals, earths, even water and air and creatures. Things that were highly valued for their magical properties in a range of crafts and products, things the orcs lacked and wanted badly.
The orc empires struck a historic and unprecedented alliance among themselves to invade the elven lands (much to the elves‘ shock and horror since they never imagined the orcs could co-operate on such a level).
The war was long, bloody and brutal. The orcs have overwhelming numbers and a savage will to sacrifice them, but the ancient elves had had centuries to practice the art of war and their mages wielded powers the orcs had never even dreamed existed. The death toll was obscene and the destruction to the lands intolerable - the elves decided to act and formed a council of several nations’ leaders and the most powerful elven mages of their day.
A summit was proposed with the orcs. The elves announced their desire to meet with the Orthorok heads of each nation - they would meet where and when the orcs wished, on any territory the orcs wished and under whatever guard the orcs wished. The only stipulation was that the elves demanded to meet with the Emperor of each orc empire to ensure that any deal reached would be binding on all orcs.
The Orthorok agreed happily. In many ways the war was going their way - orcs were dying by the tens of thousands - but orcs were quick to breed and replace and ultimately expendable, elves most certainly were not. To the orcs, this looked very much like elven capitulation - even surrender.
The meeting was held deep within orc territory, surrounded by an orc army and the most powerful mystics in all the orc empire. Three elven diplomats were allowed into the meeting and were taking blindfolded to the spot and all trace of their passage was carefully erased. The orcs put there most powerful wardings over the site and set their most elite guard on look out.
It wasn’t enough. Easily tracking the diplomats by the enchanted clothing and diplomats they wore, a coterie of the most powerful elven mages were able to smash their way through the orc wards, killing several of the orc wizards in the process and teleport to the meeting zone. In a few, brief shocked seconds the elven wizards had driven back and walled of the orcish guards who could only beat uselessly at the magical barrier the elves erected until their own magic users could break their way through.
The orcs had faced elven magic, but never truly understood the power of it. They had never understood that the devastation on the battlefield wasn’t caused by a coven of elven mages - but by one powerful wizard. They had never seen the true extent of their power, least of all when the mightiest among them acting in concert.
The elven wizards cast the Gara Mirelka on the helpless Orthorok Emperors. This spell not only destroyed them but targeted the psychic connections - the hive minds of the orcs.
Those closest to the Emperors (those the emperors themselves ruled directly over) died or were driven irreparably insane, untold thousands of orcs reduced to corpses or vegetables. But the spell did not stop. It travelled from the Orthorok emperors to the lesser Orthoroks within their empires, and from them to the Orthorok beneath them until every Orthorok within the empire was affected. It didn’t kill these or their lesser orc servants - but it warped the hive mind. The Orthorok could no longer us it to control their underlings - worse, the hive mind caused waves of insane anger and agonising pain to be broadcast through all orcs who were controlled by Orthoroks.
The carnage was incredible. Orcs bred to be warriors lashed out in pain and rage against their less aggressive cousins, wiping out whole species of orcish races. Those that survived fled from their raging kin and from the torturous presence of the Orthorok.
The Orthorok themselves fared worst of all. Raging orcs could sense where their pain was coming from and lashed out at their former masters in a desperate attempt to gain some respite. More intelligent orc species actually recognised the slavery the Orthorok had had them under and hunted them down now the control was broken.
In the aftermath, the orc empires were shattered, the orc nations warring hellholes with sky blacked out as ravens feasted on the mountains of orc bodies rotting in the sun. Many races of orcs were considered extinct - including the Orthorok and the warrior races of the orcs began breeding indiscriminately and lashing out at all around them, still consumed by the agonising death rage of the Gara Mirelka
The destruction of thousands of years of orc culture and the death of tens of millions of orcs took less than 2 months.
The orcs never recovered. With most of their artisan and scholar races annihilated and their leaders, the Orthorok destroyed they had no foundations on which to rebuild. But the elves left nothing to chance. Moving quickly in the stunned aftermath of the devastation, the elves drove the orcs from Sonnarelis, the elven homelands. Even today there are little more than scattered enclaves of orcs on the continent. They dispatched squads that hunted down any surviving Orthorok they could find as well as any orc races with notable magical talent. The destruction of the orcish nations was complete, never to rise again.
The elves were extremely pleased with the outcome.