Home > Uncommon Folk of Faerun

Orc

Naga
Gray Orc The orcs of the eastern lands are concentrated in the Moonsea and Endless Wastes today, with much smaller number scattered through the various lands that lie between.

A gray orc looks less bestial than their more savage northern kin, but is still obviously nonhuman. They are somewhat hair, with long manes of bristly hair on their heads, shoulders and backs. Their faces are less porcine than mountain orcs, with the exception of their tusks, They have yellow, orange, or red eyes, lupin ears, and black or gray hair. Gray orcs are more apt to wear "civilised" clothing than mountain orcs, and prefer varying shades of brown, black, blue and other darkcolours. Skin tones are usually gray with mottled patches of lighter or darker gray on the chest or flanks.

Outlook Gray orcs are just as mean, savage and barbaric as their northern cousins, but they lack the mountain orcs' drive to conquer and enslave. A gray orc is quite likely to react suddenly and irrationally to events, trusting to his heart and instincts more readily than logic. When presented with an opportunity to attack a hated rival, a gray orc doesn't hesitate to attack even if he has been brutally defeated a dozen times before by the same enemy.

Gray Orc Characters A gray orc's strength leads to the fighter and barbarian classes and their perception and cunning also make them effective rangers.

Favoured Class:Cleric. Although gray orcs are comfortable with the savage life of a barbarian, they tend to be more calm and collected than northern orcs, focusing their rage and hatred inward. This allows them to excel as clerics of the war-like orc deities.

Gray Orc Society Grey orcs are nomads. They dwell in remote, desolate corners of northeast Faerûn and eke out a meagre existence as they can, travelling along traditional migratory routes between established campsites and favourite caves as the seasons change. When resources in an area run low, a tribe moves on to greener fields.

A typical gray orc tribe consists of thirty to fifty members, led by the strongest orc in the tribe. This orc is known as chieftain and he is responsible for deciding when the tribe attacks its neighbours. The position tens to be a temporary one at best, for orc chieftains are constantly killed (either in battle or through treachery) and replaced by new chieftains.

The true power behind a tribe of gray orcs, though is the tribes high priest, who is typically an adept or cleric(often female) who has held the position for many years. The gray orcs are zealots, and the word of their tribal clerics is law Clerics from other tribes are usually viewed as heretics, despite the fact that both tribes likely worship the same deity in the same manner.

Language and Literacy The gray orc speaks a complex variant of orc tongue. Anyone who can speak orc can understand this language, but many words, inflections, and pronunciations vary wildly between tribes and usually a period of a few days is required to sort out and get used to the idiosyncrasies of a new tribe. Gray orcs are not fond of learning new languages, but a tribe's clerics typically know Common (to interrogate captives) and Giant and Goblin (to interact with possible allies).

Gray Orc Deities Gray orcs worship all the various orc deities equally. They acknowledge Gruumsh as the leader of the orc gods, but a typical gray orc does not feel bound to worship him above any other deity and usually selects a deity that most closely aligns with that orc's particular interests and temperament. Most of the orcs of a particular tribe worship the same deity.

Relations with Other Races The gray orcs don't get along well with anyone outside of their immediate tribe. Other orc tribes are viewed with suspicion and jealousy. Since it's assumed that another orc tribe has it better off than the one you belong to, orc tribes often attack each other to steal resources.

They have no particular hatred for other races, gray orcs pretty much hate everyone equally. Notable exceptions are goblins and kobolds (whom the orcs often accept into their tribes as minions or slaves) and ogres (whom the orcs admire for their savage strength).

Gray Orc NWN Racial Stats +2 STR +2 WIS -2 INT -2 CHA ECL: +1
Naga
Mountain Orc The orcs of the North and the Spine of the World comprise the oldest and most numerous of the various orcsub races active on Faerûn. In fact, many people assume that all orcs are the savage warmongers found in these regions, and do not identify gray orcs or even half orcs as separate races.

A mountain orc is quite obviously a monstrous creature to most civilised folk of Faerûn. Mountain orcs look vaguely like primitive humans but are a fair but taller at seven or more feet in height; a rare few exceed eight feet in height. They have stocky, powerful necks, and their bestial heads seem to sit directly on their massive shoulders. Their eyes are always a deep shade of red, and their faces are dominated by porcine snouts and large tusks.

Mountain orcs often weave braids and tiny bones into their thick matted hair, which is usually black. Their clothing is crude and primitive, often composed of unpleasant colours like blood red, mustard yellow, yellow green and deep purple. They are far from the cleanest race on Faerûn and delight in decorating their bodies in scars and warpaint.

Outlook The mountain orcs are above all else warlike and destructive. They firmly believe that one day they shall finally crush the civilised world and inherit the lands that are rightfully theirs. Their previous defeats are not thought of as losses, but as preliminary assaults designed more to test the resources and resolve of their enemies.

Despite this shared vision of a savage Faerûn ruled by orcs, the greatest hurdle they face is their inability to band together for any other reason than warfare. When the orc populations grow large enough and an orc leader emerges with enough charisma and clout to rally them, the orc tribes of the North can shake the world. But most of the time the mountain orcs are consumed with bitter infighting among themselves.

Mountain Orc Characters Barbarians and fighters dominate among the mountain orcs, with rogues and adepts a distant third and fourth, respectively. Favoured Class: Barbarian; the mountain orcs have built their society around the concept that might makes right.

Mountain Orc Society The mountain orcs gather in immense tribes. Unlike their gray orc kin, mountain orcs are not nomadic. They select a cavern or old ruin as a lair and settle in. As their populations grow, crude new buildings and keeps are built, and in many places in the North, orc lairs have begun to resemble actual cities. When an orc city grows too large, the usual result is a bitter civil war that ends with the losing faction breaking off and fleeing to form its own tribe elsewhere. This tradition of infighting keeps most orc cities and fortresses from becoming too large. The size of mountain orc tribe varies greatly, depending on the success of the tribe and its age. Smaller tribes are rarely less than fifty members, and the larger tribes, such as the Tornskull Orcs, can number in excess of five thousand fighting orcs.

The number of orc tribes in the North is past guessing, and the tribes rise or vanish on a monthly basis. Nevertheless, several tribes are large and old enough to have become infamous throughout the region. The three major tribes of the Rauvin Mountains are perfect example: the Red Fangs, the Heart Takers, and the Tornskulls have long terrorised this region. The orc tribes in the foothills and heights of the Spine of the World are by far the most numerous in total number, and it is also here that one of the most notorious and successful orc tribes now dwells- the Many Arrows tribe, led by King Obould.

Mountain Orc Deities The mountain orcs acknowledge the various orc deities, but they do not let matters of faith and religion get in the way of their goals. They assume that the orc deities placed them in this world to do what they do best and do not feel the need of constant support from clerics and the like. Almost all mountain orc clerics are worshipper of Gruumsh, since the other members of the pantheon are thought of as little more than the servants of Gruumsh.

There are also a large number of orc druids in the North these are usually loners who dwell apart from orc tribes. An orc druid is either Chaotic Neutral or Neutral Evil. They serve as oracles and advisers for orc chieftains, and are often called upon to use their power over nature to aid orc armies.

Relations with Other Races The mountain orcs are consumed with hatred towards most non-orc races (in particular elves, humans, and dwarves). Despite this, they remain on good terms with other races like the various goblinoid races, giants and other evil denizens of the North. Often ogres, trolls and hill giants can be found living in orc communities. It's often said an orc will willingly breed with anything even vaguely humanoid.

Mountain Orc NWN Racial Stats +4 Str -2 Int -2 Wis -2 Cha ECL:0
Naga
Orog (Deep Orc) Although everyone in Faerûn knows about the orc hordes of the North (the mountain orcs) and the nomadic orcs of the East (the gray orcs), only a relative few know of the third sub race that hails from the deeps below ground. The Underdark is the chosen haunt of these terrible creatures, the orogs.

After thousands of years of survival in the harsh and dangerous Underdark, the orogs have changed to match their home, becoming more ferocious and better able to cope with the dangers found there. Physically, an orog looks similar to a large mountain orc, except that the ears are somewhat larger, and their eyes are huge and pale. They average six and a half feet tall.

Over Centuries, orogs have mastered the art of forging armour and weapons from the strange ores found in the Underdark. They favour half plate and full plate armour, which are typically adorned with armour spikes.Orog weapons are festooned with a multitude of hooks, spines and redundant cutting edges. An orog rarely goes anywhere without being fully armed and armored.

Outlook The orog spent thousands of years battling terrible creatures for living space in the Underdark. Now they have finally begun to return to the surface world, they are finding it to be something of a paradise. Stronger and better equipped than most of their enemies, the orogs are quickly settling into positions of leadership in the eastern tribes of mountain orcs near Anauroch. Whereas mountain orcs revel in its spoils. They are quick to rise to battle, but afterwards they fall back to enjoy the fruits of their victories. The concept of leading a horde of raging orcs on a pointless crusade that only ends when the last aggressor falls, still advancing, is alien to the mindset of theorog. Why go to war if you can't enjoy the results?

Orog Characters Most orog characters are fighters or barbarians, but recently more orogs are becoming rangers and rogues as they explore the surface world.

Favoured Class:Fighter. Orogs have been battling ceaselessly in the Underdark for centuries.

Because orogs have higher Charisma scores than other orc races, a significant minority of them are bards and sorcerers.

Orog Society Deep underground the orogs use slave labour to expand caverns into well-defended cities. These cities are completely enclosed in the rock and consist of huge, seemingly endless rooms connected by numerous large processionals and public squares.Orog cities often consist of layers, with rooms atop rooms atop rooms. Nobility usually resides in the highest chambers, which are accessed by trapped stairwells and vertical shafts with crude rope lifts.Orog cities such as these can house upwards of eight thousand orogs and up to three times that many slaves.

Most orog cities are much smaller and are comprised of only a few hundred orogs and slaves. All the near-surface cities are like this, although they mimic the larger cities' tendency to consist of dozens (if not hundreds) of interconnected small rooms. On the surface, orogs have so far not built cities of their own. Rather, they have simply moved in and taken over tribes of mountain orcs, seizing the best buildings for themselves and displacing the orcs to the smaller ones.

The one thing that binds together all orog societies is the placement of the forges. Orogs have a long tradition of armour smithing and weapon forging, and the first thing a tribe of orogs look for when they pick a site for a new town is a natural place to set up a forge. Volcanic vents and pools of magma are favourites, but more traditional forges built on epic scales serve as well.Orog forges are community-held, and any orog is welcome to build armour and weaponry at the forge just as long as what is produced is either put to immediate personal use or placed in the community armory.

Orog Deities Orogs brought the worship of Gruumsh with them into the Underdark and have more or less forgotten the other various deities. Certain fringe cults of orogs in the deep Underdark have started worshipping Ghaunadaur, but these orogs avoid their more traditional kin. Religion is an established facet of orog society, but not an overwhelming one. In many cities, orog clerics are thought of as little more than healers, the average orog having little interest in spiritual matters.

Relations with Other Races Orogs get along the best with orcs, whom they find easy to bully and subjugate. They are intrigued by the concept of the half-orc, since these hybrids can operate in the blinding light of the sun with ease and make excellent warriors for surface world campaigns.

Those orogs who remain deep underground often engage in more or less friendly trade with the gray dwarves and the drow who value the productivity of the orog mines enough to let orog cities alone. The orogs often make war on the svirfneblin, but they try to avoid the more alien races such as illithids and aboleth, whose mental powers can cut down even the mightiest orog with ease.

Orog NwN Racial Stats +6 STR -2 DEX -2 Wis +2 Cha +2 Natural Armor Fire Resist 5/- Cold Resist 5/- ECL +2

Naga Note This race has actually been played in EFU so don't think it's impossible, it just requires an excellent concept, let the awesome flow and all that.