| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Icelander |
Posted - 05 Apr 2018 : 21:32:13
As far as I can tell, there are a lot fewer Orcish words in fictional dictionaries for the Forgotten Realms than there are Drow or Elven. I'm trying to come up with some words that I can't find on the wiki article for FR Orcish dictionary.
I'm looking for words like:
Dragon
Dragon's Bane
Rage
Priest
Sect, cult or order
Son
Prince
Lord, baron or duke
Undying
Farseer
Prophet
Prophecy
Court
Throne
Sword
Polearm, glaive, bill or halberd
Ancestor/s
Descendant of |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Icelander |
Posted - 13 Dec 2019 : 18:22:37
quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd
One more thing: Increasingly convinced that "krypt" means "lair/home/cave/stronghold" in orcish, at least among the orcs of the Sword Mountains.
Agreed.
And because it's a cool word, I'd use it more widely as well.
quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd
I also think there should be at least two forms of orcish (Mountain / Gray), that are pretty unrelated (e.g. Norse and Finnish). I also think that orcs would be far more likely to have strongly differentiated dialects among regions.
That could go both ways. It would be easy to say that as orcish shamans speak to the spirits and gods regardless of distance, a common orcish language based on the speech of the avatars of the gods (who walked among the gray orcs in the time of the Orcgate Wars) exists and major deviations from it are uncommon.
Plenty of dialects, but all one language, in other words.
There is also the fact that the orcs of Thar and, most likely, the orcs that many PCs will know, as the orcs living near the Dalelands and Cormyr (in the Stonelands and Goblin Marches), descend from both gray and mountain orcs.
Given the much more organized and 'civilized' nature of gray orcs when they arrived on Toril, it's plausible that gray orcs became tribal elites among mountain orcs in any area reachable by their warbands in the centuries and millennia after the Orcgate Wars.
Even the former kingdom of the gray orcs, in Vastar, was established in lands where orcs had been for thousands of years, which means that the arriving gray orcs would have displaced or absorbed mountain orcs already living there.
As there is no genocidal war noted between orcish subraces, the most plausible scenario is that pure-blooded gray orcs or mountain orcs are rare and exist only in very remote or inaccessible areas (which, however, might include the Spine of the World), with most orcs in Faerun being mixed to various degree and cultural factors more than anything else determining which subrace they are counted as. |
| Icelander |
Posted - 13 Dec 2019 : 18:13:11
quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd
Love the words. They all look great. Might riff off them in my own writing if that's OK.
That would be great!
quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd
Since the Realms started with 1e, I have a hard time seeing orcs as wizards or sorcerers. Warlocks, however, make perfect sense to me.
Given how orcs can breed with everything and sorcerer ability can be inborn, orcish sorcerers are pretty much a given. They might not be common, but even if pure-blooded orcs are never born with sorcerous gifts, it's inevitable that orcs which have admixtures of other heritage will sometimes be born with such abilities.
The way I imagine orcish society, however, is that orcs don't differentiate much between different arcane traditions. Sorcery or zardtan covers everything from inborn gifts through hedge magic or learned wizardry. It is also generally a term with negative connotations, with orcs usually hating and fearing all sorcery (which, however, sometimes allows a ruthless orc who can use magic to rise to power in a tribe).
The magic-traditions that orcs do not consider negative are not considered to be zardtan. Magic which comes from the gods or spirits, such as that practised by clergy or shamans, is regarded as different from magic that sorcerers wield (and needs a separate word. Warlocks would fall under that category if the entity granting the powers were regarded as respectable in orcish society, but would be viewed as practising zadrj if the source of their powers was unsavoury or unknown to orcish society as a whole.
Runecasting and the magical tricks of warchanters are likewise distinguished from the zardj of sorcerers/wizards/hedge practisioners, even though human sages would consider it arcane magic. Both are major features of gray orc society (as major as any arcane tradition can be said to be among orcs, which is not very), as I see it, and both are viewed as gifts from the gods, even though, game mechanically, gods are not needed to access such abilities.
quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd
Likewise, (in 3e terms), I'm increasingly thinking that the spirit shaman class is more appropriate for orcs (and goblinoids) than clerics or druids (or speciality priests (2e) / prestige classes (3e)).
Well, the spirit shaman fits small tribes and primitive orcish society well, but in large tribes, especially huge hordes with a religious motivation, I see an organized clergy that traces its roots back to the Orcgate Wars.
The D&D 3e Cleric class and various warlike priestly prestige classes are perfect fits for warpriests of Ilneval, as well as being an alternative to shamans for the more robust and warlike servants of Gruumsh. The clergy of Bahgtru would be barbarian/clerics in D&D terms, perhaps with a special prestige class available which is no doubt already extant (perhaps needing a slight reskinning in terms of fluff).
quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd
So, I like the idea of orcish society that includes warriors / fighters / barbarians as well as scouts, warlocks, and spirit shamans, as the predominant classes.
That sounds like it would fit my view of mountain orc society well. Gray orcs are more religious and ritualistic, however, so I see warchanters (bards with a historical/religious tinge) and clerics/priests as the primary magic-using characters among them.
Runecasters would be greatly revered, but rare in the modern age, although legends of the times when the orcs walked with the gods would have them be common in those times. I don't know if there's a D&D class that I would use to represent them, as I use GURPS, which already has many magic-systems to pick and choose from, so runecasters are easy to do there. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 13 Dec 2019 : 16:27:39
quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd
Love the words. They all look great. Might riff off them in my own writing if that's OK.
Since the Realms started with 1e, I have a hard time seeing orcs as wizards or sorcerers. Warlocks, however, make perfect sense to me.
Likewise, (in 3e terms), I'm increasingly thinking that the spirit shaman class is more appropriate for orcs (and goblinoids) than clerics or druids (or speciality priests (2e) / prestige classes (3e)).
So, I like the idea of orcish society that includes warriors / fighters / barbarians as well as scouts, warlocks, and spirit shamans, as the predominant classes.
I can see orcs as sorcerers, since they don't have to study to learn spells.
I learned D&D with 2E, so I still tend to think in 2E terms -- but I was happy to see the end of the racial class restrictions, especially in regards to multi-classing. |
| ericlboyd |
Posted - 13 Dec 2019 : 12:15:32
One more thing: Increasingly convinced that "krypt" means "lair/home/cave/stronghold" in orcish, at least among the orcs of the Sword Mountains.
I also think there should be at least two forms of orcish (Mountain / Gray), that are pretty unrelated (e.g. Norse and Finnish). I also think that orcs would be far more likely to have strongly differentiated dialects among regions. |
| ericlboyd |
Posted - 13 Dec 2019 : 12:11:11
Love the words. They all look great. Might riff off them in my own writing if that's OK.
Since the Realms started with 1e, I have a hard time seeing orcs as wizards or sorcerers. Warlocks, however, make perfect sense to me.
Likewise, (in 3e terms), I'm increasingly thinking that the spirit shaman class is more appropriate for orcs (and goblinoids) than clerics or druids (or speciality priests (2e) / prestige classes (3e)).
So, I like the idea of orcish society that includes warriors / fighters / barbarians as well as scouts, warlocks, and spirit shamans, as the predominant classes. |
| Icelander |
Posted - 13 Dec 2019 : 11:22:54
I've made up a list of some orcish words I needed for flavour text.
These are all made-up, in some cases with reference to Dragon #75, Polyhedron #74 and the few phrases from Vaasa orcs noted in Sentinelspire, but mostly just... made up.
Please comment, correct, suggest and otherwise nitpick.
Dak = 'Attack' (v.)
Dakzok = 'Attack/battle' (n.)
Daraka = 'The Mighty', i.e. Orcs (n.)
Dryht = 'Horde/host' (n.)
Er = 'Lost' (adj.)
Eroka = 'The Lost' (n.)
Ghaz = 'God' (n.)
Ghaza = 'The Gods' (n.)
Gjak = 'Chant' (v.)
Gjakdad = 'Chanter' (n.)
Gjakdan = 'Chant' (n.)
Grong = 'Drum' (v.)
Grongdan = 'Drummer' (n.)
Grongan = 'Drum' (n.)
Gul = 'Speak' (v.)
Guldak = 'Speaker' (n.)
Gungri = 'Brittle' (adj.)
Gungrukh = 'Brittle Bones', i.e. Humans (n.)
Maur = 'Make war' (v.)
Maur-Guldak = 'War Speaker', i.e. war priest or cleric (n.)
Maurzok = 'War' (n.)
Mauthaug = 'Worms', i.e. lesser goblinkin (n.)
Shatak = 'Runecaster' (n.)
Shatan = 'Runes) (n.)
Uryt = 'Tooth'
Uryth = 'Teeth'
Wung = 'Spirit' (n.)
Wungtan = 'Spirit world' (n.)
Yur = 'Ancestor' (n.)
Yuroka = 'Ancestors' (n.)
Yurtan = 'That of the Ancestors' (n.), i.e. everything that pertains to the ancestors.
Zardj = 'Employ magic' (v.)
Zardrach = 'Sorcerer/witch doctor/wizard' (n.)
Zardtan = 'Magic/mysticism' (n.)
The way I see it, divine spellcasters, whether shamans, adepts, specialty priests or clerics, can all be referred to as 'Guldak' (pl. Guldaka; collective noun for the clergy, 'Guldaktan'). Priests of a specific deity are 'Guldak oj [deity]' or 'Speaker for [deity]', while shamans are either 'Guldak oj Wungtan' = 'Speaker for the Spirit World' or 'Guldak oj Ghaza' = 'Speaker for the Gods'.
Meanwhile, Grongdana 'Drummers' and Gjakdada 'Chanters' are respected roles in orcish society. Drummers signal in battle and over long distances, as well as providing a suitable rhythm for orcish fireside chants and religious ceremonies. Chanters are usually orcs with some or all of strong voices, good memories and an outgoing personality, being the orcs who lead the ritual chants around fires. Chanter is not a full-time profession, except for certain religious roles and the Maur-Gjakdada 'War Chanters', the orcish equivalent of bards. |
| Icelander |
Posted - 08 Dec 2019 : 17:18:53
quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos
I did "ukh" as bone(s) and "ugri" as broken.
-- George Krashos
Cool, thanks.
What do you think about 'gungri' as 'brittle' and 'gungrukh' as 'Brittle Bones'? |
| George Krashos |
Posted - 08 Dec 2019 : 00:18:33
quote:
Originally posted by Icelander
According to Ed Greenwood in Polyhedron #74, orcs call themselves 'the Mighty', refer to all other intelligent races as 'Meat' and call humans 'Brittle Bones'.
These are obviously directly translated terms form the original orcish and I was wondering what they would sound like in the original.
One helpful note might be that 'Ugrukh' translates as 'Broken Bones' in Orcish and is used by orcs for wounded, defeated, slaves or those too weak to defend themselves or to be worthy of attention. It seems probable that 'Brittle Bones' would be similar to 'Broken Bones' in Orcish, perhaps with a slightly different prefix. The plural 'Bones' might be rendered '-grukh', 'rukh' or '-ukh'.
English to Orcish
'Broken Bones' = Ugrukh
'Brittle Bones' = ?
'the Mighty' = ?
'Meat= ?
Can anyone help? Can these words be found in any of Ed Greenwood's answers over the years? In a novel somewhere? Or in unpublished notes or correspondence with some scribes in Candlekeep?
I did "ukh" as bone(s) and "ugri" as broken.
-- George Krashos |
| Icelander |
Posted - 07 Dec 2019 : 20:37:23
I want to come up with orcish terms for priests, clerics, adepts, sorcerers, shamans and witch doctors.
I'd like to have at least one term which refers to what in D&D terms would be cleric class characters, something which means 'war priest' or something like that. They would belong to a hierarchy of clergy in orcish society, with adepts at the bottom and clerics and specialty priests above them.
Shamans, the way I view them in orcish society, would be intermediaries with the spirit world, capable of praying to the gods as well as spirits of ancestors, animals and locales. They would be distinct from priests, who are sworn to the service of one god.
Witch doctors and sorcerers would probably be referred to using the same term in orcish society.
Does anyone have a good suggestion for orcish words for the following:
Priest = ?
War Priest / Cleric = ?
Shaman= ?
Witch doctor / Sorcerer = ? |
| Icelander |
Posted - 07 Dec 2019 : 16:42:05
According to Ed Greenwood in Polyhedron #74, orcs call themselves 'the Mighty', refer to all other intelligent races as 'Meat' and call humans 'Brittle Bones'.
These are obviously directly translated terms form the original orcish and I was wondering what they would sound like in the original.
One helpful note might be that 'Ugrukh' translates as 'Broken Bones' in Orcish and is used by orcs for wounded, defeated, slaves or those too weak to defend themselves or to be worthy of attention. It seems probable that 'Brittle Bones' would be similar to 'Broken Bones' in Orcish, perhaps with a slightly different prefix. The plural 'Bones' might be rendered '-grukh', 'rukh' or '-ukh'.
English to Orcish
'Broken Bones' = Ugrukh
'Brittle Bones' = ?
'the Mighty' = ?
'Meat= ?
Can anyone help? Can these words be found in any of Ed Greenwood's answers over the years? In a novel somewhere? Or in unpublished notes or correspondence with some scribes in Candlekeep? |
| Icelander |
Posted - 18 Nov 2019 : 02:46:34
quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd
Guessing Loraukh.
Then why would humans translate it as Overking and not just as King or Emperor?
It seems implicit in the title of Overking that he has the same title as his subordinate rulers, with the addition of a prefix (or suffix, I guess, depending on orcish grammar) that modifies it, leading to the 'over' in human translation.
So, if it is 'Loraukh', does that mean that either 'Lor-' or '-aukh' on its own is also a title of rulership for orcs? |
| Dalor Darden |
Posted - 17 Nov 2019 : 23:47:17
quote:
Originally posted by LordofBones
Goth means enemy, not Lord. The literal translation of Morgoth is Black Enemy, after all.
Where did you get this translation, I may need to update my own; because I've always found that Goth or Zot mean Lord.
EDIT: I thought Armauk meant enemy in Black Speech. |
| LordofBones |
Posted - 17 Nov 2019 : 23:42:54
Goth means enemy, not Lord. The literal translation of Morgoth is Black Enemy, after all. |
| ericlboyd |
Posted - 17 Nov 2019 : 19:44:19
Guessing Loraukh.
|
| Icelander |
Posted - 17 Nov 2019 : 14:01:22
quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd
According to Ed ...
There are several regional orcish words for rulers, but the most popular ones are:
GAUR = a chief (of an orc tribe)
ORGAUR = a king (leader of several allied tribes, e.g. the head of an orc horde)
LORAUKH = an emperor (long-lasting war-leader approved of by the gods and orc matriarchs, who can make tribes work together for decades, and carve out a ruled territory)
URGAUR = a human king (or lord; it really means "ruler more powerful than a petty settlement head")
--Eric
Awesome!
Do you know which of these, if any, the Overking of Vastar would have used?
It sounds like Urgaur, but you mention that being use for human kings, so I'm not sure. |
| ericlboyd |
Posted - 17 Nov 2019 : 11:18:26
According to Ed ...
There are several regional orcish words for rulers, but the most popular ones are:
GAUR = a chief (of an orc tribe)
ORGAUR = a king (leader of several allied tribes, e.g. the head of an orc horde)
LORAUKH = an emperor (long-lasting war-leader approved of by the gods and orc matriarchs, who can make tribes work together for decades, and carve out a ruled territory)
URGAUR = a human king (or lord; it really means "ruler more powerful than a petty settlement head")
--Eric |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 17 Nov 2019 : 08:39:46
quote:
Originally posted by Icelander
Which of these words do scribes like best as the Daraktan (Orcish) word for 'king'?
Goth (Tolkien's Black Speech for 'Lord').
Kaumn (Found in online translators for Black Speech, but connection to Tolkien dubious, supposed to mean 'King').
Naur (Completely invented).
Daur (Ditto).
Uru (Ditto).
Gaurak, Gauran, or Gaurakan all sound good to my ear, depending on how short a name you want (but it sounds like you want a single syllable) |
| Dalor Darden |
Posted - 16 Nov 2019 : 21:03:09
I use Goth myself; but I already mentioned to use Black Speech |
| Icelander |
Posted - 16 Nov 2019 : 20:37:07
Which of these words do scribes like best as the Daraktan (Orcish) word for 'king'?
Goth (Tolkien's Black Speech for 'Lord').
Kaumn (Found in online translators for Black Speech, but connection to Tolkien dubious, supposed to mean 'King').
Naur (Completely invented).
Daur (Ditto).
Uru (Ditto). |
| Icelander |
Posted - 28 Aug 2018 : 17:38:20
I'm looking for the ancient Gray Orc terms that would have been used in Vastar for rulership and throne.
No doubt orcs have a bewildering number of regional and dialectal terms for 'great chief' or the equivalent, but I want to come up with the orcish word that they used as the root for 'Overking'. I can append an orcish prefix for 'over-', but I still need the term that everyone from elves, dwarves, hobgoblins to humans translated as 'king' of the orcs.
I'd also like an ancient Gray Orc word for 'throne'. |
| Icelander |
Posted - 15 Aug 2018 : 20:29:29
At least in Vaasa, the root word for 'brother' is 'wun'. It's used in a metaphorical sense as part of the compound word 'malwun', literally 'oathbrother', but in the absence of any lore to the contrary, I'll use either 'wun' or 'wunun' as the general Daraktan (Orcish) word for 'brother'.
The Vaasan orcs also use 'dam' or 'damun' for 'blood'. Blood for blood is "Dam ul dam" in the language of orcs from Vaasa.
That means that I can use 'dam' or 'damog' as 'blood of', i.e. the Daraktan way to indicate that an orc is descended from a departed hukrym or shaman, when the relationship is more distant than direct parentage. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 15 Aug 2018 : 13:48:58
quote:
Originally posted by Icelander
quote:
Originally posted by Icelander
I'm looking for words like:
[...]
Son
I've learned from the 3e Forgotten Realms Campaign Campaign Setting p. 16 that orcs may append a patronymic to the sons of lords or great champions and that this is done using the term 'sug' ('son of').
Thus, we get such hukrym ('bold tusks', i.e. champions or heroes) as the chieftains Foalorr sug Fael and Torlor sug Klevven.
And, in my campaign, the young prince Othrag Urbakhson is properly referred to as Othrag sug Urbakh, as he is the son of Urbakh Zozdeztrag ('the Undying'), the chief of Ilneval's Horde, who now claims to be King of the Gogker Daraka ('West Orcs'), i.e. the orcs of the Earthfast Mountains.
Hmmmm, just for grins... no canon nature to it...
Bauwr or Pauwg= father of
Sauw or Mauwg= mother of
Sugblud = brother or sister by the same father
Mugblud = brother or sister by the same mother
Gra'sug = grandchild
Just throwing it out there, because even if you don't like the sounds of the above, it might be worth developing words for it.
|
| Icelander |
Posted - 15 Aug 2018 : 01:53:32
Yuraurgh Farseer could be Yuraurgh Jajgak Gotrak Gontad ('Great Distant/Far Scout', i.e. Farseer).
Prophecy could be Gaktar Gon ('Future Scouting').
Prophet would then be Gaktar Gontag ('Future Scout').
Sword is dotak.
Jegdan would be an orc sergeant, i.e. a sub-unit commander or the leader of a small jok ('squad') on behalf of a greater leader.
Jeddar is a general term for leader, commander or chief.
They probably exist in grades (when there isn't some regional or tribal specific term for them, which will be common).
Darak jeddar ('Orc Chieftain').
Jeddar zejdad daraka ('Chief of Many Orcs').
Jajgak jeddar ('Great Chief').
Jeddar og kejar ('Leader of Formation').
Jeddar og roktor ('Captain of Company').
Jeddar og togtad ('Commander of Flank').
Jeddar og joktar ('General of Army or Warband').
Jeddar og joktara ('General of Warhosts').
This is all from 'Language Lessons I: Even Orcish is Logical' in Dragon #75, with some interpretation required to construct complex concepts from simple root words. |
| Icelander |
Posted - 15 Aug 2018 : 01:17:13
quote:
Originally posted by Icelander
I'm looking for words like:
[...]
Son
I've learned from the 3e Forgotten Realms Campaign Campaign Setting p. 16 that orcs may append a patronymic to the sons of lords or great champions and that this is done using the term 'sug' ('son of').
Thus, we get such hukrym ('bold tusks', i.e. champions or heroes) as the chieftains Foalorr sug Fael and Torlor sug Klevven.
And, in my campaign, the young prince Othrag Urbakhson is properly referred to as Othrag sug Urbakh, as he is the son of Urbakh Zozdeztrag ('the Undying'), the chief of Ilneval's Horde, who now claims to be King of the Gogker Daraka ('West Orcs'), i.e. the orcs of the Earthfast Mountains. |
| Dalor Darden |
Posted - 18 Apr 2018 : 16:00:41
I almost universally use Tolkien's Black Speech to make my FR Orc words...
http://www.angelfire.com/ia/orcishnations/orcishphrases.html |
| Icelander |
Posted - 10 Apr 2018 : 12:57:31
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
oh, I totally missed that those were all names. I thought you wanted what they might mean as words. Yeah, those all work well as orc names.
They are names, but names in real-world languages often have meaning, whether a daily one that everyone who hears it might recognise, or an older etymology that might not occur to all daily speakers, but might be interesting to scholars (and the person with the name, perhaps).
And as I'm trying to collect or come up with some words in Orcish, I thought I'd ruminate on if any of the characters were named something significant, amusing or interesting, to those who understand Orcish and/or use magical means of understanding it. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 10 Apr 2018 : 12:54:32
oh, I totally missed that those were all names. I thought you wanted what they might mean as words. Yeah, those all work well as orc names. |
| Icelander |
Posted - 09 Apr 2018 : 16:57:10
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Your recent topics are orcish words, bras, and musical instruments... Are you forming an orc boy band? 
No... 
But I was wondering whether any of the orcs travelling with the PCs and staying at the Inn of the Nine Swords in Swords Pool, the Vast, could plausibly have skill with a musical instrument to help them overcome some of the distrust and prejudice that the human adventurers staying there felt toward them.*
Also, as the frenetic pace of action that had been ongoing for the past months of real-time play had finally come to a quiet part, I wanted to be able to pepper the speech of the orcs with words in their own language, related to the subject of the adventure or important stuff to them.
Finally, well, the PCs had earlier on rescued a female adventurer, the lone survivor of a band of Impilturan adventurers killed by a cult of tribal wereboars in the High Country. Random rolls indicated that Atheen Lesjan, the sole survivor, was improbably attractive. As in, Elizabeth Taylor at the height of her fame attractive.
During their adventures, the PCs also encountered a mercenary band of drow and some other races, which included a human shadow mage and his young female apprentice, both from Tantras. As things turned out, these two accompanied the PCs to Swords Pool. Not that Bhaermus and Salue were relevant to the question about breast support during athletic activity, neither being very athletic, but they were the reason for the presence of the mordayn vapour at the Inn and the overdose that Salue suffered.
Finally, I noted that according to Eytan Bernstein, the Nine Swords Company was being reconstituted at the Inn of the Nine Swords, by 'young blade magicians from the Vast'. So I made nine young blade magicians from the Vast. Rolling for various things randomly, there were four females and five males.
The fact that these NPCs were not just a new adventuring party (and therefore not necessarily rich or successful), but also dedicated martial artists, led to my wondering what athletic wear looked like in the Realms and how much work it was to keep it clean and fresh if you trained six hours or more per day.
And the fact that one of the female martial artists, the Selunite cleric/crusaders Peryta Ghossil, was not only well-endowed, but also apparently favoured quite revealing clothing, well, that led to my wondering how she would dress during acrobatic swordsmanship training.
Especially if she were trying to catch the eye of one of the PCs' company, the handsome Knight of the Rooster from Ravens Bluff, Sir Michael Carragher. Or, you know, anyone who was new, interesting and attractive, because she had been a long time away from civilisation (aside from a rather small village around the Inn) and had a rule about no erotic sport with her fellow adventurers.
That being said, there was some music made by orcs. Two of the Nine Swords Company played instruments (a violin and some kind of flute or pipes) and two of them sang, and they managed to get one orc chieftain, Khurgh the Hammerer, and an orc scout, Thaurl, to play improvised drums, and Ughtrog (a half-orc) to sing.
Unfortunately, the PCs missed it. One, Bolg mac Uther, a dwarven warrior, had gone early to 'bed', sleeping outside in the wagon shed with his war-hog, Skair Bloodtusk, a dire boar mount trained for battle. Another, Sir Michael, was, erm, otherwise occupied at the time, failing to resist temptation unjustly thrown into his path by fickle Fate.
*Not all that unreasonably, as orcs are historical enemies of human farmers in the Vast, their society is violent and esteems raids on neighbours as a way to gather wealth and orcs appear to be innately more prone to savagery, violence and bad temper than even humans (who are already pretty monstrous to each other through all of real-life recorded history). |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 09 Apr 2018 : 15:35:00
Your recent topics are orcish words, bras, and musical instruments... Are you forming an orc boy band? |
| Icelander |
Posted - 09 Apr 2018 : 15:07:28
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
Best to put it in a sentence for what it sounds like to me.
Good idea.
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
Wow, I think that goblin may have been sick. After I ate that roast leg of goblin, I had to go Ughtrog in the forest for an hour.
Yes, Thaurl Obudobin, I will do as you command.
Ughtrog is actually a half-orc, but his name is Orcish. He spent his first years in an orcish warren, the child of a female orcish smith and her human slave, who was a battle captive whose blacksmithing talents made him too valuable to kill.
When Ughtrog was a young child, his father managed to escape (possibly with the connivance of Ughtrog's mother) and take the child with him. Ughtrog's father died only a few years later, but Ughtrog was allowed to live at the temple where his father had sought healing for the illness that killed him, the Temple of Torm's Coming in Tantras. Ughtrog speaks fluent Orcish and has even visited his orcish family, but he's mostly the product of human society and is even a worshipper of Torm.
Gharr is a stolid, bulky orc sergeant who is usually gruff and harsh, but may be concealing some softer side, as he is known to be very attached to his mate, a priestess of Luthic, and utterly uninterested in any other females, even when away on campaign.
Thaurl is a young, tall, strong orc who is called Thaurl the Athlete for his endurance and running ability. He is an enthusiastic hunter and archer, somewhat of a pupil of Huthraug Skinwalker, the druid/shaman/ranger/something wilderness oriented and faintly mystical, who travels with the small band.
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
Look at the Othrag on her, I'd like to drag her by the hair into the back of the cave and Gharr her for hours; but it would be my luck Thaurl Obudobin would find out.
Interesting that you should say that...
In my campaign, the eponymous Othrag is a young orcish warrior, born to Urbakh the Undying, a tribal chief who now claims to be a King of the orcs in the Earthfast Mountains (and perhaps he'll soon claim a title of King over the lands of ancient Vastar). He's travelling on a divine quest to Mount Grimmerfang, accompanied by his teacher, Yuraurgh Farseer, and a small group of scouts to act as his retinue and protection.
The PCs are travelling with them*, but Othrag's status was not made clear to them at the beginning. It was clear that he was extremely rich and well-fed for such a young warrior, given his gear and highly developed musculature, and he was better spoken and apparently more educated than many orcs, but it is only recently that it's been revealed that he is not only one of the many sons of Urbakh (in itself not that remarkable), but also being groomed as his eventual successor.
Othrag is unusual among orcs in that his features are fairly symmetrical and almost attractive, from a human point of view. Certainly harsh and intimidating features, like a person-shaped predator, but softened, at least for now, by being very young and away from home for the first time.
Among orcs, Othrag is viewed as an Adonis, being built like pulp Conan the Barbarian and having inherited a measure of his father's authority and charisma. While relatively sensitive and diplomatic for an orc**, that means that Othrag is about as subtle and sensible about mating rituals and his own appeal as a typical naturally gifted, handsome and successful high school football star in a small town where everyone has always treated him as semi-divine.
So, when some deft diplomacy and the payment of a huge sum of gold had allowed the mixed party of PCs and orcs to stay at the Inn of the Nine Swords in Swords Pool, in the Vast, and there were some very attractive human females there, some of them not wearing very much...
Well, the morning after, one PC strongly suspected that the severe bruising of the human female who had been acting somewhat flirtatiously toward several people in the inn common room, including, it must be said, Othrag, had something to do with exactly what you describe.
Where we ended the session, Othrag claims that nothing happened 'except what she wanted me to do'. To his credit, Othrag seems genuinely worried that he somehow failed to please the human female and wonders if 'flowers or baked goods' might improve her disposition.
The human female has not actually made any complaint and while she has obviously been crying, Othrag was actually seen consoling her at one point, with her not showing any signs that she minded his clumsy attempts to show support. Of course, the lack of any complaint and/or the crying might be because of another tragedy which occurred over the night, where a young apprentice magic-user seems to have overdosed on mordayn vapour and only saved from death by placing her in magical suspended animation.
All in all, sex, drugs and rock-and-roll seems to be endangering the encountered adventurers more than their adventures did.
*One PC has allies and friends among dwarves and elves, as well as his native humans, and has managed to retain the respect of orcish warriors despite years of fighting them. He has now started to build long-term relationships with selected orcish chiefs and influential men, among them Yuraurgh Farseer.
**He even reads Chondathan, inluding Sembian ballads and adventure novels, a case of which was in the cargo of a ship that stranded in a cove near his tribal homeland when he was a youth. |
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