Orc World
by Night DruidEntry in the SJ Settlements Contest.
Aakk'athane is a small moon that can be placed around any large world. Roughly 90 miles in diameter, Aakk'athane has a wide orbit that takes 120 days to complete, which constitutes a year on this tiny world. The days are 240 hours long, a full ten times a standard day, so there are twelve days to an Aakk'athane year. Seasons exist on Aakk'athane, with winters as very cold and snowy while the summers are unusually warm. The landscape is considered tundra with some rocky hills near the equator. During the summer months, the grass grows very quickly and the land is unusually bountiful. Small forests dot the equator in the valleys between hills, dominated by fir and pine trees. The largest body of water on Aakk'athane is about 8 miles long and 2 miles wide. The summer days are usually partially cloudy but without precipitation. The winter days are snowy, leaving a layer of snow about three feet deep by the start of summer. The snow melts quickly and provides all the water the wildlife needed for the summer days.
Wildlife is limited on Aakk'athane due to its small size. There are a few species of grass, which can grow quite tall during the summer days. Some areas have grasses as high as seven feet tall, while the average is well over five feet tall. During late summer, the grasses flower in an explosion of color to spread seeds for the next year. The equatorial forests have fir and pine trees that can grow up to forty feet high. The forests have thin underbrush, allowing easy passage through them.
Animals are somewhat limited. The most dominant animal is the herds of mammoths that circle the planet, always trying to stay in land that is in the height of summer bloom. There used to be some families of sabertooth tigers that preyed upon young mammoths, but the orcs have hunted them to extinction. A variety of small rodents wander the grasslands, diving into subterranean tunnels whenever predators approach. Wolves are the only remaining large predator, but they keep to the forests and the hills. There are no birds and very few insect species. Large flies are annoyingly thick during the summer months. Wild ponies are not native, but have been introduced within the last five centuries and adapted to the climate.
There are three settlements on Aakk'athane, all of orc origin. The largest is Housk, a village of about 340 orcs in the valley of Roshk. The other two settlements are Fal'kkraa, home to 200 orcs, and the Taak'leth Valley, a collection of several dozen families dwelling in a large valley with a central market place. Housk is the nominal capital of the orc civilization, where the Great Chief's Ivory Throne is located.
All orc buildings are made from a combination of woven grass, mammoth hides, and wood. Older and more permanent buildings are oval in shape, with two holes in the ceiling to allow smoke to escape. The framework is made from wooden poles with mammoth hides for walls. During summer days, a wall is removed to allow breezes to pass through. Interior walls are made from dried, woven grasses that can be moved around as needed. A typical dwelling will have a single extended family, about twelve to twenty orcs.
The largest of the orc settlements, Housk has about twenty buildings surrounded by a stout wall of wooden poles. There are three 'rings' of buildings around the central fire pit. The innermost ring is the home of the chief and his nobles, while the outer two rings are home to less powerful orcs. Near the gate is a guest building, where visitors stay.
The orcs hunt mammoths for food and their tusks. Their diet is supplemented by wild grains and snared rodents. Every piece of an animal is used, and nothing is wasted. The orcs probably took up carving tusks as a hobby, and found they had a talent for it. An orc's carving skill determines the orc's place in society. Centuries of carvings have filled many houses with tiny statuettes and ceremonial pieces.
The largest building in Housk is the chief's hut. He rules the whole orc nation from a throne made from mammoth tusks. The current chief is one Throog the Younger (CN orc m Barbarian 9), a brute of an orc with a surprisingly delicate and steady hand when crafting. Throog has traveled aboard a halfling shrikeship for several years before becoming chief, and has met many races. He fears the elves, seeing them as the spawn of Pythi, considering them a kin to devils. Though Throog has heard of other orc tribes in wildspace and has visited dozens of ports and nations, he wishes to keep Aakk'athane isolated. He is not a cruel leader, however, and will not simply kill trespassers. Instead, the orcs will keep any off-worlders as guests until the halflings return, handing them over for the halflings to deal with. Throog enjoys tales of wildspace and other worlds, and will encourage guests to sit with the tribe around a blazing bonfire, exchanging tales and enjoying a good feast.
The spiritual leader is Kk'rr'tt (CN orc m Adept 8), an aging orc who has been the head priest for about twenty years. He is responsible for retelling the myths and legends of orc history. Fully literate, halfling books have made his life much easier. Though he has never traveled in wildspace, Kk'rr'tt has recorded the tales of dozens of space travelers. The most entertaining stories are woven into orc myth as the tales of heroes and gods. Kk'rr'tt has no real desire to journey into space, and is preparing his oldest son to take over as head priest of the tribe.
A visitor to Housk is Mraug (LE scro m F4), a scro spy sent to find lost orc colonies in the sphere. Mraug came to Aakk'athane about a month ago, expecting to find an army ready for the scro to use as cannon fodder in their war against the elves. He was sorely disappointed, unable rally more than a couple of youths into a war against the elves. He is waiting for the next halfling ship to arrive so he can leave this world behind, writing it off as a waste of time. He'll likely be escorted by four hot-blooded orcs (CN orc m barbarian 1) that he managed to convince to join the cause.
In the event of an attack, every adult orc male can be called upon to defend the village. In total, the orcs can bring a total of one hundred and thirty 1st level warriors, twenty 1st level barbarians, and about a dozen higher level barbarians to defend their homes. Defense will be very chaotic, as the orcs are unused to defending against an intelligent foe.
There is a surprising level of trade between the orcs and greater wildspace. The Robinwing halfling Trade House maintains a trade route to this world. A Robinwing shrikeship arrives twice an Aakk'athane year to exchange goods with the orcs. In exchange for beautifully carved sculptures from mammoth tusks, exotic dyes made from grass flowers, and orc pottery, the halflings sell weapons, ale, spices, food, tools, and even books. Though the Robinwings make a good profit from selling orc goods, they don't cheat the orcs with cheap beads or faulty goods. The halflings believe in maintaining good relations with the orcs, as it has served them well. Some young, adventurous orcs have signed onto Robinwing ships for a few months, but always return to Aakk'athane to raise families and enjoy the fruits of their labors.
The orcs worship a small pantheon of nature spirits and hero gods. In their religion, the greatest god is Sspeth, who takes the form of a clawed beast with a wicked stinger tail (visitors will recognize it as a scorpion, a creature not native to Aakk'athane). According to orc myth, Sspeth is a creator deity, who carried the orcs to Aakk'athane on it's back before being slain by Pythi, a great winged and evil deity. Pythi came down upon Sspeth, destroying the god with magical fire and lightning. Sspeth's final act of sacrifice was to drive Pythi away from Aakk'athane so that its children could survive. The halflings speculate the myth retells a battle from the Unhuman Wars, between a scorpionship and an elven man-o-war.
The remaining orc gods are a mix of nature spirits, fertility goddesses, and even a sky god that appears as a great bird, introduced recently into the pantheon shortly after the Robinwings made contact with the orcs. Due to their religion, they only have primitive priests. Their priests have access to the domains of Animal, Earth, and Protection or the spheres of all, animal, elemental (earth), and protection. There are no true priests among the orcs, instead having adepts (NPC class).
Orc history is very fragmented. Until the halflings introduced books a generation ago, all history was passed down through oral tradition. The only certain thing is that the orcs have dwelled upon Aakk'athane for at least three, possibly four centuries. Their early history is one of struggle against dangerous predators, famine, and disease. About a generation, a halfling shrikeship, damaged by marauding pirates, was forced to set down on Aakk'athane. Half the crew were captured by the orcs, who found the small creatures curious and strange. Through careful negotiations and some manipulation, the halflings not only saved their lives, repaired their ship, and secured a lucrative trade deal. Since then, the halflings have maintained the trade route, bringing a wide variety of wildspace goods to the orcs. For their part, the orcs have little desire to return to wildspace, instead enjoying a fairly comfortable, if primitive, lifestyle on Aakk'athane.
A fair number of orcs dwell in the wilder lands of Aakk'athane, banished from the tribe for various crimes. The most famous and feared of these is Sheeth (CE orc f Sor8), an orc sorcereress who dared to worship Pythi. From an early age, she developed natural magical talents, which frightened the orcs. She was banished to the wilds when she took up worship of Pythi, and it was whispered that Pythi was her father. She was joined about two years ago by Fiern (CN em W6), an elf who dwells in self-exile. Fiern was once very vain, but a mauling by a owlbear ruined his face and left him permanently scarred. Left in self-anguish, Fiern wandered for several decades before settling on Aakk'athane, the most remote outpost he could find. He was chased from the orc outposts, who feared him as a devil. Sheeth found him and took pity on him, saving his life. The two have since become close, despite their racial differences, and now plot to either overthrow Throog or turn him into their puppet.
A wandering mystery of Aakk'athane is the Ivory King. About a century ago, a particularly strong orc chief decided to have his likeness captured in a life-sized sculpture made from tusks. When it was finally finished a decade after being commissioned, the stature was eerily life-like and accurate. One night, when the starts were in the right position, the statue came to life and murdered the chief before wandering into the night. The orcs hunted for the statue for a time, but after several failed to return, they gave up the chase. The Ivory King is still spoken in legend, and the orcs have forever banned the practice of making life-sized sculptures for fear that they may come to life and kill again. The Ivory King is sometimes spotted, but the orcs are too fearful of it to approach it. They believe it to be the manifestation of their deity of death, and to touch it is to die. The Ivory King is a unique type of golem, created by strange magics. Treat this construct as a silver metagolem that cannot, or will not, talk to anyone. Unless attacked, it usually ignores everything, doing seemingly pointless tasks.
