Orcs of Khernia

[edit] Orcs

Argal: The orc who became the Bear-God.
Barish: A brave of the Split Hoof tribe.
Imbru: Godtouched Orcish brave of the Split Hoof tribe captured in a raid and sold into slavery to Artemi. Freed by the Stag-God Ashlan and returned to the Split Hoof tribe to earn his place once more. Earned a reputation as the "Ravager of Men" for his enjoyment of violating male soldiers he caught.
Habra of the Tines: Godtouched A young brave originally of the Thunderous Paws tribe, captured by Ashlan for information as to the whereabouts of the Bear-God. Afterwards, Habra found his way to the Split Hoof tribe and became a fervent follower of Ashlan, eventually going into human lands to bring the news of Ashlan's divinity to mankind when he found a cold welcome among the Split Hoof shamans. He and Olusku are lovers.
Makal: A brave of the Split Hoof tribe.
Raphak: A brave of the Split Hoof tribe.

Bear-God: The Bear-God, worshiped by the Thunderous Paws, keeps his lair in the Thunderpeak. His bite changes orcs into skin-shifters and he is served by those shapeshifters with the ability to assume the form of bears, and by shamans (some of whom are also shapeshifters) with the ability to call down the power of the storms.
Bull-God: The Bull-God is worshipped by the Terrible Horns tribe. He was killed by the Bear-God.
Stag-God: The Stag-God, worshiped by the Split Hoofs tribe, took as its vessel of manifestation the young human Ashlan, something unknown and unheard of by orcish culture.

Echoing Step: A technique used by hunters to make their footsteps mostly silent and seeming to echo from elsewhere; originally given to mortals by the Stag God in the recesses of history. Used by the Split Hoof tribe as well as many woodsmen among humans.
Foundling Tongue: A primal language believed by orcs to have been used by the Great Sow, the Mother-Goddess who created the world; grants those with divine power the ability to control the natural world. Still spoken (albeit only partially) by orcish shamans, who use it as their ritual language and teach all they know to the Gods who come among them. The source of most godly magics among the orcish Beast-Gods.
Godtouched: Those that are somehow touched by one of the Beast-Gods of the orcish tribes. The methods of administering the Godtouch vary, depending on the nature of that Beast-God, as does the actual effects as a result.
- Stag-God: Those who are Godtouched by the Stag-God become more virile, stronger and resilient. Their muscles thicken, their genitals grow in size and they become generally healthy and longer-lived. Because the Stag-God's Godtouch is administered by sex with the Stag-God, only men are Godtouched by him.
- Bear-God: The Godtouched of the Bear-God are bitten. If the one bitten survives the fever that follows, the bite heals over permanently, leaving a scar, and the Godtouched gains the ability to shapeshift into the form of a bear.