Orcish Culture

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Thakowsaizmu
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Orcish Culture

Post by Thakowsaizmu »

Orcish Culture
/O3`kIS/, not /O3`sIS/
I have decided to revise and share my Orcs once more. In that spirit, I will be posting about both Orcish language and Orcish culture. The Orcish language thread will be in the Conlang section, though at present I am revising the language (yet again...). Orcish cultural notes will go here.

A bit ouf out of world information, these Orcs are based upon, though are not quite like, "traditional" fantasy Orcs. That is, though they superficially may have some resemblances to Tolkienesque or Dungeons and Dragons Orcs, they are not. These Orcs are not the savage, stupid brutes and token bad guys that much of fantasy and role playing literature has made Orcs out to be.

I will also make up a master list for Orcish culture once I have the ability. As there is no "link to post" option right now on this board, I suppose we'll have the weed through it. But the master list will come!
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Ossicone
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Re: Orcish Culture

Post by Ossicone »

Quick note:
1.My favorite orcs are from Arcanum. :D Donn Throgg for life.
2. I am so happy you didn't put this in the god awful pink.
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rickardspaghetti
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Re: Orcish Culture

Post by rickardspaghetti »

I remember this. I'll look forward to it.
そうだ。死んでいる人も勃起することが出来る。
俺はその証だ。
Spoiler:
Ǧ Š Ȟ Ž Č

ǧ š ŋ ȟ ž č
:swe: [:D] :vgtl: [:D] :eng: [:)] :ita: [:|] :lkt: [:'(]
Thakowsaizmu
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Re: Orcish Culture

Post by Thakowsaizmu »

Caste
Orcish civilization is split along caste lines, those castes being Mystic, Outsides, Priest, Slave, Warrior and Worker. Though there are technically six castes, only four castes have officially recognized cultural standing. Castes hierarchy from highest to lowest is: Priest, Warrior, Worker, Slave.

Mystics and Outsiders both are outside the Caste hierarchy, though for vastly different reasons. The Mystics are respected or at least feared by all other castes. They are solely made up of women and are very enigmatic. Outsiders are outside the hierarchy for reasons of banishment or extreme crime, they are not seen as living by others and are not subject to or protected by tribal laws.

Inside the four hierarchical castes there are again a number of subcastes, though each has three that are easily defined. The best way to quantify them is high, mid and low standing within the caste. Most Orcs do not know if there are subcastes in the Mystic caste, though there does seem to be, it doesn’t seem to work quite the same as the other castes. Outsiders have no caste standing.

Priest Caste
The upper ranks of the Priest caste is made up of only female Orcs. They are also the smallest of all the classes of all the castes. These Priestesses are rarely seen except in major religious ceremonies.

The mid ranks of the caste are made up of both male and female Orcs. These Orcs oversee daily rituals as well as all the minor religious festivals and holy days. These Orcs are primarily healers and wisemen and women of the Tribe, as well as expert strategists. They also oversee the daily business and law of a given Tribe or towne.

The lowest of the priest caste are nurses, midwives, bath house operators, gardeners, architects, graveyard keepers, and sacred prostitutes. Although they are above the Warrior caste, those of the lowest ranks in the Priest caste always talk up to Warriors and afford them more honour than they are required to.

The Priest caste is the hardest to move up in rank, and the easiest to move from mid to low rank. There are no Priests borne into the highest rank of the caste, and those that attain the highest rank must be of the purest quality of Orc woman. The Priest caste is also known to have the most pronouns for each rank of the caste.

Warrior Caste
In the warrior caste, if a female warrior has reached the upper ranks, she no longer speaks as a woman does, shifting to a masculine pronunciation and using masculine words when there are differences.

Women of mid caste tend to shift between the two ways of speaking, using female when with friends or in intimate situations, using masculine in combat or tactical situations, or in public when speaking to Orcs of other castes.

The lowest level of the warrior caste include chefs, butchers and other professional food related occupations. Many of the lower warrior caste are not actually warriors if they are over the second age of adulthood, having instead chosen to remain in the lower part of the caste to pursue their non-combat interests. Even so, all warrior caste Orcs are expected to know how to wield at least one weapon of their choice and be able to fight should they be called upon. An interesting note: In times of great war, when all warrior caste Orcs are needed in a tribe, the rest of the tribe usually ends up going vegetarian for at least a little while, as all their butchers are at war.

Worker Caste
Worker Caste overview to come...

Slave Caste
The Slave caste, just as all the other castes, has three main levels of castehood. The upper level of the Slave caste is made up of the Overseers, the Slaves that monitor others of the Slave caste. Although not Warriors, practically all Overseers are trained in combat. The Overseer level of the Slave caste is the hardest of the Slave caste to attain, though birth into the Overseer subcaste does make one an Overseer. The Overseers jealously guard their position as Overseers in the Slave caste. Although they can fight, Overseers are never sent to battle, as to die in battle is the right of the Warrior caste alone.

The middle level of the Slave Caste is made up of slaves that do most of the slavery working. They build and work in fields and other slavey things.

The lowest level of the Slave Caste is made up of those that must do the most undesirable things, such as working in the waste areas of Orcish Culture, and other such rather undesirable things. These Orcs have just about no rights, even though Slave Caste Orcs are protected by Orcish Law.

Some of you may already have read this. Much of it is merely tweaked from the original posted over on the olde CBB. More depth will be given, though.
Thakowsaizmu
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Re: Orcish Culture

Post by Thakowsaizmu »

Ossicone wrote:Quick note:
1.My favorite orcs are from Arcanum. :D Donn Throgg for life.
2. I am so happy you didn't put this in the god awful pink.
I am not familiar with those Orcs. And what's wrong with pink? I think it is a beautiful and sexy colour!
rickardspaghetti wrote:I remember this. I'll look forward to it.
Sweet, it's remembered! I'll post more oft on the topic this time.
clockworkbanana
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Re: Orcish Culture

Post by clockworkbanana »

Thakowsaizmu wrote:And what's wrong with pink? I think it is a beautiful and sexy colour!
Well, I have sensory issues that make some bright colors physically painful to look at. And there are people who would not be able to see it on a gray background, due to a form of color blindness.

But having some here and there isn't a problem, and it makes you happy. (Edit: and if it's a real problem for anyone, they can change their monitor settings.) Also, I like your orcs. Are they matrilineal, or are women generally considered higher ranked? If there are two slaves of the lowest caste, would they be equally likely to be male or female, or would one sex predominate?

Also, if warriors are the only ones who can go to war, but someone attacked their home (where only the other castes are), would the upper slaves be allowed to use their fighting abilities? What if an Overseer was more suited to be a warrior?
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Thakowsaizmu
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Re: Orcish Culture

Post by Thakowsaizmu »

clockworkbanana wrote:Well, I have sensory issues that make some bright colors physically painful to look at. And there are people who would not be able to see it on a gray background, due to a form of color blindness.
Well, pain is a good enough reason not to like it. And I am not looking to cause anyone physical pain by way of my posts.

...However, just thinking it is "aweful" isn't.
Also, I like your orcs. Are they matrilineal, or are women generally considered higher ranked? If there are two slaves of the lowest caste, would they be equally likely to be male or female, or would one sex predominate?

Also, if warriors are the only ones who can go to war, but someone attacked their home (where only the other castes are), would the upper slaves be allowed to use their fighting abilities? What if an Overseer was more suited to be a warrior?
Thanks. Though only women can attain the highest ranking in some castes, they are not a matriarchal society per se. The line one is acknowledged as being part of generally has to do with caste. That is, warrior caste females belong to their father's family as it were. However, those Warrior Caste females that become of the highest rank are allowed to have their own "house". It is a bit confusing, I know, but I will cover all of this. The issue of family and lineage is a bit less cut and dry for Orcs than it is for, say, modern Westerners. One can be born to a given family, though be adopted by another and be considered of that family, with all the rights and responsibilities thereof.

If there are two slaves of the lowest caste, well, no one cares about them, hehe. Seriously, though, if they are of the same caste and rank, and are both of the same age (or stage of life, I suppose I should say), then they are equal in the eyes of the law regardless of gender. There are still Orcs that believe one is superior to the other, citing many reasons in either gender's case, but gender among castes that do not differentiate gender roles is never an issue when it comes to equality.

As for the issue of war, there is a difference in Orc society between War and fighting. Only the Warrior Caste is allowed to make War, participate in War, and so on. War being something fought against enemies on large scale. The Warrior Caste isn't supposed to leave the given tribe defenseless, though it has happened throughout history. Should a tribe be attacked and there are no Warriors there, the Overseers are not supposed to fight. That, again, isn't to say it's never happened, only that it isn't what is supposed to happen.

As for if a given Orc would be better suited to a caste other than the one that the given Orc is born into, by and large the answer is "too bad". The main caste that an Orc belongs to, the Orc belongs to for life. There is room for advancement within a caste, but almost never into another caste. There are a very few special circumstances, which I will discuss later on in more detail. However, for the sake of answering the question, there are a select few female Orcs that, at the time of birth, may be given to the Priest Caste.
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rickardspaghetti
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Re: Orcish Culture

Post by rickardspaghetti »

What's orcish cuisine like?
そうだ。死んでいる人も勃起することが出来る。
俺はその証だ。
Spoiler:
Ǧ Š Ȟ Ž Č

ǧ š ŋ ȟ ž č
:swe: [:D] :vgtl: [:D] :eng: [:)] :ita: [:|] :lkt: [:'(]
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Re: Orcish Culture

Post by Ossicone »

Thakowsaizmu wrote:
Ossicone wrote:Quick note:
1.My favorite orcs are from Arcanum. :D Donn Throgg for life.
2. I am so happy you didn't put this in the god awful pink.
I am not familiar with those Orcs. And what's wrong with pink? I think it is a beautiful and sexy colour!
It is fine in moderation. Like in your signature, it is cool.
But anymore than that and it is painful and difficult to read.
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Re: Orcish Culture

Post by reizoukin »

Your orcs remind me of dwarves in Dragon Age: Origins, because of the caste system. (Although not many people have played that game to know.)

Tell me, what do your orcs look like? You said that they are inspired but not completely the same as cliche orcs.
:eng: Native | :esp: Almost Fluent | :zho: Intermediate | :ara: :fra: Interested | :kat: :cym: Very interested.
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rickardspaghetti
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Re: Orcish Culture

Post by rickardspaghetti »

I love Dragon Age!
そうだ。死んでいる人も勃起することが出来る。
俺はその証だ。
Spoiler:
Ǧ Š Ȟ Ž Č

ǧ š ŋ ȟ ž č
:swe: [:D] :vgtl: [:D] :eng: [:)] :ita: [:|] :lkt: [:'(]
Thakowsaizmu
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Re: Orcish Culture

Post by Thakowsaizmu »

reizoukin wrote:Your orcs remind me of dwarves in Dragon Age: Origins, because of the caste system. (Although not many people have played that game to know.)

Tell me, what do your orcs look like? You said that they are inspired but not completely the same as cliche orcs.
The caste system is something like that, yeah. Though, I did come up with mine first... Heh, anywho, that's a fun game. It angers me at times (like right now...), but it is otherwise fun. Ooh, and Lelianna...

The look of the Orcs I will get into soon. It's going to take a bit or writing, heh, because there are many differences, some subtle, some not so much.

Oh, and as for food, I'll get into that soon too. Infact, I may get into the food before the look. Less writing, heh.
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Re: Orcish Culture

Post by reizoukin »

rickardspaghetti wrote:I love Dragon Age!
Thakowsaizmu wrote: The caste system is something like that, yeah. Though, I did come up with mine first... Heh, anywho, that's a fun game. It angers me at times (like right now...), but it is otherwise fun. Ooh, and Lelianna...
Sometimes I forget that I surround myself with people on the internet who play videogames. :3
Yes. Leliana. Very much.
I can't get past Orzammar, simply because it's annoying the crap out of me. What the heck, Jarla? Jarlia? Jarila? I can't find a stupid fingerbone!
...Yeah...

Anyway, as long as your orcs don't look like this or this, I think you'll be out of the cliche area, and then I will truly give you praise.
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rickardspaghetti
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Re: Orcish Culture

Post by rickardspaghetti »

Jarvia's the easy part. After that you'll search the deep roads for an eternity to find paragon Branka.
Getting help from the dwarves is by far the most annoying quest of all.
I can help you find that fingerbone if you like.
そうだ。死んでいる人も勃起することが出来る。
俺はその証だ。
Spoiler:
Ǧ Š Ȟ Ž Č

ǧ š ŋ ȟ ž č
:swe: [:D] :vgtl: [:D] :eng: [:)] :ita: [:|] :lkt: [:'(]
Thakowsaizmu
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Re: Orcish Culture

Post by Thakowsaizmu »

Yeah, Branka is pretty horrible. Also, I hate other things about that, but I don't want to spoil anything...

Anywho, back on topic, I am going to try and get up a basic sketch of the grammar and phonology today. I'll put that in the conlang section though. I'd also like to expand upon the culture a bit, so I'll try and get some of that up today too.
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rickardspaghetti
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Re: Orcish Culture

Post by rickardspaghetti »

Yay!
そうだ。死んでいる人も勃起することが出来る。
俺はその証だ。
Spoiler:
Ǧ Š Ȟ Ž Č

ǧ š ŋ ȟ ž č
:swe: [:D] :vgtl: [:D] :eng: [:)] :ita: [:|] :lkt: [:'(]
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rickardspaghetti
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Re: Orcish Culture

Post by rickardspaghetti »

BTW. Is there any place for humans in orcish society?
そうだ。死んでいる人も勃起することが出来る。
俺はその証だ。
Spoiler:
Ǧ Š Ȟ Ž Č

ǧ š ŋ ȟ ž č
:swe: [:D] :vgtl: [:D] :eng: [:)] :ita: [:|] :lkt: [:'(]
Thakowsaizmu
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Re: Orcish Culture

Post by Thakowsaizmu »

rickardspaghetti wrote:BTW. Is there any place for humans in orcish society?
There will be human contact, I am sure. Most humans, though, are most likely to encounter Outsiders. If a human came into Orcish land, the human wouldn't have a caste or anything like that, and for the most part would be treated as a respected foreigner.
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Re: Orcish Culture

Post by Yačay256 »

I am curious as to the art and architecture of your orcs: what kind of art do they like most (music, fabrics, painting, sculpture, &c?) and what is it like? Do they have any taboos on art, like the Thai taboo of depicting the King, or the Islamic dislike of depicting the human figure?
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