Orcs

Once Orcs ruled the whole of the Old World as well as the lands far to the east and south. The various tribes fought, conquered and absorbed each other in one huge glorious battle that lasted for countless centuries. ‘Countless‘ because Orcs were and remain in a state of uncompromising savagery having mastered neither writing nor counting beyond three. This happily blood-thirsty state of affairs lasted until the human tribes united together with the Dwarfs to drive the Orcs from the lands west of the Worlds Edge Mountains. Subsequently, Orc tribes are mostly to be found in the Bad Lands to the south of the Old World and the Dark Lands to the east. There the great business of fighting amongst themselves continues to this day.

Orcs are the largest and most ferocious of the greenskinned races and they dominate the smaller Goblins and Snotlings almost completely. Despite this many independent Goblin tribes continue to live deep in the forests and mountains of the Old World as well as in the Worlds Edge Mountains and beyond. These smaller greenskins are far better adapted to life below ground and in the dense forests because they are smarter and more nimble-fingered than Orcs. This is why Orc tribes always include Goblin slaves to make armour and weapons, and do such practical stuff as Orcs either can‘t be bothered with or just don‘t understand. The smallest of these creatures are called Snotlings, tiny sub-goblins that live amongst and alongside their larger relatives. They are occasionally pressed to simple tasks but for the most part they are regarded as pests, treated like pets, or enthusiastically eaten - for all greenskins are cannibals though they prefer human flesh when they can get it.

The Orc way of life is war. Every Orc measures his worth by the number of enemies he has slain - and also the number of friends, for Orcs fight each other all the time. By fighting they establish which of them is best and this is reflected in their curious metabolism. The more dominant an Orc becomes the bigger he grows so it is always easy to see which Orcs are in charge and who is boss - just look for the big guy.

All Orcs want to be biggest and best, and the surest way to achieve this is to follow the biggest Orc and share in his success. Because the top chieftains are continuously fighting off rivals their reign does not usually last for very long. Nor is there any shortage of strong, young Orcs waiting to take a fallen chieftain‘s place. Thus Orc society is a genuine meritocracy where the best always rise to the top and stay there only so long as they can fight off the opposition.

There are an untold number of Orc tribes in the world and most are itinerant, surviving by a process of raiding and despoliation. If one chieftain proves very successful in this respect other chieftains will quickly throw in their lot with this up and coming warlord. A successful warlord‘s forces will therefore grow and will continue to grow until there are so many Orcs in one place they will either self-destruct in a mighty inter-tribal war or go on the warpath and invade one of the human lands to the west. A great invasion of this kind is known as a Waaagh. The great number of Orcs that make up the Waaagh generates a kind of unstoppable enthusiasm that sends the greenskins into a spree of killing and looting that only ends once the leader of the Waaagh has been slain. Because Orcs understand little or nothing of concepts such as retreat, consolidation, or holding territory, it is inevitable that a Waaagh will run out of steam eventually; the only question is how much destruction can it cause first.