Orkz are a primitive, warlike and crude race native to the planet Barvos. Although their society is highly brutal, they are perfectly capable of building cities, societies and entire nations capable of a fully functioning tribal hierarchy, taking part in global diplomacy and being a constant and almost inextinguishable race of pests on Barvos. Most Ork tribes exist as separate waring states, which is something of a relief - were they ever to fully unite, it would be chaos!
Physiology (Fizzeologee)[]
Orks are a symbiosis of both animal and fungus at the most basic level. The Ork's animal side lives in complete harmony with its fungal side and each compliment the other and come together to form a tough and resilient creature. It appears that the fungus allows the Ork's body to negate the use of complex internal organs, the immune system and the reproductive anatomy. The Ork's animal side however suggests a primitive pack-based omnivorous growth pattern; the Orks relying on each other to hunt for food etc. in a pack. The most interesting feature however, is the lack of any sign for any evolution or evolutionary process. This indicates that the Orks may have been created, or grown, as a result of highly advanced biological engineering. Ork brains are incredible crude and basic. They are mostly unintelligent, unorganised and incapable of thought beyond violence and mayhem. And Ork lives for combat.
The most striking feature about the Orks is their green skin. Orks have a primitive and basic ability to photosynthesise. The blood of an Ork is also interesting, in that it contains countless distinct fungal organisms and has a chlorophyll high content, with trace elements of carbon and copper. The teeth suggest an omnivorous or opportunistic diet, which links with their primitive pack-based organisation. They have pointed ears, although they have a low density of nerve clusters, indicating a stripped down to bare essentials approach to the Ork creation. Orks eat fungi of all kinds as well as meat.
Orks grow all through their lives; the effect is most notable in the most successful Orks. As the Ork survives combats and wins trophies, the respect of other Orks will produce in him an effect somewhat similar to adolescence in the human male: puts on muscle, becomes more aggressive and assertive, and generally throws its weight around. Once it begins to grow, an Ork will generally keep getting bigger and stronger until he is beaten by a bigger or more cunning Ork. Warbosses and Warlords, the rulers of the tribes, are very large Orks indeed.
Ork medicine is crude and brutal. They seem to operate on a generally nineteenth century level of surgical knowledge - often this includes drilling and screwing things into the Ork and hoping they survive. Unlike humans, though, Orks are quite capable of being beheaded, having the head sewn onto a different body, and surviving the experience to fight again.
Hierarchy (Herearky)[]
Ork society is dominated by the strongest individuals, with the largest and most capable Orks forming the ruling elite. The only exception to this rule are the Oddboyz - specialist orks who have an innate talent in a specific field (such as medicine or technology) whose unique skills make them indispensable to their tribe.
- Warbosses and Warchiefs are the leaders of tribes and the rulers of cities. They the toughest, most brutal Orks who rule their clans with an iron fist. A notable Warboss is Gorknuk Crusha.
- Nobz are the ruling class of the Ork race. Larger and more aggressive than other Orks they act a squad leaders or fight together in their own mobs. Nobz have access to the best equipment, weapons and armour and are often found fighting in groups with other similarly equipped Nobz.
- Weirdboyz are Ork magicians, or those possessing psychic abilities. They often serve as navigators or communicators between tribes, sending telepathic messages between Warbosses. They often make powerful fighters, too. A notable Weirdboy is Weirdboy Twanka.
- Mekboyz are the builders and architects of Ork society. They are generally the most crude and disgusting of all Orkz. They are responsible for building, running and maintaining Ork machinery, such as vehicles, and collecting the scrap from which they are put together.
- Boyz are the most common form of Ork, although there are still many different types of sub-group that vary depending on status and equipment.
Culture (Kultyer)[]
Ork culture is harsh and utterly brutal. Being an aggressive and warlike race, Orks are quite content to fight amongst each other if no other enemy are present. Their crude and unintelligible tribal mindset is the human's greatest advantage against them - they will never be organised or cunning enough to fully unite to crush the nations of Barvos, but are tough enough that they will likely be a constant thorn in their backsides.
Orks use their teeth ("teef") as currency. This is quite a natural solution to inflation and income support, as Orks regrow their "teef" in a similar manner to sharks, replacing them quite frequently. They degrade over time so it is impossible to hoard them. This keeps prices constant, ensures all Orks have access to money and allows constant values to be placed on commodities.
The Ork slave trade is a recent and booming business. Slaves are brought by Orks for fun, for labour or just for the powerful status one receives of owning them - an Ork who owns slaves is considered rich and powerful by his fellow tribesmen. Slaves are always human, and can be formed of any of the various nations inhabiting Barvos.
Ork Warfare (WHAAAAGH!!)[]
Orkz are generally highly aggressive towards both each other and anything they encounter. They don't seem to fear much for their own lives, and their impulsive desire to fight often causes them to slaughter each other more often than anyone else. This is a blessing, really, as it prevents the Ork population from ever becoming too high.
Sometimes, however, on rare occasions, an Ork Warboss will successfully rally a collection of tribes together into one horde, where they will march upon non-Ork civilisation and wreck havoc. This kind of crusade is known as a 'Whaaagh!', and is quite an uncommon occurence. Whaagh!'s can be big, small or colossal. They can be a small annoyance or a massive threat. Normally, they are brought on when Ork society is somehow 'offended' by outsiders, but sometimes they are just put together 'for teh lulz'.
So far, the only Warboss who has sucessfully organised a Whaargh! is Gorknuk Crusha, who resides in Orgrimmar.
Technology (Teknologee)[]
Ork "teknologee" appears ramshackle and slapped-together, but is as potent as any weaponry used by Barvos nations. Ork technology is characterised by a constant stream of poorly thought-out experimentation and constantly trying to outdo the competition to build the biggest gun. Therefore Ork technology is not uniform, lending Ork Warbands a cobbled together and random appearance. They can salvage almost any burnt-out wreck, and many Ork vehicles have been reported destroyed dozens of times, only to be cobbled back together, given a fresh lick of paint (if even that), and sent back into the fray. Likewise, Ork cities and society is equally crude and often looted from spare parts, although the biggest cities can become a sprawling metropolis with time.
Cities[]
Ork cities are rare, with tribes never normally establishing more than a small outpost built out of wood and stones.
- Orgrimmar - Considered to be the closest thing to a capital city that the Orkz have, Orgrimmar is a sprawling vile metropolis of greenskins. It is primarily home to Da Stormboyz, the biggest of the Ork tribes, and has quite a reputable collection of powerful Warbosses who come to bash their heads together. The vast majority of Ork diplomacy (or lack of) takes place here. Orgrimmar is vastly defended by the thousands upon thousands of Orkz who live who visit there. It is also home to Gorknuk Crusha, the most feared and ruthless of all Ork Warbosses. If a vast horde of Orkz is (rarely) put together into the form of a huge army, it is always from here that they are roused. The lands surrounding Orgrimmar are always swarming with Orkz, who are HIGHLY aggressive to 'hooman' trespassers. Orgrimmar has (recently) become more popular as the central hub to the Ork slave trade.
- Brassily - not so much a city as a colossal market, Brassily is home to the largest collection of Ork merchandise (with the exception of slaves, who are mostly purchased from Orgrimmar). Here one can buy guns, axes, vehicles, exotic goods and food in exchange for Teef (Ork currency). As it is home to a large armoury, Ork hordes will often gather here too before setting out to war.