Orcs are a foul humanoid known for their savagery. Orc males stand at between six and a half and seven feet tall, while females are typically about six inches shorter. Both genders have large and powerful muscles, though the males are considerably stronger. Orcs have a deep green colored green that is tougher and more leather than human skin. They have large eyes, thick brows, broad flat noses, and small round ears. Their teeth are proportionally large compared to humans and their mouths are larger as well. Their jaws and teeth are quite strong and are capable of biting through wood, flesh and bone. Their cuspids are also pronounced, especially in males. Orc eyes are always black as is their hair on their hair. Orcs very seldom cut their hair though they smear dirt and feces into their hair, which mats it down into a stiff and foul smelling mess.

 Even if they were clean, orcs would have a distinctly unpleasant odor about them, though orcs seldom bath themselves unless by necessity (such as having to swim) and in fact often smear their bodies with their own feces. One reason they do this is that they identify each other in part by smell, and can thus smell fellow tribe members from a distance. They also do this to show dominance within the group as the orc's smell dominates the area around him. Dominant orcs often smear their own feces upon their slaves or submissive servants.

 Orcs eat all sorts of food, anything they can catch in fact, including bugs, animals, fruits, vegetables, wood, grass, feces of other animals, or even each other. They eat anything from prey that is still alive and squirming to food that is rotten and squirming with maggots. Perhaps because their diet is so diverse, orcs have an incredible resistance to disease and well as poisons. They can be exposed to illnesses, rot, food poisoning, or other disgusting things that would kill most other living things. There are a few powerful poisons that can affect them, but most are poisoned created through alchemy, nothing naturally occurring can phase them. Orcs never get infected wounds and heal from most injuries quite quickly. The bodily fluids of orcs are riddled with diseases and anyone exposed to their bodily fluids could be in danger of getting some unpleasant illness, though the orcs themselves are unaffected.

 Orcs are immensely strong, fast, and tough. Their running speed is phenomenal as is their endurance, they can run down all sorts of prey animals and kill it with their hands and teeth if need be. Orcs are powerful swimming and climbers as well as naturally vicious fighters. Orcs have tough skin and strong bones which make them somewhat resistant to many injuries. Orcs live primarily in very hot and humid locations, they do not like the cold and have trouble finding water in arid lands. They feel quite comfortable in hot weather though, and their thick green skin protects them from the bites and stings of insects that are common in hot wet lands.

 The sense of hearing of orcs is weaker than that of humans. Because of this, along with their savage personalities, they are very loud creatures. Even in calm conversations with each other in the primitive orc language is like shouting to a human's ears, and their screams of fear or anger can be deafening. When engaged in a fight they often scream, snarl, and grunt to frighten or distract their foes. Orcs engaged in warfare create an unbearable cacophony of dreadful noises.

 Orcs' large eyes give them the ability to see well at night as long as their is some source of dim light and orcs are active during both day and night. Their sense of smell is quite well developed as well, they can sense game from quite a distance away and can even tell basic emotional or physiological states of their fellow orcs by changes in that orc's scent. This sense of smell is particularly amazing considering the fact that orcs themselves exude such a foul odor.

 Orc are known for their fecundity as well as their brutality. Orc females often stay in a state of nearly constant pregnancy. The gestation period for a pregnant orc female is only 3 months and within a week after giving birth the female can get pregnant again. A new born orc is quite different from a human infant. It is a bit smaller than a human child, perhaps weighing an average of four to five pounds, but has considerably greater physical ability. Orc infants are born with the ability to crawl, see, and eat on their own. Orc mothers, despite having permanently enlarged (though small by human standard) breasts and nipples, do not nurse their young nor do they particularly take care of them. Within the first week or two of life, an orc female will sometimes leave scraps of extra food for her new born and may sometimes protect it from the predation of other orcs - but after that time period it must fend for itself.

 The baby orc can crawl quite quickly, can climb, and seek out food with smell or sight, and can otherwise support itself. At this point in an orc's life, its mental ability is more like that of an animal than a humanoid creature, relying on instinct and cunning rather than learned knowledge or practice. The young orcs stay on the periphery of their tribe eating scraps left by adult orcs. The scent exuded by baby orcs can be recognized by other orcs in the tribe and makes adult orcs less inclined to kill or eat the babies, though they will do so if other sources of food aren't easily available. By the time an orc reaches the age of one year, it can walk and run and interact with other orcs on a very basic level. By the age of five it begins to enter the orc community and learns its place in the tribe. By the age of ten, the orc is fully mature and is a full member of the tribe. The years between five and ten are dangerous for young orcs, as more fully grown adults may see them as a threat and may kill and eat them. The males are in particular danger as they are seen as threats by the adult males. During these years, young orcs will usually show total submission to dominant adults as to do otherwise would be exceedingly dangerous.

 For the next twenty years, orcs slowly grow in size and strength, though by their thirtieth year they begin to show signs of age and their physical prowess diminishes. When adult orcs start to show signs of age and cannot defend themselves as well, they are usually killed and eaten by younger and more vigorous adults. Few orcs live past the age of forty. Females are more likely to live longer as they tend not to be as competitive with each other, though even they will be slain by their fellow tribe mates when they become too weak or if the signs of age make them less desirable to dominant males. At birth, males outnumber females by more than double, but by adulthood they are considerably closer in number and by the age of twenty females considerably outnumber males.

 Orc society is based almost entirely upon dominance and submission which is determined by violence. Orc tribes vary tremendously in size from ten individuals to several hundred. Because orcs can reproduce so quickly or die off so quickly from conflict, the size of a single tribe can fluctuate tremendously over a relatively small period of time. Tribes are lead by a group of dominant males, sometimes this can be a single strong male for a small tribe or as many as twenty males in tribes which number in the hundreds. These males are often more closely related to each other than others in the tribe and gang up on and kill other males or groups of males which do not show submission. In an orc tribe, submission is shown sexually, with the dominant male having intercourse with the female or submissive male.

 When a male refuses to show dominance to the leaders of the tribe, there will be a fight. Orcs know no sense of honor or fair play, they fight as ferociously as they can and use superior numbers to their advantage in such battles for dominance. Frequently, the victorious males bite off the genitals of the losers before raping them, permanently turning the defeated males into mutilated eunuchs and rendering them forever submissive. Just as often the defeated males are killed by the victors or other members of the tribe in a frenzy of bloodlust. Females also fight to show dominance, but usually only against each other and young or castrated males. Females usually only kill other females when they see that one of their sisters is becoming to old and weak - at which point they fall on her to devour her.

 When orcs fight for dominance, frequently even uninvolved orcs will join in the battle. Orcs become excited at the site of violence and their instincts direct them to take the side of the victor. When two orcs or groups of orcs fight, others look on screaming and grunting with excitement until one side seems to start gaining the upper hand. At that point, the previously uninvolved orcs fall open those who appear to be losing and attack them ferociously in an orgy of bloodshed and sadism. It is only because of the natural toughness of orcs that losers survive to be castrated.

 Battles for dominance within an orc tribe usually only occur if the rival males believe that they can defeat the dominant ones. Orcs understand superior strength and superior numbers and will seldom attack if they know they will be defeated. Often if some event happens which leaves a dominant male or number of males dead or in a weakened position, then another group of males which had previously been biding their time and showing submission will rise up and attack the dominant group. There is little loyalty or trust within an orc tribe, a weakened or defeated orc will be killed by even his closest former allies once his weakness has become evident. Sometimes even dominant orcs kill each other or fight over dominance if one shows too much weakness or vulnerability.

 Orcs virtually all love to see pain inflicted on others and to inflict pain when they are able. Should a defeated foe be still alive or an animal caught and wounded, the orc to take great delights in what ever pain it can inflict upon the unfortunate target before it can die. Orcs seeing others in pain will typically burst into fits of hysterical laughter, sounding like a cross between a screaming ape and a braying mule. Other orcs will join in the fun, prancing about laughing and pointing or trying to get at the victim themselves if they are not submissive to the orc already inflicting the pain. Orcs are also highly lascivious by nature and when not hunting, waring, or fighting for dominance they are copulating. Females are not as profligate as males, but still always submit to the dominant males because it would be dangerous to do otherwise.

 In conflict, orcs have neither bravery nor cowardice. They see the world in terms of dominance and submission and operate on a pack mentality. When orcs sense submission in a foe, rival, or even a tribe mate, they will act upon that feeling and exert their dominance as aggressively as possible. Should another creature show bravery or confidence to the orc, it will be wary of attacking and will likely only do so if it has superior numbers or the element of surprise. When a number of orcs act boldly and with confidence, it inspires such confidence in their fellow orcs and the entire group can work itself up into a frenzy where they are virtually fearless. Along the same lines, fear or uncertainty is contagious among the orcs and a single act of cowardice can soon send the entire tribe fleeing even if there is no evident threat. Other emotional states can pass quickly among orcs as well. When excited, orcs will grunt and snort and thrash about, and when one orc is so excited many others will follow suit even without knowing what the cause of excitement is.

 Castrated males become considerably more passive and docile than their intact brethren. They are also more clear thinking and less likely to be swayed by the pack mentality. They are some of the few orcs that have the patience to craft any sort of useful items such as stone knives or spears. Castrated are usually slaves to the males who defeated them in combat and are frequently used to do work for the dominant males, craft items for them, or please them sexually. Castrated males are the lowest adults within the tribe, and suffer abuse even from females of the tribe and must often eat the very worst food that others have discarded.

 Outside of a few stone age items which are crafted by tribal castrati, orcs have no real technology. Orcs wear no clothing and construct no shelter, though they sometimes take refuge under fallen trees, within caves, or in dwelling built by other races. They have no knowledge or understanding of writing, no ability to refine ore, most tribes don't even know how to make or maintain fire. The orc language itself is exceedingly primitive, having only words for very simply and primal concepts. Orcs have quite a low intelligence by human standards, perhaps as low as fifty or sixty on average if their IQ could be tested, with the castrated males being higher with IQ's about ten points higher than before their mutilation.

 If orcs find themselves at war with other races, they will steal weapons if they are able, though most tools are complicated for orcs to use. If some non-orc settlement is raided by orcs, the orcs will usually kill and devour all living creatures they encounter, delaying death only long enough to rape the victims or torture them. In some cases though, the orcs will make slaves from the few living prisoners they take from an attack. These slaves are subjected to terrible cruelty and abuse, and few live very long, though sometimes such prisoners can be forced into creating items of value for orcs, such as advanced weapons, or doing labor which orcs lack the intellect or patience to complete themselves. Though have have little intellect, creativity, or cohesiveness, orcs can reproduce so rapidly that they can successfully conquer areas by extended wars of attrition where they periodically raid other races' settlements and then replacing their number more quickly than their foes can. Because of this, it is not completely unknown for ruined cities to be filled with orcs who killed off the original inhabitants years ago and still dwell in the dilapidated buildings and use old rusted or damaged weapons taken from their defeated foes.


 Though dominant males, or groups of them, usually lead the small tribes of orcs that are a plague to civilized and even to savage creatures, it takes a special kind of orc to form a an orcish horde. One such kind of orc is a hag - a hag is a female who survives long enough to essentially go through the orc equivalent of menopause - something that happens at around the age of fifty. Of the minority who hit menopause, very few survive more than a few years afterwards. At that age, a female orc's body starts to shrivel and become considerably slower, weaker, and more fragile. More bones grow smaller and less dense, her breasts shrink to nothing, causing her to shrink, her skin turns a sickly yellowish shade, her hair falls out in clumps, and she smells of weakness and old age. Elderly orc females become nothing more than skin and bones and are easy prey even for juvenile orcs. The reason why it is they who become leaders of large groups of orcs is that at this advanced age, some orc females can begin to tap into innate magical power which was unavailable to them in their youth.

 Though an orc's body withers when she reaches that age, her mind becomes stronger. Like orc males who are castrated, she is freed from the inner rage and instincts which drive orcs to mindless violence. Her ability to think and reason increases dramatically as does her willpower, making the hag the mental equivalent of many humans. As her physical abilities decline and her intellect decreases, most orc hags begin to realize that staying with the tribe will result in their eventual death and then leave to seek out a life on their own. This transition is difficult for many orc hags to make, particularly before they begin to manifest any real magical abilities, especially as their bodies lose their vigor. Sometimes it takes years after the change before powers start to develop, sometimes it happens immediately before the female orc even begins to decline physically. The sooner her powers develop, and the more powerful they are, the more likely she is to survive.

 For the most part, the magical powers of the orc hags develop naturally and then are enhanced through practice. Some of the first abilities they develop are subtle, such as prophetic dreams or the ability to supernaturally sense danger. These subtle powers are usually the first to develop. As time progresses, the orc hag gets more overt power, though the individual abilities vary from hag to hag. Some have the ability to become invisible or blend in to their surroundings, others can summon and control a yellowish acidic mist that they can use to strip the flesh from their foes, some can even control the minds of their fellow orcs. There are some hags who can bring a semblance of life back to a dead creature, making it a lifeless automaton under the command of the hag. Virtually all hags develop some sort of divination ability, other powers are more variable. Over the years as hags use these abilities, they grow in power and scope. Hags can live for several decades after becoming hags, sometimes longer if they use their magic to prolong their life or increase their health. Hag magical rituals are, like orcs themselves, primitive and bloody.

 Many of the more powerful abilities of hags must be developed over time or learned from other hags - often times the divination abilities of one hag will lead them to seek out others from which to learn from or to ally with. At some point, a hag will become powerful enough in using its magic, or make enough allies among their fellow hags, that they can return to orc "society" not as weakened outcasts but as masters. When a powerful orc hag returns to her tribe, her fellow orcs will see and smell her age and weakness and will immediately seek to kill and devour her, though by this point a display of her magic should be enough to cowl the other orcs into submission. Once a hag, of group of them, gains control of a tribe of orcs, then the tribe becomes vastly more dangerous as it has a reasonably intelligent and capable leader.

 Hags have progressed beyond the point where they crave sex or mindless violence. They do not, however, ever grow past the orc lust for power and dominance. When a hag's mind develops, she begins to see dominance on a scale that few others orcs can conceive of - she begins to imagine ruling many tribes, of creating nations, of having numerous slaves bow down and show her obedience. This is why she can so often be dangerous, because she has the intellect and drive to attempt to make these things happen - sometimes orc hags even succeed. It is when multiple tribes of orcs are united under s single ruler that you get what civilized people call an orcish horde.

 Orcs under the rule of a hag operate a bit differently than typical orc tribes. The dominant males submit themselves to her and become her enforcers while the eunuchs of the tribe become her personal assistants and servants. As the hag recognizes the superior mental abilities of orc eunuchs, she can utilize them in ways that they seldom experience in a normal orc tribe. This can sometimes consist of learning to make more advanced weapons or dwelling. Hags can also see the potential of having other hags in her service and will protect aging females who show the potential to become hags themselves. The ruling hag must be careful in doing this, as hags always have ambition and loyalty is a sentiment unknown to orcs - it is not unknown for orc hordes that are ruled by multiple hags to collapse as the hags fight amongst themselves. Hags are also sometimes known to ally with other races, sometimes even selling the services of orc warriors as mercenaries in exchange for advanced weapons, secrets of crafting certain goods, or even jewels or baubles which some hags find desirable. On occasion, some solitary hags will even sell their services to non-orc groups if she sees that it might benefit her.

 Male orcs also undergo a transformation when they reach the twilight of their lives. Even fewer male orcs than females reach an advanced age because of the fierce competition between males and the violent lifestyle they live. As soon as a dominant orc male starts to show sign signs of weakening with age, or when it loses its friends who helped to keep the less dominant males in line, then it becomes prey to younger males who seek dominance themselves. Sometimes though an orc male of advanced age can escape from the tribe and survive on its own, much like a hag might. Older males have an even more difficult time than females do, because they have the smell of an enemy male and will be sought out by bands of dominant male orcs. So an older orc male must be crafty to make it on its own for a prolonged period. By the time of a male orc's fiftieth year, it begins to undergo a strange transformation that is totally unlike what the hag experiences.

 The elderly orc male develops a ravenous appetite and begins to eat prodigiously, feeding new growth in its body. The orc's bones grow larger and thicker, becoming significantly stronger than it ever was before. Its skin darkens and becomes thicker and tougher, like rawhide or boiled leather. Its brain grows as well and it becomes more cunning and intelligent, though they remain just as violent, sadistic, and libidinous. All of the orc's hair falls out and its eyes seem to sink into its head, becoming darker and more fearsome looking as the sclera turns a shade of dark brown.The creature the orc becomes is commonly known as an ogre. A fully developed ogre, one between the ages of sixty and seventy, can be over ten feet tall and is likely to weigh between a thousand and two thousand pounds though they can get much larger. Ogres will live for several decades after making this transformation, continuing to grow larger each year until its heart gives out from the stress of supplying blood to such a massive and powerful body.

 Most ogres continue to live on their own, becomes solitary apex predators of the jungles that orcs inhabit. A solitary male ogre will kill almost any creature that it happens upon, especially other which it will frequently rape to death before devouring. Though a minority of ogres return to their former tribes (or another tribe) for much the same reason that hags do - in order to rule over them. When an ogre returns to a tribe, it will usually slay most or all of the males in the tribe - often takings its time and torturing them for its own amusement before eating them alive. In some cases it may be possible for an orc tribe to fight off or even kill an ogre, though usually an ogre is smart enough to select only smaller tribes for attack, picks off dominant males one at a time, or waits until the tribe has some other conflict. Male orcs who are particularly submissive or helpful to the ogre may be spared, but they will also be castrated so as not to become a threat or competitor for mates. The ogre then claims every female in the tribe for itself, ruling with an iron fist and usually kills or castrates any male orc which is born. Ogres naturally dislike each other, but are also shrewd enough to not attack fellow ogres on sight and may sometimes even ally with them in certain situations, though they will usually strike out against the other ogre when a good opportunity presents itself or when the other ogre's utility has outlived itself.

 Ogres and hags have no love for one another either, as they both see each other as rivals in leading other orcs. Often a hag's magic is not powerful enough to counter the physical strength and resilience of the ogre combined with its intelligence - in which case the hag will typically end up as a meal for the ogre. In some cases though, a hag with the ability to control the minds of orcs will be able to force an ogre to her will - in which case she will have an extremely powerful and fearsome bodyguard. Some particularly knowledgeable hags have even been known to help protect elderly male orcs from their pack mates so that they might develop into ogres - though doing this would be madness if the hag had no way to control those ogres. Having ogre servants can sometimes be dangerous for hags though, as it is allying with other hags, as ogres are strong willed and cunning, they do not like being another creature's slave and on a few occasions an ogre has cast off a hag's mind control and devoured her. In some cases, hags can control ogres not by magic but through guile, by letting the ogre rule openly while the hag manipulates it into acting in accordance to her will. Only a minority of orcs have the potential to become either a hag or an ogre and only a minority of those ever get the chance, making each creature rare meetings between them rarer still.

 Orcs live in the lands far to the south and west, where there is frequent rainfall and constant heat. It is in the thick jungles, rain forests, and nearby tropical savanna that orcs most often make their home. Orcs have a natural affinity for the heat and wetness of this climate, their thick green skins protecting them from insects and providing them with camouflage in the lush flora of the southwest. Orcs wear no clothing and make no shelters, though they do sometimes dig out small pits that they fill with mud and feces which can provide them with a more comfortable sleeping place or congregate under a tree's canopy for protect in a rain storm. Since temperatures of the jungles never become that low, the orcs can survive without shelter to clothing, though in seasons when it becomes uncharacteristically cold, orcs do nestle together for warmth. Hags, being more intelligent than other orcs and also more physically frail usually find, build, or have built for them some kind of shelter - though by the standards of other races this structure is usually quite primitive. Most orcs tribes do not use or know how to start fires, they don't need them to stay warm, cook food, or to aid in building civilization. If a tribe does have fire, it was usually introduced by a hag or ogre and either maintained by them or by eunuch orcs.

 Orcs have very little in the way of culture. Orcs have no art aside from smearing themselves and their hair with feces. They have no true music to speak of, though sometimes they will begin screaming, snarling, beating rocks or sticks together or otherwise making load noises as a group and they get some measure of pleasure in the shared experience of making this noise. Orcs do have a language, though it has far fewer words and a smaller range of concepts than the languages of most other races. Orcs have great difficulty learning the language of other races and usually hags are the only orcs to do so unless they have been captured and forced to learn the alien language at a young age. Orcs do have one major past time that would be seen as a culture to other races and this is storytelling. Orcs like to tell each other stories about great events, essentially legends of the past, though these stories usually involve self aggrandizement on the part of the orcs. Orcs have no compunction about lying and do both to make themselves seem better than they are and to make their stories more interesting, and being of low intelligence their lies are generally poorly thought out or outlandish in nature, though many orcs cannot discern this. Female orcs particularly like to spin tall tales of incredible events they have seen or personal accomplishments, while male orcs generally try to least least base their stories on some event they have witnessed to heard tell of. Submissive orcs generally remain silent as their masters speak or when they do tell stories, they tell of the fighting or sexual prowess of the dominant orcs in order to ingratiate themselves to them.

 Orcs have no religious or moral beliefs to speak of. Orcs are terrified of death, but never discuss or really even contemplate what happens before or after death or why life exists or if there is any meaning to it. For orcs, the only meaning in life is found in sex, eating, exerting dominance over others, and avoiding death or injury. There does seem to be certain spiritual ideas among the hags - usually involving a belief in the cyclic nature of existence and the reincarnation of souls. Some of the more spiritually inclined hags say that their ability to look into the future is actually their ability to remember the events of a past cycle in a another life. When hags congregate, they sometimes discuss these ideas with each other. Normal orcs generally fail to comprehend such ideas as there being an afterlife or indeed a past or future at all and the ignore or quickly forget any such ideas that they are exposed to.

Far to the north of the land of humanity, beyond high mountains and dense forests, is a land of eternal darkness. In Daduchus, the sun never rises nor do the moon or the stars, for the sky is shrouded by thick black clouds that swirl and flow but never leave. Not only is Daduchus forever shrouded in night, but it is eternally cold as the most brutal winter in the lands of men. Snow covers the ground perpetually, despite constantly being swept away by the strong wind that always blows in Daduchus, it is to be replaced by periodic snow fall. The northern reaches of Daduchus are particularly cold, so much so that no human could possibly survive there, most of Daduchus however, fluctuates between -20 degrees and 20 degrees fahrenheit.

In Daduchus the trees grow gnarled and blackened, completely devoid of leaves, flowers, or fruit. Along the ground grow thorns and brambles, with the occasional weed or in a few areas sparse brownish grass. The soil is dark gray and rocky. The only source of vegetable nourishment available to the denizens of Daduchus are the fibrous roots of some of the weeds that grow there and can be cultivated, and the red leafy vines that grow under certain conditions called blood leaf. For the most part the creatures that dwell in Daduchus prey upon each other.

The are a variety of dangerous fauna that inhabit Daduchus. The most prominent of these are the dire wolves, huge ferocious wolves the size of small horses. There are also rats the size of small dogs who at both plant and animal, occasionally hunting in packs to take down larger prey. Despite the low temperatures, there are insects of various kinds as well, often far larger than their southern counterparts. The spiders are particularly large, sometimes larger than a man. The only birds that live in Daduchus are scavengers. Large boars live of the weeds and their roots, or eat what ever else they can find, and are sometimes domesticated and used as a food source. Another creature common to Daduchus are large worms that borrow deep beneath the ground. Many of these worms can grow quite large (in excess of 6 feet) and are disgusting to look at, even for worms.

There are few if any humans in Daduchus, the few who enter usually don;t stay or last very long. The primary residents of Daduchus call themselves the Gornabag, but in the south they are simply known as goblins. Goblins are smaller than humans, usually around an average height of 4'8" tall and about 100 pounds. They have dull reddish colored skin, usually blended with gray or brown. The texture of their skin is tough and almost scaly, they have no hair either on their bodies or on their heads. The facial features of goblins are somewhat similar to those of humans, but are more feral. Their jaws are large and their faces distended, their teeth are long and sharp with particularly prominent cuspids. Their ears are small and semicircular, almost hard to spot, and their noses and short and upturned. Their lips are virtually non-existant. Goblins have bright yellow irises with no whites to their eyes, their brows are heavy and their eye sockets are deep.

All goblins have female characteristics, including wide hips, enlarged breasts, and somewhat fleshy builds - the reason for this is because all goblins are in fact female. All Goblins are born and grow up female, and any children they bare are also female. Goblins grow quickly, they have a 6 month gestational period and reach sexual maturity in about 10 years. After that point, its hard to tell how old a goblin is, because she doesn't really show any external signs of aging aside from a tendency to put on weight. Most goblins die fairly young due to violence, those that do not succumb to violence or sickness will typically die of old age from anywhere between 70 and 90 years of age. Those few who make it into their 90 will undergo a metamorphosis into a hobgoblin. At some point in a goblins 90's she will begin to become much fatter, also growing in height and build as well, after about of year of this her skin will begin to build up thick layers of dead skin until it forms something a cocoon around the goblin. In several months, this cocoon will break open and a male goblin will emerge. This male goblin, or hobgoblin, will generally be a full foot taller than it was before the transformation and at least 100 pounds heavier than the typical goblin. The fat that built up before the transformation will be replaced by dense muscles after the hobgoblin emerges from its cocoon. In many ways the hobgoblin resembles a goblin, though his body is more masculinely shaped, his muscles are larger, and his skin is slightly darker and scalier. Hobgoblins also have even more prominent cuspids that protrude from the mouth almost like tusks. Hobgoblins will usually live another 40 or 50 years after the transformation, the most easily recognizable sign of aging being the thickening of their tough scaly skin.

Goblins are highly resistant to the freezing cold of Daduchus, though they still often wear furs and leather to keep themselves warm or as a sign of status. Goblins can see in the absolute darkness of Daduchus as well as a human can see in twilight, so they often go about with no forms of lighting, but in their homes or when in need of seeing fine details they use torches and candles to see by. In the light of day they are completely blinded by the bright light, and even at dawn or dusk they are uncomfortable because of the brightness of the sunlight. They also have a limited ability to tolerate warm weather; around freezing is most comfortable to goblins and anything warmer than 60 degrees will make a goblin feel ill. Temperatures greater than 90 degrees are debilitating and will cause a goblin to expire if it is exposed to those temperatures for more than a few hours. Goblins prefer to eat meat as they are primarily carnivores, but they can survive on plant material to a limited degree but will become malnourished if forced to do so for too long.

Hobgoblins rule over goblins, they are not only significantly more physically powerful than goblins, but are are older and wiser than the goblins, they are the ones who have proved themselves to the the smartest to survive as long as they did. Goblins usually live in large villages with several hundred goblins and 10 or 20 hobgoblins. The typical goblin usually has a variety of rolls in the community, most act as a combined farmer, hunter, warrior, and mother. A goblin household is lead by a hobgoblin who is father or mother to the rest of the family. In most cases several of the goblins stay at home and look after the young while the others go out to do labor or to fight, in the case of labor the hobgoblin generally stays at home to help protect the children and to command the family, but in times of conflict he usually leads the warriors to battle. In larger more organized goblin cities, the hobgoblins form something of a council that votes on major issues facing the community. In most cases this ruling council has an eldest member, chosen by the other hobgoblins, to act as ruler, to be decisive, and to make difficult decisions. Hobgoblins represent the only legal representation that goblins have, so a family of goblins without a hobgoblin member will have very little power or protection from violence from other goblins or hobgoblins.

The entire family and social structure of goblin life is based on the family units with hobgoblins as household heads. In a major sense these families are harems, all of the goblins in the family are more or less property of the hobgoblin, who is father and/or mate of the rest of the family. In many cases, the hobgoblin gave birth to many of the goblins in the family when he was a female goblin. When a goblin in the family becomes a hobgoblin, it is customary for him to take several of the family's goblins with it and some of the family's resources to start a new family. This break off family will usually maintain close ties to the original family. The only times that a hobgoblin will stay with the family is when the original hobgoblin is old and sick, meaning that the younger hobgoblin can take over the family soon. When a family's hobgoblin dies with no replacement, the family becomes very vulnerable because it effectively loses all status and legal rights. Usually such a family will either be absorbed by closely related families (such as break away groups) or the close families will protect the hobgoblin-less family until one of the goblins matures into a hobgoblin. If neither of these things happen, then unrelated families will probably capture the goblins and force them to join their family. Sometimes certain paranoid or jealous hobgoblins will kill elderly goblins so that they will not mature into hobgoblins and divide the harem. This kind of behavior usually spells disaster for the family eventually, since when the hobgoblin dies, there is no other to watch out for his family. In families where there is such a jealous hobgoblin, often a goblin will run away and hide so that it may live long enough to survive its transformation into a hobgoblin - in such a case the newly transformed hobgoblin will often return to the family for its fair share or to seek revenge and gain control of the family for himself. A change in leadership under such conditions is often welcomed.

Goblins have medieval technology. They can work iron and bronze, some fine items are even made of steel. They usually live in simple stone huts, but wealthier goblin families will often make more advanced fortresses that resemble castles. Most goblin villages or cities are protected by massive stone walls that rise 30 or 40 feet into the sky. There are usually also a number of other dwelling in a goblin town such as a temple, blacksmith's shop, etc. Most goblins are hunter/farmer/warriors but, just as in any village, there are some who are professionals. There are stone masons, metal workers, weavers, etc. Sometimes goblins who specialize in these professions share their money earned with their family, meaning it will ultimately go to the hobgoblin. Some goblin professionals, however, operate independently of a hobgoblin or family unit, surviving and prospering because of their unique and valuable skills. Goblin mystics in particular are known for their independence from the harem system.

Goblins raise a number of different animals for use as food, labor, or warfare. Their main war beast are the dire wolves. Goblins breed dire wolves to be as large and ferocious as possible, most reach the side of a small horse. Hobgoblins and the occasional elite goblin soldiers ride these dire wolves into battle. Another animal that is made use of by goblins are the dark boars - large (between 300 and 400 pounds typically) pig-like creatures covered with bristles and with large tusks. The goblins raise dark boars for food, for their milk, and also use them as beasts of burden to pull plows, carts, or occasionally to ride. Wealthier goblins or hobgoblins will always prefer to ride a dire wolf though. Goblins also keep domesticated buzzards for their eggs and feed them table scraps or allow them to feed upon corpses of dead goblins. Stone spiders are another creature that goblins keep. Stone spiders are named this because their mottled grayish coloration allows them blend in with the rocky landscape of Daduchus. They have rather bulbous bodies, not unlike a black widow spider, and are highly venomous. Goblins keep these spiders to harvest their silk, stone spider silk can be spun much the same way a worm's silk can. Some of the finest clothing available to goblins comes from spider's silk. Goblins also use the spider's venom to coat their arrow tips, making them particularly deadly. Perhaps one of the most common staples of the goblin diet is rat flesh. In Daduchus giant rats are extremely numerous and though goblins do not raise them, traps or hunting trips usually can supply a steady supply of rats for goblins to eat. Goblins are also known to dig up worms out of the ground to eat them, or more frequently since they aren't very tasty, to feed to their animals. Goblins are not particular or sentimental about their meals - they will eat just about any living creature, from insects to their own dead. When a goblin dies, it is either eaten by its family or is given to domesticated beasts to eat, which ever the goblin family is in the mood for. This practice also includes prisoners and casualties of war along with anyone who happens into a goblin village and is unwelcome or unable to defend themselves.

Most goblins and hobgoblins in Daduchus share the same religion, the worship of the god Gulaga. To goblins, Gulaga is the supreme deity, the creator of all things, all power and all knowing, and the goblins are its chosen people. Goblins believed that Gulaga created the world and all life in it, but deliberately left them flawed. It is only goblins who have a perfect design, one matching that of Gulaga for Gulaga gave birth to the universe as a goblin goddess and rules the universe as a hobgoblin god. Gulaga as the goddess gave birth to female life among all the creatures of the world, and then become a god and sired all life through his female children, becoming both father and mother to all living things. Only goblins became like him however, with the holy ability to transform from mother to father.

Gulaga is worshiped by almost every goblin, but there are priestesses to Gulaga who dedicate their lives to worshiping him. These priestesses - who are called "Gafa" - are the brides of Gulaga, part of his harem, and therefore are never allowed to mate or bare children with a hobgoblin, nor are hobgoblins allowed into the clergy of Gulaga. The priestesses have a special building in the center of every goblin village where they can go to preform rituals in worship and praise of Gulaga. Normal goblins and hobgoblins are bared from attending the majority of their rituals, though many outside of the clergy will pay priestesses for blessing or to offer sacrifices to Gulaga on their behalf. Though hobgoblins rule over goblin society, the priestesses of Gulaga have a huge amount of sway. It is forbidden for a hobgoblin to harm or even to touch a priestess, because she is seen as a bride of Gulaga himself and Gulaga is a jealous god; any who showed such disrespect would be killed by other hobgoblins and goblins in hopes of some personal blessing. To join the priestesshood - called Valagud - the goblin who wishes to join must attain permission from the elder priestess, called a Fergaf, of the community. Often goblins who find themselves in a family without a hobgoblin will attempt to join the the Valagud for safety and protection, though most are denied entry.

The Valagud is very militaristic in its customs and beliefs. The Gafa train to fight as one of the primary duties to the faith. Before a battle the certain Gafa will chant for hours and take a mixture of herbs and chemicals as part of a religious ceremony to work themselves into a frenzy of destruction before a battle. The Valagud is the only goblin organization that extends beyond the size of cities and villages, it has a supreme high priestess called a Ferfergaf who has complete control over the Valagud and as a result is perhaps the most powerful single goblin (or hobgoblin for that matter) alive. Despite having no official power within a goblin village, the Gafa there have a large amount of unofficial power because of the reverence they are given as brides of Gulaga and because of the blessings that can befall those who treat them respectfully or alternatively, the curses which befall those who would treat them with no respect. When a Gafa becomes old and starts to gain weight in anticipation of entering a cocoon to transform into a hobgoblin, instead of allowing the transformation to take place, the Gafa commits a ritualistic form of suicide, insuring that the Gafa will be forever female and forever a bride of Gulaga.

It is believed that deep in the earth is the dwelling place of Gulaga and that Gulaga's blessing spring up from the ground and thus to give offering to Gulaga, the offerings must be placed into the ground. Because of this, temples to Gulaga are vast deep tunnels set into the ground, topped on the surface by a stone castle-like structure. The most holy and secret ceremonies are preformed as deeply in the ground as is possible. Temples are constantly under construction, going deeper and deeper into the ground, the Gafa continually build new ceremonial chambers as the tunnels go further down, the very oldest temples in the largest of goblin cities are incredibly deep. When a Gafa commits ritualized suicide, her body is buried deep within the temple. The is a single great temple from which the Ferfergaf rules the Valagud, this great temple not only has a great stone building above ground, but has tunnels and chambers so deep that many think that one can encounter Gulaga himself by descending to the deepest levels - though only the Ferfergaf and her must trusted servants are allows to go the the very bottom. Goblins who are religious or wish to make sacrifices to Gulaga ceremonially bury meat as an offering.

Goblins believe that when they die that a number of fates can befall them. Is is believed that when a Gafa dies, she becomes an angel-like servant to Gulaga himself, joining his harem and being his mate for all of eternity. When a hobgoblin dies, it is believed that becomes one with Gulaga, sharing all of his knowledge and power, sensing and knowing all things and eternally one with the infinite. For a regular goblin, they believe that when they die that they will be born again into the body of some other goblin in the future, and will continue to die and be born again until eventually surviving long enough to become a Gafa or a hobgoblin. Goblins believe that non-goblins are doomed to oblivion, since their lack of a true soul mean they can never become one with Gulaga or to be a direct servant of him. Those who worship other gods, false gods, suffer the same fate as the lesser races, complete oblivion after death, as Gulaga devours their souls for as a punishment.

To goblins, all other races are seen as nothing more than animals. There is nothing wrong in mistreating them, torturing them, killing even helpless children. They have no souls and thus don't truly suffer or feel as a goblin does. Goblins view even goblins who do not believe in Gulaga with a similar level of distain. They are blasphemers, liars, fools, they fail to respect the holiness of the creator of the universe and father of all goblins and hobgoblins. As such, they are deserving of horrible torture, humiliation, and death. In past generations there have been many goblins and hobgoblins who have died because of their lack of faith in the supreme god Gulaga, but now only a rare few fall victim to such punishments. Though, an accusation of lack of faith, a direct act against the brides of Gulaga, or sometimes even a suspicion of practicing some other religion can cause tremendous trouble for the accused and may even cost the unfortunate its life. For Gafa who violate their vows (such as chastity) the punishments are swift and terrible as well, especially when combined with the believed loss of their souls as divine punishment.

In the more Northern reaches of Daduchus the black clouds that swirl and churn above southern Daduchus meet the earth, creating a thick unnatural dark grayish fog that obscures sight and chills the bones. Here it is so cold that even goblins must wear heavy clothing to survive, here goblins must carry torches if they are to see because the darkness hangs so heavily in the air that is suffocates every speck of light, here even monsters and the great beasts of southern Daduchus must fear for their lives. This is where the greatest enemy of the goblins dwell, the orcs.

Orcs have a humanoid shape with similar proportions to humans in most respects. They are about the same size as humans, perhaps and inch or two taller on average and usually about the same weight. Their skin is typically a grayish tint, about the color of concrete or a bit darker. Their eyes do not glow, but are luminescent and are usually either of red, orange, or yellowish coloration; though a few have purplish or violet eyes.

Young orcs, those who have not yet reached puberty, have a skin texture similar to that of humans, perhaps a bit rougher and coarser. As an orcs get older their skin tends to wrinkle very quickly and become thicker, and most young adult orcs have skin as wrinkly as humans in their eighties. Young orcs also have hair in similar patters as humans do - thick hair on their head, with sparser hair on various other locations of the body, this hair is almost always black or dark gray. As male orcs enter puberty they begin to develop male pattern baldness and by the end of puberty they are usually bald on their head, though they also develop a thick, coarse, bristly hair on their back, arms, and shoulders. Female orcs do not lose their hair during puberty, but they develop breasts like human women and, like males, they also grow hair upon their backs and arms but not to the same degree. As female orcs get older they usually start to lose their head hair as well, but typically not until middle or old age. Female orc hair is usually slightly wavy, they typically wear it in long braids or falling naturally and cut about shoulder length. As orcs approach old age, their skin becomes lighter in coloration and even a little transparent, sometimes allowing veins and even muscles to be seen beneath their flesh. Orcs reach puberty around the age of 20, but do not reach middle age until around 300 years of age, after that old age begins to show at around 1000 years. Orcs do not die of old age, they just gradually get wrinklier and more pale over the millennia - though their physical and mental abilities do not decrease.

Orcs faces have some similarities to those of humans, though there are major differences. Orcs tends to have broad, flat noses. Their mouths are very large as are their jaws. The entire mouth and jaw structure is distended slightly compared to that of humans, this in combination of the broad flat nose give orcs the appearance of a muzzle or snout more than a mouth and nose. Their lips are very thin, hard to notice unless they speak. Orcs tend to have thick bony ridges above their eyes and bony lumps beneath their scalps, they also have large bony knuckles, shoulders, elbows, and knees.

Orcs teeth are larger and more vicious than human teeth, and instead of four sharp teeth like humans have - they have twelve. Orc teeth, because they are strict carnivores, are more for ripping and tearing than for crushing or grinding. Orcs have very thick and hard fingernails, and if allowed to grow naturally would form sharp claws, these nails are not flat like human nails, but rather are triangular (like an epee blade) giving them more structural strength. Orc ears are like those of humans, though their earlobes are long and always connect to the sides of their faces and the tips of the ears are pointed - not like those of elves - but rather more like a cat's or wolf's ears.

The differences between orcs are humans are not just superficial. The blood of orcs is not red, but rather it is pure black. Not only is this blood black but it is thicker than human blood as well, and tends to slowly ooze from wounds rather than flow like human blood. The blood of an orc is a deadly poison, even a drop on the skin can kill an adult human and its said that once a blade has cut orc flesh that it will forever carry the poison. When exposed to sunlight, and orcs skin quickly darkens and cracks, causing it to bleed. Prolonged exposer to the sun causes orc flesh to wither, this will cause great pain and eventually death to the orc. Orcs are immune to most poisons that affect humans, though the touch of cold iron immediately causes orc skin to blister and peel. Orcs are immune to the cold but they become weak when exposed to temperatures above freezing. Orcs also can see in absolute darkness and even see through the thick black mists that enshroud northern Daduchus, but light is painful to their eyes, even a candle makes them uncomfortable though it will not significantly hinder them.

Orc society is more egalitarian and structured than that of goblins. Males and females have equal status and equal rights. Orc society is also strictly hierarchical, having different classes who swear fealty to the class above themselves in a very feudalistic manner. This extends all the way up to kings and queens of orcish kingdoms, and many orcs believe that one day there will be an emperor to rule over all orcs. Orcs view themselves as the nobility who are meant to rule over others, and even the lowest in the orcs hierarchy are the equivalent of knights in human society. The real workers and laborers among the orcs, the serfs of their feudal system, are not orcs at all, but goblins. Orcs often go on raids to capture goblins to use as slaves, but many goblins join with the orcs of their own volition. Goblins who fear oppression for religious reasons or who resent the rule of the hobgoblins will often seek out orcs as protectors. In such situations, despite their extreme cruelty, the orcs will swear an oath to defend the goblins from harm in exchange for lifelong labor on the part of the goblins. Orcs keep virtually never break such an oath, but an orc is betrayed they will spot at nothing to get vengeance on the oath breaker, this vengeance usually entails weeks of horrible torture.

Because orcs are sensitive to iron, they use neither iron nor steel tools or weapons, instead they use brass. Because brass contains no iron and is comparable to steel in its strength, it makes an ideal metal for orcs to use. Orcs are excellent metal workers and make fine quality swords and armor, the typical orc can be seen wearing a brass breastplate, chain mail, or a coat of plates for armor. Another metal that orcs use is called dark steel. Dark steel is not really a metal at all, but created from the essence of evil stolen away from another creature. Among the orcs there is a profession called shadow shapers, who have the ability to control the very essence of darkness. They will take a slave or prisoner and light a small candle nearby, causing the victim's shadow to be cast against the wall. The orc then sinks its talons into the victims shadow and rips it free from the body; this horrible act shreds apart the victim's soul driving them forever insane or leaving them as a drooling vegetable. It is said that the act of having your shadow stolen is the most painful experience that any sensient being can suffer. The shadow shaper can then use the shadow for any number of purposes, such as animating it into an intelligent servant, consuming it to strengthen the orc's personal powers, or forging it into dark steel. A dark steel weapon is highly prized among orcs and quite expensive, its is much stronger than steel and much lighter as well, even when it is damaged it will reform into its natural shape unless it is completely burned away or exposed to sunlight. When a dark steel blade pierces the flesh of a living creature, it also chills them to the bone, drawing out the warm and life from their bodies.

Orcs use their goblin (or sometimes other creatures) servants to build huge fortresses for them. These keeps are more than just defensive structures, they are castles covered with ornate carvings and with redundant structures which exist to only to please the orcish eye. Along the same lines, orc clothing is stylized and esthetically pleasing. It is usually significant to the individual orc in some regard, such as bearing some personal crest or family heraldry. Orcs favor large dark fur trimmed cloaks worn over their other clothing and even their armor, these help to conceal orcs from other creature's limited vision is the dark mists in their realm.

When orcs go into battle, they ride Worgs. A Worg is a creature than in some ways resembles the dire wolf to the south, yet is also different in a number of ways. It is larger, as big a a full sized horse, and has a slightly different build. Its shape is slightly more catlike in some regards, having hugely powerful shoulders and large claws upon its feet. Their jaws are massive and filled with rows of dagger-like teeth, their faces look like a grotesque mixture between that of a bat, a cat, and a hyena. A Worg's fur is as dark and night its eyes gleam an eerie red. Worgs were created by orcs using selective breeding and dark magic over the years, feeding dire wolves alchemical substances to make them larger and more powerful and well as subjecting them to other foul experiments.

Orcs worship no deity nor do they believe in an afterlife, they think that all things go into oblivion after death unless their souls are somehow preserved through magic. They do believe in gods and greater supernatural creatures, but do not think that such creatures are worthy of worship. Some orcs do occasionally preform a ritual here or there to seek favor from a certain greater power, but they see it as more of a business arrangement than any kind of worship. Orcs do tend to practice sorcery at a fairly high rate, it is not uncommon for them to summon forth creatures of darkness and evil do do their bidding or perhaps to make an arrangement with. Demonic pacts are the closest that orcs get to true religion, and they look down on those who dedicate themselves in service of gods who the orcs believe will ultimately betray the worshipers and allow his or her soul to go into nothingness. They view such things as prayer as pathetic begging and believe themselves above it.

In orc society, the first born child of an orc couple is destined to inherit all that its parents own. Sometimes this first born child must be patient because of the extremely long life spans of orcs, despite this fact and orcs evil nature, patricide is almost unheard of because of the orcs' sense of personal honor and family loyalty. The second born child in an orc family receives training in some form of special professional skill. For poorer orc families, this could mean that the 2nd born orc becomes a scribe, stone mason, or blacksmith; in wealthier families the 2nd born orcs can expect to become shadow shapers, alchemists, or sorcerers. The largest category of orc are those called the "3rd Born" who are orcs who have at least 2 older siblings. These third born receive nothing from their parents after reaching adulthood aside from a weapon, armor, and a Worg. The 3rd Born are the knights and warriors of the orcish populace. They go to battle toe earn their money and to achieve glory and prestige that was denied them by birth. Though some 3rd Born die in battle, others win fortunes and lands greater than those that their parents held and they too carry on the tradition with their children. Because of orcish inheritance, arranged marriages are the uniformly practiced in their society. Because first born males often wed first born female, it means that wealth is often concentrated over the years into extremely wealthy families. This tendency often leads to feudal warfare between different orcish families because of the dichotomy in wealth - with 3rd born orcs fighting both sides trying to win land of their own.

Physical Description
Valgnar are large and powerfully built humanoids, with males standing at an average of 6'4" and females at around 5'8" and in both cases, they are well muscled and thick boned compared to humans. Their skin is a shade of light green. Their teeth are similar to those of humans, though their cuspids are very large and sharp in comparison, especially their lower cuspids which often extend out of the mouth. Their eyes are a shade of pale green or yellow-green and allow them to see in very little light, though they are also sensitive to the full light of day, making the Valgnar more nocturnal than diurnal. Valgnar are hairless. They age and mature at about the same rate as humans do.

Culture
The Valgnar are a race that highly esteems warfare, strength, courage in battle, and martial prowess. Every male Valgnar is a warrior first and his other professions secondarily and even the women, who often stay home farming and raising children when males fight, are expected to be competent warriors. Valgnar have a Darwinian outlook on life, where the strong should rule over the weak and that battle is how superiority and inferiority are determined. Valgnar often take slaves from their conquered enemies, which are forced to do manual labor and are looked down upon as cowards, since they surrendered rather than die in battle.

Along with their belief in martial prowess, the Valgnar believe in honor as well - in the importance of keeping your oath, in protecting your family, in loyalty to your friends and your lord. Valgnar society is feudal in many regards, with the warriors of a village swearing fealty to the village chief and the chiefs swearing loyalty to lords, and with a number of warring kings who demand the loyalty of a number of lords beneath them. As many male Valgnar die in battle, it is customary for chiefs or highly successful warriors to have many wives.  

The Valgnar worship a mother and father god and goddess, the king and queen of the gods, and then also venerate a number of their children, gods of various things like weather, fire, plants, and so on. The king of the gods is, of course, a warrior and the queen a goddess of motherhood, hearth, and home.

The Valgnar have the ability to work iron and even steel, though their skills at architecture, science, and other measures of civilization lag a little bit behind their military technology. They do have castles and keeps for lords and kings, along with ships for raiders and walls to protect their towns, though the typical Valgnar peasant lives a relatively spartan existence.