Orcs

''Orcs are sapient humanoid creatures that have made their appearance in Aos during the course of the 18th century. They are well known for their huge appetite and their violent disposition.''

''The average adult orc is about two meters tall, though it's not uncommon for them to reach three or four meters of height. They have scaly, green-brownish skin, thick waist and limbs, and their arms are so long that they can easily reach their knees. Their shoulders are extremely wide and muscular, to the point that they are forced to walk in a crouched position, and their faces are reptilian-looking, lacking a pronounced nose and having small horns protruding from their foreheads, but their most striking feature is their mouth, which is disproportionately large compared to their small heads and can grow even larger, since they can dislocate their jaw at will to ingest their prey whole, which they do often as they get more nourishment from eating other creatures whilst theyare still alive.''

''Orcs are usually lazy and sluggish, generally being active only when chasing a particularly appetizing prey —usually a sentient being— or when brawling with each other. The same carelessness can be found in most of their activities and crafts. It's however important to notice that orcs can be suprisingly cunning, it's just that normally they don't feel like making excessive use of their heads.''

''The orcs are usually organized in small tribes of a few dozen individuals, and their hierarchy is established by raw fighting prowess, with the strongest one being the leader. The same trend applies to their mating rituals. All orcs are hermaphrodites, having both female and male organs inside of their cloaca, but they take on a female role when interacting with stronger orcs and a male one when interacting with weaker ones. In fact, mating with a defeated opponent is actually how the orc leaders establish their supremacy, at least when they don't just eat their rivals alive to add their power to theirs.''

''Orcs have a peculiar innate magic, that allows them to absorb part of the aura of the creatures they eat, becoming stronger in the process. Creatures with strong auras are considered delicacies by the orcs, and eating them while they are alive allow for the greatest rate of aura absorption.''

''...when an orc's aura surpasses a certain threshold, they can evolve into ogres. Ogres have a much stronger aura than orcs and they also have an almost complete control over their bodies, something which gives them impressive regenerative capabilities and even limited shapeshifting powers. Because of this, ogres can vary greatly in appearance, since they can alter their characteristics —although it's not a simple process and it takes a lot of time and effort for them to drastically change their shapes— but most of them choose to simply look like bigger, stronger and tougher orcs.''

''Finally, in some rare cases ogres can evolve further, becoming creatures commonly known as oni. An oni's powers and aura are several magnitudes above those of an ogre, being able to alter their shapes pretty much at will and regenerating entire limbs in a matter of seconds. Because of this, oni are extremely dangerous and difficult to kill, but luckily they are also exceedingly rare. The last documented appearance of an oni date back to the 21th century though there have been rumors of some of those creatures living in the Dark Heart.''

Excerpt from “A Wayfarer's Guide to the Unknown Volume III, Creatures and Monsters” by Septim Logan, published by Auric Golden Press

Culture
Orcs are, by nature, hierarchical creatures because of this, it's been observed that it's really difficult to break their morale and make them run away until their leaders are defeated. Orcs decide their hierarchy based on strength, and their leaders are invariably the strongest orcs and ogres —and in this case onis— around. However, there is a weakness in that sort of thinking. It has been observed that nothing demoralizes an orc like watching its leader being overpowered by a single enemy... apparently, the thought that there is something stronger than their leader fighting against them really makes the orcs scared and prone to running away. Ch. 92

He didn't want to bow in front of his lieutenants. Bowing is a gesture of submission for orcs, and usually an invitation to mate. It's kind of like dropping the soap. - ''comments on Ch. 109 by ValetheHowl''

Evolutions
Orc > Ogre > Oni

Orcs get stronger by eating creatures with a strong aura, be they animals, humans or even other orcs. When they have eaten enough of them, they can evolve into an Ogre, which is stronger, smarter and more powerful than normal orcs. Since orcs have a might makes right mentality and the ogres are very powerful indeed, a single ogre can command dozens, if not hundreds, of orcs. They are strong enough to be a serious threat even for a veteran aura master. They are still pathetically weak compared to an Oni, the legendary final stage of the orc evolution. There have been only three documented Oni in history, and according to the tales, each one of them has been a huge threat. Not only they are incredibly powerful by themselves, but they also instinctively command obedience in other orcs and ogres, allowing them to lead them more effectively as a unified force rather than a collection of wild tribes. An Oni has not been seen in the last three hundred years.

Notable Orcs

 * The Blue Terror
 * the blue-skinned Oni that has unified the orc tribes under his rule. Not only strong and powerful enough to force all other orcs and ogres of the Caligare Forest into submission, but also smart enough to organize them into an effective fighting force.
 * Tiny-Sneaky
 * The Blue Terror's most trusted lieutenant
 * Smasher
 * one of Blueskin's strongest subordinates. He was a hulking behemoth clad in plate armor which made him look even bulkier and armed with a colossal spiked mace that looked like it could smash boulders like candies (Ch. 90). Killed by the King of Ashwood Hills.
 * Bigjaw
 * Killed by the King of Ashwood Hills (Ch. 90).
 * One Eye
 * Killed by the King of Ashwood Hills (Ch. 90).

The War of the Behemoth
In the twelfth century a huge horde of orcs emerged from the Dark Heart, guided by an oni called the Behemoth. They laid waste to Rodenheim and Medelan before heading west and invading the Green Vale, where they spent three months ravaging the land and killing and eating anyone they came across. They even came close to Alia, the Imperial Capital, before the armies of the Empire finally managed to defeat them.

Multiple imperial armies fought the orcs, and they were all defeated. After a particularly bad defeat, they had to call for help from the Castillar Frontier Legion, plus most of the Aura Masters available in the entire Empire, in order to fight the orcs. And even then, it was tight. By the end of the battle, the imperial forces had been decimated, though the orcs had been thoroughly exterminated.

According to the accounts from that time, people had seriously started fearing for the fate of the Empire, and some even theorize that had the orcs been allowed to ravage the lands a bit longer and become stronger, maybe the Empire would have fallen. '''Ch. 87'''