[center][h1][color=99CCFF][b]Races[/b][/color][/h1][/center]

[hider=Humans]
[color=LightGreen][b]Name:[/b][/color] Humans
[color=LightGreen][b]Playable?:[/b][/color] Yes
[color=LightGreen][b]Appearance:[/b][/color] Humans normally stand between five and a half and six and a half feet tall with variation based on a number of factors (sex, nutrition, and genetics among them). They are fairly average in build, being neither particularly strong nor dextrous.

[color=LightGreen][b]Culture:[/b][/color] Humans are an eclectic but proud people, boasting a wide variety of heritages with differing holidays based on religion, military performances, and their aforementioned heritages. Their pride is the reason humans are so difficult to control, yet also why humans are so eager to control others. It should be no surprise, then, that Orvell, the greatest empire known to the world and the empire after which the world is named, was built by human hands.

Humans live short lives, and as such they engage in a great many worldly pleasures. Wealth, wine, incense, coffee, pleasures of the flesh... All these things are of great value to humanity, and greed is a common drive among them.

This is not to say that humans are without virtue. Most human cultures value honor, truth and courage even if they do not always live up to their own standards. Songs are sung of warriors who die valiantly on the battlefield for their brothers-in-arms, of young maidens who sacrifice everything for their lovers, and of men who deny worldly pleasures for the sake of justice and goodness. They are a romantic people and have romanticized these virtues. Perhaps that is why they are prone to fault: they set such lofty goals for themselves that it must seem impossible to be as virtuous as those heroes of legend.

[color=LightGreen][b]Outlook:[/b][/color] If there is one word that is embraced by human civilization, it is "Progress." Progress is a strange term with a strange idea: that humanity is always advancing, always building off of the failures of the past, and always becoming something greater.

In truth, though no human would admit this, the proper term that defines humanity is "Hubris." They are too proud to see what harm they cause, and they are all too willing to ignore the merits of other civilizations when comparing them to their own. It is typical for a human to believe there is only one right way of doing something, and that right way is always a human way.

Given that, humans are often either jealous of or looking down on other races - sometimes both. They wish for the long lives of the elder races and for the might of the orcs, yet still mock orcish society for being "barbaric" and "inferior." Such is the human way.

Humans frequently see the world as black and white. There is evil and the force of good that opposes it; there is justice which quells injustice. This makes discussion of the Orvell Empire a very divisive topic: some believe that it was a force of order and helped the world whereas others believe it was only holding humanity back. Needless to say, wars have been fought over this debate.

[color=LightGreen][b]Strengths:[/b][/color] While humans preach "Progress" and "the future," they are still very much bound to the oldest means of settling a debate: violence. While not individually strong in martial combat, humans shine in warfare. Tactics and strategy come easily to them.

As humans are physically average and generally have no natural attributes that make them stand out, they find themselves needing a means to prove themselves equals of the other races. They build advanced tools to accomplish such tasks - large mills with saws and moving parts and so forth - and also use that expertise to fashion weapons of war. Trebuchets are the hallmark of human ingenuity, a deceptively simple device with massive range and considerable firepower.

[color=LightGreen][b]Weaknesses:[/b][/color] The trouble with humans is this: all their great inventions and their tactical know-how cannot allay them of their inability to adapt to the changing times. Despite their empire based on "Progress" having fallen apart, they still tout it as their watchword. They are inflexible, having ostensible beliefs of their position as the greatest of all races. For this reason, their diplomatic relations suffer. Humans are also bad at adapting to environments not suited to them, instead trying to force their environment to adapt to them. 

[color=LightGreen][b]History:[/b][/color] Humanity built its first great cities in what would become the Orvelli Empire, though their first years were hardly glorious. Constant warfare with each other and their neighbors marked these beginnings. There was no unity. There was no order.

But then a young warlord, Ulrich Orvell, came from the great western woods with an army at his back and the wizard Aldaban at his side. Ulrich was a tactical genius and Aldaban wielded terrifying magical powers. Together, the two of them united the disparate human cities in the west, forming the Kingdom of Orvell, which would later become the Orvelli Empire.

In the east, desert warlords and nomads settled along the rivers and coasts of what would become Eastern Orvell, bringing with them their own unique brand of culture. Though they eventually became subjects of the Empire, they held vast territories of their own, creating such dazzling cities as Arumach and Ekrech.

In this way, humans established their presence as the most influential race in Orvell. Though the Orvelli Empire has collapsed and the remaining kingdoms crumble a little more with each passing day, humans remain a powerful race on the continent. However, they no longer are undisputed, and the other races are certainly not happy with their treatment at the hands of their once-conquerors.
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[hider=Orcs]
[color=LightGreen][b]Name:[/b][/color] Orcs
[color=LightGreen][b]Playable?:[/b][/color] Yes
[color=LightGreen][b]Appearance:[/b][/color] Sometimes called "Pig-Men" for their somewhat porcine appearance, orcs are large, brutish people that stand taller than most other races, some reaching a over eight feet of height. Most, however, stand between six and seven and a half feet tall. They have green or gray skin and are considerably well muscled, hefting weapons that humans would find nigh impossible to wield. They have long, sharp fangs, a snout-like mouth, a flat nose with flared nostrils, pointed ears and bright yellow eyes. Simply put, they are terrifying.

[color=LightGreen][b]Culture:[/b][/color] Orcs have a warrior culture based around hero worship. They do not believe in an after life, instead believing that the only way to live on beyond death is to be spoken of in stories. It is for this reason that orcs wage war with other races so much: stories are told often of great and terrible orcish warriors, both by their people and by their enemies, so killing and conquering is the best means by which an orc may live on beyond death. So, orcs of all sorts, weak and strong, man and woman, throw themselves into battle with reckless fury, trying to secure a lasting memory of themselves that will be passed on for generations.

For the same reason, bards and storytellers are highly valued among the orcs. They believe, however, that books and scrolls rob a story of its power, thus killing the spirit of heroes, and they make every effort to burn down libraries and monasteries as a result. Better to free the hero spirits than to leave them trapped by some worm.

Interestingly, orcs do not hate those who slay a great many of them in battle, but indeed respect them and even worship them as they do their own heroes. A great warrior remains a great warrior no matter who it is he kills, after all. So, they pray both to orcish heroes and those of humans and other races to gain power from them, hoping they can call upon their strength and wisdom to gain an edge over their enemies in battle.

Orcish celebrations are rowdy affairs full of drinking, dancing and bloodsport. They enjoy a good duel as much (or more) as any race. Whether those fights be battles of fang and fist or sword and axe is irrelevant; spilled blood lights a fire in an orc's spirit, bringing about spouts of pleasure and rage all at once. Between this, their great athleticism and their vigor, it is only natural that orcs take well to contests of strength and to gladiatorial combat.

Unlike many other races, orcs do not see women as a weaker gender but as equals. A great warrior may take many spouses, so a powerful man may have many wives and a powerful woman may have many husbands. It is also not unknown for orcs to take spouses from members of other races, though such partnerships are rarely willing...

When orcs battle in a city or town, some terrible carnal acts inevitably happen, and children are born from these unholy unions. While such practices are looked down upon by orcs - their society believes that mates should be chosen for life, not used and cast aside - young orcish warriors still do these terrible deeds. From these deeds children are born, and those children are first generation half-orcs.

Some orcs have converted to other religions, but even they cannot seem to quench their thirst for glory and battle. They are rarely content to settle in one place.

[color=LightGreen][b]Outlook:[/b][/color] Orcs respect strength. Orcs make every effort to become strong so that they may have more mates and thus parent more children.

While death without glory is to be feared, glorious death is a tantalizing fruit that makes orcs all too eager to throw themselves into battle. If a story lives on about them or a battle they participated in, they will survive beyond death, so they strive to forge a legend of death and destruction around themselves. This is how the stories of orcs cutting through swathes of their enemies are born: such warriors plunge themselves blindly into the thick of battle, hacking and hewing away at their opponents with a wild ferocity. While these powerful orcs are not the norm, they are common enough that orcish warriors are feared across the world.

Despite their famous bloodthirst, orcs are a relatively pragmatic people when it comes to choosing their battles. Glory is only had if one can do sufficient damage, after all, or if one's victory is great. So, while orcs are quick to anger, they are also quite capable of controlling that anger. They make for magnificent mercenaries, and they choose their battles carefully. This extends to the marketplace and to politics: patience is maintained until the moment they can move for total victory presents itself.

[color=LightGreen][b]Strengths:[/b][/color] Orcs are physical powerhouses, possessing a natural athleticism and incredible strength. More than that, they are trained from youth to be warriors, as battle is the best means by which one can live forever through stories. Thus, there is no such thing as an "untrained" orcish warrior; they all must learn to fight at a young age.

Orcs also possess a strange bloodlust which they are carefully taught to control. This bloodlust makes them stronger and faster, but it also removes their inhibitions and makes them act more foolishly in battle, so they must know when to release their anger and when to hold it in check. This makes them an incredibly calm and patient folk... until the time comes to party or to kill.

[color=LightGreen][b]Weaknesses:[/b][/color] That bloodlust and anger can very easily work against the orcs, however, should they fail to control it. It can make them reckless, see insult where there is none, and even drive them to attack their own allies in extreme cases. This reputation precedes orcs, and they are trusted by many people and are barred from several settlements in Orvell. Some towns even attack orcs on sight.

Also, orcs' great size makes them poor candidates for missions that require stealth or subtlety. Indeed, there is little about the orcish race that can be described as "subtle." They are prone to shouting before charging, to blowing war horns to announce their presence, to frightening the enemy rather than evading them.

While orcs are not stupid, their culture abhors the written word, so they are usually illiterate.

[color=LightGreen][b]History:[/b][/color] Orcs hail from the dunes and mountains of the east. There they have fought many warriors with the desert lords, forcing those people further and further west, leading to the settlement of Orvell's eastern coast. Upon finding this lush new land, the orcs spread out into the wilderness, constructing new encampments and villages in the woods and becoming, in human words, "A blight upon civilization."

Orcs are not always antagonistic to humans, of course. They sometimes align themselves with certain lords, proving themselves to be capable allies and dangerous enemies. It was one such alliance that led to the establishment of orcish towns in Orvell: King Ulrich, first ruler of Orvell, promised a powerful orcish tribe land if they would join him in his conquest. Orcs became an integral part of Orvell's history, serving sometimes as raiders, sometimes as allies, and once as the backbone of the Empire's army.

With the collapse of the empire, however, the orcish race is no longer given much respect. They are seen as brutes and barbarians, and while few doubt the usefulness of orcish mercenaries in battle, most prefer to keep them at a safe distance. It does not help that many orcish tribes refuse to accept any form of diplomacy other than surrender, spoiling whatever good reputation the orcish race may have had.
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[hider=Half-Orcs (INCOMPLETE)][center][IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Warrior_orc,_Battle_for_Wesnoth.png[/IMG][/center]
[color=LightGreen][b]Name:[/b][/color] Half-Orcs
[color=LightGreen][b]Playable?:[/b][/color] Yes
[color=LightGreen][b]Appearance:[/b][/color]
[color=LightGreen][b]Culture:[/b][/color]
[color=LightGreen][b]Outlook:[/b][/color]
[color=LightGreen][b]Strengths:[/b][/color]
[color=LightGreen][b]Weaknesses:[/b][/color]
[color=LightGreen][b]History:[/b][/color]
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