Managed to crank this out over the course of an hour, this is largely a compilation of thoughts slapped into hiders, so input, corrections and organization are appreciated. The “Great Horde” is left rather vague for a reason, and I can elaborate on it if you wish me to.
Descended from the Great Horde and having split off to live in the mountains, this tribe is almost innocent in that it has minimal exposure to the words “Good” and “Evil”. Isolated from most of the world, the members of this tribe live simple existences - hunting, some minor development, and following their sacred codes of honor, passed down across many generations. They get their name from the mountain they reside.
Having expanded their numbers in the last few centuries, they are still rather small in the grand scheme of things. They live in their mountain village, home of most of the population, with hunters scattered around the foot of their home mountain and farms below that claim about ⅕ of the population. The gender ratio is fairly equal; there is no problem with too many babies or the like, as most of them go through a rather tough and as some would call it barbaric initiation that thins out numbers anyways, first at birth and secondly when they come of age.
Trassav-Dir orcs follow a division of the code of the Great Horde, having been one of the colonial tribes as compared to the strictly warrior ones. The result is them following all the basic parts of the code, but not all of the more spartan traditions of some of the other Great Horde tribes.
That said, they still have a few key traditions. The hardcore ones are less and less common (the process of choosing the chief may drop entirely and move to a system that involves only elders making the decision in a few generations). Less hardcore ones are common, but not religiously observed.
The first is the Code of Honor. It is what guides every orc, from a young age to elderly, or so say the devout followers that are getting smaller in rank and file. Long story short, it is one that demands the respect of elders, honor and courage in all situations, and shames cowards/those who would betray each other. This tradition in particular promotes a feeling of trust in the tribe, as it is sacrilege to be dishonest. Over the years, a sub-tradition has developed for respecting the land itself, and the animals upon it. Those who kill needlessly should be eliminated themselves.
The second primary tradition is Initiation, taken up by the more religious members of the tribe and just about all the warrior families. Orcs at the age of 5 orcs are thrown into the cold pond at the foot of the mountain and are expected to find their way out, alive. It isn’t very deep and has been completed successfully by 70% of the population that does it (still only making up about ⅕ of the whole). That was the easy part for any initiate.
The second part comes when they are mature, 16 or so, and is overseen by the elders, who act as moderators of the event. Born to hunting, climbing and ultimately combat, the youths are expected to climb to the top of the mountain using a quite possibly fatal path and battle the chieftain.
The chieftain is naturally expected to win. The test is getting up there and convincing, through battle, the chief of one's worthiness of being a part of the tribe. They are given a strong wooden pole, and so is the chieftain. If the youth uses, it is up to the chief to decide how well they fought; those who are deemed unworthy can be sent away from the tribe… forever (although this has gotten more and more rare). Those who win are given a special recognition, and are considered “protectors of the tribe” - basically, drafted into becoming tribal police.
Additionally, a special tradition has developed over the ages from the location on the mountain with the village; the prayer of the elders to the “Mountain God” who is said to be protecting the tribe and giving its prosperity. Half the farmers think it is hogwash and the rest treat it as “Where were you when I lost that crop?” for the most part.
That said, they still have a few key traditions. The hardcore ones are less and less common (the process of choosing the chief may drop entirely and move to a system that involves only elders making the decision in a few generations). Less hardcore ones are common, but not religiously observed.
The first is the Code of Honor. It is what guides every orc, from a young age to elderly, or so say the devout followers that are getting smaller in rank and file. Long story short, it is one that demands the respect of elders, honor and courage in all situations, and shames cowards/those who would betray each other. This tradition in particular promotes a feeling of trust in the tribe, as it is sacrilege to be dishonest. Over the years, a sub-tradition has developed for respecting the land itself, and the animals upon it. Those who kill needlessly should be eliminated themselves.
The second primary tradition is Initiation, taken up by the more religious members of the tribe and just about all the warrior families. Orcs at the age of 5 orcs are thrown into the cold pond at the foot of the mountain and are expected to find their way out, alive. It isn’t very deep and has been completed successfully by 70% of the population that does it (still only making up about ⅕ of the whole). That was the easy part for any initiate.
The second part comes when they are mature, 16 or so, and is overseen by the elders, who act as moderators of the event. Born to hunting, climbing and ultimately combat, the youths are expected to climb to the top of the mountain using a quite possibly fatal path and battle the chieftain.
The chieftain is naturally expected to win. The test is getting up there and convincing, through battle, the chief of one's worthiness of being a part of the tribe. They are given a strong wooden pole, and so is the chieftain. If the youth uses, it is up to the chief to decide how well they fought; those who are deemed unworthy can be sent away from the tribe… forever (although this has gotten more and more rare). Those who win are given a special recognition, and are considered “protectors of the tribe” - basically, drafted into becoming tribal police.
Additionally, a special tradition has developed over the ages from the location on the mountain with the village; the prayer of the elders to the “Mountain God” who is said to be protecting the tribe and giving its prosperity. Half the farmers think it is hogwash and the rest treat it as “Where were you when I lost that crop?” for the most part.
The choosing of the chieftain goes by a very old system used by the Great Horde to determine if somebody is worthy. Those who wish to become chief must firstly declare their intent and be approved as worth giving the attention in the first place by the Elders. Gender does not matter in this, and neither does age - someone who gets past initiation can challenge the chieftain again, so long as the Elders approve of the whole process. No outsider, however, can become chief unless part of the tribe by 4 generations. The rest of the process works the same as initiation of youths, only both parties are allowed to pick weapons, and only one is expected to come down the mountain alive (there is no time limit; one time it took 3 weeks for the new chief to come back down).
If, however, the chieftain dies of old age, then it lies upon a maximum of 3 contestants from the “police force” to battle it out in the same way as above. It isn’t really first come, first serve, as Elders need to approve of all 3.
Once the possibly long process of becoming a chieftain is over, the new chieftain is expected to handle all diplomacy, be the final judge of cases (unless he appoints somebody to do the task for him), lead the tribe in the event of war, participate in the above mentioned traditions, and approve of new members of the Tribal Guard (the tribe’s “police”).
The Elders are limited to two at a time; they are chosen from the oldest two members of the tribe. Others can have the status of “old one”, but the Elders are the ones who actually advise the chieftain, help oversee events, and “communicate’ with the “Mountain Spirit” every month, leading the tribe into it(essentially, being priests of a tribe-wide prayer session).
The Tribal Guard’s member are specifically chosen by the chieftain unless a circumstance such as with tradition “drafts” them into it. They tend to be people who have completed initiation - those who have not are not seen as “warrior” families, and most often do not get picked. They are expected to keep the peace, even though about half of the tribe would take up arms no matter what anyways in the case of war or a large enough dispute. The amount of Tribal Guard has shrunk over time - it was created only in the past 300 years and started at 400 members, now down to around 60. They are the ones who would be required to join a war, although “drafting” is allowed for the chief to do if there is not enough manpower.
The civilians of the tribe range from peaceful hunters who only want to get some food on the table, to casual village traders, to hardcore Great Horde believers that still think that the call may one day come again. Although youth tend to be treated with more watching and a bit less freedom in going anywhere by family, most people in the tribe are equal - although there is a small population of “mountain folk” from rouge dwarves and humans that typically live outside the village that trade inwards. Farmers tend to care less than villagers about the state of affairs at higher levels, wishing only to get their jobs done and sometimes to get rid of pesky outsider farmers who are less than inclined to stick with the code of honor.
If, however, the chieftain dies of old age, then it lies upon a maximum of 3 contestants from the “police force” to battle it out in the same way as above. It isn’t really first come, first serve, as Elders need to approve of all 3.
Once the possibly long process of becoming a chieftain is over, the new chieftain is expected to handle all diplomacy, be the final judge of cases (unless he appoints somebody to do the task for him), lead the tribe in the event of war, participate in the above mentioned traditions, and approve of new members of the Tribal Guard (the tribe’s “police”).
The Elders are limited to two at a time; they are chosen from the oldest two members of the tribe. Others can have the status of “old one”, but the Elders are the ones who actually advise the chieftain, help oversee events, and “communicate’ with the “Mountain Spirit” every month, leading the tribe into it(essentially, being priests of a tribe-wide prayer session).
The Tribal Guard’s member are specifically chosen by the chieftain unless a circumstance such as with tradition “drafts” them into it. They tend to be people who have completed initiation - those who have not are not seen as “warrior” families, and most often do not get picked. They are expected to keep the peace, even though about half of the tribe would take up arms no matter what anyways in the case of war or a large enough dispute. The amount of Tribal Guard has shrunk over time - it was created only in the past 300 years and started at 400 members, now down to around 60. They are the ones who would be required to join a war, although “drafting” is allowed for the chief to do if there is not enough manpower.
The civilians of the tribe range from peaceful hunters who only want to get some food on the table, to casual village traders, to hardcore Great Horde believers that still think that the call may one day come again. Although youth tend to be treated with more watching and a bit less freedom in going anywhere by family, most people in the tribe are equal - although there is a small population of “mountain folk” from rouge dwarves and humans that typically live outside the village that trade inwards. Farmers tend to care less than villagers about the state of affairs at higher levels, wishing only to get their jobs done and sometimes to get rid of pesky outsider farmers who are less than inclined to stick with the code of honor.
Primitive. Equipment is mostly stone or wood, with some iron being treated with respect, as it is the little that they get from outside hunters. Spears are the weapons of choice, bows are not very common, and the ones that are tend to be average. Often, in the farms, the best weapons are handmade axes.
Technically, the warriors are the Tribal Guard, but fighters can be enthusiastically claimed by the warrior population and some of the rest. About half the population doesn’t know the first thing about real fighting, and many of those don’t know much about hunting either (including the farmer population). They tend to wield spears and make use of a species of War Dog that has since evolved to almost being more of a possessive family pet, although warrior families have tried to keep the old ways with them. The war dogs act as cavalry, upon which orcs typically use shields and spears to attack if needed in an actual war. The orcs would dismount and fight on foot if required. Most of the guard fight minus the war dogs, but are better trained based on their status. There is a third division, mostly hunters, that fight using bows relatively well.
-Education is managed on a family-by-family basis.
-The farming population tends to manage itself, and rarely does much besides trade with their home village.
-The village is a bustling center of living quarters, making things and trading between residents, farmers and hunters.
-Hunters tend to stay on the borders of acknowledged tribal territory, and sometimes poach on farms.
-Tribal Guard are trained by the senior members of tribal guard, mostly though combat practice and inner initiations by the senior members.
-The tribe is ultimately not prepared for a real war situation, even though there are families that have kept up on the old ways.
-Worst comes to worst, a small fraction of the population would actually dedicate themselves to the revival of the “Great Horde” if one should ever come.
-Minimal contact and involvement with neighbors.
-Unless somebody tells me to invent one, there is no “Mountain God”. Please don’t tell any characters part of this tribe, especially the ones who fall for it.
-The farming population tends to manage itself, and rarely does much besides trade with their home village.
-The village is a bustling center of living quarters, making things and trading between residents, farmers and hunters.
-Hunters tend to stay on the borders of acknowledged tribal territory, and sometimes poach on farms.
-Tribal Guard are trained by the senior members of tribal guard, mostly though combat practice and inner initiations by the senior members.
-The tribe is ultimately not prepared for a real war situation, even though there are families that have kept up on the old ways.
-Worst comes to worst, a small fraction of the population would actually dedicate themselves to the revival of the “Great Horde” if one should ever come.
-Minimal contact and involvement with neighbors.
-Unless somebody tells me to invent one, there is no “Mountain God”. Please don’t tell any characters part of this tribe, especially the ones who fall for it.
Trade is limited and is typically between hunters and dedicated traders in the village market. The goods such as meat, wheat and tools are the dominant items. Tools and equipment are often circulated down to the farmers, who provide crops that are the sustaining of life itself in the village
Mostly hunting, crafting (tools, simpler ones), farming, and building/mining. Hunting is the most common (farming is also common, but the next bit doesn’t apply) and tends to be where folks have the most “fun”.
In the village, unlike traditional orcs, these are quite flexible and agile in comparison, having made their ways countless times across treacherous mountains and having needed to use their reflexes to conquer dangerous beasts (and, for some in the tribe, initiation). In the farms, they more resemble traditional orcs that want to live their lives. Sometimes leading to disputes with hunters, particularly outsiders.