List of Orcish Tribes

Organization
Orc tribes represent the division of practices, specializations, religious sects, and territorial divisions in the Dahandiak Plains, where the majority of orcs today live. Common values unite family raiding units within tribes, but in-tribe interactions are not necessarily peaceful. Strength and dominance are universally valued in orcish culture; if one family unit believes that another has been weakened or is vulnerable, they will raid the other group and take thralls. If sufficiently devastated, the smaller family group is absorbed into the larger one, or splinters into small groups that are quickly absorbed.

Despite this apparent rivalry, inter-tribe conflicts typically induce unity, and warfare between groups is common. The nomadic lifestyle of many orcs and the well-defended city strongholds of the rest prevents quick conflict resolution, and entire generations can be caught in feuds totally unrelated to their actual family group.

Simultaneously, and perhaps paradoxically, unarmed orcs may participate in trade within and between tribes; attacking a fellow orc who carries no arms carries a great taboo in orcish culture. Going unarmed is typically seen as a cowardly refusal to face challenges or defend oneself, but the act of shirking weapons while traveling the dangerous plains brooks great respect. Said wanderers are the lifeblood of inter-tribal trade.

The Fist of Hyurah is neutral ground between the tribes, controlled since recorded elven history by a collectivist tribe served by trade from other groups. Traders, outcasts, and pilgrims fill the land around the great plateau, which receives more foreign diplomats than any other Dahandiak site.