ORCS, ORKIN, HIGH ORCS AND HALF-ORCS

The Old Ones had long been served by a race of degenerate, inbred cavemen (a sub-race of Neanderthal) and degenerate tunnel midgets, both of whom had become slaves of Chaos in ancient days. When they began their plans to overthrow the Ardean Empire, the Old Ones discovered that these slaves were inadequate soldiers to achieve their needs. The mysterious leaders of the Old Ones made a pact with a great Demonic power and received a modified version of the “Create Goblins” spell which used pig's blood to create the hardier Orcs. Orcs are bigger than goblins, but crooked of limb, snouted, rough-skinned, red-eyed and tusked. Orc males and females look identical in the eyes of non-orcs and can breed and produce of litter of 1-4 orclings in 6 months. The young are ferocious and can fight as kobolds as early as 4 months old, and they reach adulthood by 1 year of age.

Around Portchester, the Orcs formed the spear-point of the Old One's assault on Dengwur's empire and the Ardean remnants. They became bitter foes of the goblins, hobgoblins and bugbears of Dengwur. Even today, orcs will violently attack any goblinoids on sight, in preference even to elves or dwarves.

While Orcs are the main shock troops of the Old Ones, some of them found even these to be inadequate and began a program to interbreed them with their cavemen slaves. This program created the first of the Orkin ( a word used to describe any creature with mixed orcish blood). There are many types of Orkin encountered, but the most notable are the so-called High Orcs (or sometime Half-Orcs). The High Orcs are dangerous battlefield soldiers and often form the leadership of lesser orc tribes.