Early history and supposed creation in Exandria

Orcs' origins on Exandria are shrouded in legend, and some of their creation myths are known to be false.

Orcs had existed for a long time as the Age of Arcanum drew to a close, and by then half-orcs were already a race by themselves, as the product of the interaction between the orcs and other humanoids.^[16][17]

During the first century of the Calamity,^[18] when Corellon pierced the eye of Gruumsh, his blood seared elves in the field, who became vengeful and orc-like. According to legend believed in the Post-Divergence era, that was the point when the race as a whole was created,^[5] although others contend that the Ruiner created the race by himself;^[19] both of these versions are untrue, and are spread by Gruumsh and his followers because he wishes to take credit for their creation.^[20] Those new orcs lost their initial instinctive bellicosity when that battle ended,^[21] and despite their transformation, some of them sought out their elvish kin: in Marquet they joined in a utopian city that would later be known as Cael Morrow, the "Drowned City", when the Ruiner, in his anger, shunted it deep into the earth.^[22]

Due to this supposed general connection with Gruumsh, many believe that all orcs and half-orcs have the blood of Gruumsh, driving them to a violence and anger orcs call hgar'Gruum, the curse of ruin. Despite widespread belief in this among the orcish and among others, the curse of ruin does not exist, and orcs are only drawn to violence and anger for the same natural reasons as other mortal creatures.^[5]

Era of Reclamation

After Gruumsh was defeated and banished, many of his orcish war clans splintered and went into hiding. Included among these were the Odakar orcs who held the Ashkeeper Peaks. Splitting from this group were some leaderless droves who migrated north into the Rime Plains, and these orcs suffered a schism between those who succumbed to Gruumsh's influence (the Jez-Araz marauders) and those who found inspiration in Kord, the Stormlord (the Boroftkrah clan). The latter went on the create the eponymous settlement of Boroftkrah.^[19]

Some orcs settled around the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Calamity, which had plenty of weapons to salvage; this settlement was called Bladegarden, and for a time it was a part of the Julous Dominion. After the Julous Dominion fell to the Dwendalian Empire, the empire reached out to some of the more approachable members of the settlement, offering wages and access to goods and services. Many accepted, and Bladegarden was incorporated into the empire; other orcish clans who disagreed with this accord were driven east towards the Brokenveil Marsh.^[23][24]

Campaign One: Vox Machina

"Trial of the Take: Part 1" (1x18)

Near the Glasswalk Road in Othanzia, a raiding party of orcs, accompanied by an orc-ogre hybrid (called an ogrillon^[25]) and a dire wolf, attacked the camp of Grog, Lyra, Percy, Scanlan, Vex'ahlia, and Zahra Hydris as the adventurers trekked north to hunt a white dragon. The last surviving orc gave them limited information before Grog executed him.^[26]

Campaign Two: The Mighty Nein

"The Gentleman's Path" (2x19)

The Mighty Nein briefly stopped at the house of an orc veteran who had hide armor and meat for trade. Matthew Mercer intended for the character to possibly offer some mentoring to Fjord, encouraging him to embrace his heritage. Since Fjord decided to stay outside during the encounter, some of those same threads were later introduced in the character of Wursh.^[27]

"Beneath Bazzoxan" (2x66)

On their way to Bazzoxan, the Mighty Nein raced on moorbounders past a small settlement of orc marauders in the Barbed Fields. They deployed a fireball and an insect plague to discourage the warg-mounted orcs from following.^[28]

Marquet

To the south of the Rumedam Desert and Panagrip Sands are the Gloomed Jungles of Aeshanadoor, home to an erudite orcish society called the Court of the Lambent Path in the city of Yios.^[29]

Tal'Dorei

Unlike certain races of the continent, clans of Gwessar orcs didn't hide from The Calamity but fought in god-scale, gory battles set on the Dividing Plains, surviving through their sheer endurance, aspiration, and perhaps in part because of the divine power behind their creation. When the war was over, their fury faded out.

In the early days of Gwessar, orc clans were belligerent to anyone who invaded their territory, especially the goliaths who left their mountain shelters where they waited out the Calamity and descended to the plains, and who possess incredible strength and physique to rival orcs'. But common sense prevailed even among the most passionate warmongers and the conflict subsided over time.^[21]

In 836 PD, orcs and their descendants live all across Tal'Dorei, many of them in specific trades intertwined with their physique, but they work in other professions as well. Though orcs and humans have a long rooted legacy of conflict with prejudice as the cause, the realm is filled with people who denounce and ostracize individuals who discriminate against their orc neighbors.^[30]

Dwendalian Empire

Bladegarden is both a military training complex and the core of orcish society within the Empire; it secures the empire's eastern border.^[31] Following the incorporation of Bladegarden into the Empire, orcs are among the most celebrated imperial soldiers, but many folk still fear the Curse of ruin.^[1]

Menagerie Coast

Orcs and half-orcs alike, believing that the curse of ruin caused them to lash out at loved ones, seek respite in the city of Othe via spiritual peace and belonging.^[1]

Greying Wildlands

The orcs of Boroftkrah have a strong community that communes with Kord (particularly during thunderstorms) through contests of tracking and hunting, and makes offerings of strong prey. The settlement welcomes outsiders who are strong in the eyes of Kord, but it clashes frequently with the Jez-Araz and sometimes with hunting parties from Uthodurn. The community includes some orogs,^[32] a type of orc set apart from the rest of their kind by their strength and amazing cunning and intellect.^[33]

Xhorhas

Xhorhasian orcs primarily live in nomadic, mixed bands with humans and bugbears, taming the beasts of the wastes and mostly trading peacefully with the Kryn Dynasty. Though nomadic orcs welcome the city-folk of the Dynasty to join their clans, they become angered when Kryn souls are reborn in orc bodies.^[1]

Due to the superstition about the curse of ruin, it is strictly taboo for orcs and goblinkin to have children, as the latter are known to carry the all-too-real Curse of Strife and the nomadic elders fear the madness that would come from a soul afflicted with both curses. So despite living in bands with bugbears, most half-orcs in Xhorhas have human or drow blood.^[1]

Exandrian deities

Like other mortal races, orcs have the free will to choose what deities they worship, or if they worship anything at all. Whenever they face religion, members of this race often take into account aspects such as the nature of the deity in question or their own history. This is reflected in the worship of Kord, a god who appreciates fierce nature and physical prowess;^[32] Corellon, the elven deity worshipped by the ancestors of some of the orcs;^[35] or Gruumsh, who tries to influence this race and claim it as his creation.^[20]

However, sometimes certain orcs' devotion and/or innate connection to divinity grants them unusual abilities that set them apart from their peers.

Orc Eye of Gruumsh

One adventure hook set in Boroftkrah involves an orc eye of Gruumsh leading orcs and orogs.^[36] In the Monster Manual, which includes lore that is not Exandria canon, "eye of Gruumsh" refers to an orc particularly devoted to the Ruiner. After a bloody slaughter against their god's enemies, the orc in question sacrifices one of their eyes in honor of the loss of Gruumsh's eye. If he is pleased, he rewards the new Eye of Gruumsh with increased strength and physical resistance, as well as the ability to channel his power to cast spells. In places where there is a cult of the Ruiner, the Eyes of Gruumsh are usually the ones who lead them.^[33]