orc

peoples/orc.tex

@@ -1,3 +1,52 @@
 \chapter[Orc]{The Jovial Orc}
 
-It takes a village to raise an orc.
+\begin{firstpar}
+    It takes a village to raise an orc. In fact, often there is no other way, as the manner of orc reproduction is such that parentage is frequently ambiguous. This is why orcs communities are deeply connected -- it is everyone's responsibility to take care of the young and bonds form, to some degree, between all members of a village or a neighborhood.
+\end{firstpar}
+
+It is not exactly clear where the orc come from, as all orcs appear, to the human observer, outwardly male. The only indisputable fact is that orcish life starts in filth. Small, almost larva-like orcish embryos are frequently found in middens and compost heaps around orc populations. Their mating rituals we shall not write of, except to note that they are likewise foul.
+
+\begin{multicols}{2}
+    This might lead one to believe that orcs are naturally slovenly. To the contrary: orcish abodes and villages are remarkably clean, as a precaution against a population explosion.
+
+    The fact remains that once a child is found, it must be taken care of. Not least because a feral orc presents a danger to everyone around it.
+
+    Orc ancestry itself is fairly peculiar. They tend to take on something of their environment: rural orcs have greenish skin that can sometimes even take on a leaf-like texture, more urban orcs take on the characteristics of the people around them, while those that live near the sea can even appear somewhat marine.
+\end{multicols}
+
+\section*{Outcast By Necessity}
+
+Other societies frequently shun orcs, and they are banned from many cities, due to the quite rational fear of feral orc children running wild inside the city walls. Where they are allowed, they normally stay together in orc-majority neighborhoods, where the spawning of new individuals of their kind can be monitored.
+
+\begin{multicols}{2}
+    In a well-organized urban orc community, members regularly inspect sewers, middens and other places where refuse is deposited, for fresh orclings in need of socialization. If their real parents cannot be determined, as is often the case, they are given to any available orc family to raise. Even then, the entire community takes responsibility and helps with the raising and education of the next generation.
+
+    In towns where children of all peoples frequently wind up orphaned -- such as mining and fishing towns -- orc families regularly take in the orphans and care for them as their own. Conversely, other families will take in orclings, if a couple cannot conceive children of their own.
+\end{multicols}
+
+\section*{Friend to All}
+\nopagebreak
+\begin{multicols}{2}
+    Despite the treatment they usually receive, anyone willing to be friendly to orcs will find 
+    them very easy to befriend. Many a stranded traveler has had their life saved by a passing orc caravan. They tend to be generous with their supplies and will share them with anyone they consider in need.
+
+    Their friendliness is, however, not without limit. They are ever wary of the first sign of rejection -- a lesson hard-learned by their kind, as even initially friendly towns frequently turn on them unpredictably.
+
+    Those who cherish their friendship with the orc will find them, in turn, generous and constant companions in return. This often extends to the orc's entire family, as they always help out their own, and, by extension, their friends.
+\end{multicols}
+
+\section*{Product of His Environment}
+
+\begin{multicols}{2}
+    It is not clear how or why orc take on something of their environment, but the resemblance is undeniable. Rural orc and orc living in the wilderness will take on the color of the local flora and sometimes fauna. More urban orc grow to closely resemble other peoples that surround them.
+
+    Orc that live close to nature usually have greenish skin and some can even subsist for a while on only water and sunlight. Those that work with animals sometimes have large amounts of hair and even horns. There have even been reports of bear-like orc living deep in Tomno forest.
+
+    In towns, orc take on the characteristics of other peoples around them. Orc populations in human towns take on the pink skin and average stature of their fellow denizens. Those living among the Jaen look more canine and have more hair.
+
+    Strangely, those living with dwarves and the fae do not take on any resemblance and revert to what is sometimes called `Pure Orc'.
+
+    The term is adopted by certain entirely orc cities that aim to ``maintain the orc bloodline,'' as they claim. They often ban, not only all non-orcs, but also all of what they call `half-orcs' -- orc that display any sign of influence other than orc.
+
+    Outside those groups, the term half-orc refers to individuals who have known-mixed parentage, or who very clearly straddle the middle between two peoples.
+\end{multicols}