The Tribes

A tribe is a collection of orcs who have bonded together for personal, safety, and political reasons. Tribes represent factions of the clan, usually accepting orcs from all Bludlines. The tribes are led by Nobs, who are responsible for their tribe members. Rivalries between Tribes can sometimes be intense and occasionally much orc blood will be shed. However, if things get out of hand and start to disrupt the Clan, the Elders may step in and put an end to the squabbling. Tribes always declare temporary cease fires and work together as a Clan when the Warboss is present or there is a threat of hummies.

There were three original tribes, Bloodmoon, Howling Skulls and Hebiters. The Hedbiters had troubel staying active within Clan politics, as they were all too drunk to pay attention to what was going on around them. So for the first many months, the Howlers and the Moonies fought with each other for dominance within the Clan. After the Blakblud incidents, the Clan was reluctant to let new tribes form. But T'berog, Scumglug and Nub'hosh all proved themselves worthy and founded the remaining three tribes.

Order of tribes foundation and boot color:

1. Bloodmoon Tribe - Blood Red
2. Howling Skulls Tribe - Dark Purple
3. Hedbiter Tribe - Puke Green
4. Blakblud Tribe - Gold *(disbanded)
5. Throquat Uzg Tribe - Dark Green
6. Thrak-Ghaash Tribe - Orange Red
7. Shrinku Tribe - Deep Blue

Bloodmoons [Founded by UnsGub]

The BloodMoon Tribe was one of the first two formed in the early days of the Clan. Orcs in this tribe tend to be fervently religious and devoted to the WarGod. This religious mindset makes them more introspective than most orcs. Having a certain calm, inner peace is important to them, and they often go on pilgrimages or make sacrifices when they feel this peace is disturbed. This calmness is also evident in battle, where they coolly engage the enemy, hacking at them with a strange gleam in their eyes while chanting prayers and devotions to the WarGod.

The BloodMoon Tribe is a group of zealot orcs, bound together to carry out the WarGod's will and motivated by the desire to spread his word. They have been chosen by the WarGod and will do anything to force others to either follow the WarGod or die if they resist him. A BloodMoon orcs (or "Moonies") can spend a great deal of time preaching the WarGod's message to others and is willing to die to force them to agree.

The BloodMoon tribe firmly believes that all power springs from the heart, and thus they tend to collect hearts of all kinds, especially their own. Some will even drink blood from a fresh victim in their pursuit of this power.

They never care about right or wrong - it is the WarGod's will. They never stop to think how their actions may have consequences for others. They just follow the WarGod and his orders blindly and never question his intent. Accidents will be attributed to the Will of the WarGod. BloodMoon orcs also place more value in their beliefs than on their own life which can make them very dangerous.

Moonies consider themselves to be closer to the WarGod and hence, superior to others, including other orcs. They disregard all others' opinions as the WarGod is the only one capable of valid reasoning. This WarGod pride often leads them to be greedy, arrogant, intolerant and egocentric.

As the Power of the WarGod continues to grow, Bloodmoon orcs can often be found eagerly collecting tribute for the WarGod. Another of the BloodMoon's missions is to spread the WarGod "Insanity" plague to all other orcs and to non-orcs. Orcs have been blessed with the power of "Insanity". Every non-believer should be given the opportunity to hear about the WarGod and become a Convert. Human conversion involves death of the human flesh so that the spirit can visit the WarGod and be given Orcish flesh. Non-believers should be clomped so their spirit can visit the WarGod personally where the WarGod's direct influence can produce this conversion. Repeated attempts at conversion with some stubborn unbelievers is not unheard of. Sometimes the spirit is still human in the Orcish flesh and a repeated clomping of a non-converted gruntee is then required.

The WarGod talks to many and is often very hard to interpret. The reception and interpretation of the WarGod's plans are currently left up to the Mojoka, Nobs and the occasional enlightened Orc. When the WarGod needs action the BloodMoons shall do it. BloodMoons following the WarGod's directions will acquire objects of power and clomp the WarGod's enemies. BloodMoon orcs pride themselves at being the best Lusk, Womp, and Ligz in the Clan, for which they credit the WarGod's power.

Howling Skulls [Founded by JagrUk]

The Howling Skull tribe is, along with the BloodMoons, one of the two oldest in the Shadow Clan. Formed by JagrUk, the "Howlers" are closely aligned with the wolves (or Howlers) from which they derive their name.

Howlers are often a loud and terrifying group of orcs. In the midst of battle, at the moment of victory, or for any time of celebration, it is not uncommon to see a Howler raise his voice in a loud imitation of a wolf's howl. The noise of their Aaaaaarrrrrrrrrooooooo!!" can itself defeat many a faint-hearted foe. Howlers will growl and snarl much more quickly than other orcs, not always because they are genuinely angry, but just because they enjoy the effect.

In battle, the Howlers usually adopt a "Berserker attitude" whilst in combat and will work themselves up into a frenzy, not halting it until either they or their enemy are slain. Although they are judged to be one of the "friendlier" tribes by non-orcs, they are still orcs, and very much enjoy a fight, whether they win or lose (though they much prefer the latter). These orcs would never surrender in combat, not that any orc does this anyway, although in the past when near death one or two have been captured by enemies. Being an honorable tribe, any orc (and gruntees especially) should be very wary of a Howler while in combat, as they have a tendency to attack everything not "respectable" in sight.

Part of the Howler tradition is to introduce their friends, the wolves or "Howlerz", into their day-to-day activities. A Howler likes nothing more than being accompanied by his very own "real" Howler when entering into combat. They are their furry friends after all, and quite good to have as extra support. The Howler orcs will very often talk to them as if they were their best friends, as well as giving them food, petting them, and above all else, protecting them from any dangers. If attacked by the occasional unfriendly Howler (like those Dread Wolves), the Howler orc believes that it is a sign that the WarGod is trying to tell him something, and is perhaps being punished by the wolf spirits for some past wrong. There is an extremely tight bond between the Howler orcs and the wolves of the forests, and any who oppose the Howlers would do well to take this tradition into account.

When not involved in fighting the Howlers are often thought of as lazy by other orcs. Frenzied combat is tiresome on the psyche and the body, and after a combat they can very well be loath to do any kind of work at all. If they survive a battle and once they have dressed their wounds, the Howlers will be seen just hanging around the orc fort, sitting on a chair, making snoring sounds, and will appear to other orcs and non-orcs alike that they are quite incapacitated.

Oftentimes, a Howler will get a caught up in the Howler madness a bit too much. If they are involved in a great deal of combat, a Howler can get stuck in a frenzied berserker fit. They will be seen howling at the moon during night, scratching themselves behind the ears with their feet, chasing fleas, or displaying some other similar sort of temporary dementia. If this behavior is observed in an orc, then it's probably a Howler in the middle of a fit.

Howler orcs often deal in a more sedate manner than the orcs from the other Shadow Clan tribes. Not that they will be friendly to any non-orcs that has the temerity to enter the fort without having a VERY good reason for being there, but the Howlers are usually a little less inclined to "clomp" first and ask questions of their ghost. Being typical greedy orcs, however, giving tribute in the form of "shinies" or "fuud" can alleviate much tension.

Head Biters [Founded by GugFruk]

Ug! Me GugFruk, Nob of Hedbiter tribe. Hedbiters no like anybody but orcs, no smellie humie, no smellie elfie, no smellie drow or pict!! Hedbiters like to drink and fight, if no body to fight get drunk or fight each uder! Har...Har...Har!!! Hedbiter orcs are the meanest most foul and the rudest of the orcs they like to belch, fart and spew chunks for fun. GugFruk no like to work it takes away from drinkin and clomp'n time, der are weaker orks to do da cooking and sewing...Har...Har...

Tribe color is green from when I hurl in dye tub. Also take pride in how gud you smell try to do things to smell bedder...GugFruk like to roll in pigpen at fort and leave puke on boots smells gud! Hedbiters also like to eat flesh dat the best meal der is and save the heads in bag they smell real gud after a day or two.

-----------------------

Though one of the original tribes, the founder, GugFruk, was an epitome of what being a Hedbiter is all about, and thus, rarely awoke from his drunken stupors to keep his tribe active. But then, many moons later, an upstart orc by the name of Igtuk, had heard tales of the Hedbiters and longed to bring them back to life. After much discussion with the Elder Nobs and the rousing of GugFruk himself, Igtuk was proclaimed the second Nob of the Hedbiters and they have been an active force in the Clan ever since.

Throquat Uzg [Founded by T'Berog]

T'berog awakies frum restluss sleep, notucing da Howler next tu him ate half ub his bed-mat. T'berog growls. "Me gona womp yu gud fur dat." T'berog clomps da Howler wit his womp, agh before he reelize wut he has dun, da Howler all bluddy agh nub move! Da uder furry Howlers around see dis and run away from T'berog, dey nub want get womped by dis orc. T'berog sees Kargrath comin so T'berog quickly puts da dead howler in da barrel so da Howling Skull Nob nub see what he had done. Confused agh tired from all dis craziness, T'berog falls asleep on wut remains ob his bed-mat.

T'berog begins to dream. Him dreaming ob wut just happened, but in dis dream him go clomping on agh on agh neber stop. All da animuls in da forrest - clomped by T'berog. Der Picts in dis dream dat say "Styp!", but T'berog keep clompin. Him nub just clomp da animuls, but him clomp da trees agh da mountains. Him goes on to devour agh raze all da land.

Den in dis dream T'berog come to big wooden thing in da water. T'berog knows him used to always be scared ob da water, but steps into da wooden boat agh it goes so far in da water dat T'berog nub see land anymore. Den a big water worm come out ob da water agh engulfs T'berog. Da stomach acid starts burnin his soon tu be nub flesh. "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!"

"Waaaaaaa!!!!" T'berog wakes up. Him luk around agh see gruntees luking at him funi.

"Skah! Nub bother wit me rite now!", T'berog blurts out. Den him starts thinkin about his dream. Him tink dat is a sign. But him nub tu gud at interpreting dis dream, so him tink dat it mean dat all land is orc land, agh it him job to return it to da orcs while destroyin it agh eberyting on it in da process. T'berog starts goin around tryin to convince orcs dat him rite.

--------------------------

This was the first tribe to be formed after the initial three. T'berog was Blud'Womp-r at the time that he convinced the Nobs and Elders to let him form the Throquats.

Blakbluds. [Rebel Tribe, story from Kil'rogg]

Zuuly's BlakBluds, referred to hereafter as the BlakBluds, were created as a direct result of the Zuuly revolution, the revolution started by Gu'Clomp the mojoka and named for ZugZuul (Zuuly) the HedBiter Nob. ZugZuul proclaimed his disgust for the current state of the orcs, specifically their becoming "civilized" and acting like "humie lovers" and stomped out of the fort to wander the forests as a "true orc", a savage, bloodthirsty, hater-of-everything-not-an-orc.

Zuuly's first day in the woods was spent savagely wielding his mighty womp, HumieCrusher, killing everything that crossed his path, both beast and humanoid alike. Zuuly's bloodlust lasted well into the night until absolute fatigue overtook him and he sunk to the ground with his back against a tree. He could be heard muttering and grumbling... "crazee orks, dey forgot hoo dem is. Dey forget dey fadders and dey fadders-fadders and wuts it meens ta be a ork." *grumble* *mutters* Zuuly fell into an exhausted slumber.

Zuuly dreamed, and in his dream found himself face to face with the WarGod. Zuuly was still angry and disgusted from the day's events and didn't bow to the WarGod. He glared at him instead.

"Y u let orks forget past? Y u let dem go soft 'round belly and skwishy in da hed? Y u turn dem into humie lubbers?" Zuuly spat at the WarGod.

The WarGod eyes grew round with surprise. Was this orc daring to be insolent to him, and in his own realm? The WarGod roared, huge neck muscles straining beneath his red, leathery skin.

"IT NUB ME! IT U AND NOBS AND ELDERS!" the WarGod bellowed shaking the glowing red walls of the cavern. With a move so fast Zuuly had not the time to blink, the WarGod brought his massive, two-handed, gleaming white-hot axe over his head and then drove it straight down, splitting Zuuly in twain. The two sides of Zuuly twitched violently, blood fountaining into the air. The WarGod thrust his mighty hand into what remained of Zuuly's chest and brought out a glowing, pulsing black sphere.

Sages have argued for centuries whether the soul truly exists, and if so, where it resides. What the WarGod was holding now was the true essence of Zuuly, his eternal soul and very core of his being. The WarGod watched the black sphere and saw streaks of blood red lightning race across it's surface. An orc's sphere should be pure, jet black. These blood red streaks confused the WarGod. He called to his servant, the once great Clan'Mojoka of the Shadowclan, ZugRak.

"ZUGRAK! KUM HERE NOW!" the WarGod called out, never taking his eyes off the hypnotic blood red lightning. The WarGod knew that were he to crush this sphere, which was in his power to do, Zuuly would cease to exist.

ZugRak heard the call of his master and rushed to his side, immediately throwing himself to the ground and bowing profusely. The WarGod looked down on ZugRak and thrust his free hand into ZugRak's back, shattering his spine and crushing his ribcage. ZugRak cried out in pain, for somehow he was still alive. The WarGod withdrew his hand, this time holding a blood red sphere. Blood red? What was this? The two spheres should be black, no other color. The ShadowClan was losing it's way. This had to stop.

He thrust the blood red sphere that was ZugRak back into ZugRak's crushed body, but this time where his hand touched, rapid healing began. When he removed his hand, free of the ZugRak sphere, ZugRak's body was whole again.

The WarGod returned his attention to the ZugZuul sphere. It looked like ZugZuul was fighting a war in his very soul. The taint that had corrupted ZugRak was trying to take over ZugZuul. So far, ZugZuul was resisting. The WarGod smiled. The WarGod spoke directly to ZugZuul's soul.

"U MUST FIX MY ORKS. U MUST RETURN DEM TO DA OLD WAYS." And having said that, he squeezed ZugZuul's soul, marking it forever so that ZugZuul would not forget.

The WarGod looked down on the shattered remains of ZugZuul's body. Looking at it closely, he could see that it was the body of an archer orc. If ZugZuul was to return the orcs to the old ways, he would need to wield the lusk.

Holding his left hand palm up, he placed the sphere of ZugZuul in it and closed his fingers tightly around it. With his right hand he wove circles around his left hand, fingers dancing wildly. Creation mojo was at work here, and when it was done, a new, more heavily muscled, meaner looking orc remained. His left hand was still deep in ZugZuul's chest, and ZugZuul dangled many feet from the floor. The WarGod sent energy through his left arm and down into the ZugZuul sphere. ZugZuul's eyes popped open, and his mouth immediately twisted into a snarl.

"GUD. GUD." The WarGod said smiling. "NOW U NEED PARTNER."

Zuuly growled at the WarGod. "Me nub need nub one! Me can do it by me self!"

"NUB. NUB." The WarGod corrected ZugZuul. "ORKS WORK TOGETHER. ONE ORK AGAINST CLAN NUB CAN DO IT. U NEED PARTNER. WHICH ORK IS CLOSEST TO DA OLD WAYS, AN ORK HOO CAN LEED DA ORKS WID U?"

Zuuly stopped snarling and considered the WarGod's words. Who, of all the orcs, was closest to the olds ways? The name came to ZugZuul immediately, and he smiled an evil smile.

"Gug'gug." Zuuly said to the WarGod.

The WarGod snapped the fingers of his right hand and the Gug'gug sphere popped into his hand. Zuuly grinned evilly. Wherever gug'gug was now, he was having a soul-wrenching experience. The WarGod examined the gug'gug sphere closely. It was black. ZugZuul had chosen well. There was hope yet.

"U HAB CHOSEN WELL." the WarGod said, and released the gug'gug sphere to return to gug'gug. He drew back his right arm, hand balled into a giant fist.

"NOW NUB FORGET!" The WarGod bellowed and smashed ZugZuul straight inthe face with a blow so hard that ZugZuul flew off of the WarGod's armand hit the far cavern wall. ZugZuul seemed to merge with the wall andthen he was gone.

ZugZuul woke with a start. What an incredible dream he just had. Imagine the WarGod touching his soul and remaking his body. ZugZuul chuckled to himself and pushed himself to his feet using his lusk for support. His lusk?!?! ZugZuul looked at the weapon. It appeared quite ordinary. It was only when ZugZuul spun quickly and planted the edge six inches into the tree behind and then wrenched easily from it that he knew it had not been a dream. ZugZuul grinned evilly. Time to go tell gug'gug.

Thrak-Ghaash [Founded by Scumglug]

One of the newer tribes in the Shadow Clan, the Thrak-Ghaash was formed from some surviving orcs from the Blakblud tribe, several orcs from other tribes, and a few tribeless Grunts and senior Gruntees. They established themselves quickly, and even had a Warboss from their tribe within a few months of their founding. This tribe believes that one of the manifestations of the Wargod on the world is thru ghaash (fire). They call the Wargod Ghaashakh (the Lord of Fire), and themselves the Thrak-Ghaash (literally, Bring Fire). They believe that the Wargod is in the fire (or has an opening from his realm to ours through the fire - as his realm is of fire). They believe that the more fire, the more Wargod (or the bigger the opening, and thus the more power he can directly bring through). Thus, one of their goals is to burn as much as they can, and they are rarely found without at least one fire nearby. They will talk to the fire. They will pray to the fire. They will cook anything they eat on the fire. They will sacrifice their victims to the Wargod by putting them in the fire. They will send their own dead to the Wargod on funeral pyres. On trips, they will carry torches, so that the Wargod travels with them. 

The Thrak-Ghaash combat style is to perform hit-and-run attacks. In fast and out fast before the enemy has time to respond or get organized. If they take the field, they'll spend a little extra time to light fires to burn the buildings and sacrifice the victims' bodies. But they love running, and will run headlong into every battle. The orcs of the this tribe revere mojokas, because mojokas can actually use fire to attack! Their holy items are items of Demon Breath, and for the mojokas, wands and staves of Fireballs. They don't fear fire at all. They still feel pain from the fire, but revel in the pain, feeling that it is the blessing of the Wargod, and brings them into a state of mind where they can understand him better. Their ceremonies involve bathing in fire. They proudly show their scars from the fire to one another. 

Their views on the other tribes are somewhat obvious. They either regard the Moonies as brothers in the Wargod, or as somewhat misguided. They see the Howlers as too lazy, the Hedbiters somewhat neutrally (as the Thrak-Ghaash enjoy liquor - something you can drink that will burn!), and actually like the Throquats, and will gladly help in their conquests, as long as they let them burn what they conquer. Their attitude towards others (like humies) using fire is glee that these others are stupid enough to call forth Ghaashakh on their own but without knowledge of his power, and the Thrak-Ghaash orcs have even a greater respect for Ghaashakh being so clever as to fool the humies into willingly bringing forth upon themselves their ultimate doom! This of course is a generalization for orcs in this tribe, and not all of them will follow all of these beliefs to the same extent, nor are other variations unknown. This tribe can also include orcs that are basically just firebugs, or even those that just love staring into the fire.

Thrak-Ghaash Tribal History by Bluhg'nag

Srinkhu [Founded by Nub'hosh]

Srinkhu are known as "packrats". They believe that the "Wargod" sent things to the land for orcs, and that they shouldn't be wasted.
They could be compared with a ranger. A ranger believes in not wasting the lands resources, and keeping the greedy from taking more then they need. A Srinkhu Orc, however, believes nearly the opposite. They believe that the lands resources or other "thingies" shouldn't be wasted by just laying on the ground, while they could be used for the greater benefit of Orc Life.

Srinkhu accomplish this goal of "not wasting thingies" by collecting all that they can within something they call their "Srinkhulag", also known as a "Kollekshun". This collection of objects is a way they keep things from being wasted, or being harmed by Humans. Also, this collection puts the items to good use because the Srinkhu shows them off with pride. A Srinkhu with no Srinkhulag, is like a Hedbiter without cider.

A "Srinkhulag" can be made up of anything... pieces of kindling...extra weapons... dice..gold..jewels. As you can see, items in a Srinkhulag are not particularly valuable. A Srinkhu orc would much rather have a torch, gem, and dice, rather then say, a magical piece of armor.

Next, through time the Srinkhu become to value one particular item for one reason or another. This item, they call their "Tala'rubug". These special items for some reason or another, has become inseparable from the orc. A Srinkhu's Tala'rubug may be a battle torn orc helm, from a great orc king of the distant past, or it could be a gruntee that the Srinkhu orc has especially trained and become close to.

Many Srinkhu are also known for their great bargaining ability. Their is basically two templates of this ability.

Through the Srinkhu's history however, they have found things that are beyond redemption due to humans corruption. Srinkhu will not loot these "humie things", even though if found laying around they may become part of their Srinkhulag (if found on a human they are unsavable).

Historical note on tribeless orcs: They used to have  four ranks:  Glob, Gund, Tala'gund, and Lata'goth.