Northern Orc Tribes

Referring to more of an ethic group of mainly true blooded Orcs than the a racial group as a whole, the Northern Orc Tribes are the common name in The Westfold for the bands of Orcs that live mostly nomadically in the Barren Waste lying to the north of The Locke.

Orc life in the Waste
Living in a continent filled with little fruit bearing vegetation or arable land bands of Orcs have traveled the wastes nomadically for much of the known history. Not much is known of their culture as they are highly territorial, nomadic, and extremely solitary.

What is known of their life in the waste is that they heard wasteland animals for food and furs and travel the continent on a roughly seasonal basis. They will locate small makeshift huts in one tribal location for a month or two at a time. There village locations are rarely the same and rarely are reused the next year.

It is highly known the Orc tribes fear the open ocean and stay miles away from the coastline traveling the inner wastes over traveling the coast.

Numbers and Migration
Orc numbers are hard to estimate on a continent basis. Recently whole tribes have been seen wandering south into the Boardfort but these are known to be smaller tribes or pieces of a larger tribe, rarely numbering larger than 20 males, females and children called whelps. It is more commonly thought that a normal Orc tribe numbers near 100 with roughly 30 fighting fit males and some fighting females.

Recent reports hold notes of the Northern Orc tribes moving at faster intervals and in larger bands with a report going as far as to say a tribe of 500 was seen. As of the last two years the Orc Tribes are known to travel further to the edges of what is commonly known to be their territory, some threatening the pirate cities while others bordering The Westfold itself.

Skills
The Orcs of the Orc Tribes are highly religious, superstitious and skilled in a number of survival skills. They are well respected trackers, hunters and gifted at setting ambushes. They are seemingly unmatched militarily in their own wastelands. They keep no prisoners and rarely leave any alive after a successful raid. In raids they will take food and useful items over things of worth and of monetary value.

Their warbands tend to be small groups of three to ten are most common though larger numbers have been recorded. They travel light, with minimal food, and on run on foot. Besides their fanatic love of Barren Waste ambushes they lack any sort of known discipline and their weapons are designed for blunt trauma damage over slicing and maiming damage. Their weaponry is made to break shields and armor as well as kill nearly instantly while using strength.

Rumors
- They are said to be moving south enmasse - That the God Kord is leading them in a horde laying waste to the coastal cities - They have found a powerful artifact that can tear down walls - They are taking to the seas enmasse and heading towards the Eastern Continents