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Ogres are grey or blue Human-like creatures found in the north of Aloria in areas of southern Ellador as well as northern Essalonia. Their history is ancient, going back as far as the days of the Drovv, to more recent times, in which they harassed Velheim Ailor who dared to encroach the territory of their Truggs, or groups. These Truggs are led by Chieftains, who speak for their Truggs in the annual “Great Horn” debates across the north. Ogres are known especially for their alchemically-valuable blood, and for their heavy, durable bones, which are sought after by artisans and Orcish weaponsmiths alike.
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| Fauna | |
| Official Name | Ogre |
| Common Nicknames | Grunter Orcs |
| Classification | Mammal |
| Habitat | Southern Ellador and northern Essalonia |
| Domesticated | No |
| Current Status | Rare |
History
Alorian civilizations have long known of the Ogre; the Drovv, spiritual predecessors to the Drowdar, frequently observed the brutes in northern Aloria, decades before the Dwarves stumbled across them. The Dwarves had little interest in Ogres, a sentiment which would be shared by the Elven Empire when they, too, discovered them. When the Velheim Ailor discovered them some two centuries before the Cataclysm, however, the Ogres became symbols in Velheimer culture. Some saw them as the giant gods or their servants, and so left them alone, while others believed Ogres to be the first of the races that would inherit Aloria’s remnants, after the end of the world. Others, still, thought they were trials send by gods of war and conflict like Varfal, to test warriors. However, Ogre populations underwent a steep decline, suffering mass-deaths from the Fifth Void Invasion. With the Drovv extinct, the Void was no longer contained; it began to spread, in search of new vessels to corrupt. Many victims of this new corruption were the Ogres, as well as the cousins, the Trolls. What once were semi-intelligent, prideful beings, became terrible, horned beasts with only a mind for their next battle.
When the Elven Empire’s slave armies faced the now-twisted Ogres, they carried stories of the beasts with them, either back to their homes, or to the new Ailor settlements founded as they fled. These stories would quickly become legend, describing terrifying Void monsters that might snatch a misbehaving child away in the night. The Cataclysm also killed a number of unaffected Trolls and Ogres outright, when territory that once belonged to the Drovv plunged into the ocean, while many other Alorian landmasses shifted. In this new age, the Ogres were encountered anew by Velheim Ailor. However, now armed with the stories created by the Cataclysm, the Ailor fought against them frequently over the next century. In particular the Ailor of Trollar, while more populous in Trolls, still pursued Ogres with ferocity as they viewed Ogres as the leaders of Trolls and their superior in the natural order. With time however, came change. Velheim Ailor eventually came to realize that Ogres were not dumb beasts, that they did not possess naturally created horns on their heads and that they only wanted to be left alone. Their aid against the Vampires in the Unspoken War also helped show that they were reasonable beings. By 250 AC, active Ogre hunting had stopped and they were left in peace. Today, Ogres survive in their small Truggs in southern Ellador, in particular along the islands claimed by the nations of Trollar and Anduin as well as in areas of northern Essalonia. Locals to these regions do still occasionally hunt them, but the vicious malice is gone from the activity. Both sides will still fight fiercely to defend themselves, however, should the need arise.
Physical Appearance
Ogres as like the Alorian Races in that they can vary in size and stature. The largest Ogres are ten feet tall though they are also the rarest as the normal range is anywhere from six to nine feet. Their weights have a correspondingly wide range, from 200 to 500 pounds. Ogre heads are disproportionately small, but very thick, with beady, dull eyes, wide noses, ears similar to those of Orcs. Ogre teeth are very similar in appearance to those of Humans, aside from the pair of tusks that jut from their bottom lips in place of lower canine teeth. These tusks are similar to those of Orcs, though they are longer, some reaching up to four feet, and are always dirtier. Classically, Ogres have always been depicted as physically similar to Orcs, as the peak of physicality and muscularity, but the truth is more underwhelming. Ogres are a thick-boned species, and tend to be quite fat and bulky in their body sizes, comparable to the Chubby Body Build with large limbs and five-digit hands and feet. When they are younger, they appear more fit and in shape but with age, they increase in weight. Their size is mostly due to their practice of long slumbers. While not quite hibernation, they can sleep for several weeks straight before waking themselves up. In order to do this, they constantly pack on weight and bulk to sustain this practice. Their skin color ranges from an ash grey to light blue and they possess thick grey fur on their arms, legs and back. They can also be found with tattered hides on their bodies covering their modesty and private areas though they do not always have this. Additionally, some also wear horned skulls on their heads, sometimes from known species and other times not.
Their bodies are also a wealth of valuable materials. In the modern age, this is one of the chief reasons they are hunted, as these materials can help create some advanced and very interesting concoctions for alchemists and glorious works of art of usable tools by others. Ogre Blood has medicinal effects, able to cure skin rashes, alleviate hard fevers and reduce complications in pregnancy, though some alchemists and doctors are suspicious of its effects on the unborn child. Additionally, their bones are thick, and carve beautifully, with many notable or powerful Velheim families possess one, if not two, carved Ogre bones from the years when the beast was fervently hunted. Today, acquiring Ogre bones is a bit more nuanced as they will sometimes allow people to take the bones of their dead in exchange for things but other groups do not, and sometimes AIlor simply steal the bones without the permission of Ogres. They have also been found to be of excellent use in Orcish weapons due to their bluntness and those Orcs that work as mercenaries in the North Belt or who live on Trollar long term often crave such weapons.
Diversity
Ogres are equal in their gender population but due to their small Truggs, clustered across the north, there can sometimes be whole groups of only male or only female Ogres. As for diversity in their appearance, Ogre skin tones are random and not indicative of parentage (for example, two ashen grey Ogres could produce a light blue Ogre child). They do, however, possess the physical differences between the male and female genders though they are usually covered in leather loincloths and clothing pieces.
Life Span and Development
Ogres are live born in difficult, solitary processes by Ogre females and rarely exceed more than two children at a time. These children are similar to Human children in they they have light skin, tend to cry and feed themselves on their mother’s milk. They develop quickly, being weaned off their mother’s milk when their tusks come in at the age of one. At the age of fifteen, they have reached adulthood mentally though physically the next five years will show if they will grow taller or stay at the shorter heights, as “runts” of a group. Ogres then spend the rest of their lives warring, eating, sleeping and continuing on living. While combat against more developed Races is common, some Ogre truggs also go to war with each other for vague reasons. The most Alorians have managed to learn about these interspecies conflicts is that they are in part, ritual, but also serve to test Ogres against others of their kind so they do not grow “soft” in battling the shorted species around them. Additionally, they have a very casual sexual life as they only seem to produce children when young during that five year period where they grow into their adulthood. If a tribe is made up of only males or only females, they will eventually copulate with a mate at the next Great Horn. Their natural lifespan is 50 years, though many die between the ages of twenty and thirty either due to diseases and infections or in combat.
Mental Overview
Ogres are primitive creatures but like the Thylan of Jorrhildr, possess some civilized habits. They are far more advanced that the Thylan however, as they actively seek to dress themselves and protect their children in blankets, possess a rudimentary language that is understandable to Humans and have chieftains, each leading a Trugg. They also possess the ability to make tools and while they are more diverse then the Thylan, these tools are very crude and unrefined. Their language is probably the most interesting development in their species, as it features a union of hand signals and a variety of vocal sounds and syllables. While not openly known, the Regalian Empire does know the basics of this language and the scholars in their outpost on Trollar uses it to speak to the local Ogres from time to time. They are also organized not just by Truggs but in “Great Horns”, gatherings of Ogres at several known locations across the north of Aloria. At these events, Chieftains fight each other physically over their opinions until one opinion remains valid, though these fights never go to the death. They are aggressive creatures but do possess curiosity and a gentler side, mainly when dealing with Ailor and similar sentient races as they often possess tools, ideas or methods foreign to the Ogres. They will still however, drop this if they realize they are being tricked, fooled or their territory is being openly violated.
Territory and Groupings
Ogres live in small encampments made up any anywhere between three to nine Ogres in a Trugg. These Truggs have a chieftain in command of them through the smaller ones rarely do. Truggs exist in and around mountainous, cold terrain in southern Ellador and northern Essalonia. The center of their encampment always has a fireplace, made of large stones and bits of tree that the Ogres light to eat their meals or as a clear warning to leave them be. As individuals, they live at the borders of this encampment at the edge of the twenty foot radius given to said central fire.
Trivia
- The Ogre language is rudimentary, but has allowed for limited communication from the Ogres to the native and scholar Ailor living in Trollar. This communication is only one way though, as Ailor trying to speak Ogre often fail beyond absolute basics.
- The skulls that Ogres wear and use to decorate their encampment are sometimes known, like that of Url, but others are not. Some believe they are of pre-Cataclysm animals now extinct or from Dragon species long dead whose bones have been handed down through the ages to the Ogres of today. They absolutely never allow anyone access to them either.
- The most advanced tool that the Ogres have made to date has been a crude type of axe. The way they gathered wood before and still now in areas which have yet to learn the way to make this type of tool is to simply rip a tree up out of the ground.
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