Perhaps an orc who is young and brash will see eyes, tentacles, teeth and ooze everywhere (25.01), even in the sky, but as orcs approach their maturity these things seem to say more about youthful vigour than they do about the mystical beings who guide the orc race.
Orc elders are inclined to retire peacefully to fortresses on mountaintops or huts built across ice-cold streams, like those found in this hex. There they can relax, needing only to fight off wolves and giant eagles, endure freezing temperatures and convince potatoes and berries to grow in the inhospitable terrain. There are no buttery shortcrust pies for these ascetics.
In return, the ascetics come closer to the lords of the sky. Vague whisps and flashes slowly coalesce into voices and fierce fire-winged orc maidens in horned helmets prophesying war. The orc elders return from their religious retreat reinvigorated for battle - if they do not die of exposure on the slopes.
The dead are eaten by vultures and crows, and so each vulture and crow is called “Grandfather” or “Grandmother” by the orcs and treated with the respect that they deserve. It’s even been said that in the throes of hunger and exposure, a vulture circling ahead might be mistaken for a orc maiden, and the cries of crows for prophecies of war.
Hooks
- Which theory about the lords of the sky is correct? Neither? Both?
- What other roles do vultures and crows play in orc culture?
- Can these fire-winged orc valkyries be summoned for war?
