"Blood,"" or pure, orcs stand about 6.5' tall. They have dark brown skin with an olive tint, black or dark red eyes, glossy black hair, and prominent canines and tusks. "Breed," or half-orcs, stand about 6' tall and typically have lighter complexions, different eye colors, and smaller canines and tusks. Most orcs are powerfully built, and males are often quite hirsute.

Blood orcs live to be about 40 years old. Thus, they reach puberty at five years, mature adulthood at nine years, old age at thirty years, and are "venerable" at thirty-five and beyond. Breed orcs live to be about 60 years old, reaching puberty at nine years, mature adulthood at fifteen years, old age at fifty, and are "venerable" at fifty-five and beyond.

Orcish culture is based around a permeable professional caste system. In ascending order, the professional castes are: slave, peasant/servant, merchant, craftsman/artisan, bureaucrat/government employee, mage/non-orcish cleric, warrior/monk, orcish cleric, and noble. Each caste is subdivided according to skill level or rank (e.g., nobles are subdivided into lesser noble, greater noble/high chief, and emperor). The "working class" consists of the castes of slave to merchant; the "skilled class" consists of the castes of craftsman/artisan to orcish cleric; and the "noble class" consists of the nobles.

In addition, orcs measure individuals by gender (males always outrank females) and by race (orcs outrank humans and dwarves; humans and dwarves outrank halflings and gnomes; and halflings and gnomes outrank elves). Orcs also respect the elderly, although once a person is too old to contribute to the society he or she is expected to die honorably. Siblings' ranks are gauged according to gender and birth rank. Wives' ranks are gauged according to order of marriage, with the first-married wife the superior.

These subdivisions are also ranked hierarchically. Professional caste is the most fundamental consideration, and skill level or rank the secondmost fundamental consideration. Thus, if two warriors have the same skill level, the next considerations of rank in hierarchical order would be gender, race, and honor. If two warriors were completely equal in everything, then the final subdivision would be clan membership, as each of the eleven clans also has its place on the social hierarchy (see Appendix A).

Anyone of higher rank may and does expect deference from anyone of lower rank. This is often indicated by the deepness of a bow, order of service, order of entrance through a doorway, and so forth.

Members of the noble class are given special considerations. A crime by a lower-ranked individual against a noble is considered grave, whereas a crime by a noble against a lower-ranked individual may be punished lightly, if at all. Moreover, members of the noble class have the right to avenge an insult against them (and in fact must, or else lose honor). They may also appeal to their clan leader for permission to seek a vendetta against the killer of a higher-ranking member of their family (and in fact must at least seek this permission, or else lose honor). However, as in all things, nobles' actions reflect upon their personal honor.

Honor is extremely important to orcs. Honor is a reflection of character and family; worth in society, dependability, trustworthiness, decency, and so forth. The honorable individual wins respect, power, influence and position. The dishonorable individual gets disrespect, humiliation, and insult. Honor is gained or lost according to one's actions (see Appendix B), and has more to do with lawfulness than with good or evil.

When a person's honor is in danger of being completely lost, there is only one honorable choice left - to commit seppuku, or ritual suicide. Seppuku may be a voluntary act, or ordered by one's superior. To refuse to commit seppuku when ordered is the ultimate disgrace, and the offender is likely to be cut down where he or she stands, the body thrown to the scavengers (traditionally vultures). Voluntary seppuku is usually done in protest of an order that the individual feels is unjust or dishonorable. This form of voluntary suicide disgraces the person who gave the order being protested. Voluntary seppuku may be carried out in private or in public, although the latter is preferred. The act is surrounded by ritual - the protester has time to meditate and enter the proper mindset, and sometimes composes one last message to the world at large. Often, for voluntary seppuku, a friend or family member stands by to deliver the final blow in case the person committing seppuku seems about to disgrace himself or herself by making an agonized sound or bursting into tears. The longer the person committing seppuku can sit silently, the more honor s/he accrues, and the more disgrace falls upon the head of the person whose order is being protested.

Only a higher-ranking individual may honorably attempt to prevent somebody from committing seppuku. In most cases, that person must be able to countermand the order that has led to the seppuku attempt, or else the protester will simply be obliged to commit seppuku again. Such an attempt is most properly carried out at the last moment, by forcibly stopping the blade just before it enters the protester's gut. This is a significant detail, for it shows both that the protester was committed to the suicide, and that the person interrupting the act realized this. To be interrupted before one completes seppuku is a rare but meaningful honor. Similarly, to be raised or resurrected after seppuku is also an honor, although most priests will only permit this if the person requesting that the protester be brought back to life is the one who issued the dishonorable order.

Clothing in Glenzor is most commonly made of soft and hard leather, cotton, or silk, in order of expense. Other fabrics may be imported from other lands, particularly flax and wool from Parthinon. Fabric is seldom left its natural color - all orcs will try to dye, paint, embroider, or otherwise ornament their clothing.

The most traditional (and usually ceremonial) orcish attire consists of little more than clan-markings, ornaments, and a penis-sheath for men or no clothing whatsoever for women. Formal contemporary orcish attire consists of kimonos which can be layered or removed depending on the formality of the occasion and the ambient temperature. The long partially hanging sleeves can be used to hold small items, and often hide a small knife for routine cutting jobs and, in a pinch, self-defense. The fabric, cut, color and embroidery of the kimono says much about the person wearing it, indicating (among other things) clan, social rank, and profession. For working, riding, or casual dress, both male and female orcs often wear shorter kimonos and wide, skirt-like trousers. Both men and women enjoy ornament, especially ear- and nose-hoops, wide bracelets that often act like metal bracers, rings and talismans, which can be pinned to various parts of the kimono.

Both male and female orcs wear their hair long, and it is never willingly cut during the orc's lifetime. Hair is usually worn tied in a topknot or, less often, a ponytail or braid, and often ornamented with bone or metal beads and talismans. Male orcs also may braid or ornament their eyebrows, mustaches, and beards as well. Hair ornaments, like garments, indicate the wearer's social rank, and are quite important. Cutting an orc's hair short is a sign of shame, and wearing one's hair loose is a sign of ill repute.

Head-coverings are seldom if ever worn outside of battle, for they cover the hair. Footwear consists of light slippers in formal situations, or leather shoes, boots, or straw sandals in casual or work contexts. Peasants tend to go barefoot or to wear straw sandals, wrapping leather or cloth around the foot before lacing them during wet or cold seasons.

The colors black, indigo, and metallic colors (copper, bronze, silver, gold, etc.) are restricted to those belonging to the nobility. Blood red and navy are restricted to those belonging to the skilled class or higher. Rust, deep green and mustard are popular colors among the lower classes. White is a color of mourning, and anyone wearing an undecorated white outer garment is presumed to be in mourning. Such public mourning is usually only observed for equal or higher-ranking family members, and is considered a sign of respect for the deceased. Mourners also paint their face white for the first week of the mourning period, which usually lasts three lunar cycles.

Female orcs usually arm themselves with katana and/or wakizashi, long and sometimes poisoned hair pins, and small, easily concealable tanto knives. Male orcs traditionally carry a tachi, katana and/or wakizashi visibly on their belt, although many have adopted foreign weapons, especially bastard and long swords. The sword is such a symbol of orcish power that it is often carried even by those unable to use it, simply because to do otherwise would be to lose face. Although anyone may carry a sword, the expense of such blades tends to confine their use to the middle and upper classes.

"A good cook cannot, with the utmost application, produce more than four successful dishes in one day, and even then it is hard for him to give proper attention to every detail. And he certainly won't get through unless everything is in its right place and he is on his feet the whole time. It is no use to give him a lot of assistants. Each of them will have his own ideas, and there will be no proper discipline."

÷Odeus SweatSucker LeprousHand, Master Chef at the Enchanted Goblet

View Pictures of Some Typical Dishes

Orcs believe that any dish prepared for consumption necessarily comprise four elements: color, fragrance, flavor and shape. These elements are not included or excluded, but simply exist in every dish, and it is up to the chef to build and shape each element. A successful dish is one in which the four elements are juxtaposed in a fashion which is balanced, yet creative. Orcs distinguish five dimensions of flavor: sweet, sour, bitter, pungent and salty. It is crucial that every dish includes a harmony of these flavors, for it is their harmony that increases health and strength, but more important, prolongs life. Finally, orcs believe that every food, when consumed, interacts and affects the consumers inner energies, or inner fire. Orcs meticulously catalogue food items along an energy continuum of cold to hot, and it is important that every dish is prepared so as to maintain a balance in the consumer's inner fire. Crab, for instance, is composed of cool energies, and is traditionally prepared with ginger, which is composed of hot energies. Thus, the art of cooking is an important one in orcish society, and master chefs often begin their training at the age of four. Whenever possible, creatures to be eaten are bought live by the chef, slaughtered fresh on the premises, and immediately prepared and served.

The aesthetic properties of a dish are also an important consideration, and many fine orcish chefs consider food to be a form of art. Some dishes are veritable edible sculptures. In all cases, the presentation of the food is considered important and even the poorest orcish restaurants will generally try to serve their food in a pleasing manner. All food is meant to be eaten with chopsticks or a shallow spoon. Baring a knife at the table is a dangerous prospect in Glenzor, as the orcs around one may interpret a bared blade as the precursor to an attack - fortunately, dishes are prepared so that a knife is seldom if ever needed.

Rice is the mainstay of the orcish diet, served in a variety of ways, including in the form of the fermented drink sake. Other grains are also grown or imported, but less popular. Beans are typically served as pastes and used as dips, stuffings, food or sauces. Vegetables are almost always served cooked - stewed, fried, pickled and steamed. Some examples of vegetables common to Glenzor are onion, garlic, hair-fine sea moss, kelp, white cabbage, cabbage, white turnip, cucumber, carrot, potato, ginger root, hot peppers, sweet green pepper, string bean, bean sprouts, tomato, hot pickled mustard tuber, white fungus, cloud-ear fungus, plains-grass fungus, black mushroom, and white mushroom. Fruits and nuts include candied dates, candied plums, dates, persimmons, lychees, plums, cherries, melons, sesame seeds, walnuts, peanuts, and almond. Fruits may also be pickled.

Along the coasts, sea life and kelp are also very important to the orcish cuisine. These include the poisonous puffer fish, sea bass, sea cucumber, red sea slug, white sea slug, jellyfish, sea turtle, salt water eel, octopus, squid, eels, shrimp, scallops, abalone, shark's fin, and fish maw. These items may be eaten raw or cooked. Also eaten are sea gull, sea gull eggs, sea gull's web, various types of seaweed, and agar (a gelatinous substance collected from seaweed).

On the mainland, orcs eat goat, lamb, duck, quail, sea turtle (for all meats, skin, heart, liver, tongue, pancreas, gizzard and brain), duck's web, bear's paw, quail eggs, pork, and horseflesh. Parasitic worms that live within these hosts may also be eaten, usually alive and heavily spiced. Orcs do not usually eat sentient life, although they may formally in the case of vendetta, or informally when certain beings are not considered "sentient" by the orcish culture, regardless of their own opinions.

Orcs often prepare their food in sauces composed of fermented and salted soy bean paste, hot broad bean sauce, sesame paste, fermented bean curd, shrimp sauce, oyster sauce, rice wine, fermented soy sauce, vinegar, lard, chili pepper oil, peanut oil, goat fat, sea gull fat, mutton fat, beef fat, or peppercorn oil.

Orcs drink tea, rice wines, fruit wines (including plum wine), beer, and - inland - milk. Grain alcohol is seldom made in Glenzor, although it is imported and enjoyed.

At first glance, orcish culture is intensely patriarchal. Women are typically treated as second-class citizens, barred by custom and prejudice from the highest-ranking jobs and privileges. However, female orcs also carry weapons and are respected as warriors in their own right, especially during periods of Dynasty-wide warfare. The first wife typically inherits her husband's title and properties, so that widows can become quite powerful. Some exceptional women even take more than one husband.

Orcs value their children highly, as those who will carry on the culture after them. Thus, women's first and foremost duty to the Dynasty is to bear healthy children. This is the expectation that shapes much of women's lives. Both men and women are expected to marry early in their lives and have many children, often twins or triplets. Women, as the primary caregivers, typically remain at home for most of their childbearing years bearing and raising their children. However, as mothers they are also expected to defend their children, and thus are more than capable of defending themselves and their families in times of danger.

Some orcish women choose to forego a family life for years or even a lifetime, excelling instead in some other area of their life. Such women are considered a little eccentric but accorded the honor due one of their prowess. Warrior-women are especially honored and considered honorary men.

Men regard women with some suspicion, stereotyping them as sneaky and devious. Indeed, barred from the normal outlets for personal ambition, female orcs have developed a second culture of their own. Behind closed doors and out of the sight of men, they can encourage or cut short a promising career, defend or ostracize one of their own, and decide which husband or son needs to be gently pushed in one way or the other.

Male orcs tend to ignore or disbelieve women's social structure at best, and damn it at worse. They refuse to believe that their women have any effect on their decisions, and will sometimes obstinately make the wrong decision simply to spite the women they feel are trying to control them. This obstinacy tends to carry over into their dealings with women of other races, so that most women find orcish men boors. Even the politest orcish man is likely to simply ignore the suggestions of a woman from another race, at least until she has proven her worth to him.

Although men are privileged within orcish culture, they must still meet certain cultural expectations. They must be virile fathers, brave warriors or skilled craftsmen, and praiseworthy members of their clan. Effete, cowardly, dishonorable or unambitious orcish men are looked down upon by both men and women in the culture.

Orcs have an extensive bureaucracy to oversee and maintain the smooth working of society but a flexible idea of "law." There is, surprisingly, no court system within orcish culture. This is a remnant of the old tribal ways of doing things, one area of orcish life into which the Terrestrial Bureaucracy has yet to intrude. Most attempts to standardize and bureaucratize the legal system have met with rigid resistance from clan rulers, and are usually only applicable to non-orcish citizens and visitors to Glenzor.

Both civil and criminal cases are argued before one's immediate local territorial ruler - jito, shugo, daimyo, shogun - and goes up that chain of command until it reaches the High Court or (very seldom) the Emperor, whose decisions are final. Those who live within the city of Glenzor appeal directly to the representative of their clan serving within the legal office of the Terrestrial Bureaucracy. If they do not have a clan (typically the case for non-orcs), they must appeal to a guard (in the case of a criminal complaint) or to a common lawyer (in the case of a civil complaint). The guard or lawyer then takes the complaint to the legal office of the Terrestrial Bureaucracy, where - if the petition to be heard is approved - the case may be heard by whichever clan representative happens to be available. The cases of orcs always take precedence over the cases of non-orcs.

Arrests are made by constables or guards serving the local leader. These law enforcers do not need warrants to make their arrests, although usually they do at least try to have reasonable cause for suspicion. Arresting the wrong individual especially the wrong noble - is a dire mistake that most law enforcers seek to avoid. Evidence can be confiscated immediately, and witnesses ordered to appear. If a witness seems reluctant, the law enforcer may arrest the witness, too, in order to ensure that the witness will be available when the case is heard.

A trial date is set up as soon as possible. For criminal cases, the cases are usually heard within a day or two of the crime. For civil complaints, the cases are heard at the convenience of the local ruler. If the local ruler is unavailable, the case participants may appeal to the next level of official.

The official hearing the case need not allow the participants to use lawyers (although he may), and does not typically appoint a jury, although in some cases the official may request the opinion of the accused's and accuser's peers. To get information from somebody who seems reluctant, the official may order the beating and torture of any of the trial participants.

The official usually makes his decision on the same day that the complaint is heard. This decision may include the death sentence. Decisions may only be appealed by the skilled and noble classes. This appeal may be denied by the next official in line, in which case it is considered official. Appealing a decision entails a small loss of honor. If, however, a decision is overturned and the appellant is vindicated, he or she regains the honor lost from having been accused of the crime in the first place and from appealing. In some but not all cases, the official whose decision was overturned loses honor. On the other hand, if the decision is upheld, the appellant loses even more honor.

The final judge, as the orcs like to say, is Yen-Wang-Yeh, before whom anyone who protests a decision in life may argue his or her case in the Ten Law Courts of the Afterworld.

Most orcs begin dating some time after puberty. Men are most often the aggressors, although women are culturally permitted to ask a man out on a date. Most dates consist of activities in which the orcish male can prove his worthiness as a potential mate, usually by demonstrating his personal power. Indeed, among the orcs, nothing is considered more sexy than power. Glittering canines, a well-curved tusk, and rock-hard muscles may turn the heads of both sexes, but it is power that is the single most sought-after trait in a mate.

Courting, however, is not merely a show of arms. Orcs value skill in all areas of life, and composing poetry is particularly impressive. Many would-be suitors try their hand at poetry, or hire the skills of a poet in the bard's guild. Other courtship gifts include beautiful weapons and charms with the bat-symbol of Fu Hsing engraved upon them.

Like many hierarchical cultures, the orcish culture is one that values an auspicious and politically advantageous marriage. First marriages are often arranged by the orcs' families around adulthood, to advance a career, bring money into a business, cement a useful alliance, and so forth. Such arranged marriages are not usually broken by the two involved, due to the dishonor this would bring upon both themselves and the two families involved. Both men and women are permitted to remarry (although in practice few women do so), which helps alleviate the onus of an unwanted arranged marriage.

Marriages must be sanctified in the temple of an orcish deity - they are first and foremost religious ceremonies, although they have civil repercussions (e.g., inheritance). Marriages that are not sanctified by an orcish deity must be registered with the government and may or may not be recognized under Glenzoran law. This occasionally causes some tension between the temples, although the orcs have thus far remained adamant on this point. There are no common-law marriages in Glenzor. A traditional marriage gift is a robe or medallion inscribed with the symbol of Kuan-Yin (for women) or Shou Hsing (for men).

After the typical orcish marriage, the wife assumes her ranked place in the family - first wives are the most powerful, and rule the subordinate wives. Their lives are usually taken up with childbirth for the rest of their fertile years. The man, on the other hand, may then seek other wives from among unwed women (adultery is a serious crime), or simply confine himself to the extramarital pleasures offered by prostitutes. The ability of a man to afford to support multiple wives is an indicator of his personal wealth and power - thus, many strive to take more than one wife. Secondary marriages may be either marriages of love or of political advantage. Subordinate spouses (usually wives) may not remarry.

Marriages in which a woman takes multiple husbands are much rarer, for the woman must first prove herself a warrior to the priests' satisfaction. This usually entails several ritual trials by combat. Moreover, the husbands must agree to let her to rule as the head of the household. Such women gain a great deal of honor, although their husbands lose some. However, there are various reasons why such an arrangement might be considered preferable by all parties concerned.

Children are the most valued object in orcish culture, which explains why so much of women's time is confined to the house, where they are able to give birth to, raise, and protect their children. Having children both proves one's manly or womanly value and strengthens orcish society. The impotent or sterile man or the barren woman are cultural pariahs. Abusing or killing a child is a deadly offense.

Orcs and half-orcs typically confine their dating and marriage to their own people. However, some orcs find humans attractive, and interracial marriages between humans and orcs make up a small but significant portion of the marriages in Glenzor. One of the cultural drawbacks to such marriages is that most humans frown on polygamy, and the orcish man or woman who decides to marry a human must reconcile himself or herself to a monogamous relationship. In addition, male orcs often father multiple children on human women, a physically trying experience (however, female orcs seldom bear human men multiple children, which has curious implications for fertility studies). Orcs never have intercourse with members of any other race, finding such relationships akin to bestiality. In the unlikely event that an orc would fall in love with a member of a race other than orc or human, she or he would almost certainly be considered insane and barred from seeing the loved one again. However, very ancient, restrictive (and seldom mentioned) precedents for such unions have been set, inspired by the legend of Chih-Nii.

Divorce is seldom practiced by orcs, primarily because of the dishonor it brings to both the man and the woman, and their families. Marriage is a type of oath, and divorce implies the breaking of that oath. Thus, separation is a far more common result of an unsatisfactory marriage, and entails minimal dishonor to the two involved. A separated couple may live in the same village or city but in different households, or may move even farther away from each other. Because orcs practice multiple marriages, this is seldom a legal problem. Nevertheless, several very popular orcish plays revolve around separated wives returning with long-lost heirs to the deceased lord's throne, and the family or clan warfare such a return inevitably heralds. Although not publicly acknowledged, the general answer to such a threat is for one party or the other to hire an assassin.

Because childbearing is such an integral part of orcish society, sexual practices and preferences that do not allow the possibility of childbirth are shunned. Contraceptive practices are only practiced outside of marriage, and heterosexual practices that do not permit possible conception are considered shameful (another potential problem for interracial marriages). Homosexuality, needless to say, is a shameful and subversive perversion in orcish culture.