Orcs of the Severed Hand
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A shadow of their former greatness, the Orcs of the Severed Hand tribe lurk beneath the numberless boughs of the southern forests. Once a mighty and feared tribe, the Severed Hand has never recovered from its war with the retired adventurer Valentin Ironwolf—long-dead lord of the so-called Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands.
Three decades ago, the tribe—temporarily allied with the Goblins of the Blood Moon—finally slew their enemy and his remaining retainers when they broke into his borderland keep while most of the defenders feasted in the Great Hall. Of course, the orcs and the goblins fell to fighting soon thereafter, and the more numerous (and devious) goblins prevailed. The few orcs who survived the battle retreated into the woods to lick their wounds and plot their revenge.
Although the orcs are boundlessly fecund, their warlike way of life takes its toll, and the tribe’s numbers have yet to sufficiently recover for the orcs to have their revenge upon the perfidious Blood Moon goblins.
Society & Organisation
In the Severed Hand tribe, two things matter—battle prowess and fecundity. The tribe’s chief—Colzog the Unyielding, son of Grazzob Ironfang slain by the Blood Moon goblins’ treachery—lusts for revenge and for a return to the tribe’s glory days when its blood-crazed warriors were feared by all. Colzog is also a racist and believes in the purity of orc blood. Consequently, the Severed Hand numbers no half-orcs or other mongrels among its depleted ranks. With such a means of strengthening the tribe’s ranks denied them, the Severed hand continues its slow decline.
No adepts of the orc gods are left to the tribe, and they are completely without magic aid. Such a situation further weakens the tribe, as magical healing is a practical necessity for keeping blood-crazed berserks alive.
Life in the Severed Hand tribe is brutish, short and hard. The tribe yet raid—they cannot help themselves—but they confine their attention to isolated farmsteads, small groups of travellers—hunters, woodcutters and the like—and so on. Unless the tribe enjoys a sudden and rapid change of fortunes, they are doomed to slow extinction.
Personalities
Most of the Severed Hand tribe comprises berserkers intent on little but battle-glory and their personal standing. A few members of the tribe, however, are exceptional for one reason or another.
Colzog the Unyielding (middle-aged male orc warrior chief) dreams of surpassing his father in glory but lacks the warriors to make a proper accounting of himself. Colzog is huge and brutish but, for an orc, is surprisingly intelligent. He knows that the tribe’s orc blood must stay pure and plots to absorb another tribe into his own; however, he has yet to find a sufficiently weak target.
Urna Crazov (female orc) knows that the tribe must adapt or fail. Her views are far more progressive than her chief’s; she would ally with another tribe or even start breeding with (captured) humans if it would secure the tribe’s future—with her as its chief, of course.
Gorbag Lurzog (young male orc) tires of life on the edge of disaster. He wants to wander the world and experience comfort and plenty. Gorbag keeps his views to himself, unsurprisingly, but takes any chance he can to start a new life away from the tribe.
Ecology & Lair
The Severed Hand tribe lurks in a small dungeon complex—Armtyr’s Vault—in the woods that comprise the Duchy of Ashlar’s ragged and contested southern border. The tribe’s home lies roughly two miles south of the reputedly haunted Elle’s Mere. Some of the lair is unused now as the tribe’s numbers have dwindled.
The orcs’ home benefits from an artesian well that has never run dry. The lair is also highly defensible and has only one way in or out, which suits the orcs and their reduced numbers. No outsiders have found the orcs’ lair for many years, and thus, they grow lax in their watch.
Combat & Tactics
Individually, the orcs are mighty warriors—many berserks once howled and slew under the tribe’s flesh-sown banner. Now, but a handful remain. Still, the remaining orc berserks are wild and savage in battle. They lack coordination, however, and rarely help each other. Their tactics are simple: charge at the nearest foe, cut them down and move on. The Orcs of the Severed Hand are not subtle in battle or in life.
The tribe takes no prisoners—at least for long as it has no need for such—and slays (after ritual mutilation) any who fall into their hands.
Credit
This is a short extract from Orcs of the Severed Hand—a System Neutral Monstrous Delve by Creighton Broadhurst. Art by Seth White
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