|
THE
KINGDOM
OF THE ORCAL |
The Kingdom of the Orcal,
where "Orcal" represents the title of the
Orcristh Godking, is also often referred to simply as the "Kingdom of
Orcal". It is a highly advanced orcish kingdom,
located at the southwestern corner of the Nybelmarian
continent, in the great canyon of the fertile Uiyujappa River. Inhabited by
the Orcristh orcs, the kingdom has
developed to a highly sophisticated society with the "Orcal" as the absolute
ruler of the lands. More legend than fact to the
human nations in the east of Nybelmar the "black
Orcs" are said to possess the power to burn the whole world. If that's true is
open to debate, nevertheless it must be considered the major power in the west
that lasted for eons.
Description. Orcal
is located at the southwestern part of the Nybelmarian
continent. All the power is concentrated on the Orcal, the Godking of the
realm who is seen as the living image of the Gods as well as the soul of the
lands. His wellbeing and doing determines the fate of the kingdom and thus
floods, droughts and illness are associated with the actions of the Orcal, in
this fertile corner of Nybelmar that is completely
surrounded by desert.
The canyons alongside the Uiyujappa river are valleys of extremely fertile
ground encased by high rock formations and the dealy desert beyond. In this
desolate place the Orcal Kingdom has flourished only because of this fortunate
specialty of the lands. The river is the life vein of the kingdom that gives
all its inhabitants food and water.
That's why the river is a central part of society, e.g. the
calendar of the
Orcristh consists of the Time of
Renewal (the time of the flood that comes each year), the Time of First, Second
and Third Harvest and the Time of Fire (the time in summer when the river
remains the only water source and in hot
seasons dwindles to a small stream). Having such importance every
Orcristh's town has his own local
river god in order to pray for enough water
to survive the year.
Location. The Kingdom of
Orcal lies in the great canyon alongside the Uiyujappa River. There are no
formal borders, but mainly “spheres of influence”. The Orcal Kingdom is
surpringly peaceful at times, yet, they keep strict control of what they see as
their sphere of influence, and they deem it their right to plunder and loot
within these lands to their liking.
Especially the Doimo, a tribe of
bushmen located east, in the desert of Naezshan Zhunith suffer from constant
Orcristh attacks who often hunt them
for sports as they see them as vermin occupying their land. There was no great
conflict until 1431 a.S., when a hunting party of priests were ambushed and
killed by the Doimo. Since then, the
regular plundering of the Doimo became
more brutal and fervent. The Orcristh
soon resumed more urgent matters, but the
Doimo are still quite wary of the "black demons" west of them. To the north
of Orcal is the desert of Naezshan Kaerath, which is nothing but a burned
wasteland. To the southwest is a mountain ridge that serves as an informal
border between Orcal and the Krathians.
Coat of Arms/Sign.
The symbol of Orcal is that of an inverted S-shape. It stands for the river upon
which the destiny of the kingdom depends and thus it is also the Godking's rune.
With this sign the Orcristh mark
anything that is possessed by the Orcal himself, from border stones, to
documents about state affairs to the shields of his personal warrior guard. This
symbol is seen as lifespending, blessed and divine and thus also often
incorporated into jewellry, for one because of these
magical powers but also as a sign of loyality
to the Orcal. The various towns and cities of Orcal also use a single,
magical sign on the shields of their warriors
to distinguish heritage. Instead of painting those signs on their shields
however their shields are shaped in the way of the symbol making up for a vast
variety in shield forms.
People. The
Orcristh, the
orcish inhabitants of Orcal, mostly live in
houses made of bricks and clad by straw. The bricks are created by mixing clay
and the straw from the grain harvest, and then drying them in the
sun. The
sun turns the initially brown coloured
clay into a strong red. Often the houses are painted white to better protect the
inhabitants against the heat of the burning
sun. Most of the towns and houses are built at the southern hillside of the
cliffs to be in the cooling shadow of the rocks while at the northern hillside
only poorer Orcristh and shepherd huts
can be found. The cities are built in several levels against the canyon walls,
some of the bigger ones even reaching up to the clifftops where they're crowned
by fortress-like structures that encase a fire
shrine. Other towns are sometimes built into the vast caves of the grand
canyons, forming magnificent shelter in times of war. The only buildings not
made with bricks and straw are the temples and in the same sense the Godking's
palaces, as they are built with other materials that often have to be
transported for miles over miles down the river. This is mainly sandstone for
the facade, but for portals and the interior black or red marble as well as
black obsidian is favoured contrasting sharply to the
earthern colours of the brick houses and
sandstone outside. Together with gold the marble is often inlaid into mosaics
despicting flameencircled myths and prophecies about the gods.
While generally rather peaceful for orcs the
Orcristh are nevertheless known for
being fierce desert warriors, defending their interests in western
Nybelmar with cunning and aggressiveness. While this
strange enough mostly happens on a diplomatic stage esspecially droughts and
floods often caused military campaigns by the
Orcristh to make up for the supply
shortages arising from these incidents. The control over the oases of the
deserts is heavily contested not only by human
and orcish traders and noblemen but also between
orcish noblemen as well which often lead to
small, private wars for a small patch of vegetation in an ocean of sand.
Government. The
kingdom of Orcal has a strict cast system and a well-established government at
whose top the Godking, the Orcal, rules undisputed over lands and people. The
topmost cast is the family of the Orcal - the Godking even ranging far beyond
them, followed by the priesthood who take care of many administrative offices as
well as religious and cultic business. Ruling the land and following the gods is
seen as a necessity among the Orcristh
for the lands to thrive. Below the priests rank the nobility. these are usually
people of the upper class measured in land area and cattle numbers and rule
either a town's district or a village as representative of the Orcal. Below them
one finds the craftsmen and free farmers who own a shop or work on their own
fields.The lowest cast consists of labourers and slaves where little difference
is made between the two, only the labourer gets paid for working on someone's
fields while the slave gets nothing and the labourer is protected by the law of
the Godking whereas the slaves can be punished and even killed by their owners.
These casts are followed strictly, mostly by exact codes how a lesser cast has
to behave to a higher one. It is difficult to rise from one cast to another, it
are only the priests and the Orcal himself who hold the privilege to elevate
someone into higher rank and responsibility.
The Orcal government system is hierarchical organized. The king has superior
power in the kingdom, rules the lands and distributes the various districts to
the nobles. He is also the highest priest in the kingdom and thus the absolute
ruler of the priesthood. The nobles act as representatives of the Godking and
act at his behalf in judical and executive matters as well as leaders of war.
Each noble controls one legal district in which he is to impose the Godking's
will, assist the priests and do everything to ensure the wellbeing of his
subjects as well as the peace. The priests serve as advisors of the Godking and
care for many administrative duties concerning economy - this means mostly
collecting the taxes, calculating the harvest, organizing that enough food is
stored in the corn chambers to live over one year till the next harvest etc.
To keep control of this vast amount of officals the Godking has middlemen in the
bigger cities, these are appointed local nobles and priests that keep control
over the nobles and priests in the town. They're called the "Chama".
Above them are the provincial leaders, usually the "Chama" of the biggest
settlement in the province, the "Thical". These report directly to the Orcal.
The Godking keeps control over the provincal leaders through a network of
couriers and spies, the "Hamech". These officals are either priests or noblemen
and it is not unusual for the Orcal to investigate secret affairs by sending a
"Hamech" to only speak to the counterpart of his hierarchy, either the priest or
the nobleman.
The priesthood collects the taxes and delivers them to the "Chama" who can spend
a certain amount on local projects and pay the rest as tribute to their
"Thical". The "Thical" spends much of this tribute to maintain a predetermined
amount of warriors and war equipment and delivers as well the rest as tribute to
the Godking.
The priesthood of Orcal serves as the high court, if the noble is incapable to
resolve a dispute. The pleading before the high court is like a plead to the
gods to find a solution. The decision of the priesthood is absolute. Only a
direct intervention by the Orcal can lift it. Also it is the priesthood who
carries out execution for capital crimes which are: high treason, murder,
heresy, polution of wells and arson. The later two being persecuted without
mercy in a land with no rain and only limited
water supplied for a big population.
Climate. As Orcal is a
desert kingdom it rains only once or twice in a lifetime. The only source for
water is the great Uiyujappa River. The
river flows over its banks each year, leaving a highly nutritious mud on the
surrounding soil. This mud is used for growing crops, which - along with fish
and sheep - is the main food source of
Orcal. However, as even the desert can be made fertile, and as the cliffs of the
great canyons give shadow, the Orcristh
orcs also grow various fruits, to add food diversity. The ground is made
fertile by constructing irrigation ditches, to transport the
water to where it is needed. This
irrigation system allows to harvest crops three times a year.
Flora. Because of the
dry climate the Orcristh mostly grow a
subform of the rizjo plant in
artifically irrigated fields. This plant is less nutritious than the
rizjo plant in the more fertile
regions of the human kingdoms but is still the
main ingredient for many meals.
Another special plant is a tree from whose resin a drug can be won with healing
and relaxing abilities and which is often used in temples for meditation and
celebrations.
Fauna. Even outnumbering
the Orcristh in their valley are their
cattle and sheep herds supplementing their vegetarial meals with for
orcs much needed meat.
The river itsself is inhabited by fish and some cunning predators hiding in the
slick. But further information is unknown.
Resources. The
riverbanks are rich with clay, used for building purposes, as well as for making
pottery and the upper Uiyujappa river has deposits of sandstone and obsidian
also mined for building purposes. Various metals are gained from the nearby
mountains or through trade, among others copper, as well as gold and small
silver supplies. Copper and gold is available in plenty amounts and is used for
everything from tools to jewellry, while silver is so rare that it is only used
as currency for state affairs. In the mountains one can also find marble of
different colours and types that is used for temples and palaces. Also obsidian
is mined in deep tunnels within the rocks.
There is no regular coinage system in Orcal. Thus, one’s wealth is determined by
the amounts of cattle one possesses. However, silver and gemstones are highly
valued and has to be deposited in the treasury of the temples. In exchange one
gets an obsidian plaque with a certain symbol inscribed on it standing for a
certain value of silver. These plaques are sometimes used as substitute
currency.
The Orcristh are actually an export
nation and while most goods reach eastern Nybelmar
only through dwarven and
human mediators their tradenetwork extends far
to the east and north with oases controlled by them to impose taxes and tolls on
anyone using their tradelanes. Though in Eastern Nybelmar
hardly anyone recognizes the influence the
Orcristh have on Zhunite trade a good amount of goods reach the
Korweynite and
Santerran shores.
Religion/Beliefs.
According to the Orcal myth of creation, the gods Gocal and Mor created the
world from nothing. Mor was the world and Gocal the
Fire and the Desert. And under Mor the
world flourished and he created many different things, among them the
Orcristh and Gocal came everyday and
burnt the lands so Mor's creation would not suffocate under its own weight. This
had happened many times but when the
Orcristh were born Gocal saw Mor's creation and saw she'd created beings of
great perfection and so he spared them. Blessed by Gocal Mor created a fertile
valley cornered by high walls as their new home to protect them against Gocal's
Fire when he once again burnt the
Earth. And thus the
Orcristh were created, touched by the
God of Fire and they worshipped him as they understood that new life can only be
born from death. And so the dead are burnt so new life may come from their
ashes. This relates to the Orcristh
tradition to burn the dead and drop the ash into the river.
The Orcal population is highly religious, believing in the gods Gocal and Mor.
The priesthood enjoys great respect among the population but above all stands
the Orcal. The Godking is seen as a son of Gocal and Mor himself, descending in
direct line from Gocal and Mor to rule over the
Orcristh. He stands for the unity of
the kingdom and his decisions and orders are of divine origin.
Aside from the Gods Gocal and Mor, the orcs
worship also number of other, local deities, often resembling the daily needs in
the local town. Most of these “deities” are related with the Uiyujappa River, as
it is the source of life in Orcal, as well as "trivial" matters such as love,
luck, etc.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Information provided
by Koldar Mondrakken
|
