The Ogres are one of the minor races of Caelereth, but nevertheless one which won't be forgotten so easily when encountered. As they are possibly one of the most violent and strongest races they can be a match even for a whole bunch of experienced adventurers.

Image description: Encounter with one of Caelereth's most violent and strongest races: the Ogres. Picture drawn by Quellion.

Appearance. Ogres are about two to three peds high with very broad shoulders and long, muscular arms. Their skin varies from gray to light brown depending on the territory. On Cyhalloi this species can be seen often with paler skin of nearly yellowish color as well. Their heavy skull supports the muscles of a strong jaw that hosts a row of long, sharp teeth, capable of biting a junk of flesh and bones out of their prey. With their long arms Ogres can still walk on two feet like humans, however, whenever running or hunting they can be seen on all fours, then exceeding even the speed of a fast horse on short distances through the forest.

They do not really wear cloth but only decorate their body with signs of their strength and skill. Skulls and ears from fallen enemies, hides from prey and other insignias are signs of an old and experienced Ogre. Normally they also cover their skin in mud to protect it against parasites and claim the dominance over a certain territory. They favour red clay to color themselves in a bright and recognizable color. When attacked or surprising someone Ogres often use clubs or huge bones as weapons which widen the range of their already deadly strength.

Mode of Living/Habits. Ogres usually live approx. 40 to 60 years. Most of them are living in the wild regions of Northern Sarvonia though you can even encounter them in the wilderness of Santharia as well. They are very greedy for food and feast on meat from any animal or beast or other races' members they can hunt down. Cannibalism among Ogres has also been spotted. Ogres live alone and always seek out a certain territory they claim for themselves. Anything found within these borders is seen as a possible prey and hunted to satisfy the great hunger of these creatures.

At very rare occasions - usually in times of food shortages - Ogres have been seen to rot together and totally abandon their isolationistic territorial behaviour. This suggests that the Ogres have at least a basic way of communication with each other as this totally contradicts their usual behaviour when encountering someone within their own territory. Obviously called by howls they meet at certain neutral spots at the borders between different territories. Up to ten Ogres might then join each other and look for new hunting grounds. Time is precious then as they can only prevent attacking each other by finding sufficient food sources to satisfy everyone's hunger. These are the dreaded occurences when Ogres attack human or elven settlements in the midst of winter to appease their hunger with human or elven flesh and their cattle.

The mating time is usually late summer or early autumn, the birth of the offspring being in spring or summer of the following year. Ogres might get pregnant every three to four years as it takes so much time for a young Ogre to grow up.

When at heat female Ogres extract an odor and leave a scent on her usual hunting tracks that invite male Ogres from bordering territories to enter her realm. The fights for the females have never been spotted but they must be short and violent. Judging from the evidence which has been found the underdogs suffer from brutal bone fractures and wounds when they survive the fight at all.

After the mating the male and the female stay together for about three years till their offspring is grown-up. Ogres usually only have one offspring. While the female seeks a safe hideout, a cave or a secure crack in a valley to breed the offspring the male hunts to aquire enough food for both of them. During this time are one of the rare coincidences when adventurers can run into the great misfortune of facing two to three Ogres at a time in the wilderness. When the offspring is grown up the female drives the male out of her territory out of fear the male could see its child as a new concurrent. The male then has to conquer a new territory as its old one usually has been taken by other Ogres and so only the strongest Ogres get older than the age of 30.

Family, Society and Culture. The Ogres are not known to be very social in any respect. Only while and after mating two and more Ogres stick together, the family bounds are only kept to ensure the survival of the offspring. Soon after the Ogres are on their own again.

Otherwise the Ogres have no organized social system. They live in scarce numbers in roughly built huts or caves. According to Santharia's number one expert on giants, Wenchim Oelphadúnn,

"...their philosophy may be reduced to the few words: 'Me bigger. Me stronger than you. Me be hungry, me eat you. Me boss.' Simple, but effective. Serves to maintain respect and order in a very strange, but working way."

-- "Treatise on the Giant Races" (Wenchim Oelphadúnn), p. 2

Nevertheless the Ogres seem to have developed a simple tongue to communicate with each other, either by voice or with signs. Often skulls or hides are placed at certain points along the border of their territory to warn any other Ogre not to challenge them. Other ways are howls or screams that can reach miles and can mark the location of a fertile female, challenge another Ogre to fight for the territory he is within or assure the location of one another when meeting at the neutral meeting places between their territories.

The Orcs are known to have managed to imitate these howls and draw Ogres to such meeting places to either catch or kill them. The only interest Orcs might have in living Ogres is as beasts of war. As such they capture Ogres and keep them in cages and only feed them with a minimum of meat to drive them into a real blood rush. The difficult and of course risky part is releasing the ogres in battle as they can as well turn against the Orcs themselves instead of the enemy. This is the reason this tactic is only seldomly used but the few times a dozen Ogres actually crushed into an enemy battleline have become legendary.

Diet. Ogres exclusively nourish from meat. Fresh or old is unimportant to them as they need great masses of food to supply themselves. That doesn't mean that they do not rest several days between a big meal but that they usually need a great amount of food to appease their hunger. A good thumb's rule is that a fat Ogre is usually a satiated Ogre and is not as likely to chase others as a not so fat but much faster Ogre.

Ogres hunt about anything bigger they can find: Deer, cattle, sheep and any other animal that might be worth it, but also members of other races, and even cannibalistic tendencies are noted. A Ogre needs about two or three deer or five sheep to be kept away from hunting again for another four days. After that they again go hunting.

Beliefs. [...]

Tribes. As the Ogres don't have any tribal structures the list below only describes several areas of continuous Ogre populations. Known Ogre communities are as follows:

• The Gob-Ur-Nak Ogres in the Imlith Mount and the Shadowlands,

• the Fa-tal Ogres in the Wilshire Heath and beyond,

• the Ban-Yuk Ogres in the Tandala Highlands,

• the Baal Ogres in the wilderness of the Rimmerins Ring and farther south.

Origins. According to the elven Carpá'dosían myth Ogres were among the races which came to life after the four main races sprang from the four elements. Thus the Ogres were also born through the Rain of Life which fell on Caelereth, bearing the spirit of the High Goddess, Avá the Beautiful. However, this of course is only the elven point of view. If the rather primitive culture of the Ogres is capable of religious beliefs is a different question, which still remains unanswered yet.

History. Since the Beginning of Time the Ogres were not involved in any important historical events save for the fact that they were used in the Third Sarvonian War as berserks by the orcish side.