Orcish Architecture Volume 1

[Panashea 2644]

STRUCTURES

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FEASTING PITS

 

Deceptively named, feasting pits are locations in which orcs display their kills and tribulations for the ancestors to feast on.  These pits are most commonly constructed in deep recesses, valleys, and old caves. They serve as a place for orcs to collect their kills and for orcs to voice the strife they face.  The best kills within the orcish community are celebrated with a feast or celebration and then added to the mound. It is not uncommon to see hunters tributing a few of their daily kills to this pit, or a crowd of prideful orcs discussing past kills that have bubbled to the surface. Haruspice often maintain Feasting Pits, using it as a metric for the orcish people.  Adding to this mound is seen as a rite of passage for new orcs, and often exists as a way for new blood to test themselves among their peers. As a proud people, orcs will constantly seek to one up each other, till the top of the Feasting Pit can no longer contain itself, and it all washes away. 

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WARRIOR TOTEM

 

While the orcish people often mass-produce weapons for the Krug-hai, they also produce single works of art that they pass down from generation to generation. These storied weapons earn their reputation at weapon altars. Storied weapons are venerated in a sort of king-of-the-hill tourney, where their mettle is tested against other aspiring weapons and their champions. Once a winner is chosen, the winner’s weapon is placed within the altar for all to see for two cactus weeks, before the process begins again.

 

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ANCESTRAL BURIAL GROUND

 

The orcish people venerate their dead in a variety of ways. For some, it is clan or role specific, while in others, a haruspex or shaman is employed. If the orc has no clan or family, is disgraced, whitewash, or simply an unknown orc, the deceased are buried within a massive ancestral burial ground. Here, lutauman and haruspex show their respect and remembrance of the dead, as well as preserving pieces of orcish history. These places also serve as landmarks to orcish history and their desire to ascertain a place among the Stargush'Stroh, the orcish afterlife.

 

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LIVING MONUMENT

For honorary and noteworthy orcs, their names and actions must be remembered as to preserve their actions within orcish history. From this birthed an obsession with spires and height, large constructs maintained by those who respect the names within it or their ancestors.  Their stories may be etched along the buildings or within them, scratching the sky with their feats of greatness. The higher up these buildings stretch, the more significant the orc, with the inverse being true. 

 

Those forlorn, hated, and reviled are buried deep in the earth in inverted metallic and uncomfortable holes, pits that stretch far beneath the rationality of any grave-site or mineshaft. They are abandoned to what the orcs believe to be anonymity, a cave or pit with no light, or no escape so that their stories are forgotten.  

 

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SPIRITUAL BANISHMENT

 

The stars represent the spirits in constellations within the Ilzpaak, but also represent the place of the Stargush’Stroh, and the ancestral spirits. Constellations seen throughout the seasons pose insight to an orc’s future, and are scried by Ilzhonal, who fervently watch and study the stars. 

 

Those more inclined to Ancestralism or Haruspexy may cite specific stars as Ancestors and places within the Stargush’Stroh, claiming that the visible stars are the Ancestors are interceding for the Descendants below. 

 

To do so, the orcs construct places in which the Stars are easily seen, fond of open rooftops and buildings; goblins may establish planetariums or models in which the stars and constellations are visible. Though simple, ologs may go on migrations and pilgrimages where they have seen the brightest stars in the past.  The Ruka often manage these difficult and violent events, ensuring the orcish nation possesses some sort of balance within the affairs of the spirits.

 

 

 

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STRUCTURES OF THE STARS

 

The stars represent the spirits in constellations within the Ilzpaak, but also represent the place of the Stargush’Stroh, and the ancestral spirits. Constellations seen throughout the seasons pose insight to an orc’s future, and are scried by Ilzhonal, who fervently watch and study the stars. 

Those more inclined to Ancestralism or Haruspexy may cite specific stars as Ancestors and places within the Stargush’Stroh, claiming that the visible stars are the Ancestors are interceding for the Descendants below. 

To do so, the orcs construct places in which the Stars are easily seen, fond of open rooftops and buildings; goblins may establish planetariums or models in which the stars and constellations are visible. Though simple, ologs may go on migrations and pilgrimages where they have seen the brightest stars in the past.