The Firstborn

[Narthok 10416]

 

Spoiler

 

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I first met this collection of strange Orcs on one of their innumerable merchant voyages. Having resolved to accompany them and record their strange practices and philosophies, the following notes are those that I have compiled through observation in their company.

 

To those familiar with the ways of the Orcs, those who call themselves ‘the firstborn’ would present some confusion. Traditionally, the Orcs organized themselves into loose kin-loyalty groups internally known as ‘clans,’ a similar structure as the ones used by certain northern humans. However, the firstborn do not appear to fall neatly into that category.

 

Rather than a ‘clan,’ it may be more accurate to describe the orcs claiming membership in this group as part of a religious movement or a particular philosophy of life. These orcs generally do not bear peculiar markings; they do not have a similar skin colour, nor do they change their names as is customary with many Orcs. Rather, Orcs belonging to the ‘firstborn’ will generally identify themselves as ‘firstborn.’ When they refer to themselves by firstborn, it appears they are claiming to possess the blood of Krug, who they call the Uruk-Father, the Old-Father or, most commonly, the Firstborn. 

Through this emphasis on descent from Krug, these orcs bind themselves to a quasi-religious philosophy that governs their life. This philosophy is most often referred to as ‘The Path’

 

 

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The Path, alternatively known as The Path of Krug, or more rarely the Kru’un, is a philosophy of life that governs the existence of its adherents, the self-proclaimed ‘firstborn.’ Per my observation, the Path rests on the following beliefs.

 

1. Krug was the first Orc and was the perfect Orc; his way of life is to be emulated.
2. Everything in creation has a purpose, 

• sentient beings can choose to reject or embrace their purpose, rejection or acceptance of the purpose does change their purpose. 
  • Purpose seems to be assigned at birth or pre-assigned, but is determined later on by observation.

3. The world is organized in a strict hierarchy
4. There is a being they refer to as the lie-speaker who has cursed the descendants of Krug out of hatred for their progenitor

• Part of the Orcish ‘purpose’ is overcoming this blood-curse

5. The descendants of Krug have a unique obligation and ability to pursue the goals of Krug on account of their heritage.

• Their purpose or their ‘for-ness’ is partially determined by their blood. 

 

The Kru’un seems deeply concerned with the ‘is-ness’ or the ‘for-ness’ of objects and agents. The ‘goodness’ of a person or a thing is best determined by observing how closely they adhere to their purpose. The firstborn refers to this as following or rejecting ‘The Path’

 

In summary, the Firstborn orcs believe that they are made, albeit imperfectly as a consequence of the Ibleesian curse, in the image of Krug. By virtue of this imperfect image, their ‘purpose’ in the path is derived from Krug’s own purpose in addition to a determination of one’s own strengths and abilities. It is a very collectivist vision where the whole is greater than the individual and the purpose of the individual is to serve the whole’s pursuit of a higher purpose.

 

 

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Orcish culture has always had a concept of exile for those who fail to appropriately adhere to Orcish views of Orcish behaviour. However, the Firstborn approach this tradition from a different perspective. To the Firstborn, a wayward Orc is refusing to ‘be what they are’, in essence, it is equivalent to watching a turtle attempt to fly or for a fish to try and breathe air. Orcs have free will and are thus faced with what the firstborn call the ‘true’ or ‘only’ choice. The Orc can choose to ‘be what they are’ or the Orc can choose, in the eyes of the firstborn, madness, to ‘not be.’

 

While historically Orcs have referred to exiles as ‘Whitewashes’, referring to the fact that these orcs had been fundamentally changed by the culture of non-orcish races, firstborn refer to exile as A’Shok. The terms and nomenclature of the Firstborn are somewhat confusing, they speak differently than many of their brethren and use terms that seem novel or at minimum novel syntheses of existing terms to represent new concepts. When firstborn use the term ‘A’Shok’ it seems to translate roughly to ‘the insane one’ or ‘one who deserts’. A’shok seems to be applicable both in the singular and in the plural forms.

 

 

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The Firstborn have a unique view on Orcish blood, or in their eyes, the shared heritage all Orcs have that begins with Krug, their progenitor. While the firstborn do not approve of mixed-blood Orcs, they would still consider them under the obligations demanded by the Kru’un. 

 

The quasi-sacral vision of the ‘blood’ greatly colours the perspectives of the firstborn. These orcs seem to view the world in a dichotomy of ‘the blood’ and the ‘not blood’. Careful observers will note that Orcs who claim membership in or subscribe to the ‘Firstborn’ ideology will rarely if ever use the given names of those deemed to be not-blood. 

 

Rather; firstborn orcs will refer to an agent or an object by what they perceive to be the nature of the thing. This will often come across as a descriptive account of what is being addressed or referenced. For example

 

“[Orc name] seeks long-ears Chieftain of northern forest”

 

The Orc in question, in the above example, is in his own mind, speaking the ‘true name’ of the Elfen prince that is being addressed. In the eyes of this Orc, he is identifying what the Elf in question ‘is’. To my understanding, the firstborn Orcs do this in order to highlight the place of a particular object or person on the ‘path’.

 

Firstborn orcs do not maintain this practice when referring to ‘the blood’, or at least not to the almost universal degree that they apply it to non orcs. Firstborn Orcs seem to view an Orcs given name as containing the essence of who they are insofar as to all orcs it will be an immediate but implicit reference to all of the deeds and the social standing of the Orc being referenced. At least this is what was conveyed to me in conversation.

 

 

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The Firstborn have a rather unique relationship with Shamanism when contrasted to the customs of their Krug descended kin. It appears that Orcs have recently encountered a crisis in their ethno-religious life, perhaps it is this crisis that prompted the conception of the Firstborn movement in general. But in brief, it appears that the consensus amongst many Orcs is that Shamans have grown astray from their initial role assigned by Krug as spiritual leaders. A priest caste of sort in the manner of the various human faiths. Per the accounts I have heard, it seems that the Shamans have moved away from serving the broad descendants of Krug and have instead opted to pursue power and their own interests. 

 

An often cited criticism around many a caravan campfire is that degree to which foreigners have been given Shaman. A phenomenon that has occurred with such frequency as to outnumber the Krug descended Shamans. How can the Orcish Shamans claim to be guides of the Orcish people when they will sell the cultural secrets of the Orcs to foreigners and spend the majority of their time amongst foreign settlements. It is perhaps from this initial resentment that the term ‘A’shok’ may arise from, an Uricization of the human phrase ‘a shock’. Either way, it is clear that the Shamans have lost their cultural legitimacy amongst many Orcs who now seek spiritual answers elsewhere.

 

The Firstborn, being the most outspoken critics of the extant Shamans while not openly adversarial to Shamanism seem to view modern Shamans and Shamanism as clear departures from Krug’s path. In their eyes Shaman’s have been led astray by their mythical antagonist figure the ‘lie-speaker’. As a consequence the works of the Shamans, particularly when interacting with Orcs is interpreted as leading Orcs astray frok Krug’s truth and drawing them into slavery to various duplicitious ‘spirits’. To my knowledge there are essentially no Firstborn who would seek to learn or practice Shamanism, similarly there are no Shamans who would identify themselves as members of the Firstborn movement.

 

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The Firstborn Orcs have a peculiar awareness if not an insecurity about the perceptions of their race by the wider world. Perhaps this is a consequence of their frequent mercantilist camel based caravans that expose them to the different races in a non-violent capacity. Whatever the cause may be, the Firstborn are aware that the Orcs are perceived as dimwitted and villainous by most of the lawful races of our world.

 

I suspect a mixture of this insecurity coupled with their sincere desire to determine the correct way to ‘be’ as demanded by the path has led them to synthesize the tongue of the orcs with the various languages of the world that they have encountered. As a consequence Firstborn Orcs will generally speak a more coherent form of common than non Firstborn Orcs. In addition to this innovation of the language, the Firstborn appear to create new words wholecloth to describe novel Firstborn concepts without alienating their brethren by using words that do not sound un-orcish’

 

As mentioned earlier in this treatise, the Firstborn Orcs have a peculiar relationship with names. For those who do not possess the blood of Krug, the ‘not-blood’ the Firstborn will almost universally refer to them in descriptive terms. However, for themselves and for ‘the-blood’ the Firstborn will almost emphasize the use and frequency of names. For example, Firstborn will often refer to themselves in the third person.

 

“[Orc name] will do this”

 

It seems that the Firstborn do this because of the importance they place on the names of ‘the-blood’. When a Firstborn Orc invokes an Orcish name they are assuming that all Orcs in earshot read additional meaning into the name being invoked. The name of an Orc will generally invoke the lineage of the named orc, their deeds, their place in society, their failures, their obligations etcetera. The density of information conveyed is much higher than the uninitiated would initially assume. Accordingly Firstborn Orcs place a great premium on the use of Orcish names. Disrespect or unwarranted derision directed towards Orcish names is treated in a similar fashion to blasphemy. In the eyes of the Firstborn to abuse an Orc’s name is to attempt to distort the true name of the Orc and consequently what the Orc in question ‘is’. It seems that the Firstborn do not make much distinction between symbol and symbolized.

 

I have compiled a list of terms and phrases that Firstborn seem to use with far more frequency than their less ideological kin.

 

A’Shok → One who is not / Insane one

Not-blood → Those who are not descended from Krug

Blood → Those who are descended from Krug

Kru’un / The Path / The Way → Various forms of reference to the Firstborn philosophy of life

Bas’avarard → worthy of following

Bas’valo → One who follows the path well, essentially the Firstborn way of denoting virtue

Valo → Seems to be derived from the human term ‘valour’, Firstborn use it to describe the lifelong process of developing into a better Orc. 

[Orc name] sees [not-blood] → A mark of respect from a Firstborn

Brittle-bones → general descriptor of non orcs, most frequently applied to humans

Longears → Elves

Halfmen → Dwarves

Urukim → all descendants of Krug

X speaks wisdom → expression of agreement

Urukine → Female Orc, does not seem to apply to Goblins, Trolls or Ologs

Troll → Used to refer to the peculiar blue skinned ‘hob-goblins’

Blood-fire → A curse placed upon the Orcs by the ‘lie-speaker’

Lie-speaker → the mythological antagonist of the Orcish race to whom bad things are generally ascribed

Become what you are → a strange tautological statement related to the Orcish belief in ‘being’ and ‘Is-ness’. In short it refers to the Firstborn belief that the only choice of real consequence is to embrace one’s nature or to reject it.
Throm’ka → In an attempt to appear more cultured and sophisticated the Firstborn almost entirely eschew the use of the less formal orcish greeting of ‘ug’ opting mostly to use the very formal Throm’ka

 

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As my time travelling with the Firstborn wound to a close I thought it appropriate to make note of a few of the unique conventions that I observed amongst the Firstborn. They are as follows.

 

The Firstborn’s daily life is heavily preoccupied with the challenge posed by a phenomenon they refer to as the ‘Blood-Fire’. The blood-fire is a phenomenon whereby Orcs are prone to indulging in violence filled madness similar to the rampage of an enraged bull or wild boar. The Firstborn claim that this phenomenon is not natural but is rather a curse afflicted upon their people by the ‘lie-speaker’. Whether this is true or not I cannot verify. Nonetheless the Firstborn spend a great deal of time meditating and testing themselves in combat and situations of intensity in order to train themselves to restrain this supposedly blood-deep madness that infliects their race.

 

The Firstborn relationship with the A’shok varies from previous Orcish approaches to exiles. To the Firstborn the A’shok are lost, part of the demands of the Path is that they make a sincere effort at returning lost Orcs to the ‘path’. However, if an A’shok proves to be a threat to other Orcs faith in the path then it seems realistic to assume that Firstborn would react violently if not lethally to an A’shok who has gone too far astray.

 

Because the Path is a relatively new phenomenon in the lives of the Orcish peoples there are many Orcs who are not fully aware of the Firstborn beliefs and teachings. The Firstborn believe that part of their obligations on the Path is that they must enlighten other children of Krug so that they can begin to follow the path and ‘become what they are’. The teaching of the path is generally limited to those who are referred to as Bas’avarard or avarard. Literally translated this seems to mean ‘worthy of following’ but these teachers are rarely martial leaders . When used in context Bas’avarard seems to refer to a teacher who is worthy of learning from as opposed to one who is to be followed into battle. The process of being recognized as Bas’avarard seems to be a largely organic process wherein various Firstborn will recognize a follower of the path as being wiser and more learned than is typical and will refer to them for guidance on how to properly follow the path.

 

Firstborn exist in an interesting tension as they are simultaneously battling against the so-called ‘blood-fire’ affliction while also trying to be virtuous, atleast in the Orcish sense of the word. This process, at least within the ideology of the Firstborn, is called ‘Valo’ seemingly derived from the human word ‘Valour’. In brief, Firstborn are expected to spend their entire lives overcoming the blood-fire curse while developing the pillars of  strength, wisdom, courage, and honour. There is an additional component to Valo which seems to relate to ‘being what you are’. It is not enough simply to be an Orc, you must be your specific kind of  Orc. A young Orc who is unusually proficient at war is not only an Orc, but an Orc ‘made’ for war. 

 

Firstborn seem to view themselves similar to tools or objects at the disposal of the greater body. In the eyes of the Firstborn the purpose of the knife is to cut, the goodness of a knife is determined by how well it cuts. The Firstborn then apply this principle to their kin to determine the specific purpose of a particular orc; the Bas’avarard will generally observe what that Orc is skilled in and encourage them to develop that skill for the good of the children of Krug. However, those who reject their natural skills are often at risk of being viewed as A’shok for rejecting what they are.

 

It seems that most Firstborn believe that in order to determine how to follow the path they must seek out guidance from one who they believe to be Bas’avarard. It is likely that the Orcs find comfort in hierarchies and are trying to apply their clan based hierarchies to their spiritual life.

 

The Firstborn is still a relatively young movement, however there are some Orcs who have begun to be born into Firstborn families to Firstborn parents. These orcs are in the peculiar position of living their entire lives immersed in the teachings of the Firstborn. From what I have seen, and it must be recognized that I have only dwelt amongst the wandering caravans of the Orcs, I have not been within their great cavernous lair myself; it seems that Orcish younglings, they call them ‘cubs’ in the manner of animals, have their ‘purpose’ determined at a relatively young age, certainly by the time of their adulthood they will be well set in their path. It is likely that their path will have been determined by a Bas’avarard presumably at the request of the parents of the youngling.

 

The final peculiarity of the Firstborn, is the emphasis they place upon the creation of speaking stones and obelisks. Firstborn will often mark their travels with rudimentary text carved into roadside waystones. This text can convey messages to other orcs, or, will frequently recount the tales of past Orcs who are considered to have been dutiful in following the path. These stone-carved testimonies serve as inspiration for future generations of Orcs. To compare them to the saints of humans would not be accurate, but much in the fashion that Krug is not the God of the Orcs, the ancestors whose deeds are recorded in the speaking stones serve as inspiration and guidance; their memory preserved forever in stone.

 

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For now this is the breadth of my observations. Though no doubt I shall find further to add in the future. This has been the recorded observations of - Kaernost Ilu’thelas

 

 

[Navigator 4260]

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Oh this is ******* cool.

 

[Narthok 10416]

29 minutes ago, navigat0rr said:

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Oh this is ******* cool.

 

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