An Orcish Genealogy

[Catarrh 720]

Chapter 1: Guldur

    Malog sits on a bench by the bonfire in the Ugluk clan hall. Seeing Nurena, he calls her to his side and decides it's time she started learning about her ancestors. He recites their family tree, starting with Nurena's great great great great great grandfather, Guldur, and ending with young Nurena

   He then puts a hand on her little shoulder, and begins telling her the story of Guldur. ((Translated to common, because no one's gonna want to read this whole thing in the Blah)).

  

   Many centuries ago, shortly before the Clan Wars, a cub was born to unknown parents, and secretly taken away with one other cub. That cub was named Guldur. He was raised deep in the desert alongside his companion --and later mate-- Mazoga. For just over eight years, Guldur and Mazoga were brought up by mysterious orc, whose name they never shared. This orc taught them about the spirits, general orc life and eventually their heritage. When Guldur was almost nine, his unnamed caretaker died fighting a pair of aggressive jabbernaks during their mating season. This left the two young orcs --now adults according to orcish culture-- to fend for themselves and look out for each other in the unforgiving deserts.

 

   The pair soon proved to be particularly adept at desert survival, even by orcish standards. Guldur's first weapon was a sort of crude mace, which he made by affixing a rock to the end of a hefty log. Mazoga favored the javelin, and had developed an impressive throwing arm. With these weapons, some primitive stone tools and the innate survivalist mentality inherent in any good orc, the two clawed out a harsh existence on their own. Years later, they had established a life, and even had a simple home in a sandstone cave.

 

   The years had made Guldur into a truly imposing orc. His skin had been baked hard and dark by the merciless desert sun. He was massive and powerful; a hulking nine-and-a-half-foot-tall tower of green muscle. His eyes were harsh and sharp, and seemed to pierce both flesh and soul. In combat, he fought with the ruthless brutality and efficiency many orcs dreamed of.

   His mate, Mazoga, was equally impressive. She was tough and strong; a fantastic huntress. She stood almost eight feet tall with scarlet eyes, dark brown hair and broad, childbearing hips. She always stood loyally by Guldur's side, whether in combat --in which she was ferocious-- or simply in the everyday chores which shape the hard life of an orc. Mazoga was the kind of feorc any orc would want to bear his cubs, and so she did for Guldur. During their life, Guldur and Mazoga conceived and bore three cubs; Voltha, Balagog and Yar, each of whom later had cubs of their own.

 

   Above all the beasts of the desert, Guldur most admired the scaddernak, stating, "A hozh uruk am lyke da zkadurnak." He believed very strongly that the scaddernak represented what it meant to be an orc. Its nearly impenetrable exoskeleton symbolized to him the toughness and resilience of the orc race. The crushing strength of its pincers reminded him of that of his people. The scaddernak's deadly stinger called to mind the devastating lethality with which an orc is trained to destroy his foes. Guldur displayed this reverence proudly in the form of a black scaddernak tattoo emblazoned on his back. He eventually came to be known by those who knew him as "Guldur The Scaddernak."

 

   Guldur's wisdom in leadership was nearly unparalleled. When his cubs reached adulthood, they stayed nearby, eventually finding mates and forming the beginnings of a small village. Guldur, being the family patriarch, filled the role of village leader quite naturally. Having raised up his cubs to be valorous fighters, and having taught them everything he knew about the spirits, he soon found Voltha and Balagog to be mighty warriors, and Yar to be a devout shaman.

 

   Feeling the obligation to fulfill both the physical and spiritual needs of his community, Guldur was also a dedicated practitioner of shamanism. His path to shamanism, however, was quite the difficult one, as he had no one to train him. Given his relatively isolated life, the only teachings he had to go on were those of the orc who raised Guldur and Mazoga, and taught them a decent bit about the spirits during the eight years he was with them. In the end, it proved to be enough to start out with, and Guldur eventually became a wise farseer in his later years. He also trained his son, Yar, in the ways of the shaman.

 

   Under Guldur's leadership, the tiny settlement thrived; growing as new orcs occasionally joined them, and Voltha, Balagog and Yar brought in mates and cubs. His strength was an encouragement to his village, his honor was without question and his wisdom was a constant beacon of guidance for his people. Finally, at the age of one hundred and ninety-three, Guldur died due to wounds received in glorious battle against an enormous band of raiders who were attacking the village. He slew many with the massive black iron mace Balagog had smithed for him over fifty years prior. Sadly, he sustained three arrows to the chest, and received a nasty wound under his fifth left rib from a raider's war cleaver. Guldur and his village fended off the attackers, but later that night, the fearless leader died from his wounds.

 

   He was buried with his mace, and Mazoga assumed leadership until she died about a decade later defending his burial mound from a band of grave robbers. Voltha, Balagog and Yar then decided to share authority as a triumvirate of village elders. Voltha led the hunters and managed food supplies. Balagog led the village in combat. Yar presided as the spiritual head of the community. So went the life of Guldur The Scaddernak.  

[Bardmancer 942]

Nurena heartily enjoys the story, and can't wait to see more.

[craotor 617]

((Pretty acurate))

[Birdwhisperer 1174]

Moved to the Great Library. It shall be sorted into appropriate category shortly.