Curse of ruin

The curse of ruin (sometimes capitalized Curse of Ruin), or hgar'Gruum in the Orc language, is the supposed supernatural inheritance of orcs and half-orcs from Gruumsh, the Ruiner that drives those of orcish heritage to acts of violence and rage. This is a common but mistaken belief.

Consequences
Orcs themselves fear the curse of ruin, which causes them to polarize either toward chaos (accepting their fate) or toward law (rejecting that fate). On the Menagerie Coast, the city of Othe has long attracted orcs and half-orcs who believe the curse of ruin caused them to lash out at loved ones; in Othe they seek peace. Some orcs blame the curse for their own mistakes.

The union of orcs and goblinkin is still strictly taboo among Xhorhasian nomads because the elders fear the madness that would afflict a soul with both the curse of ruin and the goblinkins' real Curse of Strife. As a result, despite many orcs in Xhorhas living in mixed bands with bugbears, most half-orcs in Xhorhas have human or drow blood.

Across Exandria, when superstitious people accuse orcs of being under the influence of the curse, any kind of annoyed reaction reinforces the stereotype. Moreover, in Tal'Dorei, the shunning of orcs by "fairer folk" was a self-fulfilling fear, creating resentment among some of those orcs that drove them toward lives of chaotic destruction.

Many folk in the Dwendalian Empire still fear the ancient legends of the curse of ruin despite orcs having become some of the Empire's most accomplished soldiers.

Behind the scenes
In the original Critical Role: Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting sourcebook, the inherited blood of Gruumsh was generally treated as one of the real influences driving orcs and half-orcs to violence. The creation myth of the orcs, treated as potentially inaccurate, held that orcs were created when Corellon spilled Gruumsh's blood in the Calamity, and the blood corrupted the elves and possibly the humans who served in Corellon's armies at that battle. The blood was said to continue searing the minds of orcs several centuries later, depriving them of rational thought. According to this lore, what remained of their elvish and human ancestry still longed to treat others with love and tenderness.

In the Explorer's Guide to Wildemount sourcebook, this inherited tendency was called the "curse of ruin" and stated outright to be a false belief. In the, Matthew Mercer discussed the process that led to the reconsideration of the universality and causes of orcs' behavior:

Actual influence of Gruumsh
Gruumsh's blood did grant orcs endurance and strength, but didn't convey his evil. However, those who actually serve the Ruiner, including many orcs, are sometimes hypnotized by their god's gaze from beyond the Divine Gate and fall into a strange bloodlust. The Commandments of the Ruiner instruct his followers to conquer and destroy, and to feel nothing but fury or joy. Following Gruumsh's banishment, some of the aimless Odakar orcs of Wildemount, despite being separated from the god's direct sway, were still seduced by the Ruiner into savagery and broke off to form the Jez-Araz. In Tal'Dorei as of 812 PD, nearly every living orc was a ruthless killer, and the exceptions were uncommon enough that people didn't believe stories about tender or merciful orcs.