Orc

Orcs are a race of humanoids. According to some legends, they were created from elves seared by Gruumsh's blood; in others, they were created by Gruumsh himself.

Appearance
Exandrian orcs can reach a height of eight feet and are muscular, weighing up to 280 pounds.

History
Orcs are among the youngest races in Exandria. According to legend, they were created during a battle of the Calamity where Corellon pierced the eye of Gruumsh and his blood seared elves in the field, who became orcs. Others contend that Gruumsh created the orcs himself. Due to the connection with Gruumsh, many believe that all orcs and half-orcs have the blood of Gruumsh, driving them to a violence and anger orcs call hgar'Gruum, the curse of ruin. Despite widespread belief in this among the orcish and among others, the curse of ruin does not exist, and orcs are only drawn to violence and anger for the same natural reasons as other mortal creatures.

After Gruumsh was defeated and banished, many of his orcish war clans splintered and went into hiding. Included among these were the Odakar orcs who held the Ashkeeper Peaks. Splitting from this group were some leaderless droves who migrated north into the Rime Plains, and these orcs suffered a schism between those who succumbed to Gruumsh's influence (the Jez-Araz marauders) and those who found inspiration in Kord, the Stormlord (the Boroftkrah clan). The latter went on the create the eponymous settlement of Boroftkrah.

Some orcs settled around the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Calamity, which had plenty of weapons to salvage; this settlement was called Bladegarden, and for a time it was a part of the Julous Dominion. After the Julous Dominion fell to the Dwendalian Empire, the empire reached out to some of the more approachable members of the settlement, offering wages and access to goods and services. Many accepted, and Bladegarden was incorporated into the empire; other orcish clans who disagreed with this accord were driven east towards the Brokenveil Marsh.

The Mighty Nein briefly stopped at the house of an orc veteran who had hide armor and meat for trade. Matthew Mercer intended for the character to possibly offer some mentoring to Fjord, encouraging him to embrace his heritage. Since Fjord decided to stay outside during the encounter, some of those same threads were later introduced in the character of Wursh.

On their way to Bazzoxan, the Mighty Nein raced on moorbounders past a small settlement of orc marauders in the Barbed Fields. They deployed a fireball and an insect plague to discourage the warg-mounted orcs from following.

Tal'Dorei
In the Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, in Tal'Dorei as of 812 PD, nearly every living orc was a ruthless killer, the word "orc" is associated with slaughter, and the exceptions were uncommon enough that people didn't believe stories about tender or merciful orcs. Most orcs lived in wandering bands between the Stormcrest Mountains and Cliffkeep Mountains, and nearly every orc in the Dividing Plains is part of the Ravagers, most willingly. Ruthless and violent, the Ravagers worship Gruumsh and follow his commands to conquer and destroy and to feel nothing but fury or joy; they are sometimes hypnotized by their god's gaze from beyond the Divine Gate and fall into a strange bloodlust. Orcs are described as being driven to chaos and destruction either through resentment created by the prejudice of other races or through "the corruption of the Ruiner's blood" driving them to all-consuming fury. However, some orcs are pushed to acts of compassion and tenderness by "what remains of their human and elven ancestry" despite the influence of Gruumsh's blood, which goes unnoticed by the rest of Tal'Dorei as no one has studied the orcish peoples. Humans hold little remorse for orcs and view them as savage, bloodthirsty, and bestial. Orcs are considered "a threat to civilization", albeit a mindless and uncoordinated one; they are characterized as generally struggling to structure and lead their bands, though "with each generation, some orcs grow smarter" and more organized.

Aspects of this lore, specifically in the existence of a corruption from Gruumsh's blood driving orcs to fury and in that displays of orcish compassion come from human and elven ancestry, were superseded by the Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, which refuted the existence of a blood-borne curse from Gruumsh and asserted orcs are not inherently driven to violence more than any other mortal. In other places, Explorer's Guide to Wildemount reiterates lore in the Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, such as Gruumsh's ability to hypnotize those who already serve him (though also expanded worship of Gruumsh beyond orcs). In, Matthew Mercer said, in discussing the narrative treatment of orcs in the Exandria and in Explorer's Guide to Wildemount: "I've been in a discussion for a while amongst a lot of creators in this space that orcs always got the shaft, even though where they were born from, and really came to prominence in the Lord of the Rings as this kind of— this idea of industrialization and the evil of, in many ways, of an exploitative capitalist society. A lot of that also lent to orcs being an unnecessarily lambasted and evil-touted entity in a lot of media. I fell into that as well. [...] With Wildemount, I wanted to explore the aspect of evil as— morality is relative, but evil is born from experience and intent, not from bloodline. Not from lineage. So when we came around to making this book, it was very important that we've managed to steer away from that classic idea of the orcs. Even the marauders that we had situated in Tal'Dorei's campaign guide, which was meant to be just one facet, but even then, there were facets of that book that were lazy, looking back on it. I'm not necessarily very proud of that."

In July 2021, the Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn was announced to update lore presented in the Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, including a "serious overhaul" to the races section according to writer James Haeck.

Dwendalian Empire
Bladegarden is both a military training complex and the core of orcish society within the Empire; it secures the empire's eastern border. Following the incorporation of Bladegarden into the Empire, orcs are among the most celebrated imperial soldiers, but many folk still fear the curse of ruin.

Menagerie Coast
Orcs and half-orcs alike, believing that the curse of ruin caused them to lash out at loved ones, seek respite in the city of Othe via spiritual peace and belonging.

Greying Wildlands
The orcs of Boroftkrah have a strong community that communes with Kord (particularly during thunderstorms) through contests of tracking and hunting, and makes offerings of strong prey. The settlement welcomes outsiders who are strong in the eyes of Kord, but it clashes frequently with the Jez-Araz and sometimes with hunting parties from Uthodurn.

Xhorhas
Xhorhasian orcs primarily live in nomadic, mixed bands with humans and bugbears, taming the beasts of the wastes and mostly trading peacefully with the Kryn Dynasty. Though nomadic orcs welcome the city-folk of the Dynasty to join their clans, they become angered when Kryn souls are reborn in orc bodies.

Due to the superstition about the curse of ruin, it is strictly taboo for orcs and goblinkin to have children, as the latter are known to carry the all-too-real Curse of Strife and the nomadic elders fear the madness that would come from a soul afflicted with both curses. So despite living in bands with bugbears, most half-orcs in Xhorhas have human or drow blood.

NPCs

 * Lukash: in charge of construction and organization of the Vo village on Rumblecusp

Behind the scenes
The orc racial traits published in Explorer's Guide to Wildemount was first published in Eberron: Rising from the Last War, differing greatly from the orc racial traits published in the Volo's Guide to Monsters. The Explorer's Guide to Wildemount version also differs from the Eberron version in that it increases the lifespan and maturity rate of orcs.