Ourkani

Ourkani is a tribal age nation that exists in the top left corner of the map. Population is made up of orcs who follow the Necromanteia.

Time Immemorable
The tales of the creation of Ourakan and it's surrounding tribes had been lost for the ages, knowing only that before it's creation Orcs traveled in nomadic groups called Packs. Their Pack Leader was usually the one who would lead, but the Elders would help guide him. The most notable is Aleksandrei the Raven-Kissed. The pack prospered under his rule. Sadly, his later life had been lost as people have either forgotten the tales they had once told or the ones who knew them were killed.

The First Chief
When Ourakan was an infant tribe, it was ruled by Aleksandrei's son Dynam; named after Dynamios the Giant. Dynam was an aggressive ruler, but he wisened as he got older. During his younger years, he had conquered the tribes of Turakanos, Thivos, Megaral, and Hrakleion during the Times of Disorder as to establish a protected powerbase behind Kaaleas River. In his later years, he had renounced bloodshed and brought up many cultural ideas as well as religious stability for the realm.

He had invented the idea of flyting to help entertain the masses while teaching them charisma and had started the tradition of the creation of pottery with stories made out of images engraved on the pottery as to keep the Elder's tales alive even after they die. His reign lasted for 45 years until his untimely death, his successor and heir Hermaen Quick-Footed wanting nothing to do with the politics of Orcs. Thus ended his bloodline of rulers, and the Elders elected Tarus to be the new Chief.

Tarus
Before Tarus was Chief, he was a well-known warrior in Dynam's conquests of Ourkani. The Elders of the time had elected Tarus because of his popularity and skill in battle. When Tarus was elected, he was fairly young, only recently passing the Trial of Maturity and becoming a fully grown Orc. Although he was partly elected because of his background in combat, his reign had seen no territorial expansion.

Instead, he had further developed the city of Ourakan and had made friendships with the Draconic people in the mountains south. In his later years, he had planned for constructing a massive graveyard modeled after the one from the Elder's tales that people could collectively go and pray to The Dark One. But, he had grown too sick to rule before he could make his idea a reality and it wasn't long before he died from sickness and his son, Thesselon, took over.

Thesselon
Thesselon is the current Chief of Ourkani, and so far he has secured friendship with the Drakes down in the southern mountains as well as attempting to secure relations with his fellow Green Kin. He had negotiated with the Chief of Grakaedra to go raiding to help improve relations which ended up becoming a bigger opportunity: An orcish joint-colonisation of the southern river valley occupied by humans.

Thesselon enjoyed the idea of such a battle and will be glad to take lead. However, any relations with the Chief of Kaaleas that he had before had been tarnished thanks to frequent militarist raids on Kaaleasi border towns, and Kaaleas had joined a pact with Moonland to curb Ourkani's aggression. This did not stop Thesselon, however, because he knew that he would look weak if he did not go to war. He waged war upon Kaaleas and Moonland, and they called in the other Eldari.

The invasion of the southern river valley had begun, and to help even the odds, Thesselon thought it wise to ally the unstable Porians. They were defeated by a brave Eldari army, and the Eldari had conquered the Porian lands with great speed. Thesselon and his allied chiefs held out for as long as they could, costing many Orcish lives, but sadly they could not pull through a victory and Kaaleas had united the Orcs under their banner, marking the end of Thesselon's reign.

Ion of Kaaldari
During Ion's reign, the culture of the Orc people had gradually evolved, some good and some bad. Women began having less of a role to play in society, staying only to keeping their family huts safe. Partly thanks to the cultural diffusion with the moon people, flyting; which was once merely used as entertainment now and then, became an important skill to show off to the tribes. If you could flyte and fight, then you would be considered high within the warrior caste as a Warrior Poet. Ion himself is considered the Father of Warrior-Poets, giving him the nickname "Πολημης" or "Polymise."

Trials of Maturity
The Trials of Maturity is different in all tribes of Ourkani, but they all have the same requirements: You must be an Orc male and must be 16. In the city of Ourakan, the young Orcling must go to an Elder and ask to take the trial. There, the Elder will establish a time and date for him to finish preparations and to commence the trial. During the Trial, the Orcling's close friends and family will be there to watch him (if it was the Chief's son, the entire city would watch). Recently under Ion's rule, a new Trial has arisen to symbolise an Orcling's maturity. Not all cities do this, however, as it is a mixture of Kaalean and Moonlandish traditions and not all tribal communities agree to inject such traditions into their culture.

The young Orcling will be placed in a fighting pit surrounded by his spectators and at the other end would be a wolf, an animal respected by the Orcish people for their strength and versatility in combat. The young Orcling is given only a stone mace to fight him and, if he survives and kills the wolf, he is then told to bury it's body into the ground as he should with all enemies of combat. If the young Orc is wounded by the wolf, and it grows into a scar, then he gains his first mark of prestige.

The second trial would have the Orcling challenge a spectator to a flyting while they duel for honor. The duel would be to gain the crowd's approval while the flyting would prove their mind to be superior. If the Orcling won both the duel and the flyting, he would be named a young warrior poet. If the Orcling won just the duel, then he would pass considered as a normal warrior. An Orcling cannot pass this trial by only winning the flyting.

Warlike
Orcs are very warlike, brandishing their scars as pride marks. Tattooists would decorate around scars, as to embolden them. Those with more scars have a high standing in the warrior caste. Orcs that survive many battles, past the age of 34, are considered part of the elder caste, otherwise they are still part of the warrior caste. It is customary to settle disputes with a duel, most of the time a duel of honour. However, if the dispute is more serious, such as a kidnapping or thievery, it is solved by a duel to first blood.

Secularism
A fairly recent tradition after Ion's union of the Ourkani is a sort of secularism. After unionising with Moonland, there were many conflicts of religion. This was resolved after the infamous Necromanteian Attack, where a village of Necromanteian orcs attempted to convert Moonlanders. When it failed, they had begun taking them hostage until they converted. Ion was informed of this and was angered, so he rode down with his forces to end it. After this attack, Ion would seperate religion from every day lives. Religion would not be an issue in the new Kaaldari nation, and those who would fight over it would be imprisoned. Now, many orcs and people get along very well even when they have separate beliefs. Religion doesn't usually spread, unless it was from an outside source, either.

Ουρκεσσ
The Orcish societal structure is an interesting one. The lowest class are the Ουρκανεσσ or the Orc Women. Orc Women have many important jobs they do, such as Pottery Making. Pottery sculptors engrave the Elder's tales to be known for lifetimes, a great boon to the society and religion as a whole and the Elders respect them for it. Orc Women are responsible keep their huts safe when their husband is gone in combat, and so they are allowed to train and duel with the Orc men when time is available. Otherwise, they will be working around the house and cleaning it. During dinner, the entire family will hunt for food.

Γηοτες
The class above Ουρκανεσσ are the Γηοτες or the workers. They are the smithies, the farmers, the diplomats, etc. who do the important jobs that others are not fit for. Usually, they are the last ones to join a raid party and/or warband because not many can fill their shoes. But, that doesn't stop them from training with the other Orcs. An Orc farmer labors all day in the fields usually, and though they are not as toned as the Warrior's body, they are still strong and are respected for it. They are given first dibs of what they take home for their food rations and the others get what the farmers don't want to have.

Πολυγιτανη
The next class are the Πολυγιτανη, or the Warriors. Orcs bred for combat, they are always eager to train their bodies like their ancestors, The Giants, so they can one day prove to the others that they are a pure warrior and would be accepted by The Dark One. Warriors will always be respected due to their commitment to the warrior's path and how tempered they have trained their bodies to be. When they are not taking part in a raid and/or warband, they work as laborers that will help out around the community running resources back and forth or helping construct buildings for others.

Πρεσβυτος
The second to highest class are the Πρεσβυτος or the Elders. Most Elders are warriors who have fought in the many Orc conflicts of old and survived, giving them wisdom and great charisma, as well as many battle scars, in exchange with age. This, coupled with them being responsible for the telling of the tales, has given them the traditional respect that all Orcs give them nowadays. All the Elders live closer to the Chief than the rest, and act as his many advisors. The Chief is expected to listen to an Elder's wisdom, even if they are an Elder themselves, though it does not mean they have to respect it. During the Day of Tales, the Orcs gather around the Elder's huts in order to hear them regale the tales, giving even more excitement using the pottery made by the Pottery Sculptors.

Χηφ
The top of this societal pyramid would be the Χηφ, or the Chief. He is the leader of the Orcs and handles all political affairs, whether they are external or internal. They live in the biggest hut in the center of all the Elders. When the Chief wakes up in the morning, he is expected to wake the Elders up as well as to start their days and then begin training with the other Orcs, as to show that he is still in touch with those around him. If he has an heir, he is allowed to skip training in order to train his heir. When a Chief dies and his heir hasn't passed the Trial of Maturity, the Elders act as a Regency Council until then. If the heir dies and there is no Chief, the Elders elect a Chief from one of the many Orcs in the tribe that have made a name for themselves.

Day of Tales
The most famous of special days in Ourkani traditions is the Day of Tales, a day created by Aleksandrei during the period of Pack Orcs. This day is a day when all stop their work to watch and listen to the Elders tell the tales of their ancestors and their glory, as well as The Dark One. This is also a sort of competitive day to see which Elder gets the most listeners to their hut, showing they are the most charismatic and the best at preaching. Recently, stories embedded on pottery that Pottery Sculptors create and give to the Elders to store as lore has been given more of a visual take on the tales, increasing it's popularity among the more visual learning Orcs.

Day for the Hunt
The Day for the Hunt isn't a set day, but it is a traditional day that all Orc families take to bond with their family. If they are said to be taking a Day for the Hunt, then they are released from their usual duties to hunt with their family. When they come back, they are expected to have captured some type of food as evidence of the Hunt, and that they work extra hard the day after to catch up if necessary. For the family members the hunt the biggest pray, they get to pick what they would want to eat and how much they get of it. If one of the family members fought and killed a wolf, they would become alpha of the household with the Elder's approval. This is even the case with the Orc women.

Feast Day
Usually the day after a victorious war or raid, everyone in the tribe gathers around their village center to eat, laugh and cheer with each other. The farmers are held with especially high stature this day for keeping the fields tended to even when there was conflict. The warriors of the war or raid are expected to share some of their spoils from battle with the farmers, and those who don't are given humiliation of the farmer's choosing. Which usually ends up with the warriors dressing up as women and forced to lap the entire tribe in such garments.

Necromanteia
The Orcs of Ourkani and it's surrounding lands believe in the local Orcish tales of Necromanteia. It's basic ideals are to worship The Dark One, or Κορανατος, a Titan who had slain the corrupt Gods after they had put the world into disaster. The Gods before their corruption are idealized as the purest of beings, the perfect warrior, who had slain the corrupted heavens that had almost destroyed the world. In the end of times, the corrupt Gods would come back and revive the corrupted heavens and, after an epic battle, the universe would reset on itself.

Religious Traditions
All Orcs worship The Dark One differently as there is no set way to pray to and worship it. Those living in Ourakan worship The Dark One by sacrificing a rabbit, or hare. They pray to The Dark One by going to the grave of a fallen orc, usually a loved one, and they set down a local blackish red rose that grows among the outskirts between Ourakan, Thivos, and Turakanos. This rose is said to give an offering to the soul when it rises up for The Dark One to judge, and The Dark One will take the offering into account as a virtue to help weigh against his sins, and then will be judged accordingly.

Meanwhile, those in Thivos may worship The Dark One by offering him some of his blood in exchange for further luck. They pray to The Dark One similarly to those in Ourakan, but instead of just placing a local rose on their grave, they also dye the rose with blood as they believe The Dark One would accept nothing less for it to count as a virtue. There is no official way of prayer for the religion, and it all relies on local traditions. +