Ogre Nations
aka "The Horde"

| General | History | Geopolitical | Military | Culture |
| Geographics | Economics | Languages | Religeon |

Capital: Itzak'bardran National Alignment: Lawful Evil Population: 7.2 million Size: 1.2 million square miles Government: Military Dictatorship Ruler: Supreme Ruler Itzak Law: Ogremai dictates Coin: Weights (coins of pure metal)

General: The Ogre Nations are a collection of dictators, ruled over by an ogre magi (or ogremai) of unprecedented capacity. Situated within the vast Choranil Desert, on the western end of the continent of Halganath, the Ogre Nations have proven themselves capable of adapting to nearly any threat. Composed of the native desert kobolds, the vast hordes of the orcs, a small group of ogres, and a smaller group of ogremai, the 'Horde' as it is called by most outsiders is a densely populated, warlike nation whose rulers have proven both wise and cunning. Supreme Ruler Itzak is an ogremai that has placed the welfare of the ogran peoples above his own, and proven to his peoples that he will stop at nothing to assure their survival. Locked in a deadly war with the Srik, the Ogre Nations have fought valiantly for close to a decade with the giant ants, managing a fiercely held line of battle only within the last few years. Few other nations deal with the Horde, save the Alekdan Principalities and Rakore, even though her armies are vast and powerful -- and most frightening of all, the Horde have an aerial force of considerable might.

History: In 1201 Avard, the Third Crusaders sacked and destroyed the ogran nation of Timaus, led by Overchief Mulkobric. The overchief had united the various desert clans of orcs and ogres into a single whole, and sparked the Third Crusades because of his united might. Overchief Mulkobric's raiders seized what trade there was within the west, and prepared to do battle with the dwarves to the west, and the barbarians to the northeast. Before those preparations came to fruition, the crusaders intervened -- but the overchief was never found. An ogremai of considerable talent and ability, Mulkobric was reputed to be half-human or even half-elven, wielding a dangerous amount of power. Mulkobric went underground for some decades, making new plans for the west. In 1303, after nearly a century of hiding, he returned with a new name -- Itzak. Instead of seizing power from the other ogres and ogremai that ruled the emerging communities with poison, assassins, and other nefarious tools, as he had before, Itzak used his considerable charisma and intellect to convince the ograns that the human crusaders would return. The priests of Mazripos from all races saw Itzak's change as a sign, and regarded the changed ogremai as a prophet. Many of the ogremai saw the wisdom in Itzak's words, and the backing of the priests, coupled with Itzak's charisma, swayed them. The various ogres and ogremai in charge of the clans rallied to Itzak, and backed him with viscious might. The millions of orcs that existed in the desert, instead of being forced into the new era Itzak heralded, suddenly found themselves with significantly more freedom from their ogre masters. The more intelligent amont them, rather than rebel, saw first-hand the prophetic power of Itzak when Mount Rashirithal in the Avris Mountains exploded, taking with it a vast stronghold of orcs that were opposed to continued rule by the ogremai. There was considerable question as to whether the gods had destroyed the mountain, or Itzak himself, but few doubted the wisdom in following the ogremai.

Supreme Ruler Itzak began making crude plans to lay waste the dwarven clans to the west. Over the next several years, larger and more well-equipped armies began hammering the dwarves in their mountain homes -- the Warkore Clan in particular. After discovering an ancient ruin within the desert that contained a considerable amount of old, elven gold, as well as magical items galore, Itzak's elite minions began to hire mercenary teachers from evil Kur Maeth. The slave trade proved considerably profitable, as well, and elves, dwarves, humans, grippli, and tomanths began to funnel into Kur Maeth, and then on to Labond and the Alekdan Principalities. As the armies of the Ogre Nations became better trained and more well-equipped, their confidence in Supreme Ruler Itzak climbed. In 1311 Avard, Itzak committed all of the new army to war with the dwarves. Simultaneous and bold strokes through the Loregard pass delivered deadly hammer blows. Though the heart of the two clans' strongholds held, monastaries and outlying mountains fell before the Horde. Covering tactics with ranged weapons, coupled with well-trained, armed and armored orcs, backed by both kobolds and ogres together, made for a formidable force.

When the two clans united as one to repel the Horde, Itzak felt that the war would merely take longer; however, undead elves from deep within the desert necessitated the pull-back of many of his armies. As the War of the Undead began to heat up, the Supreme Ruler found himself spending more and more time fighting banshees, wraiths, and skeletons. The taste of victory the orcs and ogres had felt became merely a taste, as, finally, the entire Ogre Nations army was withdrawn into the Choranil Desert to fight off the undead, and protect the ogran warrens.

When the War of the Undead had ended, Itzak prepared once more to assault Rakore, but also had a new Kur Maeth to deal with -- one inhabited by the Fourth Crusaders he had long prophesied. Deprived of the monies the slave trade brought, Itzak sheltered those humans he could that had proven 'useful' in Kur Maeth, using them to train his peoples in the more civilized arts of trade, war, and visciousness. Just as the Ogre Nations were ready to fire a double-pronged attack at both Rakore and Kur Maeth simultaneously, the Srik swept through the northern Choranil Desert like a plague. Finally understanding his own prophecies, Itzak pulled as many of his peoples back as he could, drawing a fighting line at the Griktale Escarpment with twin armies numbering in the millions. Orcish blood flowed in such a tide that the normally empty Fozarn River's bed filled and then flooded, on what the orcs call 'the red flood', a holiday of mourning celebrated annually. Barely holding the centaur ants at bay, Itzak and all the other rulers began to truly see the wisdom and desperation that drove the civilizations of the dwarves and the humans.

Through fierce determination alone, the War Front has held near the Griktale Escarpment and the Fozarn Riverbed. For every advance the Ogre Nations make, the Srik take it back; and for every advance the Srik make, the Horde takes it back. Crude mining, smelting, and smithing in the Avris Mountains, has yielded considerable steel -- with a great many dwarven slaves thought to drive the processes.

Geopolitical: Because of its vile past, and because it may still hold a considerable number of slaves, neither of its neighbors (Rakore and Kur Maeth) are willing to deal with the Horde. Itzak and his ambassadors have implored to both nations for whatever aid they can receive, and some inroads were made with Rakore on the basis of humanitarian aid. Kur Maeth, ruled over by the Fourth Crusaders, refuses to deal with the Horde, save over the point of a sword. Yet the Ogre Nations is keenly aware that its massive armies are well-capable of over-running either nation rather quickly -- yet war with both would be hard, or even catastrophic.

Knowing this, Itzak has used what spare funds he can, to try and sew discord and discontent within both nations. He has had considerable success in creating snarls and beauracratic accidents within Rakore, but the paladins of Kur Maeth have thwarted his plans at every turn. Ironically, the nation the Horde is having the most success in hurting, is the nation that is most willing to help -- and was most hurt by previous war.

Though the Horde's former ally, the Alekdan Principalities, is still willing to deal, little to no pirate traffic has been successful in reaching the Ogre Nations. Kur Maeth's triremes and Rakore's galleons dominate the Gulf of Teras, and few sailing vessels can make the long and arduous trip through the Goordune Ocean. Small city-states along the Dreneb River, and up into the Avris Mountains, have fallen to the various evils thrown out of the Kur Maeth by the crusaders; though willing to trade with the ograns, they have little to offer of their own, in the quantities that the Horde needs.

Some trade with the Sholin occurs, but only with select members of their people. It is rumored that one of the Sholin floating cities is aiding the Ogre Nations with seafoods along their coast on the Goordune Ocean, but the nearness of Maddog Island and the fleets of Rakore prove it only to be a rumor.

Military: The Horde's history of orcish infantry, backed by heavy ogre infantry, has filtered down through hundreds of years of battle. Aided by kobold skirmishers on occasion, the current military masters have incorporated the better aspects of all three races into a unified whole, but hard infantry is still the heart and soul of the Ogre Nations' armies. The front-line fighter is an orc warrior, with iron greaves and a medium iron shield, back by a steel-edged, iron sabre or scimitar with considerable slashing power. Though they wear only boiled leather and bone splint mail with their iron greaves, their ability to blend in with their environment is consirably greater than the infantry of other nations. The infantry is backed by archers armed with immensely powerful composite shortbows. The hardened steel-point or obsidian arrowheads are sharpened so as to punch through the considerable armor of the Srik, but can tear through steel plate just as easily. Both the orcish infantry and archers all average 3rd-level. The turn-over rate for orcish warriors on the front lines is very fast; though a considerable number die each day, many more replacements are at hand because of quickly reproducing litters of females in the rear.

Kobolds of both genders are usually mounted on specially bred coyotes, serving as flankers, scouts, and messengers. Wearing boiled leather armor, they generally carry shortbows and throwing knives, as well as shortswords and long daggers. Though their arrows and throwing knives are useless against the Srik, they are excellent for hunting small game to supplement the needs of the armies. The kobold irregulars are an equal mix of barbarians, fighters, rangers, and rogues, having to survive on both the battle-front, and among the unrespectful orcs and ogres. The average kobold (regardless of class) is a 2nd-level irregular, though the leader of each group might be an unmounted orc of any of the four backgrounds.

The ogres of the Horde are all heavy infantry of the most dangerous kind. Their armor consists of a mixture of Srik carapaces and cold iron, in effect giving them full plate (+9 armor points). Combined with an iron-carapace shield, and a massive ogre-size bastard sword (2d6 damage vs S-M creatures, and 2d10 vs L creatures), the ogre heavy infantry are formidable, especially when arranged in large groups. The Srik carapaces they use are carefully treated so as not to give off the smell of dead Srik, and the heavy infantry can be reserved for weakened areas in the orcish lines -- or for massive, head-on strikes. Because these hard-charging ogres see such considerable combat, they average out as 5th-level fighters.

To combat the aerial menace of the male Srik, orcish rangers took on the deadly and formidable task of raising, breaking, and training mountain rocs to serve the Horde. Orcish archers armored only in boiled hides, are strapped together to roc mounts on cleverly designed leather and cord saddles. They use the heavy composite short bows of the other orcs, along with the deadly pile and obsidian tipped arrows. Usually four archers ride on a roc, together with the orc ranger that control and guide the giant hawk. The hawks themselves are trained in the art of aerial combat, and even find the male Srik to be a tasty treat; because of their instincts and the abilities of the rangers, the roc forces are an invaluable asset on the battlefield. Their numbers are very low, and no more than a gross of these special hawks are actually available at any given time; because of this, a small unit of healing priests and their necessary support are often nearby. 'Nearby' for such a far-flying creature might be hundreds of miles, however. The average roc mount can be considered 2nd-level, and the giant hawks themselves are full of surprises.

The elite of the Ogre Nations are the Thevonhasaga -- ogremai trained as rogues and assassins, as well as mages and sorcerors. Wearing specially crafted scale armor that is completely Srik derived (+4 armor points), they are well-capable of casting their spells, as well as fading into the shadows. Their weapons are often made from the mandibles of slicer beetles, and each blade can be considered an unenchanted sword of sharpness. In addition to their intense magical and roguish training, many can draw their strength from the land itself, and are druids of considerable ability. Each of these fearsome Thevonhasaga is easily recognized by his or her branded skins -- the personal brand of Itzak himself. The magical brand bestows upon them an additional +2 armor points to their Armor Class. The Thevonhasaga average 12th-level, whether mage, assassin, or druid.

The Horde has no navy worth mentioning, though a few hardy sailors maintain the sloops and ferries of the Kolath and Hrolth Rivers. Trained to run from Rakoran and Kur Maen vessels, they rarely venture out onto the open seas or deal with the open ocean. On the rivers, though, their quick hit and run tactics work superbly, especially in the deep gorges through which the two rivers run. No navy is maintained on the Fozarn River, because it is dry most of the year, save for the occasional flood. The sailors tend to be armed and armored like regular orcish infantry, though few can swim or feel any special bond with the water. They average 1st-level rogues.

The majority of the able-bodied populace is in the military, either on the front-lines, or aiding in preparations in the rear. Though not considered warriors, all save the orc females are at least familiarized with the art of war, and some have even seen male Srik raiding parties screaming by in the still of the night.

Mercenaries are usually used as trainers and consultants, and rarely as front-line fighters. Little enough coin exists in the Ogre Nations to hire them, and they are treated like royalty if they can provide any kind of edge. If not, then they are generally either booted out or eaten.

Orcish and kobold sappers, experts at infiltrating and collapsing Srik nests and tunnels, are invaluable. Armed with enchanted rings that grant them the ability to use stored fireball spells from the ogremai, as well as various mining tools and ideas, they can trap a Srik nest inside itself, letting the warriors deal with the Srik more one-on-one as they slowly tunnel their way back out. Excellent bug assassins, they can sometimes poison the fungus that the Srik feed off of in their nests. Trained as both rogues and rangers, they usually average 5th-level.

The Horde rarely uses artillery, save for catapults laden with brimstone or burning salts. Ballistae can rarely hit an aerial male drone, and though they can punch through the armor of a Srik, the damage is minimal. Hurled boulders, even by trebuchet, might hit one or two of the massive ants, but 'swarms' describe the smallest gatherings of the giant Srik. As well, two-thousand pound stones hurled by trebuchet have literally bounced off of the hides of the larger Srik warriors; at best, the warrior loses a leg or its head, though it can still be a deadly foe. Burning brimstone and salts can confuse the scent trails of the Srik, letting ogran tactics punch through confused lines of Srik, or aiding in withdrawals, preventing reinforcements, and rerouting the lines of Srik with carefully hurled scents. Many of these artillerymen have become partial alchemists, and experts in the anatomies of Srik, and their scents. They average out as 1st-level alchemists and rogues.

There are several large fortresses that the Horde has constructed out of baked desert mud, scattered all throughout the southern Choranil, but especially along the Front Lines. Protected from beneath by false tunnels laid down by sappers, as well as stone foundations and 'sand poisons', the fortresses offer considerable protection from the Srik armies. The Srik aerial forces have a tendancy to wipe out the fortresses rather quickly, however, and so the roc hawkes are continually patrolling between the various desert-colored forts. Usually, an ogremai or powerful ogre rules from within, as well, adding to the defenses.

All of the various rulers of the Ogre Nations keep assassin-trained kobolds on tight leashes. While some practice magic or prayers of Mazripos, others draw their power straight from the land itself as druids. The most elevated of the kobolds, they must still deal with the orcs, and are all probably 3rd-level.

Cultural: The ogremai rule the orcs and the ogres with brute force, logic, and the priesthood. The ogres, in turn, are considered above the orcs, even though they are outnumbered almost thirty to one. The orcs rule over the kobolds with brute force, and the few half-orc, half-kobolds are the bottom of the social rung in the Ogre Nations.

Although historically they have ruled and been ruled by brute force, more and more is cunning and skill coming to the fore in the Horde. The word of each king, dictator, or emperor within the Ogre Nations is absolute, and enforced by his cronies. A military dictatorship, each 'nation' in turn is responsible to the Surpreme Ruler. Because of this, the ogremai are considered the highest of the high, and whenever any non-ogre is in their presence, the non-ogre is required to draw his own blood, either with fingernails or knife or sword. The more small such scars an orc or kobold has, the more prestige he has, indicating that he spends considerable time and favor with the ogremai. Ogres, in their turn, are not required to draw blood in the presence of the ogremai, but all available hospitality is made to them.

Kobolds do not distinguish between males and females in their culture; all are equal prey to both the Srik and the other ograns, and both are considered equal. The other two ogran races can rarely tell the difference between them, and care little for the kobolds in general. The orcish females are continually pregnant with litters of fast-growing orcs, and relegated to the status of warren-keepers and food-growers. Orc females have about as much stature in the Ogre Nations as the kobolds, and their continual beatings and rapes keep them stupid and frightened. Ogre females are generally treated with reverance, and though both orc genders may become priests of Mazripos, only ogre females serve the Fetid Goddess. While the female ogres may not become warriors, they have considerable power in the rear, and are even trained in the use of gender-specific weapons (such as pole-arms, dirks, and hand-to-hand combat). Female ogremai in particular are given the most respect, though they are considerably more rare than male ogremai.

The most common food to all races is a sort of mixed insect and grain hash that is fairly nourishing when combined with certain molds, alcohols, and the occasional bit of meat. From the Front Line comes a great deal of Srik meat, though the giant insects are never bred in captivity. Though some female orcs farm in the Johnathon Hills, insect ranches are more common, with roaches living off the offal and refuse of the various warrens. The greatest delicacy of all, available only to the ogremai, is umber hulk meat in dwarven sauce, from the Avris Mountains. Kobolds are tough but edible, though only the ogres are allowed to eat them, and usually then only as punishment for crimes.

The Horde's warrens and cities are absolutely filthy by civilized standards, but the disease it breeds is kept in check by incredible consititutions and the church of Mazripos. Otyughs and rats can be found in abundance, and small packs of euparkaria compete with the wild coyotes inside the outlying cities -- though both all are more often than not eaten when they are caught -- even the otyughs.

Grim and self-serving by any standards, a deep hatred for the civilized realms sits at the heart of all the Horde. Somehow, the war with the Srik is felt to be the work of the Fourth Crusaders and all they stand for, but survival has forced honor down the throats of the ograns. The old ways of intenional chaos and self-serving greed, combined with hatred for all the humans hold dear, were swept aside. The fact they have to emulate the humans in many things makes many of the more intelligent orcs and ogremai sick, but there is little that can be done for it, save to twist things as best they can away from the original, while still having it function.

Orcish administrators and ogre leaders have grudingly established small universities and libraries for the general public, though only the more literate of the orcs and ogres ever use them. The ogremai tend to keep their own personal libraries, with spell arsenals available to one another in ogremai-only libraries and monastaries. Some few human and elven slaves also work within the establishments of higher learning, and not a few mercenaries of various races aid in the battle-planning and training of the Horde's elite.

Those orgrans without hatred in their hearts, or a twisted sense of self preservation, have little else to motivate them within the Horde. Their only recourse is to escape over the Avris Mountains, either into the barbarian held lands of the Tarsis Forest, or into the alien lands of the Laekenal Jungle. Few survive, and few are willing to face the grim odds. Most that can, hide away from the front lines, grateful to be either administrators, transports, combat medics, miners, smiths, or other artisans needed to support the war effort. Those that survive their first month on the front lines have a high survival rate, and go on to become proud warriors that can return to stud in the warrens or prosper in the rear.

Geographical: The Choranil Desert and parts of the Avris Mountains make up all of the Ogre Nations, but the two are actually quite diversified. Though considerably dry, both areas contain a diversity of terrain and wildlife. The Choranil Desert contains the Johnathon Hills, several singular mountains, areas of rolling sand dunes, dry scrub brushes, vast salt plains, high plateaus of metamorphic rock, and even a number of spring-fed valleys. The Avris Mountains contain considerable igneous rocks and raw metals, as well as an assortment of minor glacial-fed streams, valleys, and scrubby highlands.

Lying on the far western side of the continent of Halganath, only two peninsulas jut farther west -- one is the nation of Rakore, and the other is the Olan Peninsula. An inlet of the Goordune Ocean lies to the northwest, between the Choranil Desert and the Olan Peninsula, and the entire southern border of the Ogre Nations is the salty Gulf of Teras. The northern border shifts continually, but is based around the dry river bed of the Fozarn, and the massive Griktale Escarpment. The Escarpment, with its mile-high vertical side facing the south, runs for hundreds of miles from northwest to southeast, providing the Srik with a natural barrier to the Horde's land-based advances.

Concentrated as the orcs are, a number of natural desert creatures survive. While the orc population itself has not changed significantly, having half the population pull back into half the area should have changed the natural ecology. However, the war itself consumes vast numbers of ograns, and the native animals are easily ignored, save when rangers hunt them for a food source. Pack of slicer beetles in particular menace some of the sandier dunes, and elder hatori (some of which are nearly a mile long) exist in the rockier plateau areas, as well as the dunes.

Farming for the orc females is hard in the dry soils, but when irrigation from the southern Kolath and Hrolth Rivers is used, the desert blooms with native desert grains called 'hralsh', akin to a harder rye grain. While hralsh grain most often goes into food mash, it also goes into making hralsh beer, which is a harsh, alcohol-laden froth of dark liquid that burns like fire and leaves the consumer trying to remember the day previous.

Economics: The millions of the ograns are tied up in a military economy, with coinage being very scarce. What coins there are, are called 'weights', because whether it is copper, silver, or more rarely, gold, it is all weighed for its purity by brand-certified ogres. Once certified, special fats with a smell that changes after just a fraction of a mark can be put on the coins or on the hands of the bearer to verify the authenticity of the 'weight'.

A great deal of iron comes out of the Avris Mountains, and is smelted down for the war effort. Some of the iron is oven-treated with rare and valuable coal to form steel, but rarely is steel itself smelted and smithed. Gifted smiths are prized by the Horde, and ogre smiths with massively muscled arms garner considerable respect.

Stone and baked mud form the majority of the building material for the Ogran Nations, and so fire is rarely a hazard in their warrens and cities. The distinguishing difference between the two is that a 'warren' is built mainly underground, and a 'city' is built on the surface. Warrens are stone-walled on the perimeters to protect against the burrowing Srik, and cities are bristling with archers to protect against the flying male drones. With the orc might up near the front, back-breaking labor is scarce, and slavery continues -- although hidden from the eyes of visiting mercenaries or potential allies. The lack of manpower has forced the kobolds to become enginenuitive with pulleys, blocks, and tackles, as well as mining in general.

The flax from the hralsh stalks is used everywhere from corded ropes to clothing, and constitutes a considerable chunk of internal trade, along with stone. Cord armor is not uncommon, and the hralsh flax is also used for padding, tents, carpets, and a variety of other duties. Because it is tended and harvested at night, the purity of the ogran hralsh is considerably better than that of its daytime rivals, with lush fields and good harvests, even in poorly irrigated areas.

Opals and marbles are fairly common in the Ogre Nations, and although the official currency is 'weights', a number of smaller opals (with blues and greens being dominant) are used for what foreign trade there is. The beautiful blue-veined and blueish marbles of the Johnathon Hills and certain plateaus has become a status symbol among the Horde, used to face only the ogremai and the more powerful ogres. With blue being such a dominant color, blue dyes for the leaders is in high demand.

Forced to become self-reliant because of the paucity of trade, information is truly the greatest asset in the Ogre Nations. Its militarily run dictatorship has neither the time nor the need for taxes, and imports are welcomed at whatever prices can be obtained. Exports are negligible, save for smuggled opals and ogran-cut rubies and smaller gems from the Avris Mountains. The treasuries of its neighbors Rakore and Kur Maeth are looked upon enviably, but little time is given to considering how to obtain anything from it -- save on the off time of orcish soldiers or drunken ogres.

Languages: The dominant tongue is the Mazizhe, spoken by the ogres and the ogremai. Mazizhe was originally kept by the priests of Mazripos, but slowly the language became the ogran standard, and then the ogre standard. Since the ogres are the ruling authority within the Horde, nearly all of the orcs and kobolds can understand it (save, perhaps, for the orc females). Though they may not speak it or write it, the non-ogres know at the very least the general commands in Mazizhe. The more religeous among them may even speak it fluently.

The orcs speak several dialects of their own tongues, in addition to Mazizhe. The three main dialects are O'Olphariz, Zharizt, and Lurvase, though anyone speaking one of these three dialects has but to speak slowly and enunciate, and he would be understood by someone speaking the other two dialects. The orcs are also more willing to pick up the Common trading tongue, than either of their two allies, and so orcs usually act as interpreters for the mercenaries or slaves. Of all the three races, only the orcs (and the ogremai) can speak the elven tongue.

Only the kobolds are willing to learn the dwarven tongue, so the dwarves more often than not learn Mazizhe or one of the orc dialects fairly quickly. The kobolds speak nearly two dozen different dialects, all consisting of varied barks and yips, in combination with body posture. They also are the real linguistical geniuses of the Ogre Nations, often learning all three dialects of the orcs, Mazizhe, a little common, and anywhere from half a dozen to a dozen of the different kobold dialects. Of course, the kobolds aren't trusted to translate anything, anyway, so the skill is useless for them to speak -- but in listening, they often learn things others miss.

Religeon: Though Mazripos is the dominant goddess among the Horde, she is falling out of favor with the Ogre Nations. Her overzealous priests sew more chaos than necessary, and the disease-loving orcs are finding that they cannot spend the energy necessary to fight disease. Several other churches -- even though foreign and human -- are gaining considerable favor among the orcs and the ograns.

Human priests of Samis and K'Tath have met with little success, but orcish and ogran converts have brought in strong throngs willing to listen. With the changes to Samis and K'Tath has come a more willing acceptance of 'other' gods, as well, including Mikindim, Curiss, and Brigain. Although only altars exist to the latter three gods, several real temples have sprung up to Samis and K'Tath.

The priests of Mazripos have tried assassination, blackmail, slander, and even warfare with the other churches, and failed -- adding to the disfavor of the Fetid Goddess. The church of K'Tath preaches battle and combat, together with bloodlust and hatred, mottled by a set of rules -- perfect for the frontline infantry that deals with the Srik on a daily basis. The church of Samis preaches of accumulating wealth outside of the public eye -- perfect for the administrators in the rear trying desperately to supply the front, with Rakore and Kur Maeth on either side. The kobolds, in particular, have taken to the priests of Samis, because of their language skills, and the fact that even an orc or ogre (priest) of Samis keeps the spirit of his word. The church of Samis is also making inroads with the female ogres, as only females can become specialty priests of the Shadow Goddess.

There is a deep-seated fear of the human gods such as Yatindar, Arpelos, and Habrem, and of the dwarven god Galgiran. The elven god Galanus is given only a twinge of fear, and is seen with more respect because of his desert links.

Next of the Nations of Gaeleth

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