Difference between revisions of "Chaos Races"

Revision as of 17:00, 7 October 2022

An orc warlord holds aloft a flaming blade, symbol of Surtur and the Armies of Chaos.

Much of this article is taken from the book ''Abominations of Chaos'' by Grigore Summers. Not all of it should be taken as fact, dear reader, for Summers is known for his occasional embellishment, assertion, or half-truth, yet he remains our best source for any illusive information regarding monsters.

Creation

Long ago during the Titanomachy, the Titans and Jötnar created an army of mortal followers to serve them and do battle with the men, elves, and dwarves: the coalition of Noble races. However, because the Titans and Jötnar lacked the art and power of their enemy gods, and due to their purely chaotic and twisted nature, the giants' creations are hideous and imperfect monsters. Thus, the Chaos races.

Nature

Though wholly creatures of chaos that cannot understand many of the Virtues, the assortment of abominations that are the Chaos races are not truly demonic. Their creators are not demons, therefore the Chaos races cannot be destroyed by sunlight or holy power, despite their hatred for the noble gods. They do, however, prefer darkness to light and despise daytime and the light of the sun. Their eyes are adjusted to darkness, as they generally dwell in caves and hunt at night.

The Chaos races are dark mockeries of the Noble races. Orcs are mockeries of Men, while hobgoblins are mockeries of Elves, and goblins are mockeries of Dwarves. The remaining Chaos monsters are of unknown basis, including twisted amalgamations that resemble beasts walking on two legs and the ogres, which some scholars speculate were an attempt to mock trolls. Trolls, however, as we know, are monsters, as are the beastfolk that the Chaos beasts faintly resemble. Therefore, it is unlikely these creatures served as inspirations for the Jötnar.

Diet

Special note must be taken to inform readers that the Chaos races exist on a diet of flesh, primarily the flesh of Noble races such as Men. These beings do not cultivate food. Their teeth are sharp and their pronounced canines highlight their preference for flesh. Some have been found to drink a revolting black concoction of alcohol and blood, by which they can keep their strength when flesh is not readily available.

Breeding

The chaos races are sexless. All individuals are "male," yet they cannot copulate. They reproduce through the creation of breeding pits. Every member of the chaos races knows innately how to fashion one and what ingredients to mix into the concoction that fills it. The strongest members of the tribe then perform a dark ritual and some of their blood to the pit. After a period of time, newborn individuals will arise from the pit, the size and strength of fully-grown adults. The breeding pits are powered by some type of dark magic that only the chaos races can perform. Interbreeding is impossible - if an orc, a goblin, and a human all added their blood to a single pit, only orcs and goblins would be spawned. However, the strength of these new spawn is believed to be increased by the strength of the individuals who add their blood to the mixture, and the blood of the noble races is considered to be even stronger. If a particularly strong man, elf, dwarf, or beastman is captured alive - and if the chaos races can resist simply eating them - then they will be kept in a cage and bled regularly to contribute to the strength of the pit. Much like with vampirism, only the blood of the living will work. It may take up to a year for a batch of newborns to arise from the pit, and the number of new spawn is mostly random, though bigger pits can spawn more newborns.

Culture

Due to their chaotic nature, all of the Chaos Races are naturally violent and resistant to authority. They despise laws, fall to squabbling easily, and only respect leadership through strength. Whenever multiple Chaos Races live together in one place, the larger ones nearly always dominate the smaller, with giants always ruling over all others. Ogres are the only exception to this rule, because many ogres are too stupid to lead, and may even be used as dumb beasts of war and burden by cleverer orc chieftains.

The Armies of Chaos

The vast majority of the chaos race population are thought to live deep in the mountains of the Jagged Edge and in the land the giants call Jötunheim, where they exist as slaves to their creators. There are also many tribes along the borders of the mountains who serve the Jötnar and zealously worship the greatest ones - like Surt - as gods. These orcs are all part of Surt's plan to someday lead an attack on the noble gods and their creations, to kill them and bring about the Ragnarök. Thus, they are collectively called the Army of Chaos, fighting under the banner of Surt's flaming sword. As their name implies, they have little in the way of central leadership. Many tribes simply worship the giants on the promise of someday being part of their great plan, while the giants themselves do not even realize they exist. Those chaos race groups whom the giants more directly control - such as the fortress-cities of Dhuum and Syflage - exist only to make war on the noble races and capture them in order to breed stronger monsters.

Independent Tribes

As creatures of chaos, however, not all chaos race tribes follow Surt and the Jötnar. Many live an independent existence, raiding for their livelihood, and constructing their own villages and breeding pits. Only the strongest of the tribe - and thus, the leaders - are allowed to contribute blood to the breeding pit. Since they have no greater plan for world conquest in mind, these tribes may shun the practice of capturing noble races to add their blood to the pits. Their leaders often consider themselves stronger than any man or elf, and thus believe "noble" blood is unworthy of adding to the pit. This belief forms something of a bond between members of the tribe, since they know they share the same blood and were born from the same pit. Despite their beliefs, however, the orcs of independent tribes are seldom as powerful as those selectively bred by the Jötnar. They are also stupid, and without giants to instruct them, their civilizations never advance enough to construct large towns or cities. Whenever a tribe gets too big, a civil war usually erupts to split it apart. Such is the way of chaos.

Races

A list of the chaos races can be found in Category:Chaos Races, with articles providing more details about each.