 Howdy how's it going, my name's Davy Chappie, and what do you know about orcs? Well shut up about that, you don't know anything, that's why you're watching this video. You probably still think that orcs are these big mean green tribal warriors that have slowly transformed in lore from the brutal and pig-like staple enemy of D&D to an uncultured, savage civilization of warrior peoples that devotedly serve their war gods and still act as the slaughtering bag of adventuring parties everywhere. And boy would you be wrong. Why are you so bad at this, stupid? Maybe in your uncivilized worlds, they're big, they're angry, and they may have been originally designed to be Mongolian stereotypes, but that's not what we're touching on in this video. Because this video centers on an alternate version of orcs that rarely sees the light of day, from a world filled with the magic vapors of industry and topped off with a shiny brass lid. So, sit your perky ass down and allow me to teach you about the orcs that inhabit the world of Eberon. Patrons, patrons, patrons, patrons, Emma, skip this, Emma, skip this. So orcs in Eberon started out their existence pretty similarly to their standard counterparts, with the thick thunder thighs of the orcs battling the knobby-need goblinoid empire that ruled the world in the olden days. For all the normal reasons of land disputes, racial insensitivity, and because the goblins were jealous of their big, meaty orcish legs. Eventually, the little green boys beat out the big green boys and set them sprawling into the most dangerous and uninhabitable locations in the world, including the swampy shadow marshes, the depths of the Ironroot Mountains, and the aptly named demon wastes. While most of the orcs spent their time rolling around in demon wastes and trying not to die, the orcs of the shadow marshes actually thrived, since apparently those brave souls who ignored the do not enter sign were rewarded by standing face-to-face with the ancient dragon, Vrock! Who saw the orcs and was all like, Hey, take a look at all the thunder in these thighs, they're like tree trunks, I'd use lack to be druids. And so, after a while, three distinct factions of orcs arose throughout the land. The shadow marsh orcs became the world's first druids and created the druidic order of the gatekeepers, which sounds cringey, but it turned out to be really useful when an alien invasion came to Eberon and the orcs used their power of communicating via their bird messaging system to question whether aliens really deserved rights, thus creating such a high level of incelitude that it forced said aliens underground and locked them away forever in the first reported instance of that tactic ever being appreciated by anyone ever. Now, in the aftermath of the alien invasion, the shadow marshes are filled with aberrations and crazy alien experiments gone loose, but the orcs don't mind because it means that they can keep being the gatekeepers, although the corruption of alien thoughts tend to put different clans of orcs at odds with each other, which leads to a lot of infighting, you know, like gatekeepers. As for the others, the mountainous orcs got pissed that they were getting beaten up by goblins and then got even more pissed when the dwarves that they met in the mountains pushed them further into the mountains because they themselves had only tiny, non-fundress thighs. So the orcs just decided, you know what? New plan. Everyone dies. And established the Joryshtar, a faction of orcs that act as pretty much the closest thing to classical orcs within Eberon by being really angry and wanting to make it everyone else's problem. Meanwhile, the orcs that were playing hide the entrails inside the Demon Waste took a little bit of inspiration from both of their cousins. From the Joryshtar, they got anchor management issues and stupid naming conventions, titling themselves the Gashkala, and dedicating themselves to punching demons in the face. And from the gatekeepers, they got a sense for protecting the world from outside invaders and also a healthy dose of mysticism in the form of Ghalaksash, the Binding Flame, a weird semi-fire-based religious figure that is across between being a literal god and also a sort of sense of being that can fuel you if you have enough devotion. It's really just a religion that helps the orcs fight back the tides of demons. Over time, these three factions lived in harmony by largely staying away from each other and keeping each other at bay with sticks until the rest of the world came knocking and was all like, hey, we're the rest of the world, we've just been busy making a new kingdom, it's called Gallifair, it's a pre-chill community with no drama, do you want to be a part of it? We'll just drop the Discord link in chat for anybody here who wants to join. Of course, orcs were busy doing their own thing of riding raptors through swamps to hunt down monsters and punting dwarves into the stratosphere, so they responded with, hey, sorry, no thanks, we're having a lot of fun enjoying our own nomadic culture, it's pretty civilized in its own way, but we do need some help keeping back the tides of the evil and macabre. Want to help with that? And to their surprise, some people actually said yes. While most people stayed away from the orcish civilization out of a fear of the unknown, more than the fear of the orcs, some humans went in the complete opposite direction, learning orcish culture, living alongside them, and getting in between those thunder thighs. Through this thundering, the first half orcs were created. For a while, half orcs acted as a clean bridge between the two different societies that really didn't understand each other, except for those iron root orcs. Those guys were still xenophobic and hated everybody, but besides them, orcs would mingle into human society and vice versa, so all was good, you know, until it wasn't. Because things got really shaken up when that kingdom of Gallifera got into a huge civil war that engulfed the entire continent. For the most part, the orcs were like, hey guys, uh, we're uncomfortable with our friends fighting each other, so we're just going to be responsible adults and look the other way until it's all over, and then try to be friends with everybody regardless of who did what, because we substitute mediation for moderacy. But as the war was reaching its crescendo, a phenomenon arose. Glowing, magical tattoos started appearing at random on the bodies of half orcs across the land, and it was quickly realized that these tattoos were a new form of dragon mark. Go watch that video for more information. And it gifted half orcs with the mighty power of finding. Suddenly, half orcs went from the great hunters of monsters and evil things throughout the lands to the topmost epitome of what a bounty hunter could achieve. A dragon marked house was formed, half orcs became the most badass bounty hunters in all of Eberron, and the social status of orcs and their kin was cemented forever. And luckily for you, you now have the opportunity to play both of these new versions of old creatures. With the Eberronian orc getting bonuses to Strength and Con and no negatives to intelligence, because why would you do that, that's stupid. Dark Vision and powerful build, an aggressive nature that causes them to charge headlong towards their enemies, and proficiency in two of either animal handling, insight, intimidation, medicine, nature perception, and or survival. This stat block is pretty much copy and pasted from Volo's Guide, sans the intelligence negative, but it coincidentally works better with the lore of the orcs of Eberron, because it lets them chase after the quarry that they would go hunting for at a scary fast pace. In addition to that, if you ever wanted to play a half orc that managed to manifest their dragon mark, Eberron's got you covered there too. In the form of a completely new variant half orc that you'll take the stats of instead of the base version. This half orc gives you bonuses to Constitution and Wisdom, which is an interesting change. It gives you innate access to the Hunter's Mark and Locke object spells. You speak goblin for some reason, you add a d4 to your perception and survival rolls, you get that good ol' Dark Vision, and if you can already cast spells as a part of your class, then your spell list is bolstered by a few new additions based around locating things, representing the power of the Mark of Finding. If there was one thing that I would change out of either of these, it would be to give orcs a bonus to Wisdom, if they have to swap it out for either Strength or Con. The only reason I say that is because if you look back at the lore of the orcs as I have presented it, they are druids, they are clerics, and both of those things focus on Wisdom, so yeah. But overall, the Orcish Society of Eberron is a similar, yet wildly different take on the role of orcs in D&D, and whether it's a criminal, a giant monster, or feat picks, you can trust in the orcs to be able to find it. But then let's do it! I hope you enjoyed this video, be sure to subscribe, leave a like, comment, check out my social media in the description below, check me out on Twitch, I stream every Saturday and Tuesday, so you can talk to me about what you thought about this video, and maybe support me on Patreon, so that I can pay the debt collectors before it's too late. I can hear it, the sound of rolling thunder. They are coming. But yeah, Davia!