Orcs of Tolagâl
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The Orcs of Tolagâl (Abbr. Orc, Tgl, Urk) were an army of brutal, savage, sly and calculating orcs inhabiting the Orc Valley in the south of Yew.
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The Guild
The Orcs of Tolagâl was a roleplaying guild on the Europa shard in Ultima Online. It was an active and enthusiastic member of the Crossroads of Yew (CoY) roleplaying community. The guild was unique for its representation of Orcs; its members roleplayed Tolkien Orcs from the "Lord of the Rings" universe instead of the fairly stupid, unorganized race of Orcs found in Ultima Online.
The guild was founded by Vrashk at the peak of activity in Ultima Online, roleplaying and CoY around 2001. Vrashk's original guild concept was praised by many and he lead the guild to glory via many notorious acts throughout Yew. Upon his departure the guild fell into a dismal state and was only regenerated through the acts of Kraadu, Xnath (who merged the guild with the Severed Heads) and later Brodgar who brought the guild back to life in 2003.
The members of the guild learnt and spoke Black Speech and Broken Britannian, which only further added to their originality, making their speech largely unintelligible to anybody outside the guild. The guild also inhabited the Orc Valley surrounding the orc NPC dungeon/mine in southern Yew.
Ultimately the guild disband in mid 2005 due to the collapse of CoY and feeling out of place within CoRE. The release of World of Warcraft also contributed to its demise, ending a magnificant and unforgettable four years for those who participated in the guild's history and events. The guild was well known throughout its life for its (in-character) brutality and enjoyable storylines, the memories of which remain vivid in the minds of its most enthusiastic and active members.
Its members hope to one day recreate the guild in a future MMORPG, that fits the necessary requirements, and further the legacy of Tolagâl.
Members
Guild Leaders
- Hognak, Kurshnak, Rishdraut, Shmarrkharragh, Uhjeck, Vrashk, Xeltukh
- Haku, Krishke, Prashnak
- Brodgar, Kraadu, Xnath
Member List
Creation of the guild
Somewhere in the middle of 2001 the Crossroads of Yew community had some motivational problems as they completely broke with ERPA. At this point some of the members of the Guardsmen Militia felt that they lacked rival guilds meeting their standards, one of these members was Vrashk, playing a character called Iirina. He was greatly inspired by an old MERPS-supplement called "Mount Gundabad" which specifically dealt with the goblins and orcs of the misty mountains. Together with Eon Evermore/Lucas Lightbane from the Guardsmen Militia they began putting plans together for an Orc guild which strived for a high roleplaying standard. They got a lot of input from Rishdraut and Shmarrkharagh on building the structure (they were not playing those characters by then though).
The group decided that it would be cool as hell to use orc masks and to live in the newly opened orc NPC mine, sadly (or luckily) this cave lay in the Rat/Orc Valley, an area with several serverlines in it, making tremendous lag. They had been trying to come up with a harsh, rough and evilsounding name, but had no luck... but the lag helped them! They decided to name the valley 'Tolagâl' (Lâg-a-lot) valley.
The founders recruited a number of very inspired and passionate souls early on as core-members for the guild, the majority of them were actually old Militia-veterans, and this was what gave the guild a high-standard initially, and very good OOC relations with the guardsmen, since they were pretty much Guardsmen themselves.
Story
A great Orc-king of the underworld had managed to unite the cave orc clans of the mountains. As a testament to his power he decided to take a once great, but now abandoned, underground city of the dwarves'. He succeeded in this enterprise. Angered by this, it was not long until a dwarven army larger than any dwarven force seen before launched a massive assault upon all major orc holds in the Mountains. The Tolagâl clan, at this point in time a small clan that had fallen out of favour with the Orc King, had been left to defend. After a few months of battle almost the entire region had been conquered by the dwarves, save a few pits that had been defended with ferocious determination. Led by an Uruk Hai Officer named Vrashk some of the most important inhabitants of the Mountain had barricaded themselves in the depths, together with the remnants of the Tolagâl clan. The dwarves massed their forces and took this final part of the city only a few hours after Vrashk had led most of the survivors through a secret passage that had been hidden at the back of a cave.
"Za shakutarbiki thrakatub nar Uruk burgar, potat agh lat narkil gugat, Shakrop agh lat matUB!" ("The Dwarves take no orc prisoner, come and you might live, stay and you WILL die!"). These words brought the majority of the orcs with him through the passage. Unsurprisingly, the orcs ended up in Britannia.
Now, many years later, deep into the Valley south of Yew, nefarious evil never rests. Cruel whips crack like thunder as the Orcs of Tolagâl work hard and long, digging deeper and deeper into the mines and cutting the forests. Gusts of black smoke emerge from their great forges and terrible screams echo through the night. They train in harsh discipline by inhuman standards and gather their troops, constantly plotting conquest and destruction. Ferocious warriors in suits of war patrol the mines, while nimble scouts hold lookout in the outskirts of the valley. Slaves, chained to their labour, are driven to madness and must withstand heartless oppression to prove themselves and win their freedom. On a cold stone throne in the depths of the mines sits the terrible orc tyrant king, the Ashdurbûk. His reign of terror is feared and envied by all orcs and upheld by the ruthless Uruk-Hai, a larger and nobler orc breed. On his aged head rests the mighty Crown of the Mountain King. Only the boldest, or the most foolish, would dare challange the vile hold the Tolagâl-orcs have claimed over this once so calm and peaceful valley.
Society
Orcs are all bloodthirsty, dishonorable and cruel. Their pleasures consist of eating, fighting and torturing prisoners. If they are not doing this they drink or fight amongst themselves and the only thing that can keep them in line is a leader, who is larger, more cruel and stronger than themselves. Kindness and mercy are considered signs of weakness and is constantly exploited. Even though Orcs are lazy and hate working they can work very hard if they have a strong leader driving them on. They dig tunnels nearly as well as Dwarves and orcish smiths are famous for their weapons, warmachines and torturing devices. They lack a sense of beauty however, so most of their items are very ugly. They always serve their purpose though (usually creating large amount of pain in doing so).
Orcs reproduce like other mammals, but there is no tenderness between the genders, only urges. Females of child-bearing age and fitness are put in secluded parts of the orcs' nest, where only the strongest of the males have access, making sure that only the strongest stock survives. The spawn of this breeding is raised by the older females that are not of child bearing age in large collectives. The young orc never knows its mother personally, and only in rare cases his father. An unbalanced upbringing bring out the "strengths" (Orcs point of view) of a male: Aggressiveness, violence and ability for hard labour, combined with a lack of love and compassion. In the "spawn chambers" the children learn quickly that the best way to survive is to be bigger, stronger and meaner than the others. Male spawn is always treated better, females being valued not much higher than cattle.
The upbringing of the Uruk-Hai is slightly different, due to them being expected to rule over the others. They are raised in collectives as the ordinary orcs, but only together with other Uruk-Hai spawn. They are reminded constantly of their superiority and prowess over the ordinary orcs, effectively giving them the sense of being a "noble" breed. Most Uruk-Hai remember this and try to act with dignity to further the point that they are noble and their lesser cousins are not.
Gold is a sign of status in orcish society. The more gold you have, the more respected you are. Orcs use gold to buy pleasures, most often Skakk (liqour), as all their tools and items are provided by their masters (usually) in proportion to rank. A low ranked orc possessing something above his rank will most probably lose it to a more powerful orc as thievery and robbery is commonplace in Orcish society. The strong orcs simply take what they want from the weaker ones. The greater wealth held by the Uruk Hai allows them to buy considerably more expensive things, such as beautiful garments, attractive females and the infamous Tongkûn (Noble Liqour). Most of the truly valuable things they own are however stolen from other races.
Orcs can live forever, just like their Elven ancestors. Most Orcs live a short life however, dying early due to the harsh conditions and constant fighting in orcish society. Orcs fear death as they know nothing about the other side and are definitely not eager to find out. Dead Orcs are usually dumped in some old mineshaft or put in the meat storage of the kitchens, later put into the evening's stew. Uruk-Hai do however recieve funerals and are put in prepared crypts. This doesn't have much to do with respect for the dead, rather more with further highlighting their superiority over the lesser Orcs.
Ranks
The Orcs of Tolagâl have a strict hierarchy enforced by the Uruk Hai and their lackeys with threats, violence and torture. Every once in a while when someone has been careless with enforcing the rules, there are violent rebellions in Tolagâl. A list of the ranks from highest rank to lowest rank:
- Ashdurbûk — Quite simply, The One-Who-Rules-All.
- Maugoth — The General of the Ashdurbûk's Armies, his most trusted and loyal servant.
- Dushatar — The Ashdurbûk's Wizard and loyal council.
- Uruk-Hai — A larger breed of orcs, natural leaders in orcish society.
- Burzsnuti — Scouts, assasins and specialised archers.
- Ushatari — Warriors and Officers.
- Olog'ijak — Very large Troll-like Orcs, created by Kraadu.
- Artha — Smiths, inventors and combat engineers.
- Uruki — Orcs that have gained full acceptance into Tolagâl for their loyalty.
- Dajal — Youths, seeking to prove themselves.
- Snaga — Slaves, where all members started.
- Vozagogatari — Human spies who worked for the Orcs.
There were also lesser independent tribes of Orcs, consisting of NPC orcs that dwell in great number in the valley. These are the orcs who most often rebel against the Ashdurbûk, and it is tradition that these rebellions are crushed by Tolagâl warbands wearing the typical black norse helm. Many orcs die horrible deaths in the internal orc quarrels, often as a result of disobeying Tolagâl or disrespecting the Ashdurbûk. All kinds of upstarters are dealt with swiftly and harshly. All orcs should know their place!
