Overview

The Imperial Orcs were granted freedom and citizenship of the Empire by Emperor Ahraz shortly after he was elected in 324YE, The Freeborn helped the Orcs to perform the ritual to create an egregore allowing them to become the tenth nation of the Empire - but there was nothing anybody would do to provide them with lands of their own. For over fifty years the Orcs fought and died in the Empire's wars, fighting for the promise of a land of their own. Not until 379YE would the Empire finally make good on that promise when the Wintermark people bequeathed Skarsind to the Imperial Orcs.

Now the Orcs have a territory of their own, tens of thousands have travelled from across the Empire to settle the lands. The Imperial Orcs now have a homeland, a senator speaks for them in the Imperial Senate - but more than a few have begun to ask what happens next? Some believe that they should concentrate all their efforts on Skarsind, to make the territory demonstrate how powerful and prosperous the Orcs have become in such a short time. But others argue that it was military strength that caused the Imperial Orcs to be given Skarsind; that the only way honour their ancestors is to remain true to the Orcs martial traditions and seek to conquer more land.

Skarsind

Skarsind is a place of alpine slopes and valleys, pine forests and rising mists, set in what's known as the Great Vale, a bowl of mountains that holds both Skarsind and the forest of Hercynia. Summer is short, but Winter is long, and haunted by eerie lights in the sky. The land has an ancient history - one that long predates the Empire or even humankind. The largest settlement - Gildenheim - stands over the entrance to a frozen underworld cavern into the walls of which are carvings in a mysterious alphabet that are widely believed to be the source of the magical runes used throughout Wintermark.

Now, the majority of people here are Imperial Orcs. There are still some Winterfolk here, but since the rise and fall of Dogri Thulebane, the number of Imperial humans living in the hills and forests of Skarsind has tailed away to a handful scattered here and there. The Imperial Orcs do nothing to make them unwelcome, but for many there is simply nothing left for them in Skarsind. Regretfully in many cases, they leave to start new lives in Hahnmark, Kallavesa, and Sermersuaq.

Further Reading

Core Brief

Additional Information