as long as we are on half-orcs and half-elves..

[Storyteller01]

I thought derro were dwarf/human hybrids?

 

[Nyaricus]

Not sure about orcs, never saw the word until I read Tolkien. Maybe I can find it in the OED? Dictionary.com refers to grampus from Milton, grampus is apparently a Killer Whale or something of the kind.

The Great Sea Ork (with a K) is a huge sea monster from English legend - its that creature drawn on old "medieval" world maps which is said to devour ships that vere too close to the edge of the earth (its probabaly based on the Biblical Leviathan)

Gary the creator claims that he came across Orc in an old Latin manuscript and that it refers to an Ogre

In Roman mythology, there was the god Orcus, who was an underworld god alongside Pluto. He was focused specifically on the dead, and was a pretty imposing fellow.

Fast-forward many hundreds of years, and in the middle ages, this ominous name was used for bestial creatures of the night; eventually the French called some of these bogies "Ogres" which is derived from an older word which is derived from 'Orcus'. Tolkien used this older term for a name for his race of Orcs.

I beleive the sea-beast 'Ork' was also derived from that older word, which didn't have any real specific meaning. It was something dark, evil, mysterious, and dangerous. I wish I could find my notes on this

Likely, the name for killer whales, "orca", was in turn derived from the Ork

cheers,
--N

 

[Nyaricus]

I thought Tallfellow haflings (or something like that) were supposed to have some elven blood. Or maybe I'm just making it up. Who knows?

Nope; Tallfellow halflings (aka Fallowhide Hobbits) were simply more sympathetic with the elves than the other races, since the Tallfellow halflings were apt to travel far and wide about the Shire and talk with the passing elves. Tallfellow halflings are more world-wise and woodsy than the other halfling sub-races, creating a bigger synergy.

Well, that's the Tolkien Interpretation, using "Tallfellow Halfling" as a substituit for "Fallowhide Hobbit".

cheers,
--N

 

[Voadam]

Just to update the D&D/d20 sources there is now Dog Soul Publishing's Races of Consequence whichi details multiple core race crossbreeds, and I believe Green Ronin has a sourcebook on humanoid crossbreeding.

 

[Imperialus]

However, I have never read or heard of a half-dwarf

Mul's, also from Darksun. Half Dwarf, Half Human.

 

[painandgreed]

IMC,

Things in the material world resemble the things in the spiritual world. There are elves and humans because there are elven and human gods. There are half-elves because a human and elven god got together and had a child allowing the creation of half-elves in the material world. It is commnly beleived that if all the gods of any particular race were killed, the race would also die.

In the case of Orc, it gets a little more complicated in my homebrew. The only orc god was created when an Outside power answered the prayers of its humanoid worshipers captured an elven goddess and had a child by her. It was the orc god. He killed his parents and made his bow from his mother's bones and his spear from his fathers. As his father forced himself upon his mother, he forced himself on other creatures and spawned the half-orcs. Essentially, orcs have the ability to breed with any other race by this time and the result is always a half-orc. The product of an orc or half-orc and any other race is always a half-orc, except for the prodcut of two half-orcs, which results in an orc. All orcs are male, and by command of their god they are sent out into the world to multiply and enslave all other races. (Ya, I wanted my orcs to be really evil.)