My Version of Orc Society
To make my Orcs different I decided to make them a Matriarchy, then I heard about a south american culture that seperated males and females into different camps and had mating rituals that basically boiled down to ritualised rape - thus the Clans and Mobs were born...
Orc Society
Orc society is clan based and rigidly divided along gender lines.
The Family
The orc hierarchy begins at the smallest and weakest orc. This orc is apart of a family with all the other young male and female orcs. At about the age of 8 the male orcs are forced from the family to form a mob but the females remain together in their clans.
The exile of the males from their clan is a ritualised chase wherein the young male is forced out when he reachs 8 years . He is given a few supplies, a couple of crude war tools (like spear) and then he has to take care of himself and seek out a mob. During this chase, the whelps can receive some additional beating, but no death usually takes place.
This most often occurs when an all-female clan and an all-male Mob meet for the mating ritual, the male mob choosing which whelps are to be accepted into the mob.
The Clan
Female Orcs form semi-nomadic clans usually consisting of a Matriarch, her daughters, and their whelps. Orc clans, although cohesive are very hierarchical, and divided between the Matriarch (who has ceremonial function), the senior daughters and juniors. Seniors often bully and are violent towards the juniors, stealing their food and even killing and eating their whelps. Related clans do interact but generally these groups are also highly territorial and will fiercely defend their territory from encroachment especially from the all male Mobs. Trade with other more established races is not unknown, although not common either.
A clan consists of a group of families numbering 40~125 orcs. The largest and strongest orc of the clan (ranging around 6' in height) is called the High Chieftain. An orc is not eligible to fight for the position of High Chieftain until she has grown two tusks capable of rivaling the current High Chieftain. Only senior female orcs can fight for the right to become High Chieftain. As an orc grows, it forms a second pair of tusks just behind the first pair in the lower jaw. It is this second pair of tusks, which signify the orc is ready and indeed worthy of the chance to fight for High Chieftain.
Under the leadership of a High Chieftain, the Clan settles into a large area and guards it against other races as well as other clans. When a clan settles into an area, other clans tend to gather in the same area to perform trade and this is usually the time the male mobs close in for the mating ritual. This gathering brings large numbers of orcs into one area but it is short lived as the territorial clans cannot tolerate each other or the mobs for very long. The clans mainly remain semi-nomadic in an effort to elude the constant encroachment of the others upon their home lands.
The Mob
At the age of 8 yrs (orc years) most male whelps are forced out of the clans and form all male peer groups (Mobs), which are characterized by extreme violence and aggression. A mob consists of 10~40 male orcs. The largest orc in the mob usually ranges from 5'6" ~ 6' in height and is known as the mob leader or "War Chief". The War chief usually has a bodyguard that are contenders for leadership of the mob in the event the chieftain is removed for whatever reason. The clans do not allow mobs to establish territories and thus mobs survive by raiding and brigandry, which often brings them in to conflict with other races as Orc mobs raid farms and settlements for food and resources. Naturally this has resulted in great enmity with other races and means that Orcs suffer great stigma when interacting with non-Orcs.
Leadership of a mob is only held by demonstration of strength. Kindness or mercy are invariably interpreted as weakness and taken advantage of accordingly. As such members are constantly fighting for status and the resultant primary access to resources. In addition these mobs are constantly feuding with other mobs and with the tribes so life in the mobs is best summarized as "nasty, brutal and short".
The male mob doesn’t interact with the all female clans unless they are mating, planning a fight, or trading. The mob is dependent upon the clan mainly to replace its own loses due to their constant fighting. Because of this dependence, the mobs have to follow the semi-nomadic female clans thus keeping the mobs from claiming any one area for themselves. Several male mobs have been known to shadow one female clan.
Orc Shaman
Orc Shamans require special mention, as these are usually males who have been raised by the all-female clans rather than forced out. Raised as females most Orc shamans are transvestites and are believed to gain special access to the two great Orc deities The Matriarch and the War God.
Orc Shamans are given free access to move amongst all the clans and mobs without fear of reprisal. Clever leaders occasionally use the Shamans persuasive abilities to forge huge Orkish hordes and have themselves proclaimed 'War Lord'. These War Lords do not need to be Orcs but as they are open to constant challenge from other War chiefs in the Horde only the meanest, and most savage leaders survive to lead. (Note a Warlord who wins a challenge by anything other than strength at arms (eg by use of magic) will be declared a coward and abandoned by the horde)
