Editing Masterwork:Orcish castes

{{Quality|Exceptional|20:27, 28 April 2013 (UTC)}}
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This article relates to the [[Orc Fortress]] game mode of the [[Main Page|Masterwork]] mod.

Orcish castes have quite different physical characteristics: the common Orc, agile Snaga, powerful Uruk, and hulking Olog. Occasionally Orcs are born into specialist castes including the Artisan, Corsair, and magic-adept Dreamwalker.  Choosing the right civilian and military roles for your orcs is an important part of a smoothly running fortress.

==Sub-species Castes==

===Orc===

The standard "Orc" caste are most similar to their feral Orcish brethren, and the baseline to which other Orcs are compared. They are about the size of humans, but quite agile, and extremely strong. They learn leatherworking and bonecarving readily, and take quickly to dodging, wrestling, and melee combat. However, orcs learn brewing, gemwork, mining and stone-detailing more slowly than dwarves.  Orcs are lacking in most mental attributes and are mediocre students.  

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===Snaga===

About 2 in 8 Taiga orcs are born into the "Snaga" caste, rumored to have mixed Goblin blood in their ancestry. They are small and weak, like a goblin, but some have grudgingly earned respect as archers in Taiga warbands due to their remarkable agility.  

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===Uruk===

About 1 in 8 Taiga orcs are born into the "Uruk" caste, descended from the mighty nomadic tribes of the steppes. They have legendary strength, toughness, and recuperation. Since they are about 20% again larger than their clansmates, Uruks can wield vicious great-axes and longswords to deadly effect, generally even one handed. They are the only Orc to enter a Martial Trance, making them the core of any horde which hopes to face worthy enemies in melee. 

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===Olog===

Olog are a rare caste of thick-skinned brutes from the deepest mountains, slow to learn most tasks.  They are incredibly strong and tough, resistant to pain, and deadly with blunt weapons.  They are also surprisingly fond of working quietly with stone or jewels.  

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==Specialist Castes==

===Artisan===

About 5% of Taiga orcs are "Artisans", rare creative minds who make good bone-, leather-or wood-crafts orcs. Although Orcish smiths are best known for the terrible spectacle of their crude factories and molten pits, Taiga-clan artisans also remember some of the secret arts of metal folding and fletchery passed down from their clanfathers. 

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===Corsair===

About 5% of Taiga orcs are "Corsairs", Orcs taken with a passion for buccaneering and adventure. Renowned for their skill with fire-arms and ballistae, the Corsairs true value to the clans is an uncanny ability to accurately assess the value of trade and plunder. A skilled Corsair can greatly improve the quality of the loot you get from the Raiders' drydock, or of goods bought at the Caravanserai.

POP_RATIO 10

===Dreamwalker===

About 5% of Taiga orcs are "Dreamwalkers", weird frail creatures who are nevertheless feared and honored for their mental prowess. Dreamwalkers are adept priests and doctors, and they can often read and write -- even using numbers on occasion. Female Dreamwalkers are revered among the dwindling tribes for they often have litters of multiple young.  Dreamwalkers are the only caste that can undertake spirit journeys and learn spells, become powerful spellcasters, or use special arcane weapons which channel dark aspects of their wild magics.

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==Elite Castes==

===Ronin===

Ronin are casteless uruk who hope to barter their elite skill in arms for a place with honor in a new clan. In the frontier settlements, ronin are greatly sought after as sergeants, trainers, and even warchiefs.  Male ronin train primarily with the sword, while female ronin traditionally prefer the bow.  All ronin cross-train with the axe as well.

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===Sorcerer===

SORCERERS focus on destructive spells effective at relatively close range, particularly those which cripple the enemy and make him vulnerable to counterattack.  Their signature spells include the crippling Rite of Pain and the debilitating Decay.  Some choose to enter the melee, using Bone Armor to boost their own toughness and the Witchknight's Sigil to make enemies vulnerable to orichalcum and bloodsteel weapons, delivering the killing blow with their heavy Wraithblade swords.  Others prefer the dark power of necromancy, either raising corpses with the Barrowdraugr spell, or attempting to turn the living with wraithbinding shards.  They reserve the Oblivion's Embrace as personal protection against the unpredictable dead.  They can be initiated to the tribe by a ritual at the Altar of Storms using a sorcery dreamwalk codex.

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===Druid===

Druids are Orcish Dreamwalkers who are changed by visions of the primal power of Earth and Sky.  They wield these forces in defense of their clans and of the savage wilds. They can be initiated to the tribe by a ritual at the Stone Circle using a druidic dreamwalk codex.

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===Frostskald===

FROSTSKALDS use the powers of frost and storm to destroy opponents.  They pelt enemies simultaneously with super-chilling freezing vapors, water, and ice, performing both physical and frostbite damage.  They use a strange meditative state to stabilize their own internal body temperature, but their frost spells can be dangerous to other orcs after prolonged exposure.  Many Frostskalds also add paralyzing lightning spells to their arsenal, and all greedily seek out the Chill Blood spell which renders enemies greatly vulnerable to their attacks. They can be initiated to the tribe by a ritual at the Icecrystal Sanctum using a frostskald dreamwalk codex.

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===Oracle===

ORACLES can fill a wide range of roles, from blinding enemies with Solar Flare to pelting them with a Meteor Storm.  Some Oracles serve in a support role using Tarot and Warming Rays to boost the luck and recuperation of allies, while others embrace their destructive nature with Nova and Apocalypse spells.  Strangest of all is their ability to forecast the doom of a single enemy with Prophesy, or to tie a foe's madness to the phase of the moon with Lunacy. They can be initiated to the tribe by a ritual at the Sun & Stars Orrery using a oracle dreamwalk codex.

POP_RATIO 1