OROGS


An orog sorcerer and an ankheg

Elite orcs, or orogs, are a race of great orcs, possibly mixed with ogre blood. Orogs range between 6 and 6½ feet tall. They are highly disciplined warriors and have their own standards and banners which they display prominently -- it is usually easy to tell when orogs are present among common orcs. Orogs can be found at the vanguard of large orc armies, but rarely on patrol. There is a 10% chance that an orc tribe will have orogs, whose number equals 10% of the male population. (Thus a community of 3,000 male orcs has a 10% chance of having 300 additional orogs.) Small bands of elites (20-80 orogs) will hire themselves out as mercenaries. Orogs have 3 Hit Dice, plate mail (AC 3), and have a +3 Strength bonus on damage dice. For every 20 orogs, there will also be one leader with 4 Hit Dice (THAC0 17). There is but one orog chief, who has 5 Hit Dice (THAC0 15). Orogs use weaponry common to orcs, but will typically possess two weapons apiece. (2nd AD&D ed)

Variants on the orog include the neo-orog and the ogrillion. The neo-orog is a specific orc-ogre crossbreed created by the Red Wizards of Thay to be used as elite soldiers. The ogrillion is the brutish, armor-skinned offspring of a female orc and a male ogre.


Orogs in Forgotten Realms

Orogs are orcs who live and thrive in the Underdark. They look like normal Mountain orcs but are slightly taller, with larger ears and huge pale eyes.


History

Orogs are descended from the Skullbiter Tribe of Mountain orcs who lived in the Spine of the Worldmountain range millenia ago. When they, along with other Mountain orcs, invaded Netheril in -3605 DR, they were cut off from their retreat route and cornered between the elven and Netherese armies. They sought refuge in a narrow cave at the end of a valley which, unbeknownst to them, led to the Underdark. They became lost but felt safe in the knowledge that they would not be followed by their enemies, delving further underground whenever they could. Eventually they came across a veritable jungle of luminous fungi and decided to settle there. They bred in great numbers and expanded into many surrounding caverns like a virulent plague. They subjugated the creatures already living there and eventually split into a dozen different tribes, discovering rich veins of metal and ore.


The collapse of the elven empires led to the orogs venturing back to the surface in large numbers, bullying their Mountain orc cousins into subservience and arming them for war with weapons made from Underdark metals.

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