The Orruk Warclans are up today for a preview!
Orruks: The Origins
Nobody knows quite where orruks came from. These unruly creatures have been the scourge of the Mortal Realms since the Age of Myth, emerging in Ghur and casting down innumerable empires in their endless search for battle. Orruks believe, on an intrinsic, bone-deep level, that they were born to fight and win. The who, what, why and where is irrelevant – all that matters is that somebody gets a jolly good kicking.
The life cycle of orruks is not widely understood, as greenskins of all stripes are not much for scientific curiosity or record-keeping. Some scholars believe that orruks reproduce by breaking down into fungal jelly when they die, forming strange egg-sacs that draw nutrients from deep in the earth before birthing gangly, toothsome proto-orruks known as “yoofs”. This would certainly explain why orruks seem to emerge from caverns and fissures when least expected, or just why they are so difficult to displace once they have infested an area.
Ironjawz
Orruks are divided into all sorts of groups known as warclans, with the self-proclaimed biggest and toughest of these known as Ironjawz. These hulking beasts epitomise the creed of “might makes right” fighting with savage abandon.
Most wear distinctive suits of armour, created by battering plates directly onto their flesh. This somewhat crude method of manufacture is surprisingly effective, with the resulting suits allowing a vast range of movement and being replete with deadly cutting edges. Ironjawz allow no weakness into their ranks – even the beasts they ride into battle possess berserk strength. Operating in massive nomadic groups, they build no cities, venturing forth from their ancestral homelands in Ghur to pillage and destroy.
Bonesplitterz
All orruks feel the primal fury of the Waaagh! – a collective, magical energy that flows through them in the heat of battle. For most, this pounding, crashing energy fades when the fighting is done, but some are different, driven mad by the endless rattling in their skull. Abandoning armour, sanity and sense, they join the warclans of the Bonesplitterz, savage warriors who endlessly reave across the realms in vast, swirling mobs.
Where most orruks gravitate towards their strongest warriors, Bonesplitterz are led by insane Wurrgog Prophets, following strange omens in search of glorious battles. These tribal warriors eschew advanced weapons and armour, instead relying on magical warpaint and harvested beast spirits for their power, binding their animus within bone weapons and totems. In battle, the Bonesplitterz instinctively gravitate towards others who fight like them, from arrow-firing Kunnin’ Rukks to mounted Snaga Rukks, each representing a different part of the great beasts the Bonesplitterz hunt.
The Big Waaagh!
When the orruk warclans put aside their differences and go to war as one, they form the Big Waaagh! – terrifying and spontaneous coalitions of orruks that combine the unpredictable savagery of the Bonesplitterz with the indomitable might of the Ironjawz. Such is the magical energy unleashed by such a gathering that it can even cause the land itself to rise up as if it were alive. Big Waaagh!s see cities burn, nations crumble and gods tremble – it’s a small mercy to the Mortal Realms that such gatherings are so random in their nature.
The Soul Wars
As the Soul Wars rage across the Mortal Realms, orruks of all stripes have taken advantage of the mayhem to smash more stuff than ever before!