Bonecarver Ideas

Traditions
+2% Missionary Strength
+1 Yearly Prestige

A Fist, Grasping a ChainChieftain Brasul of the Swallowed Tongue clan had once hated the Dookanson, believing him to be an upstart diminishing Dookan’s name… yet when Brasul sought out the self proclaimed son of Dookan to challenge him, he instead became smitten by his radiant strength. Then and there, he pledged himself to Korgus, becoming one of his most devoted followers. Brasul wasn’t alone in his fervor, though. His clan, the Swallowed Tongue, made for zealous evangelists, proselytizing to whomever they met on the road. Brasul thought that just as he was once too weak to accept the Dookanson’s truth, even humans could be humbled as he was.\n\nThis conviction led him to his love of scrimshawing. If speeches or violence could not drive the truth home, then perhaps he could show them what he saw. Through his art, he established the icons of Dookanism; Korgus’ visage, an axe tumbling in flight, a fist clutching a broken chain.\n\nIn time, the Swallowed Tongue would become the Bonecarvers as the proliferation of their scrimshaw led to its cementing as a cultural pillar that would survive the decline of Dookanism. Even the Ozgaromi orcs of Aelantir would continue the practice, engraving the bones of their dead with tales of defiance and bravery in the face of colonial terror.
-33% Missionary Maintenance Cost
+2 Tolerance of the True Faith

Ribcage EulogiesThe orcs of the Greentide inhabited a universe of violence and death, and most were heavily desensitized, unperturbed by the sight of corpses. In fact, the most dedicated Bonecarvers had an intimate familiarity with the dead. From this, they formulated a view of the skeleton as the home of the soul, as opposed to other peoples’ faith in the heart or brain. Artists would mark bones in order to commemorate the life that lived within, and so that Dookan could recognize and accept the evicted soul as orcish. Most engravings were applied across the ribcage and sternum, but the size of the canvas depended mainly on how much was known of the subject; sometimes the entire skeleton could be engraved.
-5 Years of Separatism

Return the AgonyWhen Brasul’s body was lost at Rottenstep following his unceremonious end, his son, Azukor, spent months obsessively planning a scrimshaw piece fit for his beloved mentor’s bones. Debilitated by grief, he sent many more people to search for Brasul’s body at Rottenstep than to fight in the battle of Castonath, believing Korgus’ victory to be a forgone conclusion with or without assistance from his clan. But later, when news of Korgus’ death reached the clan, the Bonecarvers fell into a doomed stupor of rage and disbelief. These twin losses gouged jagged, ugly scars into the clan’s spirit.\n\nIn the subsequent years, the clan would attack encroaching adventurer bands with a blind, hitherto unseen viciousness. They would engrave the bones of their slaughtered foes as usual, but roughly and without care, with bitter curses and goading calls for Dookan to inflict his vengeance. At the most feverish heights of their hatred, they would grind the bones to dust, rendering them useless. The clan would continue with unsustainable warring of this nature for generations, even amidst their slow, painful reduction and eventual dissolution.
+15% Morale of Armies

TuladoshThe decades after the Greentide’s ultimate defeat and Korgus Dookanson’s death would be a chaotic one for the Escanni orcs. For two decades, ultimate authority had been centralised around Korgus and his divine connection to Dookan. His downfall did not simply shatter orcish unity, it left a power vacuum within the clans themselves as many chieftains had tied their own legitimacy to Korgus’ (and by extension Dookan’s) will.\n\nRoughly equivalent to the idiom of "ruling with an iron fist", Tuladosh, or steel hand, represented the various Escanni orcish chieftains bids to assert firmer control over their clans. Some would attempt to take up Korgus’ fallen mantle in a bid for legitimacy. Others would focus their efforts on rebuilding the ruined land to build trust. More still would settle for trying to dominate the local surroundings to show their strength. All would find their efforts a struggle.
-0.05 Monthly Autonomy Change

The Dargom and OzdanAs the Green Orcs transitioned from conquerors to inhabitants, two classes would come to form within the various nascent kingdoms - the Dargom and Ozadan. Residing within the rebuilt hamlets and refounded towns, the Dargom represented the evolution of orcish society.\n\nDominated by craftspeople, merchants and other urban roles, the Dargom stemmed from those who already held great wealth and power or recognized the power that could come from craftsmanship and commerce. Through these means, the Dargom would form the basis of the nascent bureaucracy and come to control much of the state’s wealth.\n\nThe Ozdan, on the other hand, represented unchanging orcish tradition. Dominated by travelling warriors and migratory herders who were either too poor (or too stubborn) to settle, the Ozdan’s hearty lifestyle meant they were a natural pool to draw on for the kingdom’s defence. While capable, their adherence to the old ways would lead constant headaches to the central government
+8% National Manpower Modifier
+5% Production Efficiency

Beyond the Ebbing TideWhile the animosity between the orcs of Escann and the other races would last generations as the struggle for land continued into the 16th century, old hatred would eventually give way to cold utilitarianism.\n\nHeralding this evolution would be the Crimson Deluge, a seemingly divine cataclysm that showered Escann with blood and gore. With these unnatural events came disruptions to commerce as tumultuous weather began to claim Escanni caravans. As an economic crisis began to brew, it would be the orcish kingdoms who would step in. Orcs, stronger than the average human and born wayfinders, were more capable of withstanding the treacherous rains and the violence it wrought. While initially rejected, the merchants of Cannor found themselves more willing to look the other way and allow orcs to trek these treacherous routes as long as the coin flowed.
+10% Institution Spread
-8% Cost of Advisors with Ruler's Culture

Sagah'damsWhatever equilibrium that arose between the adventurer kingdoms and orcish kingdoms would come to a violent end when the first witch kings arose. Armies onto themselves, the orcish kingdoms buckled under the likes of mages like Laurens síl Place and the Regent of Wyvernheart. When even the most powerful shamans were reduced to dust in the face of such foes, it was clear new tactics had to be adopted.\n\nWhat came about was the sagah’dams, or shadowshots. Taking advantage of their skin’s natural camouflage in the greenery of Escann, these warriors would rely on ambush tactics to inhibit and blunt ever more brazen advances into orcish land. As these brave orcs fought to preserve their home, some could not help but find it ironic it was they who were now being swept away by some unstoppable tide…
+1 Attrition for Enemies

Ambition
+100% Army Tradition From Battles