The Orcs are roughly human sized jötunnkind, typically of greenish complexion. However, unlike most other jötunnkind orcs have a great deal of racial diversity. Different groups of orcs appear to almost be different sub races; however all orcs can easily interbreed. Whereas typically interbreeding between various jötunnkind races is possible, but rare and difficult.
Orcs form tribal groups and what these groups are called depends on world and regions; but they are all essentially the same sort of grouping. Orc social groups are variously called Clans, Tribes or Hordes. The terms clan and tribe seem to be indistinguishable and are based on region and tradition. Hordes appear to function as very large clans or tribes; however, hordes seem to show a lot more racial diversity than a clans or tribes, leading many scholars to speculate that Hordes are actually tribal aggregations. In other words, closely allied tribes that over time have formed a single governing body and function as a unified military unit.
This is very important as orcs are, by all reasonable measures, extremely militant. They are all fierce warriors and hunters and abide a rather savage code of ethics. Orcs are primarily nomadic and seldom engage in agrarian or sedentary lifestyles. There are, of course, individual orcs that do settle down, and there are a few true orc villages and towns, but most orc social groups are nomadic and live in tents.
As previously stated, orcs vary widely in appearance dictated by tribe or clan. It is believed that the racial diversity is caused by intermarriage between not so distant relatives. Orcs tend to marry within their own clans and typically, all individuals have shared ancestors within the clan or tribe.
Due to marriage group segregation, orcs can range in height from about 5’ tall to nearly 10’ tall. Body types can range the gamut with these heights, but again tend to be clan or tribe consistent. The majority of orcs encountered are some shade of green, however there quite a few tribes with very greyish complexions and some with yellow complexions. There are also some extremely rare tribes with darker, brownish skin tones.
Orcs tend to have very large, strong and sharp teeth. Many tribes actually have tusks that protrude from their mouths, particularly lower jaw tusks for both men and women. However, not all orcs have protruding tusks, and some have both upper and lower tusks. Beyond this, in terms of head shape and features, little can be said because bone structures vary far more among orcs than among other races.
One very odd thing about orc tribes, clans and hordes is that these family groups can exist on multiple planes within the localverse. Specifically, some individual orcs in Astlan can actually trace their ancestry back to individuals from other planes within the localverse. This highly unusual, only a few select Los Alvar families are known to be able to do the same.
The principle reason for this is believed to be that at one time all orcs in the localverse, as well as on several planes outside the localverse were worshipers of a now dead god, Orcus, from which the name “orc” is believed to be derived. This dark deity was known to use his shamans and warlocks to transport troops between worlds in order to engage in conquest. Therefore, orcs from various planes of existence often met, married and interbred. In a few cases, entire tribal groups appear to have colonized other worlds.
Thus while each world in the localverse has its own set of predominant tribes, clans and hordes, it is not unusual to see smaller versions of the same clan on other planes. This is often one of the most shocking thing that wizards and animages discover when they begin traveling the planes. In Astlan, we are all accustomed to thinking of orcs as very primitive, dull-minded barbarians, however in the past, they have demonstrated a very high level of inter planar acumen and proficiency. While their dread god, and thus their terrifying threat has been vanquished forever, evidence strongly suggests that the various tribes and clans still engage in interdimensional trade and alliances far more than humans, dwarves or gnomes.