Vaeldrin's Mark Lore - The Onokhanis of Orkenen

In the Dawn Age, Jordenn the Geomancer was given dominion over the earth. The ground and all who walked upon it paid tribute to him. But there were yet still places that he dared not tread. The eastern lands of Orkenen bore deep valleys and great mountain chains but most of the continent was covered in great sandy dunes. The Orkenen Deserts stretch out for miles across the northern half of the landmass. The soft and grainy sands there did not fall under Jordenn’s domain and he could not manipulate the earth there like he could elsewhere. Great sand spirits took refuge there where they could plot against Jordenn and the rest of the earth. The Sand Lords were dark and malevolent, wishing only for the chaos of dust storms to ravage the entire world.

In the beginning of the Age of Forging, a great exodus of giants struck out to the east hoping to find new lands to settle in away from the war with the humans of Rom. What they found were the great deserts where none dared to tread. The solitude of the land fit this group of giants well and so they build the great city of Onok, which when translated from this particular dialect of the Old Tongue, literally meant desert in the common language. It was then that the sand spirits saw these giants as tools for their will. They appeared to the king of Onok as great gods of the desert. They offered to bestow upon his people the strength and power of the sands, and the ability to conquer the world as agents of the dunes. These giants longed to destroy their northern brethren who cast them out in decades passed so they accepted the offer. The Sand Lords then performed their side of the deal and transformed the giants into beings of greater strength but at the cost of their freedom and heritage. They were turned into the Onokhanis, which means sons of the desert in their language.

The Onokhanis, or orcs as they are referred to by the humans of Rom, have become great sea raiders and patrollers of the deserts on Orkenen. They frequently clash with the humans of Harkon in the south, and raid and pillage seaports belonging to Rom, Argunheim, and Koroth with their massive fleet of longships. Their hatred for the other mortal races knows no bounds, and their dark masters will not rest until The Geomancer is their servant.