The Tribe of the Behemoth

When the orcs escaped from Shamir and reached the canyons of Bran-Ô-Kor to elude the alchemists of Dirz, most of them declared that this savage land was theirs by destiny. Others refused to live in this region that they judged to be arid and hostile and left in search of a more hospitable domain. The second exodus led them to the Behemoth chain.

The Orcs of the Behemoth prayed with all their soul that the Rag’Narok never reach them and spare the tree-spirit, the memory of the world. Alas, nothing escapes the avidity of war, and every day Darkness creeps ever higher into the mountains. To protect its children, the Tree-Spirit, in its great wisdom, has split in two and has reincarnated the immortal soul of the prophet Kamahru in the veins of sacred wood. Armed with Thunder-Rock, Grakkha is his champion and the protector of the sanctuary of the Behemoths.

The Exodus

They continued on their exodus towards the west, travelling through the Aegis Mountains and the Plain of Tears. They remained in Avagddu for some time, but the Kelt tribes took them for demons and ended up chasing them away. So they carried on their journey, this time towards the southwest, and found themselves in the kingdom of Alahan. Here again they only met the Lions' fear and hostility and they had to travel on. In despair, they decided to find refuge in the high mountains to the west of the barony of Daneran.

They crossed the snowy mountain passes despite the blizzards and the biting cold, but this exhausting voyage only led them to the accursed lands of Acheron, so they once again had to turn back. The inevitability of their destiny then came down on them. Their quest would end here. They had left the scorched earth of Bran-Ô-Kor just to find that the only other land that welcomed them was the frozen summits of the Behemoth chain. Tired of fleeing, they resigned themselves to their fate and settled in the mountains only several leagues from the Kaïber Pass.

No others but the orcs could survive the climate of this region. Maybe it's their goblin genetic heritage? Whatever it may be, these orcs tamed the mountains and its icy winds by adapting themselves to the scarcity of food. The tribe of the Behemoth's population never grew to more than several hundred individuals.

Location

Unlike the orcs of Bran-Ô-Kor whose population is divided into a multitude of clans, the tribe of the Behemoth forms a single, united community.

Its way of life can be qualified as being semi-nomadic. Various temporary encampments are scattered in the mountains and are occupied periodically either by hunters who are tracking the herds of reindeer or to escape a threat. The Howler Pass is a narrow gorge located several leagues north of the Kaïber Pass. It is thus named because of the spooky moans made by the wind that can be heard at any time of the year.

At first the orcs found refuge in caves that opened in the flanks of the mountain chain in order to escape the snowstorms. But soon they had to face another menace. In order to travel around and avoid the impregnable fortress of Kaïber, bands of living-dead fighters regularly attempted to cross the Behemoth Mountains using this pass. To protect themselves from these incursions the orcs began fortifying the pass, reproducing unbeknownst to them and to their rudimentary scale the same defensive structure as at Kaïber. After decades of uninterrupted work to strengthen these defenses, the Howler Pass is now blocked from one end to the other by a solid wooden palisade flanked with watchtowers where the orcs are on a constant lookout, day and night.

Situation

Compared to this place's topography, this barrier is nothing more than a drop in an ocean. Indeed, the chain of the Behemoth is riddled with many other passages that the Acheronian forces regularly use. The Howler Pass is at once the most easily accessible, the widest and the closest to Kaïber. The orcs' presence is therefore a blessing for the Alliance of Light, which was prevented from posting a permanent garrison at this place by the harsh climate and the pass's inaccessibility during the long winter months.

The defenders of Kaïber have thus established relations with the tribe of the Behemoth in order to help them maintain their presence. So it isn't rare that the orcs receive supplies and weapons as well as expert advice from the envoys of Light who incite them to spread their control over other passes. These hardened mountain warriors also sell their services to guide the Alliance's spies and expeditions through the mountains to reach the barony of Acheron.

Yet the orcs of the Behemoth have never fought directly for the forces of Light.

Several times the envoys of Kaïber have tried to convince them to participate in coordinated operations, in vain. These orcs aren't mercenaries and they only accept to cooperate with the Alliance as long as their agreement doesn't put them into a subordinate position in regard to their "neighbors."

Society

The orcs' extraordinary genetic heritage has let them survive the harsh climate of the mountains. The alchemists of Dirz were right to bet on the outstanding ability to adapt of the goblin genotype. The orcs were created in order to lead campaigns of conquest all over the continent. They were supposed to be able to resist the stifling desert heat, the most intense cold as well as the privation of food, water and sleep. In this at least the biosurgeons reached their goal. Though the orcs of the Behemoth have evolved far from their cousins of Bran-Ô-Kor, one finds the same genetic particularities in both these groups. Jackal warriors, Amok slayers, mystic warriors; all of these archetypes can be found among the tribe of the Behemoth, with different names of course.

The colossuses with a peculiar face the orcs of the east call Jackal warriors are also a caste apart here: the warriors of the wind. A coincidence or a mark of the gods, in the same way that the Jackal warriors are tightly bound to their tutelary divinity, the warriors of the wind are completely devoted to the tribe's priests for whom they traditionally form the personal guard.

The Amok slayers (called "warriors of stone" here) enjoy great prestige among the other members of the tribe just like they do in Bran-Ô-Kor. This prestige is so great that unlike the orcs of Bran-Ô-Kor whose tribal chiefs are chosen by an assembly of mystics, the position of chief of the tribe of the Behemoth traditionally goes to the oldest of the warriors of stone. He then remains at the head of the clan until his death, yet he shares the exercise of power with the priests, a bit like the Sessairs kings of Avagddu do.

Cult

The mountain orcs left their cousins of Bran-Ô-Kor well before the cult of Jackal became as widespread as it is nowadays. Like the others of their kind, they instinctively feel a powerful bond with their land and their natural environment. This is how they naturally came to worship the mountains and pray to the spirits of the wind. The tribe's priests communicate with these spirits and listen to the presages to be heard in the blizzard's whispers and cries.

Due to these beliefs the orcs have given themselves over the years the role of protectors of the mountain spirits and of their sacred sites. Indeed, the Behemoth mountain chain is one of the continent's most isolated places and many of its peaks still remain untouched to this day. Very few individuals are aware of the mysteries hidden by these snowy summits and these thick pine forests.

Of all these secrets, one of them one day revealed the tribe's destiny.

Kunjan, the spirit of the Evening Wind, called on a priest named Kamahru and guided him to the top of one of the peaks surrounding the Howler Pass.

It was neither the highest nor the most inaccessible of peaks, and on its top stood a tree that was neither the tallest nor the most impressive of the whole forest. In reality, nothing differed it from the other trees, but when Kamahru placed his hands on its trunk he strangely felt that he was in the presence of the oldest being he had ever met and that he would probably ever meet. So he sat down at the foot of the venerable elder and opened his mind. He meditated like this for days and days, without drinking or eating, in the cold and the blizzards. And while he was in his trance the tree spoke to him in a strange language made of sensations and emotions. Kamahru felt himself transported to faraway places that he had never seen and especially to a time long past. Very often he seemed to be able to perceive the mysteries of the gods and the universe, yet every time the secrets he glimpsed escaped him like snowflakes in a storm. Thus, Kamahru contemplated for a long time the memories of Creation.

And then he died.

His weakened and frostbitten body disappeared under a veil of snow, but his mind, which was now freed from the chains that imprison mortals, fused with the tree. To him this was as if the blizzard that prevented him from seeing clearly had suddenly calmed, thus unveiling the immensity of Creation to him. He felt the tree's roots dive deep under the mountain in aII directions, under the seas and the oceans, beyond the forests of the West and the plains of the East to the edges of the great desert and even further. And through these roots a continuous flow of information, memories and emotions came to him. This tree was the memory of Aarklash. Maybe it was even its origin. Suddenly, Kamahru felt like he was being pushed away and he reluctantly had to tear himself from his contemplation. The tree then spoke to him again, forcing him to become aware of the importance of what had just been revealed to him and of the danger this secret represented should it fall into the wrong hands. The tree felt Evil spreading and crawling towards him. It would reach him one day and would force him to reveal what never should be revealed.

Kamahru didn't understand why the tree had chosen them, him and his people, to be the keepers of the memory of Aarklash, but he now knew that their destiny was to be its protectors.

So it was in the language of the spirits that Kamahru delivered his message to his brothers. The tree's existence was revealed but not its true nature, for no mortal could bear the burden of such a secret. Since then, the peak of the Tree-Spirit is the most scared place there is in the eyes of the tribe of the Behemoth. Only the tribe's priests and the Warriors of the Wind are allowed to approach it, and the latter don't hesitate at all to eliminate all intruders.

The Tribe Today

Nowadays the tribe of the Behemoth is commanded by Chief Vijkhal the Brave. Tumahk, the Voice of the Wind, is the prime faithful of the tribe, and, being such, he is Vijkhal's principal advisor.

More than ever the orcs of the Behemoth are on their guard, for the spirit of Kamahru has warned Tumahk that major events have happened in the east and that their consequences would upset the balance of the world all the way to the foundations of creation itself. As the tree had predicted, Evil is spreading faster and faster. As a consequence, the tribe of the Behemoth has considerably lessened its contact with the Alliance of Light, for the faces of corruption are countless and the temptation of power is as great in Light as it is in Darkness.

Notes

The Tribe of the Behemoth lore excerpt is from Cry Havoc volume 02.