Cleaver Orcs

The Confederacy of Orc Tribes
The Cleaver Orcs were a loose confederacy of orc tribes that live east of the Kingdom of Rubia and west of the Minthras Imperium. There was significant infighting among the tribes and clans and they only joined forces when raiding their neighbors which they have been doing for many decades now.

The land is largely infertile but it has the only direct land routes between the Minthras Imperium and the Kingdom of Rubia. These trade routes are under the joint protection of the tribes, for which the merchants pay heavy "protection fees". Several towns have been established along these routes, they mostly serve as pit stops for the traders and are notoriously lawless.

In recent years Emperor Marius has decided to put an end to the orc threat and "pacify" the Cleaver lands. Having learned from the past mistakes of Rubian and Cascadian kings his first wave of attack was sending in covert agents and diplomats to create as much strife as possible between the tribes. This led to a number of small wars among the Cleaver tribes which both Rubia and the Imperium took advantage of. Rubia started organizing slaver expeditions to abduct entire tribes and use them as labor in their new colonies. Meanwhile the Imperium started annexing the neighboring clans.

By the time the orcs realized the danger it was already too late. They mounted a last desperate stand at Ragged Gorge, but they were easily defeated although both Rubia and Cascadia gave aid to the orcs to curb imperial expansion.

After the Imperial Conquest
As all the chieftains fell at Ragged Gorge the remaining orcs either became slaves to the Imperium or fled westward. It was Lagash, high priestess of Gruumsh from the Rockcrusher tribe, who took it upon herself to unite the fleeing groups and form a single army, strong enough to defend itself.

It did not take long for the Imperium to notice and dispatch their armies. As direct battle would have been fatal, Lagash ordered the orcs to enter Rubia and fortify a valley in the Cascadian Mountains where they will make their new home. Her instincts were right: the Imperial Army left them alone and instead attacked Rubia. Meanwhile the Rubians, instead of attacking, begged the orcs for help, which she offered in exchange for slaves, loot, the liberation of all orc slaves and a formal recognition of the new Cleaver lands. In the end she only got the last as the orc army was wiped out by the Edict of Fire during the battle or Oringrad.

Despite these setbacks Lagash managed to remain a popular leader, credited for saving her prople from slavery and destruction. She is determined to forever change the Cleaver orcs by uniting them into a nation of orcs, ruled not by war-minded chieftains but wise priestesses with her at the top.