[GAME] Orcish Ag Bash!

[Daigoro]

Oi! Lissun' up you whelp breaths, itz time for the...
Orcish Ag Bash!

In the same vein as the Dwarven Agricultural setting thread, forum user (E) has hacked out the sums on what an orcish village might look like, upon which work this thread will expand by filling out the culture, history and personalities of the settlement.
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The Question Game
The idea of the game, for any newcomers, is to achieve some collaborative worldbuilding by asking and answering questions about the setting. Answer a posted question with your creative ideas, then post one or more questions that link in to your ideas, that explore other ideas in depth, or that start off in new directions. We'll build bit-by-bit on each others' contributions, and try not to contradict anything that's been established.

We won't use the Rapid Fire Rule (limiting answers to d6 sentences) this time round, so your answers can be as long as you like…. just stay on topic!

Use bold to highlight the question and answer numbers, and please try to quote the question you're answering.

Also, if you're in the middle of a long write-up for an answer, let us know that you want to claim it so that another contributor doesn't beat you to it.

Tags
To help us organise the questions and answers a little, use these tags to label them, or feel free to make up new tags if there's a new branch of discussion.

[TECH] - About the agricultural model and anything that might need crunchy research or calculations.
[BIO]- For questions about the physiology, behaviour or psychology of our orcs.
[HIST]- For the history of the village.
[SET]- For questions about the wider world outside the village, such as what empire lies over (or under) the next hill.
[Name 5]- (Or 3 or 7 or 10, whatever's appropriate.) A handy tag for fleshing out bits of the setting, where posters may give one or more answers each but we leave the question open for other posters to respond as well.
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I'll requote (E)'s working in the next post then kick off with the first question below that.

And for those with some time on their hands, you're invited to peruse previous iterations of the worldbuilding game:

Spoiler:  

Question Game Threads
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[GAME] Collaborative World Building Dwarven city as a start - Based on some agricultural modelling for a dwarven stronghold
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[Game] Generate a military sci-fi setting - A space ark brings dozens of alien races to an overcrowded solar system just as Earth becomes uninhabitable
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[Game] Generate a Space Trader Setting - Aliens, birthright humans and divergers with plasma-tube jump drives spread across the galaxy
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Setting Generating Game (Supers setting- Odin-1)
Setting Generator game 2: Odin2 (Supers)
New Year/New Setting: GURPS world design 'game' (Fantasy setting- Twilight World): This was more of a "reference chain" game- refer to something previously mentioned then add to it.

Also, some vote-based threads:
Vote Up a Setting Threads
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Vote up a SUPERS! setting
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And for straight-up collaborative world-building:
Other Collaborative World Threads
Collaborative DFRPG Mega-Dungeon - A dungeon thrown together by the God of the Underworld, which includes a range of random but creative ways to challenge a party of delvers.

[Daigoro]

The village so far...
For reference, these are some of the assumptions our orcs are based on:

Spoiler:  

Originally Posted by (E)

Orc agriculture
Assumptions
Orcs are primary carnivores (they can consume some vegetable matter).
Canines have a similar diet and will serve as the model. Resulting in the following:
Benefits
- Antibacterial saliva and a short digestive system increase the tolerances for food that would be contaminated by human standards.
- Carnivore stomach structure, meaning rather than regular eating, infrequent gorging is the norm.
- lower stomach PH allows for bone to be consumed.
- More efficient fat digestion.
- not as reliant as humans on plants for vitamins and other nutrients, Vitamin C most notably.
Drawbacks
- Nuts, Berries, plants from the allium family (onions, garlic etc) all cause digestive issues
- Beans, grains and some other plants while tolerated can't be a mainstay of the diet.
Likely consequences
- "Elf food" makes orcs sick (nuts, Berries etc)
- less demand for food conversion animals at lower TLs, chickens, pigs etc due to both higher immunity to food borne pathogens and little demand for cereal crops.
- Increased food yield from animal sources compared to human consumption. 90% rather than 50%, orcs can digest more of the animal.
- Animal systems will be more advanced and plant systems less so.
- less cause to develop mills as there is little demand for flour.

The location.
Historic lava flows have transformed a large area of flat former grassland into a wetland with numerous shallow lakes and swamps, there is a settled population of Orcs living here (nomadic orcs are a different write up). There is a warm continental climate. The average TL is around TL3.

Location related assumptions
- Bog iron is available.
- Salt is absent and in high demand, there will be some form of major consequence as a result. Trade may be quite developed, those with a salt monopoly may have huge influence or there may simply be something like an annual migration to acquire salt.
- Wood isn't as abundant as other areas but is of a high quality. One of the areas that serves as an inspiration for Kjanikatu is part of the range where Buloke is found.
- The building material of choice is volcanic stone. Though the lower availability of charcoal will lead to less finished stonework as repairing iron tools is more difficult.
- Obsidian is present in the area.
- Short range water transport is common.
- Access to buffalo horn, high quality leather and high quality timber combined with slightly less access to timber (and by extension charcoal) could result in organic materials being used in instances where a human community would use iron.

Primary agriculture and industry
Eels, water (swamp) buffalo, cattails, water fowl, rushes, flax, timber.

Kjanikatu
This large orcish village is one of several located in a strip of swampland some 5 miles wide and 20 miles long. It is beside what is officially recorded by the Empire’s cartographers as the shortest route through the wetlands. A central cluster of small wooden huts surround a larger stone great house. A walled area is reserved for travellers. Indeed drystone walls of a height of around eight feet subdivide and surround the village. This both protects the residents gardens and allows the water buffalo to be corralled and worked with within the village without the animals escaping and damaging whatever they run across. Well decorated runs hold chickens and roosters. The streams around Kjanikatu have been cleared and developed for water transport, they are fenced off from the fields where the water buffalo graze, mature trees and managed (though narrow) woodlands line the banks. Here and there eel traps are visible in narrower waterways. The area closest to the village is devoted to dairy farming and flax production with bulls and pigs being grazed for meat production further out.

Animal Production
Water Buffalo
The assumptions here are for the swamp variety of buffalos, GM's who want more dramatic animals may want to consider using cape buffalo, which sit between crocodiles and elephants on the list of Africa's more dangerous animals. The lactating cows are kept in richer fields close to the village, buffalo milk has several advantages over cow's milk producing cheese at a 5:1 ratio compared to cow milks 8:1 ratio, it also goes off at a slightly slower rate and produce a richer butter. The types of cheeses made with buffalo milk are typically softer though the orcs natural resistance to bacteria may lead to more tangy varieties. Water buffalo meat on the other hand is quite tough. The leather produced is comparable to cow leather, while the horns are suitable for composite bow construction.

Pig based
Being grazing as opposed to foraging or food conversion animals means the breeds used by the orcs will likely have the characteristic bulldog face seen on Kunekune pigs.

Eel based
As well as being a food source eels can be used to produce leather which is orders of magnitude tougher than mammalian leather, the effects are somewhat mitigated by the low thickness of the final product.

Water Fowl
Animals such as geese or ducks would be part of the stock rotation system as well these are a smaller part of the system and serve the auxiliary purpose of pest control.

Crops
Flax and several other fiber plants grow very well and if the orcs in question possess greater strength and/or endurance than humans they will have a competitive advantage over humans when it comes to production of flax based products like linen. A switch here is the availability of New Zealand flax, which has longer fibers than European flax making it superior for some purposes (such as paper) while not producing seeds suitable for oil production (as far as I know).

Cattails are the primary source of starch and even a high protien pseudo-flour these marsh grasses also supply edible shoots and an edible pollen that can also be used as a flour additive.

Several spices are likely to grow well in the area, pepper, nutmeg, grains of paradise, peppers and many more, while the locals might grow these for their own use they would also make valuable trade goods.
Generations of work have altered the landscape with blocks of dark volcanic rock having been crafted into walls, dams and roads, simple but solid constructions. Several stinking retting ponds which are used to process flax are nearby. The area is well subdivided, and most of the swampy fields seem empty, this is due to the rotation system used with the Eels and Water Buffalo that the orcs’ farm as their primary sources of food. The eels of course lurk below the surface of the many patches of water and waterlogged soil. The water buffalo are moved between small areas on a frequent basis. A breed of primarily grazing pigs is also used in a rotation with the water buffalo. While not primarily kept for food, chickens are also present. Early humans’ domestication of chickens likely had cockfighting as one at least one of it's motives, orcs would, perhaps, have prioritized fighting ability higher.

In human food production agriculture the primary “Farmed” crop is typically a grain or other starchy food with the pastoral animals kept in low input systems and most other plants and animals kept as parts of the “garden” (This is of course a very broad generalization). The orcs conversely “Farm” animals (Water buffalo, pigs etc) as the mainstay of their diet while running low input eel traps with most other production being garden based. Without flour and grains long term food storage is more difficult, higher humidity means drying meat is less than perfect but this is mitigated by the orcs resistance to bacteria. But there is a switch where the Orcs grow some grain crops (rice or wild rice most likely) to have a long lasting food source.

Budj Bim is an interesting example of low-tech aquaculture that was used as partial inspiration here. A google image search for “Budj Bim” brings up several images that are suggestive of the terrain, structures and works that occurred.

Seeds
Operation Fox, the roosters that the orcs keep are far more vicious than what outsiders are used to, but they are a rare, valuable and possibly surprising breed when seen in the outside world. Can the players steal what are basically feathery razor blades with anger issues?

Trade goods
Preserved meat (tough as well as hard on non orc digestive systems)
Cheeses
Leather goods, horn
High quality wood
Obsidian
Spices
Fighting roosters.
Linen

High demand products
Salt
Charcoal

The amount of variety in the portrayal of orcs makes this somewhat difficult to finalize, so I'm presenting this as more of a work in progress that could be refined. I'm also currently working on the base assumptions for Elven agriculture if any one would like to apply their mind to the task.

[Daigoro]

The village so far... part 2!

These are the results of (E)'s calculations:

Spoiler:  

Originally Posted by (E)

Orc crunch

The village of 500 orcs will require something like 130 tons of food a year, ideally this will include a lot of fatty meat. 100 families.

Farming systems
Buffalo - meat
Buffalo - dairy
Pork
Water fowl
Eels
Cattails
Flax fiber

Area
3 mile radius, 28 square miles of area, 18,000 acres total.

Land usage breakdown;
Suitable for traditional crops 5%
Suitable for traditional grazing 10%
More fertile 2%
Unsuitable, 25% (lakes and rocks)
Suitable for swamp tolerant agriculture 58%

About half the land suitable for traditional crops is used for growing plants that are mildly toxic, two or three times a year these areas are grazed by the pastoral animals to reduce internal parasites (or worm burden) and introduce more trace elements into their diet.

Grazing techniques combined with the natural conditions produces an average yield of 1.6 stock units per acre. 4.6 stock units are required for each growing or meat producing buffalo, Dairy use water buffalo require 6.3 stock units.

The pigs being a secondary animal in this type of system have a decreased area required per animal. 1.1 stock units per animal, (approximately 1800 pigs could be run before this benefit is lost)

A herd of 600 cows and their replacements (150) is maintained to produce 50 replacement animals and typically 400 calves destined for the meat system each year. Dairy production, requiring 3000 acres of grazing, results in 175,000 gallons of milk. 130 tonnes of dairy products (cheese, butter, yoghurt) are made from the milk.

Meat production
Buffalo
154 tonnes off 3000 acres requiring 10 families to run.

Pork
An average population of 600 animals is maintained. Producing 60 tonnes of pork, requiring 15 families and 410 additional acres.

Water fowl
1600 geese (for calculation purposes), producing 7 tonnes of meat as well as a tonne of eggs and requiring 200 additional acres and 8 families. The orcs involved here are likely to be poorer or have other functions in society, unless the tasks related to managing water fowl are subsumed into other roles.

Eels
16 tonnes of sustainable harvest per year.

Dairy production
130 tonnes requiring 3000 acres and 40 families to run.


Crop
Flax
15 families, production is 260lbs per acre, 300 acres

Managed harvests
Cattails
No specialised families involved, 400 acres.

Timber and forest products
5 families, the workers from these families may also perform other functions

Trade and transport
2 families

5 families performing misc functions, likely at least one family supporting a mason.

While the yield per acre is lower than a human equivalent system the labour required for the yield is less. A human village specialising in wheat production would likely provide enough surplus grain for 250 people in an average year. 368 tonnes of average total production for the orcs would support a surplus of maybe 900 orcs. The presumed higher energy intake required by a larger orc body is mitigated by the increased energy content of fat rich food. It wouldn't be unreasonable to increase the food required per orc. Similarly this example presumes a high level of specialization with local trade supplying some miscellaneous requirements. A more self sufficient village would produce less food but require fewer imported goods.

There was a bit of further discussion in that thread, so you might want to skim through it as some things mentioned there might be brought up here.

[Daigoro]

Question 1 [META][Open Discussion & Vote]

Do we want to set this orcish agricultural village in the same world as the dwarven ag model from 2 years ago, or start afresh?

Pros: Quite a bit of work went into that thread, so we have a firm basis to build on and link things together with. It had lots of solid and fun ideas.
Cons: It would mean a fair bit of homework reading through that thread to get familiar with it, to find points to link to and to avoid contradictions.
Pro & Con: I don't recall orcs making their way into that setting, so we have a blank slate there, but we would need to find some space for them to exist in. (Or... did we mention them as being far away at the other end of the mountain range?)

[ericthered]

If we can simply summarize the take-aways from the dwarf thread, then that's an option. If a single post can't summarize the continued material, I say we start it in a new world.

[TGLS]

Let's say everything about Knurlkyth is mostly supplementary as these Orcs are far away.

Here's a quick rundown:
-> The Thrumbleking of Hurldrak seeks to unite all Dwarven nations.
-> The year is 3999 FFF (From Forge's Firing), at least in the Dwarf Calendar.
-> Humanity was twice ruled by a large empire, and a messianic cult is preparing for the third.
-> An anti-Human Dwarven cult called the Hidden Kingdom wages a secret genocidal war against humans.
-> There are multiple kinds of Elves, including High Elves, Twilight Elves, and long ago, Mountain Elves.
-> High Elf longevity collapsed seven hundred years ago along with the rest of their society.
-> There is a republic called Knurlkyth notable for its fine weapons manufacture.
-> Knurlkyth struggles with Grindal Peak (a Human-Dwarf society that general resents them), Three Valley (which controls trade to Knurlkyth), and the Horde of the White Eagle (who regularly raid their merchant caravans).
-> Dwarven Mages are rare, often adopted into nobility, and have aspect magic. They can commune with the spirits related to their aspect.
-> Knurlkyth maintains positive relations with Twilight Elves
-> Dwarves have difficulty interbreeding with other races. One half-dwarf, whose birth was ensured through a demonic pact, attempted to take over the world. It half-dwarves could be possessed by the same demon.
-> Other races include:
->-> Cowerbolds, underground dwelling terrier faces
->-> Immortal God-Kings, now deposed and met many fates.
->-> Dragons, natural disasters that hoard treasure.
->-> Rhinomen and Toad-Heads, who are little described beyond being in the Thrumbleking's employ.