Two female ogres, one knightly, one feral, clash in a forest. The two are now a happy couple living just east of Loxurd.
World: Midgard
Diet: Omnivorous, preference for meat
Height: 8-15 feet
Lifespan: 100 years
Habitat: Any
Activity Cycle: Diurnal
Gurngamos, the World Empire, is one of the last remaining vestiges of humanity, but their military is structured around post-human beings, like the beastfolk that surround them. Rarely, due to exposures to strange magics and unearthly influences, an odd child is born, deformed in body and unusual in mind. These children grow fast and massive, devouring far more than their share of food. These children are ogres, or “Emperor’s Children” as they are often called, for they belong first and foremost to the Emperor himself.
The Empire is well-organized, and the same agents who collect taxes also collect ogres from the villages of the empire. These gathered ogres are taken to local fortresses for training and education. They learn how to wield polearms and wear armor, but also to read and write. Most importantly, they learn to love the Emperor. These educated warriors are deployed as the centers of their own units in the imperial army.
While often regarded as stupid due to their deformities and unusual social behavior, most ogres are in fact at least as intelligent as regular humans, as their teachers at the great fortresses may attest. While most ogres use the sling, making themselves into mobile trebuchets, many instead study magic and add that to their arsenals, becoming exceptional fighters capable of both magic and melee warfare. Longer-lived than humans on average, ogre knights are mandated to retire only once they reach 75 and not allowed to retire before 65. Once retired from active service, they are most likely to train new knights or become scribes.
In the most remote portions of the World Empire, the collectors sometimes do not come for years at a time, in particular within border regions contested with other forces. Here, ogres are often abandoned in the wilderness when their hunger proves too great for their family to support. These young ogres, with any luck, will band together and form new families, surviving and becoming feral. These impromptu tribes are often dangerous to the villages that expelled them, snatching up lifestock and crops to feed ogre hunger. Ogre knights are sometimes sent to kill their feral cousins, whenever the Empire’s attention falls on these forsaken regions.
There are other forms of ogre in the world, all originating from different sources. Some follow below.
An oni enjoys a hot spring with a human attendant.
Oni- The result of human dalliances with daemons. Most often found around the Pefnir Mountains, where sleeping daemons can be found in the mines. Usually the spawn of agathodaemons, who readily seduce members of any species, oni are naturally armored with tough skin that usually comes in blue or red. This makes up for the difficulty they have putting on any actual armor above the waist. Oni tend to take after their parents, being creatures of large appetite for life, gluttonous for alcohol and lusty.
A bandit squad of Bobinyak become aware of a caravan down the mountain.
Brobinyak- The watery chaos normally creates dragons directly, but when small amounts are ingested by a pregnant woman, it alters her unborn child. They will be born as a humanoid dragon, replete with scales and claws. They are often even more deformed than regular ogres, and chaotic in mind. Brobinyak are highly variable, some having wings, or long necks, or even multiple heads, with others looking barely inhuman besides a coating of scales. Despite their useful breath weapons, varying by individual, they are usually not recruited due to their more independent natures.
Fomorian- Ogres who have formed their own true-breeding populations, Formorians are only taller than humans on average, rather than the towering behemoths that their relatives can be. They are born from fae meddling or breeding, and are usually stunningly muscular and attractive, but for a singular fault. Some Fomorians are missing a leg, others have a twisted spine, still more are blind. In spite of this, or perhaps because of it, they are fiercely competitive and celebrate physical ability of all sorts. While free-spirited like Brobinyak, they are still recruited, as most of them take well to soldiering.
Nephilim- Angelic influences can create Nephilim, surprisingly monstrous for their holy ancestry. With extended lifespans even compared to other ogres, Nephilim are often very distant, taking up hermit lifestyles for decades after their retirement. Their glowing eyes grant them night vision and can transfix those who make the mistake of looking directly into them, and they have a tendency towards loyalty and strict obedience, making them highly sought after as soldiers.
Fell Ogre- Regular ogres are forbidden from having sex with one another, lest they produce, by chance, a Fell Ogre. Most children of ogres will be regular humans, with a few ogres mixed in, but if they reproduce with one another, there is a third option. Fell Ogres are maddened things, far greater than their parents in size and power. They rapidly grow, amassing magical prowess as quickly as they gain physical strength. The life of a Fell Ogre tends to be short and violent, ending only when they are put down for the good of themselves and everything around them.
