Ogre stories

Anonymous — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 15:43:31 +0000

Ogre stories

Ogres is one of the races in Southern Heimr with a prominent oral tradition. They tell many stories, often around camp fires. Stories are told by shamans or by specialized storytellers. Even tough Ogres as a race have developed a rudimentary written language, it is interesting to note that it seems specifically developed to aid storytellers in remembering the sequence and details of certain stories. This has resulted in the main themes of the stories being preserved, while the specifics vary greatly from tribe to tribe or even from storyteller to storyteller. Some well known ogre stories are the story of Granz, The wolf and the lion, The mighty flee.

Granz

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Granz is the story of an ogre who lived in ancient times. He was a powerful ogre who won the ogre bash. He united many ogre tribes and assaulted to free the ogres that Asgard had imprisoned. With his legendary axe Sklash, Granz is said to have broken through the gate of the city , after which it was sacked by his army.

The Wolf And The Lion

The wolf and the lion is the story about a wolf who during the hunt finds a young lioness. She takes the lioness into her pack and raises her as one of her own. Eventually the lioness becomes the strongest of the pack and challenges her adopted mother for the alpha position. During the fight that ensues the mother wolf gets killed. As she lays dying the lion starts to eat her. Her final thoughts are that in death she will be part of a tribe that is even stronger then it was when she was alive.

The Mighty Flea

The mighty flea is a story about a flea living in the fur of a mammoth. One day the flea decides to travel. It finds it's way to the bottom of one of the feet of the mammoth . There it discovers that when the mammoth walks, the weight of the mammoth does not crush him. He goes home where he declares himself the king of the fleas, declaring himself to be invincible. One day, a troop of monkeys jump on the back of the mammoth , so the fleas quickly hide deep inside the woolly fur of the mammoth. They ask the mighty flea to save them. So he climbs all the way up the longest hair he can find so all the monkeys can see him. Where a large grey monkey crushes him between his two slender fingers.

Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 18-09-2013 17:43

Archived: Common Culture of Ogres

Anonymous — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:28:41 +0000

Archived: Common Culture of Ogres

The ogre culture is centered on warfare; the societal ranks of both males and females are decided by their ability to kill. Ogres are a tribal race, and each tribe is under the authority of a war chief. These tribes often fight each other as well as Asgardian settlements or cities. Ogres are known to fight both alone and in groups.

Because their culture is based on fighting, they do not focus much on comfort. Their villages and towns are often under kept and unclean. Their lifespan totally depends on their skills in warfare; this gets harder for an older ogre. That's why old ogres fight themselves to the death. This is another reason why Asgardians look down on them. Two ranks in Ogre society are the rank of Granz (noble) and Ganiriet (female leader). Individuals who have these titles are treated with great respect. But how you gain these ranks varies from tribe to tribe.

When an ogre child is born and as he grows it will be tested. Its tribe will test it as it will test all children. The tests difficulty and method differs in each tribe. If a child fails these tests he is often killed or left to die. Some of the smaller tribes are small simply because they have cruel and difficult tests. After the tests are completed there is most often a ritual to celebrate the new full member of the tribe. These rituals can also be the final tests, in the tribes that worship the good side of Wana the food of the children is often infected with disease. When they get sick and die Wana disapproves when they survive Wana approves the ogre as full members.

One of the more simpler and most common tests is to let children fight each other in one giant melee. When about half of the children lie dead or dying the shamans ring a bell and the survives are welcomed in the tribe.

Appearance

Why exactly Ogres have this veriaty between tusks, hair and horns is unknown, it is rumoured the chaotic nature of the Ogre Goddess caused this, although more educated priests dispute this claim. Especially priests of tend to dispute the claim of a chaotic nature of Wana, stating that Sin is the only true deity of chaos.

Their hair is often greasy and unkempt, which causes it to be darker in appearance then it actually is.

The clothing of Ogres is simple, often nothing more than is needed to keep them warm and protected from the environment. Their clothing consists mostly of animal hides and coarse cotton or linen fabrics, with belts, pouches and other utilities made from animal hide, leather and other animal parts. When going to war, they will sometimes don armour, especially those Ogres who have had more contact with races such as the . Strangely, those Ogres who own armour take great care for this armour, possibly due to the relative cost of Ogre-sized armour.

Lifestyle

Most Ogres live a nomadic lifestyle, travelling around in small groups. Their main source of food comes from large herds of grazing animals. Depending on where they live Ogres will follow herds of buffalo, elephants, or elk. As these large herd migrate across the Heimr Ogres will follow them through the seasons. Picking off animals as they need and leaving large stone statues as they go. In places where there are no large herds to follow, Ogres will keep their own herds, usually consisting of sheep or goats. Ogres are not known for any agricultural activities. Although they probably know how to do it, the amount of long term planning involved doesn't come easy to most Ogres.

Private And Family Life

Outsiders know very little about the day to day life of Ogres. They are commonly perceived as simple minded blood thirsty brutes. Even tough this is a fair observation, there is more to their life then these simple brutish acts. Ogres are very private creatures, any kind of emotions or feelings are hardly ever shown to other ogres. They're life is one of constantly keeping up an appearance of strength, but they feel pain, sorrow and sadness just like any other race. An ogre will often have a few close companions with who he or she is not engaged in a strugle for strength. These companions often are close relatives such as parents or siblings. This tight bond is also the closest thing Ogres have to a marriage. Although if such a bond does exist between unrelated ogres, it rarely results in a monogamous relationship. The idea of monogamy is something rather foreign concept to ogres. Most young ogres don't know who their actual father is, due to the large number of partners a typical female ogre has.

Age And Disease

Few enslaved Ogres will live to the age of 40. Because they are constantly challenged to fight for their lives, once their strength fades with age an Ogre will eventually be unable to stand up to the younger generation. The age of an Ogre at death is by many considered the final test of strength. An Ogre's ability to remain strong while facing the decease of old age.

By many Ogres, old age is considered a disease send to them from Wana as a test of their strength. It is commonly believed that a strong body will remain strong against any disease. While the weak will fail and die the test of Wana. These trials of strength are often purposefully undertaken. It is common practice among the shamans to seek out diseases to show their strength to Wana. Ultimately though, Wana's disease of old age will defeat any Ogre.

The Great Brawls

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Every Solstice, the Ogres hold large feasts known as the Great Brawls. These are massive rituals, featuring lots of screaming and fighting. The Ogres fight from sunrise to sunset, with the tribe with most Ogres standing at sundown declared the winner. This tribe will then become the ruling tribe until the next sunset.

Religion

Ogres worship as a form of , if ogres go to organized war, switching from their hunting, bashing and random acts of killing the bypasser elf to a more semi-formal mob, they frequently but temporarily switch to worship of Ratish as a form. This also happens when they have to make a difficult life choice and they have time to think on this choice, although this is very rare for ogres.

Cannibalism

Most Ogres are cannibalistic. They will eat the flesh from other strong Ogres. Hoping that the strength of the ones they eat may be added to their own strength. Because of this the flesh of the weak is rarely sought after, except when there is little other food available.

It is common practice for Ogres to eat their parents or siblings after their death. Ogres tell the story of how at the beginning, Wana herself was eaten by her children, and that this chain of cannibalism has gone down the generations in an unbroken chain. Eating a parent does not only symbolize taking on the parent's strength, but every ancestor including that of the great goddess herself.

In same rare cases Ogres have even been known to part with an arm while still alive, so a child can draw strength from it's consumption.

Art, music and literature

Ogres like sculpting. The simple art of hitting rocks, with other rocks to create rough outlines of identifiable shapes, such as their goddess Wana, ratmen, leaders and their enemies (these rocks don't stay this shape for long) is something that simply appeals to an ogre. Most of these sculptures are larger then 3 meters, and one or two have been found that where more than thirty meters in height. The larger once tend to be constructed of several large rocks or hacked from sides of mountains. The important and well done statues are usually decorated with blood during special seasons and other parts of the year. Most tribes of ogres have a variation of a form of ritual that strengthens their bodies with harsh treatment, like hitting each other with rocks, burning sticks or running each other trough bushes and small tress. Screaming and chanting are next to a form of training the lungs, also a form of communication, stress release and mating ritual. During ogre mating season, sometimes a large tribe picks up the screaming and chanting at such a rate and rhythm, taking turns, that there is never a silent moment for several days, scaring away most wildlife in the region. Like most Utgardians the Ogres also enjoy large quantities of food, sleep, sex and other untamed carnal pleasures.

Magic

Ogres don't use primordial magic. The Ogres have an ingrained hatred for primordial magic, like all Utgardian races. The stories of the weak ogres that have not yet escaped the clutches of Asgardian magic and still rot under the rule of the enemy frequently and variably travel from mouth to ear. Biologically speaking some members of the Ogre race could learn magic. If these individuals would practice certain force of mind pushes long and hard enough the spark might develop, but this training is rather alien to the ogre mindset and nobody takes the initiative to teach them how to do this. Primordial magic is outlawed in most of Utgard anyway, and if magical talent was discovered by a child, it would surely be killed by its tribe. Divine magic is practiced, although rare in comparison with other races, by the shamans and priests of Wana.

Customs and Cultural Habits

Things people do because the culture teaches them to do it, also includes the ages of consent, legal maturity, etc.

Politics

How does the culture handle issues of power and who has power of whom.

Superstitions

Non-religious things people believe because the culture teaches them to believe it.

Architecture

How does the culture build its buildings.

Names

Naming conventions and example names, including how things like family names and heritage are dealt with.

Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 14-05-2013 20:28

The Great Brawls of the Ogres

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:12:16 +0000

The Great Brawls of the Ogres

The Great Brawls are massive rituals held by the Ogres at the Summer and Winter solstice. They are dedicated to Wana and are one of the primary forms of worship for the Ogres. The rituals are performed from sunrise to sunset and involve mainly lots of shouting and fighting.

The Ogres fight all day long and at the end of the day, just after sunset, one tribe with most Ogres still standing, is declared the winner. The winner may "govern" the Ogres until the next solstice. It is mostly an honorary position, as the Ogres are not a very organized race and can not really be governed. However, one member of the tribe is selected for the .

The Great Summer Brawl

The Great Summer Brawl, held, unsurprisingly, during the Summer Solstice, is regarded by some Ogres as the most challenging, because of the length of the ritual. It encompasses approximately 18 hours of almost non-stop fighting.

The Great Winter Brawl

The Great Winter Brawl, held during Winter Solstice, is seen by some Ogres as the more challenging of the two, due to the temperatures and weather generally involved. Winter Solstice on the Ogre Islands tends to be rather cold and snowy. The Brawl itself lasts approximately 9 hours, half the length of the Summer Brawl, but due to the temperatures involved it is still very taxing, even for an Ogre.

Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 21-12-2009 22:12