The Torcs are not Orcs. Only dorks would confuse orcs with Torcs. The Torcs are Munkees.
Their subspecies has retained a thick covering of fur, usually brown, with the face, hands and feet, buttocks, and chest bare. Their skin is gray, except for the nose, brow, genitals, and buttocks, which are brightly colored. They lose more hair as they age.
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Pre-civilization lifestyle
Their primeval environment was the northern rain forest of Ars Lande’s continent, just north of the equator. They lived in roving bands of up to a hundred. Though preferring fruit, they are omnivorous, and they are known to hunt smaller animals and fish; they’re also fond of large insects and grubs. They have few predators; if they are threatened when alone or in a small group they can almost always quickly escape— in a large group they will mob the threat. Through such tactics they kept the forest clear of their major rivals, the great apes.
Each band centers round a group of females, usually related. Males leave the band at adolescence, often with a brother or two, drifting between bands till they find one they like. There is a strong hierarchy among males, mitigated by the tendency of the alpha males (and the females) to intervene on the side of the lowest-ranking males. The male hierarchy is ignored by the females; if a male picks a fight with a female, generally all the other females rush to her aid.
Band membership is rather fluid— subgroups will wander off together; individuals of either sex may join another band for awhile; disgruntled individuals will move away. At the same time, a band will stay in place for a long time if it finds a good food source. In the ancestral environment, this was the only circumstance that could lead to fights between bands, which involved both sexes.
Torc females are fertile for about a week out of every five; during this period they mate promiscuously and often. As it was not possible for a male to monopolize a female, Torc males evolved enormous scrotums in hopes of, so to speak, drowning their rivals’ contributions. A fertile female can be recognized by their chests, buttocks, and noses turning a lurid color.
Early civilization
Torc legends speak of discovering powerful and beautiful artifacts which each became the focus for a city. This is almost certainly backwards; rather, a city selects an artifact to establish its stature and independence. In some cases these were created by the munkees, but many are apparently relics from an earlier civilized epoch.
Primitive Torcs will linger at good food sources, and the first lasting settlements were all associated with such: fishing settlements on the coast, orchards of fruit trees, watering holes where small game was plentiful, even a huge complex of termite mounds. A major development was the domestication of a rabbitlike animal called a dolin, which could digest leaves which the munkees couldn’t.
By the year 500 the region was dotted with permanent settlements or nezmis, each of which supported several thousand Torcs. To support this higher population, the Torcs intensified their use of horticulture, planting grains and nuts as well as fruits, and domesticated a wider range of animals. It even proved possible to intensively cultivate bees, termites, and grubs. Many of these tasks required specialized tools; the munkees were soon using bags, ropes, fishnets, knives, boats, hoes, pots, and fences.
Some areas had special resources: gems and metals in the southern mountains; seashells along the coast; intoxicants, spices, or types of alcohol in various spots in the rain forest. This sparked trade as well as the first nezmis not focused on food production.
The Torcs do not need clothes, but they love to adorn themselves; a major engine of progress was the creation of ever fancier necklaces, arm and leg bands, and headpieces. Cosmetics were developed to enhance the markings of the fertile period and even to imitate it for the rest of the month. Waistbands or backpacks would be used to hold tools.
Torc tools could mostly be used either by hands or feet, and their greater manipulative ability facilitated the design of machines which allowed a single Torc to do tasks that would take two humans. It was also possible for e.g. a female Torc to nurse a baby while using her feet to do some other task— an ability which may contribute to the usual sexual equality in Torc societies.
The earliest settlements were simply permanent camps in the trees, but some (e.g. on the coast or among termite mounds) were on the ground. When the Torcs began building houses, they at first resembled trees: a tall pillar with a platform.
Belief systems
In their earliest days, the Torcs seem to have had two religious systems, divided by sex. The females revered Dáe, best seen as the forest itself— the living spirit which produced all the resources needed for life. Dáe was apparently less present in the sea and the mountains, which made the Torcs avoid going too far into these areas. Dáe must also be preserved— e.g. she expressly prohibited cutting down trees or killing certain animals. The males, by contrast, believed in a large number of hékés, individual gods or spirits, associated with types of animals, particularly large hills or trees, or striking crystals or artifacts. They liked to tell stories about the squabbling, capricious hékés; they also had rituals where a male would bond to a particular héké, who would become his spiritual protector.
With civilization these traditions merged to some extent: everyone worshipped Dáe and believed in hékés. In addition, as noted, each settlement venerated a particular artifact, which outsiders were not allowed to see. The artifact was believed to offer guidance which certain adepts could learn to perceive.
The Torcs paid little interest to the sky, as in most regions it was hidden by the canopy. There were only two seasons in the rain forest, rainy and less rainy. There was therefore little reason to implore either Dáe or the hékés for sustenance; what the gods had to offer was health, luck, personal enlightenment or social success.
In primitive conditions, Torcs left a dead body where it was; the area would be taboo for a period. The custom in larger settlements was to take the dead into the forest. The dead Torc was said to become part of Dáe, but some taught that they were reborn in a later generation.
There is a wide variety of intoxicants available in the rain forest, all of which had associated rituals and religious purposes. The most highly prized were those that gave visions, which were scrutinized for spiritual messages.
Social structure
The first nezmis were extensions of the primitive band structure. The oldest females had authority over the females; the males retained their social hierarchy. Over the centuries the nezmis became less egalitarian and more authoritarian.
A major reason was that males no longer left the nezmi, though they still left their native band at adolescence. A nezmi was divided into four to twelve bands, with strict rules on which band a young male could live with and find mates in.
In some nezmis the bands were all equal, though they had different ritual responsibilities. In the largest settlements, however, the bands specialized by economic function, and developed into hereditary castes in a strict hierarchy. E.g. in the city of Réib, there were six castes, each composed of two bands which exchanged males: aristocrats, warriors, clerics, food producers, traders, and servants. There were strict sumptuary laws (e.g. gold could be worn only by aristocrats; servants were permitted no adornments at all) as well as harsh punishments for disrespecting a higher caste.
Réib was located in the southern hills where it grew rich on minerals and gems; perhaps because of this specialization it is the only settlement where the males managed to take permanent political control, and dominated the females. In other nezmis, females retained their independence or even had a higher theoretical status.
The warrior castes developed from hunters, and mainly wielded knives and spears. (The bow was not of great use in the forest, though a blowdart was used in hunting.) They had some importance in protecting major resources like mines, but there was little inter-nezmi conflict in the first millennia— the chief role of the warriors was to protect the upper castes and maintain order. As they had experience roaming the forest, they naturally became the trading class as well.
Between the nezmis, the traditional band structure and way of life continued to exist, though enhanced with the products of the cities. Many Torcs migrated to the nezmis, drawn by the richer lifestyle; at the same time, the traditional life in the treetops functioned as a sort of pressure valve— if a nezmi became too crowded or oppressive, many Torcs would simply melt away into the forest.
The troubled years
The last few hundred years of our period (2200-2500) is characterized by greater conflicts within and between nezmis. The root causes are undoubtedly due to population pressure— the nezmis had grown too large, trees (despite the edicts of Dáe) were lost, and food was scarce. This was however exacerbated by the hardening power structures— the elite bands had learned to impose taxes and work brigades, which created palaces, mines, and irrigation structures.
Food had to be sought at greater distances, and this led to the first inter-nezmi wars— which in turn led to larger warrior castes, stronger kings, and even more hierarchical societies.
Around 2400 there was an enormous war involving the majority of the existing nezmis. It was begun by the great city of Réib, which had a near-monopoly on certain minerals, but also the most problems feeding its population. Réib and its allies attempted to take over some of the horticultural nezmis along the rivers, sparking an alliance which ending up entirely destroying Réib.
After this the Torcs faced a dilemma: should they organize into larger kingdoms, or had the nezmis become too harsh and destructive, necessitating a return to smaller, freer structures?
The Torcs will trade with outside groups, especially other munkees, but are suspicious of humans.
Language
Torc languages are both spoken and gestural, with an emphasis on the latter. The Torc tongue is not quite as versatile as the human, so they cannot produce as many distinct sounds. Thus the basic language is gestural, and can be done with either hands or feet. (In theory you could sign one message with your hands and another with your feet, but this is difficult.)
The disadvantage of signs, of course, is that they are less suited for communication at a distance, or in the dark. Thus they are supplemented by a range of vocal expressions. These are not as versatile as the signs; they form a more limited pidgin, perhaps comparable to Plains Indian sign language. Many of the vocalizations developed from primeval munkee verbalizations and thus express emotions, or indicate threats or desires. They’re often uttered half-consciously, even when no audience is present. One such verbalization is common as a threat display when large animals are present— it sounds like a short bark, and in fact is the origin of the word Torc.
The proper Torc name for themselves (and indeed any munkee) is a sign formed by clasping the two hands together, with one pinky finger extended to symbolize the tail. The ‘torc’ bark is the verbal equivalent, but only developed after outsiders had begun calling them Torcs.
