Non-rapey orcs?

So something that bugs certain people about half-orcs is the overuse of rape as their backstory and the subsequent characterization of orcs (and/or goblins) as all being violent misogynistic rapists. So I have a suggestion for making orcs less rapey without sacrificing their horror potential. What follows is a mix of influences, including Warhammer 40,000, Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings, 13th Age, Alien, and Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda. 

Orcs are goblinoids (as per older editions of D&D) and the various goblinoid monsters are all instars or castes of a single species. They reproduce asexually by means of spawning pits and underground fungus wombs. They may reproduce in a quasi-sexual fashion by parasitic means too. One option is throwing victims into the spawning pits, where they are dissolved alive. Another is to lay eggs in a host with their teeth. The resulting offspring will inherit traits from the host, and this is how we get half-orcs. Goblinoids otherwise have no concept of gender or sexuality: humans and other demikind are seen as slaves and food, nothing more. Which is still plenty horrifying.

This raises a number of questions: What does it mean for goblinoids to be parasites, especially if half-orcs can become adventurers? What does this reinforce about the themes of the setting? Do the goblinoids inherit species traits or those of specific individuals?  Do they hunt down specific targets for the purpose of eugenics? How strict are civilizations about security, given that a bite can impregnate a person with larvae? Etc...

In a future post I'll discuss a treatment of orcs as demons that possess corpses.

Fantastical animal husbandry

I posted my first post on the barnacle goose tree and vegetable lamb back in 2017. With two years to reflect, I decided to expand on my imagined ecology for this zoophyte with an emphasis on animal husbandry. The idea of farming fantastical animals has stayed in the back of my mind ever since I first read about Hagrid's exploits in the Harry Potter series two decades ago. The word zoophyte is a dated term for a plantlike animal, but it seems quite appropriate to use here.

The vegetable lamb and the cotton plant are the same species. The zoophyte alternates between vegetative asexual cotton plants and motile sexual vegetable sheep. The lambs grow from the plant like fruit, and graze on other nearby plants for sustenance and to reduce competition with their parent plant. There are a number of different species with different traits. After severing their umbilical cord, vegetable sheep can travel quite far and form herds. The ewe is able to asexually birth more lambs, but when impregnated by a ram she will lay seeds that grow into new cotton plants.

Some steppe tribes have adopted animal husbandry of the vegetable sheep. They raise the sheep for their cotton, meat and milk. Their cotton is sheared and used to make textile fiber and sewing thread. Their milk is comparable to almond milk and maple milk. Their blood tastes like sweet sap and may be used as a condiment. Their meat tastes much like fish. Several varieties have been bred to amplify desirable traits. The largest varieties are even used as beasts of burden (compare mutton busting in real life).

The barnacle goose, barnacle and barnacle goose tree are the same species. The zoophyte alternates between immobile asexual barnacle trees and motile sexual geese. The geese mate and lay eggs in water that hatch into barnacle larvae. The larvae attach themselves to surfaces where they can filter food from the water. The barnacles reproduce by budding or by releasing more aquatic larvae. Some barnacles further mature into trees, and these barnacle goose trees grow barnacle-like fruits that hatch into goslings. As with the vegetable lamb, there are many species with slightly different traits.

As with the vegetable lamb shepherds, some coastal settlements farm domesticated barnacles and selectively breed them. The geese are raised as livestock for their eggs and meat, while the barnacle trees are grown in orchards for their fruit. Again, the largest varieties may be used as beasts of burden (compare chocobos in Final Fantasy).

There is no limit for how far these ideas may go. I will try to explore more options for fantastical animal husbandry in future posts.

Ecology of the Barnacle Goose Tree

Medieval writers believed in the strangest things. Once upon a time people believed that barnacles grew from trees and hatched into geese. In fantasy land, this is true!

Ecology of the Vegetable Lamb (Cotton Plant)

Medieval bestiaries were filled with all sorts of fantastical creatures based on distorted accounts of real animals and plants. One of these was the vegetable lamb. Medieval Europeans did not really understand where cotton came from, but since it was similar to wool they believed that the cotton plant grew lambs. This is an excellent plant to populate the fantasy world! What follows is my attempt at an ecology for this plant.

©2015 Deimos-Remus