Beastfolk

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Beastfolk (獸人)
Alias(es)	Orcs
Species/Race	Collective term for the many intelligent beast-derived races of the Orc Empire
Affiliation	Orc Empire; later scattered into independent and migrating tribes after the empire's disintegration 525 737 779
Religion	Beast God worship, alongside racial gods and totems among some powerful races 110
Status	Extant; politically fragmented following the Human–Orc war 737 779

Origins and Classification

The Beastfolk are not a single people, but a vast collection of races with radically different bodies, talents, intelligence, and military value. The Orc Empire originally contained only a few dozen races; continued interbreeding and crossbreeding produced many additional lineages over time 98 107.

Account	Description
Official history	Orcs did not exist in ancient times. The Beast God supposedly guided magical beasts into evolving into intelligent peoples, including Ratmen, Lionmen, Eaglemen, Leopardmen, Pigmen, and Boarmen 110.
Beldens' account	Beldens dismisses the official account as fabricated history, claiming many Beastfolk arose through hybridization between intelligent races and wild beasts; he specifically implicates humans, dragons, dwarves, giants, and even gods 110.
Bloodline evidence	Newly formed mixed-blood races can possess several conflicting bloodlines, making their racial inheritance harder to awaken than that of older lineages 542.

Racial Diversity

Beastfolk strength is exceptionally uneven. Fear of “orcs” often ignores the enormous gulf between the Empire's royal clans and its weaker subordinate races 98.

Group	Documented traits
Behemoths	Among the strongest Beastfolk. Every adult male has combat ability at least comparable to a Beginner Knight, with further growth possible through cultivation 160. Behemoths are born alongside a beast twin; the pair fight with near-perfect coordination 170.
Silvermoon Wolves	Orc royalty distinguished from ordinary Wolfmen by size: ordinary Wolfmen are roughly 1.5–1.6 meters tall, while Silvermoon Wolves begin at 2 meters and can reach 3 meters 183 184.
Pigmen	Extremely fertile and adaptable. Nearly 80% survive to adulthood, they mature in under two years, and can subsist on meat, grain, grass, or leaves 99.
Ratmen, Goblins, Rabbitmen, and similar races	Generally regarded as weak and timid, with combat strength below ordinary humans 98.
Mixed-blood descendants	Often weaker than pure-blooded counterparts; only exceptional individuals match magical beasts of the same kind in intelligence or quality 110.

Society and Government

Orc Empire

The Orc Empire's overall military power historically depended on the Five Great Royal Families. Their status is not permanent: a declining royal family can be replaced by a lower-ranked race 98 170.

• The royal families repeatedly launched southward wars to reduce surplus population and suppress potentially threatening warrior races within the Empire 170.
• The Empire's many constituent races were prone to factionalism, rebellion, and infighting; rulers often withheld key knowledge and resources to prevent subordinates from becoming too powerful 525.
• The Behemoth tribe, once the foremost royal clan, later voluntarily fell to the last position among the Five Great Imperial Courts after severe losses 258.
• As central authority weakened, tribes increasingly ignored imperial conscription and waited to exploit the outcome of larger conflicts 258.

Faith and Priesthood

The Beast God is the Beastfolk's shared deity, though powerful races may also maintain distinct racial gods or totems 110.

• Orcs are generally better suited to martial cultivation than magic; many become natural warriors upon adulthood 240.
• Magical talent is uncommon among the Five Great Royal Families, leaving the priest corps responsible for both spiritual worship and magical support 240.
• The Beast God's broad authority over multiple laws prevents the priesthood from being limited to a single form of magic 240.

Beast God Inheritance

The periodically appearing Heritage Sacred Lands are the greatest shared opportunity available to Beastfolk races. Successful participants are believed to obtain the Beast God's inheritance, though the deeper purpose is to awaken memories and power embedded in racial bloodlines 525 542.

• All Orcs can theoretically participate; “prodigy-only” participation is considered a misconception. Talented individuals simply have a greater chance of success 526.
• Trials favor strong races, even though weaker races may produce exceptional individuals 541.
• Awakening can fail, especially for newer mixed-blood races with complex bloodlines 542.
• Beastfolk status is influenced both by strength and by a race's historical number of successful inheritances 542.
• Even repeated inheritance success cannot permanently prevent racial decline, as demonstrated by the Behemoths 542.

Military Characteristics

• Beastfolk armies rely primarily on physically powerful warriors, cavalry, and racial advantages rather than large mage formations 240.
• Ordinary Wolf Riders are comparable to elite human soldiers, while royal clans are substantially more dangerous 160.
• Behemoth Cavalry combines high speed, exceptional individual strength, and seamless coordination with their war-beast twins 170.
• Strong Beastfolk races can be formidable, but weaker races are frequently treated as expendable forces in war and inheritance trials 541.
• The Empire's military strength is undermined by poor unity: disparate races often have conflicting interests, unequal capabilities, and limited discipline 98 525.

History

Decline of the Behemoth-Led Empire

The Behemoth Emperor's failing health and pursuit of a Sanctuary breakthrough created instability within the Orc Empire. His desperation contributed to major military decisions and increasingly extreme measures during the war with humanity 90 105 244.

The Human Alliance's counteroffensive inflicted major losses on Orc forces. The Behemoth tribe's decline weakened the existing balance among the Five Great Imperial Courts, while other tribes began resisting central authority 240 258.

Heritage Trials and Fragmentation

As the Empire weakened, its races turned to the Heritage Sacred Lands in hopes of restoring their bloodlines and political standing. Graeme's success in obtaining the Golden Pig inheritance demonstrated that even a formerly low-status race could gain a path toward advancement 542.

The Empire ultimately disintegrated into scattered, competing tribes. Some groups fought one another for survival and military achievements, while others sought accommodation with the Alpha Kingdom 737.

Migration After the Human–Orc War

Following the conclusion of the war, surviving Orc groups faced continued pressure and migration. Graeme led the Pig tribe toward the Ice and Snow World, judging relocation necessary to avoid suppression and annihilation 779.

Relations

• Beast God — Shared deity and source of the Heritage Sacred Lands; worship is a major unifying force among otherwise divided races 110 525.
• Humans / Alpha Kingdom — Long-standing military rivals. Human forces targeted the Behemoth tribe during the later war, and the conflict ended with Orc migration and political collapse 305 779.
• Elves — Beldens' origin theory identifies Elves as a possible exception to the interbreeding that created many Beastfolk races; he associates this separation with the historic dislike between Elves and Orcs 110.
• Dark Elves — The Dark Elf Queen considered the fragmented Orc peoples potential future allies against humans, despite earlier clashes with Behemoth Cavalry 632.

Trivia

• Beastfolk fertility varies sharply by race; Pigmen, Ratmen, and Goblins reproduce so rapidly that the Five Great Royal Families imposed population restrictions to preserve the Empire's ecological balance 99.
• The Beastfolk ideal of strength is deeply ingrained: leadership in the Orc world is tied to possessing the greatest power 706.
• The Empire's combined population and territory made it formidable, but its individual races were often too weak to survive independently after the central structure collapsed 525.