Orcish religion

Lore Story Forum
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I have thought about rolling an orc and looked up some about the orcish religion. So, shamanism is a large part of what makes it up. At first, I was a little disappointed that was all there was.

Then a friend of mine showed me Orc Necrolytes which ill quote what they are
" Necrolytes are practitioners of the Orcish religions. These binders of souls command the black powers that hold control over the earth. Linked into the dominions of the lower plains, Necrolytes have power over all things dark and evil, including the raising of fallen warriors to create armies of the undead. Through ceremonies performed at their temples, they learn to warp the essence of shadow to use for their advantage"

This feels very different than shamanism, with an underworld and multiple religions. I know warcraft rts didn’t have bucket loads of lore but what other religions did orcs have, or are they just several different forms of shamanism? What if anything do we know about the orcish underworld?

Lastly since this unit was part of the OG horde (as far as I know) wouldn’t that make at least part of the horde actually evil?

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Seems like that’s more part of Gul’dan and Blackhand’s Horde. Modern (Orcish) Horde is basically shamanism and ancestral reverence.

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This is Warcraft 1 lore, which painted the Orcs as totally, unambiguously evil. All of that has since been explained as being the Burning Legion’s influence.

Traditional, pre-Legion Orcish religion doesn’t have Necrolytes. (Though I would personally argue that Shamanistic speaking-to-ancestor-spirits is literally necromancy and the only reason nobody calls it that is because they’re all cowards.)

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Thanks. I was kinda hoping that the orcs could have been more than shamanism to bad ohh well.

Thanks again

5

Mag’har Orc Warlocks and Priests are heavily implied to be Shadowmoon necrolytes.

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And how quickly you have gained power, (name)! I hope you have not made any… unwise alliances to ascend with such haste.

{She grins at you. Her dead eye seems to sparkle under her hood.}

I believe there is much we can teach each other, Priest. I hope to see you again after the Kosh’harg.

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no gods no masters
we will never be slaves but we will be conquerors

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Hell yeah, bubby! We done plumb conquerified our own city what was ours. TWICE! I ain’t never not seen nothin’ never match that, feller.

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We can be slaves, or we can be… Lycans!!!

I will never serve.

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Orcs used to be big on ancestor worship. Which was only possible due to the Oshu’gun drawing in Orc spirits after their death before the shadowlands retcon. As far as we are concerned the Orcs at large don’t really have a stern concept of religion. Not like Elune or the Light at least.

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The thing about WoW is that higher powers are very real and very contactable so religions are less about established dogma and more about just finding a supernatural force to tell you what to do.