Ogra. [A note is attached. It reads 'It's pronounced 'Ohg-Rah', not 'O-graw'.']
[Sketches depict a race of wild looking, bipedal people with animalistic qualities. They are quite muscular, with even the smallest and thinnest of them having a wiry frame that implies respectble amount of muscle power. The only unifying traits between them is their basic make up an appearence, appearing to have qualities of a hog, a wolf, and a hyena mixed together: Their snouted, wolf like faces mixed with hyena teeth and qualites, their ears long and pointed, and their limbs ending in four digted extremeties that resemble a cross between a paw and a hog hoof turned into a four fingred hand and foot. Beyond this, their variability is massive. Some have stripped fur, others spots, and others still solid colorations ranging from rust reds to sandy tans to bark browns, with their hairs being stled in a variety of manners ranging from simplistic wild bushes, to braids, to more outlandish things such as mohawks. Their fur is also styled differently, with many keeping it short and many others shaving themselves to the rough, tough hide and only leaving extremeties and privates covered in their fur. Their clothes range from simple animal clothes, to studded leathers not out of place with a musical band, to well made and reinforced armor plate. Females have several pairs of nipples, but only the ones on their chests seem to have formed into fully functional mammary glands, the rest being little more than a remainder of older ancestors. Finally, many of them have covered themselves in various colorations of paint, in patterns and colors distinct from others. Some resemble tribal tattoos, while others resemble a monsterous anthropoidal version of a hair-metal band. In the end, they are extremely varied and distinct as a species.]
[A note is attached. It reads 'I learned about these guys in history class. I always wanted to meet one, but never got the chance to. Yet. Dun dun duuun!']
Scientific Name Translation: Wild Dog.
Average Size: 7'0-9'2 feet/2.134-2.804 meters tall.
Average Weight: 880-1580. pounds/399.2-716.7kgs
Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females are curvier than males, with features males lack such as breasts. There is also a small, but notable minor leaning towards females being larger than males on average.
Habitat Range: All biomes of the Land of Giants.
Summary:
The claim of 'most successful species' is one that is open to interpretation. What does one mean by 'successful'? If we go by technological advancement and cultural unity, then the peoples of the Median are the most successful species on the planet. If we go by population, then the humble Rooter Ant is the most successful known species on the Arisa continent numerically speaking. As such, the title for most successful species is variable based on the many different qualities and traits one must specify for a given category. That being said, it is widely agreed by many in the scientific community that, of the various species of Nullian life-forms to originate from another world or realm before being taken by Uplifters, the most successful non-native species is the Ogra people.
Making life in the harsh landscapes of the Land of Giants to the West, the origins of the Ogra can be traced back several million years ago, where their originator ancestors were placed in the region that would become the Land of Giants. Dimensional Long-Scry in the modern day to their realm of origin has led to some insightful revelations as to the origins of their ancestors: The Drohq, a quadropedal war beast and hunting animal used by an army led by a dark magic user that was ultimately defeated by native armies. The Drohq and the hordes they served under were exterminated by the native species of their homeworld, making the modern day Ogra the only surviving descendants of their kind. [A note is attached. It reads 'That's depressingly sad, actually. But also good in a way? At least they're alive is what I'm getting at.']
The adaptibility and potential of the original Drohq showed in the unforeseen capacity for them to evolve, which would ultimately culminate in the first modern day Ogra some tens of thousands of years ago. Astonishingly, despite the relative youth of their species and how little time they've been around, the Ogra's development as a people seems to have actually acelerated over the millenia. Adopting, or more accurately being adopted by, the Great Spirit Pantheon, Ogra culture was led by the primal blood-lust and desire for combat that drove their original ancestors in their home realm so long ago. War and combat are a way of life for the Ogra, and this antagonistic behavior has led to their entire history being one of conflict, whether it is between themselves, coordinated species such as Spider-Ants, or even conflicts with the races of East such as the Oros.
The history of the Ogra people is one of uncertainty, as their constant warfare has led to a difficult time being able to record much of anything with any certainty, much less have it survive the warfare that surrounded them. Modern day Ogra are not as belligerent as they once were thanks to a grim form of selective breeding in the form of the marginally less aggressive of their kind having the opportunity to reproduce and fill their numbers of their population after it is decimated in conflict. Repeated countless times over several millenia, and this has resulted in the infinitly more stable, though still hot-blooded, Ogra of our modern day.
Able to be reasoned with and enter communications with one another on peaceful terms, my travels to their lands to uncover more about them for this encyclopedia of mine has led to some revelationary discoveries in my travels amongst them. My guide through their lands was a 'Philosofist' named Uhrun Bloodweaver, a surprsingly calm individual whose report I've come to miss since returning from their lands.
According to Uhrun, the foundations for what would lead to modern day Ogra society were, according to oral tradition and research by his order of warrior-scholars, traced all the way back to the days of Irlira the Blood Queen, an unusually massive and powerful Ogra whose claim to historical fame was being the first to unify their peoples and lead them in an invasion of the East thousands of years ago. Comparing this to our own histories, this corresponds exactingly to the Ogra invasion in the Era of the Oros Warrior Queens. As the records go, the Ogra invasion interupted the intercecine conflicts between the Oros Warrior Queens and led to one among them, Mei-Lee Jadesmith, to unite the other Warrior Queens and lead them in battle against the invaders. The Ogra Invasion would ultimately end with the death of the Blood Queen at the hands of Mei-Lee in a titanic duel that broke the spirits of the now leaderless and directionless Ogra and caused the survivors to retreat back home.
This directly affects both of our histories, as this event led to the Ogra, who had believed their Blood Queen to be the strongest chosen of their people, to question much of what they believed to be true about themselves and the world, and what caused Mei-Lee to unify the people of her region in the first modern day Nation, the Royalbacks, in preparation for a potential future invasion by the Ogra. When one did not come for centuries, the Royalbacks would go on to try and conquer the rest of the Oros world to create a unified peoples in the 'First Kingdom', which ultimately failed when their attempts to replace local culture with their own, combined with the also newly formed Skyrunner Nation inciting and supplying rebellions among the other Oros cultures, led to the birth of the other Nations. The rest, as they say, is history. [A note is attached. It reads 'Got to give the Royalbacks credit, their origins are hardcore. Even if they did turn around and act like jerks to the rest of us.']
As for the Ogra, according to Uhrun, while they always recognized the Great Spirit Pantheon as their gods, their own bloodlust made them rather stubborn at actually listening to their gods even as they tried to steer the Ogra down a less destructive path. With the painful loss of the Blood Queen in their failed invasion, the Ogra became more willing to listen to their Great Spirits, though they ultimately would be drawn to the Great Tiger Spirit of Strength, Eruiru.
Teaching them the ways of black smithing and the refinement of ores, early weapons and armor was made, allowing them to better survive in the hostile lands they called home. However, one major defeat, while enough to begin questioning, was not enough to get rid of their built in blood lust, and so conflicts would continue for millenia onwards, this time between the countless Ogra societies and clans. The ensuing millenia of warfare would grind their people down and build them back up in ways that I never thought possible. There have been approximately 3 or so great changes in Eastern Nullian society, broken up by the 'Kingdom' periods that came and went. Conversly, Uhrun informed me that, while the lack of proper surviving historical records made it difficult to atain a specific number, Ogra society leading into the modern age has been destroyed and rebuilt at a minimum of 47 different individual times, to as few as a maximum estimated 198 times. At the time I spoke with Uhrun, current Ogra society was in its longest era of peace at 56 consecutive years without a major war breaking out. This peace is relative, however, as clan conflicts continue to this day. [A note is attached. It depicts a sketch of a pair of Ogra punching each other in the face, while using their off hands to give each other thumbs' ups.]
Biologically speaking, the Ogra are fascinating in a number of ways. The most distinct thing is that, despite being a fully sapient, Civilized species all their own and having existed on Null for millions of years, the Ogra's Sentinal Bacteria are
not the same Grade as that of the native Civilized Races such as the Oros or Chimera. What this means is that, unique among the Civilized Races of Null, the Ogra are edible to the life forms they fight against, which for much of their history meant they fought as much to avoid being eaten as they did to eat to survive. This is not as much of an issue as one would expect, however, for the Ogra are quite powerful creatures in their own rights despite this lower SB Grade and lack of unbreakable bones.
Extremely strong and with durable flesh for their sizes, Ogra naturally have powerful bites and strong, bone crushing teeth at their disposal. Their unique digits are tipped with strong, durable hoof claws that, when combined with their impressive grip strength and numbers, allow them to drag down and tear apart creatures that would normally eat any one of them individually. When combined with their intelligence for combat and the development of arms and armor, and the Ogra have managed to carve out many safe zones that would develop into cities, whose only real threat outside of the Giant and Titan scale creatures (kept at bay by the use of potent spell craft) is attack from other Ogra. Ogra possess keen senses and instincts that allow them to evade that which they cannot fight, and get the drop on that which they can.
Covered in fur like their Oros counterparts, Ogra fur colors and patterns are massive in variation, ranging from hues of reds and browns, to albino whites, jet blacks, and majestic golds, with no clear genetic disposition for these unlike the various colorations and fur patterns of the Oros Nationalities. An extensive array of styles for how they manage their fur varies from clan to clan, and even tribe to tribe and pack to pack. These range from wild and expressive hair styles, to crisp and close cut shaves, to even shaving entire sections of their body down to the tough skin beneath with only strategic, and at times lurid, patches of fur remaining. [A note is attached. It shows a cartoon drawing of an Ogra peeking out of a hairball. Words read 'They are a very hairy people. I wonder if they get hot from how much hair they have?']
Ogra, similar to other Civilized Races, do not have a set breeding period, and can reproduce year-round. Ogra decide on mates that they believe are their equals, whether this is through physical ability or on a mental level varies from Ogra pairing to Ogra pairing. Once mated, only death or a severe betrayal by their partner will seperate the two. Where it takes an Oros 11 months to gestate a single offspring or twins, the Ogra produce an average litter of 12 pups after a 3 month gestation cycle. With 9 months in a Nullian year, this means that an average, sexually active mating pair of Ogra can have on average 36 pups that, thanks to modern medicine and their powerful pack instincts, will see most surviving into adolesence. [A note is attached. It reads '
12 Puppos!?']
Interestingly, despite so many pups being born at a time, and despite the presense of several sets of nipples, Ogra females only ever have two fully developed breasts on their chest as is the norm for females of the Civilized Races. Why this is remains an evolutionary mystery, for Ogra and Median races alike. Regardless of reasoning, this has affected how Ogra raise their young. At birth, two of the strongest looking pups are chosen to suckle extremly nutrient rich and dense milk from their mother, with the rest of their siblings being fed meat that their already tooth-lined maws can dig into. The runt of the litter, interestingly enough, is not discarded by such a strength focused culture, but tended to in order for them to become the support work of their society by being sent off to be raised by the Philosofists.
Of those that remain with their parents, the remaining siblings often wrestle and non-lethally playfight one another throughout their childhoods, with leadership being determined by the victors of these battles. These 'Pack Bosses', with the strongest sibling leading the rest of their brood mates, often have a lot of responsibility and aid in the raising of their younger siblings, bringing order to what would normally be a chaos of various rambunctious fighting children. As they grow older, the same Pack would go through the same trials and tribulations together, covering areas one is weak in with aid by the others, until they reach full maturity. As adults, one can expect Pack Siblings to remain with one another in combat until one breaks off to find a mate of their own, or they are destroyed or otherwise ground down by the attrition of their conflict filled lives. [A note is attached. It depicts a sketch of cartoony Ogra all posing together. Words below it read 'Ride together, die together.']
Ogra, provided enough sustenance and surviving enough battles, will continue to grow throughout their lives until they reach an approximate maximum size of 9'2. Some rare individuals, however, can grow to be over 10 feet tall, becoming celebrities in their own right. Ogra suffering from dwarfism, known as 'Shorties' offhandidly or as 'Orgri' (an affectionate diminutive version of their species name) typically don't grow any larger than 5'2, and make up about 15% of the total Ogra population, making themselves useful as mechanically inclined engineers and technicians.
Ogra society itself, as it exists in its modern form, is a complex thing. While their instinctive blood-lust has been reduced considerably, they are still drawn towards the strongest of their kind to lead them, though they have grown the wisdom to be able to determine when a current Clan Chief or Pack Boss is not very well suited to leading despite their strength, at which point the strength of the mob is used to replace them. Interestingly, deaths during these transitions of power are not very common (any more), and the deposed leader will give in to the strength of the mob as having been beaten, and will integrate into following the newly appointed leadership with little fuss. Indeed, many of the more belligerent deposed leaders will simply leave their old postions and packs behind in order to search out a new pack to take over and try again there, usually implementing lessons learned to retain their power.
Paint in a variety of colors and patterns are also used to distinguish themselves and their allegiances among their people. From the flashy and extensive paint schemes of the Hooligoons to the calculated and precise patterns of the Iron Fangs, there is no end to the variety of paint and tattooes used by their people. They also make use of a piercings, though this appears to be more of a personal fashion statement rather than anything clan related. [A note is attached. It reads 'I have a cousin living in Dreamhold with me, and he seems to have an
interest in Ogra women. Like, he doesn't even try to hide it. So many posters of buff, tattooed and pierced up Ogra chicks. He refused to tell me where he gets the posters, since I've never heard anything about them in the Median before.']
Their society is also divided into numerous Great Clans, each of which is roughly analogous to an Oros Nationality in terms of shared cultural and societal norms and history. Each Great Clan has its own distinct philosphy of how to live one's life, each with countless Ogra who believe in following this given philosphy intently. The Great Clans with the most power are:
-The Wyld Wolves believe in living in a more primal state, or at least giving as few concessions to more advanced technology as possible. The least populace of the Great Clans, they nonetheless have some of the hardiest and most experienced survivalists of all of the Ogra in the modern era, granting them a level of respect by the others as to send their youths to be trained in their ways of surviving on as little technological aid as possible.
-The Gausst Ghosts, inversly, are the most technologically advanced and believe in harnessing the power of technology in order to become stronger. It is from the Gaussts that many technological innovations were discovered or invented by the Ogra, from their modern day radio technology to the various weapons in the form of Oil Guns their people have come to love so much. Scientists to the core, they throw themselves at problems to find the best way to exploit it, turn it to their favor and/or learn how to blow it up or drive it away.
-The Hooligoons, the newest Great Clan to be formed, is known for its wide make up of young Ogra with a fascination for new things and the tidbits of culture from the Eastern species they come across. Ironically, it would be the Hooligoons that would influence us as many traits we recognize as belonging to the genre of 'hair-metal' comes from the Hooligans propensity for wild, outlandish hait-styles, vibrant colors and loud musical instrumentation. Interestingly, Hooligoon counter-culture is one of the most peaceful of the Ogra, having found a productive outlet for their hot-bloodedness in the form of expressive art, music, and non-fatal contests between its members.
-The Iron Fangs are the most militaristic and disciplined of the Ogra, said to have taken inspiration from the Oros militaries that beat their ancestors back so many generations prior. Known for their use of advanced weapons, tactics, and combined arms warefare, the Iron Fangs ironically are not the most unified of the Great Clans, with numerous subfactions and parties within their wider structure butting heads over specifics or prefered cultural norms.
-The Steel Riders, prior to the Hooligans, were the newest of the Great Clans and originate as an evolution of old Ogra Saber-Tiger cavalry units evolving to the discovery of the oceans of fuel buried deep within the Land of Giants. while the Gausst rightfully claim to have been the ones to discover the Crude used as fuel and the invention of the first hover-mobiles among the Ogra, it was the Steel Riders who would perfect the designs. Every current day Ogra vehicle, whether it is a traveler of the land, the sky, or of the inland seas, is of Steel Rider origin.
-The Demolitionists was a Great Clan founded on the shared mutual appreciation for all things that are explosive in nature. Rockets, missiles, bombs, Solarite-if it explodes, it is venerated. Over time, natural selection has led to the Demolitionists becoming more and more refined in their use of explosives. The love and appreciation has remained the same, if not deepened, but the methodology and skill put into their work has become less slapdash and much more proffesional in nature. They also have a monopoly on the mining rights in Ogra territory.
-The Mathamaxists once were laughed at for their belief that ultimate strength came not from muscle power, or the brain power to maximize muscle power,, but from the power of raw mathematics. Their usage of missile weaponry ranging from modern day sniper rifles and mortar systems to massive and deadly artillery platforms has proven to wider Ogra society that math is, indeed, extremely powerful. They are often bitter rivals with the demolitionists, who believe that overwhelming firepower is superior to a single, calculated strike.
-The Wyrd Magisters originate as a conclave of various shamans and hedge magic users among the Ogra who, over time, developed a complex and rich society of Ogra magic users, teaching the most magically capable of their kind the knowledge and skills needed to harness the power of Mana Magic without accidentally setting oneself on fire (an annoyance to the Ogra but still worth preventing) or worse. Ogra Magi are not a known quantity, however, meaning they lack an equivanelt to the Magi Order we are used to in Eastern Null.
-The Philosofists, like my old friend Uhrun, are an old order, formed shortly after the return of the Ogra from their failed invasion millenia ago. Comprised primarily of both the physically weak but intellectually acute runts of every Ogra litter, the Philosofists and their unique way of looking at the world and trying to find answers to questions Ogra often overlooked in favor of conflict directly led to them being the source of the other modern day Great Clans as, over the millenia, regular Ogra began to listen and contemplate the same questions as the Philosofists did. Considered the wisemen of their society, the Philosofists have been challenged countless times in the passed by the physical strongest, only to achieve victory through the use of clever thinking or superior technique in combat. In a world where strength is everything, mental strength is also lauded, and so this has earned the respect of their fellows in the millenia since their founding.
In addition to the individual Great Clans that make up their society, there are also several civilizations comprised of members from the various clans working together into functional societies.
-The Hyperia Hegemon is widely considered and agreed upon to be the single largest functional civilization the Ogra have, being led by a council of the strongest and cleverest of the clans that make it up. A nation made up of members from all the other clans, the Hegemon is analalogous to the Median, though the relative earliness of their technological progress as well as their kind's propensity for civil conflict leaves it to be seen if it will survive in the centuries and millenia to come.
-The Gorgus Enclave are the second largest of the Ogra civilizations and the one most dedicated to war, compared to their more well rounded peers. The last major war saw the Hegemon beating the Enclave in a titanic war still talked about to this day among the Ogra, with the Enclave having licked its wounds since then. It is believed that they will instigate a new, more massive war than all others previously seen, though when they will launch their attack is unknown.
-The Tria Theocracy is specific cult of the Church of the Great Spirits unique to the Ogra, and one that has gained enough traction to become a small but influencial and powerful nation of its own, comprsied of the most faithful of the cult's adherents. Placing Eruiru at the head of their belief system, they believe that strength is the final determinator in the universe, and that the source of this strength did not matter in it being physical, mental, or metaphysical.
A numerous people, despite our earliest encounters ending in blood shed, the Ogra and the Oros have been affecting one another's histories since the beginning. While their exact numbers are constantly in flux and difficult to assertain, it is known that millions of Ogra call the Land of Giants home, and have made a functional, if still young and rocky, civilization among the dangers there. As of the time of writing, the Median has begun efforts to establish contact with them in an official capacity, though only time will tell if we can enter in peaceful long term relations with our neighbors in another land. Personally, I deeply hope so. We've all seen enough pointless bloodshed as is. [A note is attached. It reads 'Man, the Ogra Wars have only recently ended over there. I really hope they can rebuild better and stronger than before. Maybe then we can get a census that lets us find out how many of them there are and finally put them in the Nullian population numbers.']