Orc

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The orc race came about in the Demon Spawn War when an elven army was sent to the Abyss System. They were tasked with taking out the demon lord Hezxis. Kriav's Covenant commanders got their opportunity when Hezxis sent nearly all his forces to Kriav in an attempt to overwhelm Corellon's army at Liamenor. His plan almost succeeded, for within a day the citadel would have been breached. The elite elven Maeraddyth Brigade was sent to Hezxis's hold in the Abyss led by General Maeraddyth. They got to their objective before the demons back on Kriav could break into Liamenor. In the demon lord's dark fortress Una'gah, the elves slaughtered a dozen or so demons and then eliminated the demon lord Hezxis. Evidence of his death was sent back to Liamenor. Held aloft from Liamenor's crumbling battlements, the head of their leader was displayed on a pike throwing the demons into confusion. They retreated from the walls of Liamenor and then broke up into units held by whatever commander could keep them together. About ten thousand made it back to the Hezxis Pocket, a rift linking the Abyss with Kriav, returning to the bleak landscape of their Abyssal home world. They were gathered under the second in command to the now dead Hezxis and led with haste back to Una'gah. They found the elven army along the way and suffered considerably because they were given orders to capture all that they could. The elves were rounded up and taken back to Una'gah where they suffered unthinkable torture and then when on the brink of death they were infused with demoniac energies that warped them into something that was now only vaguely elven in appearance. These warped creatures, around 2,000 in number, became the first orcs. In the Demon Spawn War, they spread to many worlds serving the demons until they could escape and even turning on them when given the chance. They allied with Covenant forces, except those answering Corellon, when it suited them.

If I could have helped General Maeraddyth and his men I would have done so. Kriav was being assailed by demons in great numbers, so to risk opening a rift and going to the Abyss was not something I could afford. They succeeded in killing a demon lord, saved Liamenor, but suffered a terrible price. They became twisted and malevolent and having a hatred for elves that only the demons could have conceived. When he became an orc, my old friend Maeraddyth changed his name, becoming my arch-enemy Gruumsh.

- Corellon, from a Plaque of Aphalur - "Maeraddyth Brigade"