Secrets of Orcs

This is one of the articles that was submitted to the contest and won 5th place. It was written by Loqhakk

Secrets of Orcs

We are all familiar with these green, bloodthirsty creatures. We have fought countless battles with them, many times escaping with our lives, or losing them.

Orcs have been around us since we began our adventures in Tibia. We met them in caves or other types of underground chambers. They were (and still are) in the forests, mountains and on various islands. They are practically in each of the places we visit most often.

But what do we really know about them?

In this article I will take you on a journey. We will visit dungeons, distant lands, delve into the history of Orcs in order to learn about their habits, behavior, and how they function in their Orcish society.

Maybe the Orcs hide some mysteries we don’t even know about…
And maybe, together, we will be able to discover at least a small portion of the Orcish secrets.

I invite you to read.

The Creation of Orcs

At the beginning we must ask ourselves – but actually, where did the Orcs come from?

To answer this, we must learn a bit about the history of the gods of Tibia.
It is contained in many books such as The First Creatures II, Genesis I, and Genesis IV. The first book can be found in the academy of Rookgaard or Isle of Kings, and the other two in the Adventurer’s Outpost on Dawnport.
The version I will present here is very shortened, so for the curious I recommend reading the whole story here: https://www.tibia.com/library/?subtopic=genesis

Long before the creation of Tibia, the gods, Fardos the Creator and Uman Zathroth were born in The Void.
Uman the Wise was the good half of the divine being, while the evil one was Zathroth the Destroyer.
Fardos, who felt an irrepressible need to create, knew that he was unable to do it himself and turned to Uman Zathroth for help.
Uman, sharing Fardos’ fascination with creation, agreed, but jealous Zathroth, whose creative powers were very weak, refused.

Thus began the whole process, and the Destroyer watched the actions of Fardos and Uman with anger and disgust.

Life, which was later created by Uman and Fardos, Zathroth necessarily wanted to annihilate, but he was not strong enough. He searched for ways to corrupt it, thinking how much mischief could be done to the creations of the gods.
To accomplish that, he seduced the goddess Fafnar (at this stage many new gods and Tibia had already been created).
She wielded powerful destructive powers, which Zathroth greatly admired. Later, she gave him a son, whose name was Brog the Raging Titan..

Despite the fact that Brog was not particularly smart and looked like an exceedingly ugly abomination, he possessed the gift of creation.
He discovered this when he accidentally created a dragon. The Dragon gave life to many other giant lizard creatures, but they never considered Brog as their god, nor felt loyalty or respect for him. So, the Raging Titan made further attempts at creating.
He started with the Cyclopes. They were created in his likeness – big heads, one eye, ferocious and strong. Zathroth, however, was not satisfied with them, as they were not as destructive as he wanted them to be, and told Brog to keep trying.
The Raging Titan then created goblins and trolls, but that still wasn’t it!

Until he succeeded. He created his undisputed masterpiece…. Orcs.

Orcs the Conquerors

Orcs were exactly what Zathroth wanted them to be – destructive and terrifying. A race created to conquer and spread. They were like a plague, a true scourge to everything that lived on Tibia.
Now that we have learned the story of their creation, let us find out a little about their past.

They are a race of warriors, and so they fought many battles. Of course, they did not always come out of them victorious.
Equipped with weapons created by the Cyclopes, they marched through the world, conquering one territory after another. However, when there was a threat that they may occupy all of Tibia, the Dragons interfered.

This is because they had decided that only they themselves were entitled to rule over Tibia. Without hesitation, they annihilated the Orcish army supported by Cyclopes and Trolls. They were so merciless that they destroyed Orcs’ cities, and those of Cyclopes as well. Even huge blacksmith factories, everything fell into ruins!
It is said that to this day the Cyclopes still hold a grudge against the Orcs for the losses they suffered that day.

A lone Cyclops in his forge, in the mountains.

There happened to be many battles over the Carlin. Pythius the Rotten mentions one of them. He recalls the smell of Human blood and that of the Orcs.

When Carlin broke free from Thaian rule, it was still in danger, because of Orcish soldiers roaming the woods after the previous invasion. Bella Bronecrusher, a young warrior, encouraged many women to join the fighting.
At first the scouts succeeded in hunting down the greenskins, but with time, they gained experience and became a greater danger for an untrained army.
The emissaries then went to Ab’Dendriel, and told what threat the Orcs also posed to the Elven city. An army of women, supported by Elven soldiers, was then able to clear the forests of Orcs.

However, there are still attacks on the Femor Hills. There’s a tower called The Tower of Whitewatch. It is inhabited by Thanita, an amazon, whom Queen Eloise entrusted with the task of overseeing the territory in case of an Orc invasion.
The Orcs have never succeeded in claiming the tower because Thanita bravely fends off enemy attacks, and if you help her do so, she will even let you take with you the treasures stolen by the Orcs from the tower.

What are Orcs and their community like?

We have brought up some battles and deepened some knowledge about the conquests of the Orcish scourge. We know that despite how numerous their armies are, they are not invincible after all!

We will now talk about the Orcs in a little more detail. We’ll learn about their customs and behavior, and take a look at what happens in their society.

Orcs are sometimes called greenskins. For the perceptive ones, I have used this term once already. They are an intelligent race, and are said to be one of the last created, like Humans.
They can speak, and even learn, the speech of other humanoid races, for example, in the Alchemists’ Quarters on Yalahar, there is a certain Orc.

He is trapped in some kind of mutation machine. In linguistic English he introduces himself to us as Krashnak, and asks us to free him.
This is an allusion, as Krashnak was one of the Orcs in Lord of the Rings, who helped create a great army for Sauron.

They lack written speech, but the Orcs who are more educated, use Human writing to write their Orcish texts.
There are rumors that the Orcs we are dealing with now are mere barbarians, and that somewhere out there a more civilized Orcish culture exists.
Though there are clues indicating that once upon a time Orcs actually had writing, the current Orcs are not able to translate it as well as Humans do.

While doing the Bear Room Quest on Rookgaard, one could come across several books written in just the Orc language – I will present some of them:

Translation for Omark Ikem Goshak Ba Batuk:
got i buy „ba” bow
more dominate „utash”(gosh) people before
we „bota” slave i

Translation for Taka Arash Ouk Karak Minotaur:
what have we dominate minotaur
here come we what
minotaur dominate all
ORC TO BE SLAVE
TO BE SLAVE

Orcs can even sense the feelings of other Orcs, to some extent. That in itself is already amazing. And even more amazing is that Orcish shamans have developed this ability so much that they are able to sense the potential buried in infants! This is how the future of a newborn is decided.
On this basis, Orcish children are fed and raised differently. They are also tested to make them well suited to their function in society.

Since the behavior of Orcs closely resembles that of bees or other insects, and their empathetic bond resembles sort of hive-mind, their communities are often referred to as hives.

They inhabit many Tibian continents but still fight for territory and spread out. They can be found on Edron, Thais, Fibula and even on Rookgaard or Zao, among other places. Near Ab’Dendriel they have one of their mighty citadels, which is very well known to all. It is named Ulderek’s Rock, after Duke Ulderek, the creator of the first fortress.
We will go to this place for exploration later in the article.

In the Orc society there is a leader. He has his harem, which usually consists of huge and fat women, who can hardly move on their own. Their only functions are to please the leader and produce offspring.
While ordinary Orc women give birth 2-3 times in a lifetime, these reproductive machines give birth to new ones up to 6 times in half a year! It’s no wonder then that Orcs so often seek out new territories for settlement.
Rarely Orcs will raise weapon against others of their race. They all have their places in the community and only the leaders of the hives fight. When this happens then the victorious hive absorbs the other.
It also happens that when an Orc reaches maturity, he challenges the current leader to a duel for supremacy, or when the place where they settle is too small, he takes a few other Orcs and leaves in peace to settle elsewhere.

Studying the pictures in the underground of the Orc fortress, I can confidently say that some Orcs even considered flying a rocket to another planet!

This is, of course, a joke – the picture above shows the war plans of the Orcs, which we read during one of the missions in Machinery of War Quest.

In Orcs only strong warriors fight. When reinforcements are needed in another area, those unable to fight are „abandoned”, accompanied by some spearmen as guards. A good example of this is Blind Orc, who was once an excellent leader.
When there was a battle in the north of the mainland, strong Orcs set out from Rookgaard to support their brothers, and it was then that he had to stay on the island.
Later, Humans arrived on Rookgaard, which caused fear in the Orcs who were still there. Despite this, however, they decided not to leave Rookgaard. Blind Orc, in turn, was fascinated by these „men” but could not communicate with them.
It is worth mentioning here that if the man knows the Orc language, Blind Orc will even trade with him! How can we learn the speech of Orcs? The NPC Amber, who is also located on Rookgaard, will certainly help us with this.

She has had various skirmishes with Orcs and happened to be their prisoner as well. During that time she learned some basic words like yes-mok or no-burp. However, she explains to us that she will teach us more if we bring her her favorite dish – salmon.

The Orc King

Personally, I think this is an interesting topic, but again, before talking about the king himself, we need to take a little look at his history.

Once upon a time, during the Djinn War, Gabel and Fa’hradin imprisoned Malor in a magic lamp. Having some doubts about whether it would be safe in Mal’Ouquah, Gabel hid the lamp on another continent. Well, it was at this place that centuries later the Orcs settled and we now know it as Ulderek’s Rock or Orc Fortress (a more familiar name). This is something Gabel could not have foreseen.

When the lamp was found by the new inhabitants, it didn’t take long for the Orc shamans to discover that there was a powerful spirit inside.
The Orc King was reckless in his actions and let the evil Djinn out of the trap in which he had been imprisoned for centuries. After this, Malor agreed to fulfill 3 wishes of Charkhan the Slayer – The Orc King.
The first of these was to erect a fortress. The current Orc Fortress, which we all know very well. This took Djinn only one night.
The second wish of the king was immortality – it too was granted to him by Djinn.
When the king asked for healthier and more fertile children, Malor laughed at him and turned him into a slime (although we know he looks like a Defiler).

After that, Djinn left.

You are probably wondering how I can know all this when this. Well, the answer is very simple. I asked The Orc King. He is really very talkative and I am sure he will answer your questions as he did mine! However, be prepared when greeting him, because he will DEFINITELY call his guards!

As we already know, aside from being cursed, Charkhan the Slayer is immortal. He considers his race to be the most powerful of all because they carry the rage of the god Brog.
He is convinced that rage and hatred are powerful weapons, that they are a blessing from their creator, the Raging Titan. The King uses these emotions to lead his hive to conquer, destroy and dominate. And he knows perfectly well how to lead it!
The King senses the emotions and needs of his subjects; he swears, that he will one day rule the world, even though he is transformed into a slime.

Orcs of Zao
and what differs them from other Orcs

Since this chapter is quite long, I will divide it into three subchapters.

As I mentioned earlier, the Orcs function like a hive, and the best example of this is Ulderek’s Rock. It is a very dangerous place, considering the number of Orcs that are located there. Sam of Thais has experienced this first-hand.

He was once an avid adventurer. He went to the Orc Fortress and was attacked by its inhabitants. Fortunately, nothing happened to him and he escaped with his life, however, while running away he lost his beloved backpack. To the one who finds it, Sam promises a reward.
But is it worth it to go to such a place at the risk of your own life? Let’s check it out!

When we arrive in Orcish territory, the first thing we notice are the flags hung on poles. They are decorated with skulls. Right next to this place, there is an observation tower. The Orcs who are stationed there have the task of raising the alarm whenever an intruder approaches. For this purpose, there is a special drum on top of the tower.

The entire area occupied by the Orcs is huge. There are 3 small settlements around it – probably used for training Orcs and gathering artillery. To the north of the fortress, there is a place where pigs are raised and, of course, the main citadel is placed in the center.

In each of these villages, we can find several field tents with leather roofs. These tents are decorated with bones of fallen enemies. There are also all sorts of training instruments such as shooting targets.

Interestingly, in all villages there is a different type of siege machinery.

In the first settlement, which is located opposite the observation tower, there are ballistaes. A little farther east are catapults. In the village that lies to the south of the fortress siege towers are built. While doing the Machinery of War Quest, our task will be to burn all these war machines. The quest is obtainable from Baxter, near the castle in Thais.
I encourage everyone to save the world from the Orcs!

Into Ulderek’s Rock

Passing these huge archering towers you get inside the fortress.

Just to the left of the stairs is the entrance to the dungeon. As a matter of fact, on the first level of the basement there are only single rooms with beds, so we will go one more level down, deep under the fortress, where we will find, among other things, the king’s throne room. Intriguingly, there is one Bonelord on this level.
The Wrinkled Bonelord mentions that Orcs are noisy, so either not everyone of this race thinks so, or it has some hidden meaning. Let’s now head to this lower level.

Immediately upon descending, we can notice that there are women’s quarters here. Probably those who are responsible for giving offspring to the king. This passage, however, is closed.
To the left of these chambers is the kitchen. However, it was not worth documenting in the photo. I didn’t want anyone to lose their appetite in case they were just eating.
Finally we arrive at the king’s hall, which is bedecked with a red carpet. The hall is very large and probably for this reason there are a lot of guards in it.

This is not an ordinary throne room. Here is the place where the Orc Fortress Quest is executed. The rewards for visiting this room (and surviving in it) are Knight Armor, Knight Axe and Fire Sword.

Now it’s time to head to the surface and see what the Orcs are up to.

Moving through the streets, we find various types of stockpiles of weapons, food, or ammunition. There’s also a forge that looks makeshift. In Ulderek’s Rock, the Orcs even have their own hospital and magic store! In this store you can buy mana fluids, blank runes, and ultimate healing runes. I guess not everyone can shop here because when I got there, the vendor summoned a few snakes and started attacking me…

We also find a cage with an Elven prisoner, which is supposed to be a warning to other enemies who manage to get into the fortress.

The climax of this expedition will be a place that is also close to…. *ekhm*… magic store. It arouses the most interest among travelers who arrive here, because this is where Sam lost his backpack! I’m sure some will have it with him!

I, unfortunately, did not manage to find the backpack. Instead, I found out that the reward for the lucky one is Dwarven Armor . What do you think, is it worth going here for such a prize?

Onto the Zao

The first point upon reaching Zao is Farmine, as we get here by steamship, for example, from Cormaya.
So let’s ask Ongulf, who is the guard here, what the situation with Orcs on the island is like.

Orcs under the command of Minotaurs? Now this is something new! Let’s go then, to the place where they settled, and try to find out more!

The Orcs who populate Zao are a slightly different story…. The first change that can be noticed right away, is that the buildings they live in are a pillaged and half-destroyed lizardman habitat. Lazy Orcs have mostly covered the roofs with skins, and there are a few wooden fences around.

We already know that they are led by Minotaurs and their leader is Curos. So let’s find out from Curos what’s going on here:

What do you mean… Mooh’Tah ? This is really strange. After all, the creed of these Minotaurs is the complete opposite of what Orcs are! So how is it possible that the Orcs live together with them, under their command? This is also what we learn from the leader:

So as you can see, not all Orcs are the same.
This does not mean that Orcs from outside of Zao cannot be trained!

On Yalahar, Dorbin has his furniture store and his helper is actually an Orc. Dorbin, however, has to reckon with some losses.

Returning to the inhabitants of Zao – not all Orcs liked the teachings of Minotaurs. While doing the quest An Uneasy Alliance, we learn about a certain traitor:

So let’s head to this coward, as Curos called him. It will also be a good opportunity for exploration

Reaching the place indicated by the Orc’s leader, huge mountains appear to us.

It happens that a great army of Orcs of all sorts gathers here. Warriors, shamans, riders…. They are led by Cublarc the Plunderer.
They then march across the steppes of Zao, plundering, destroying, and killing everything in their path.

(Many thanks to Mogh for sharing the photos.)
(Here is the video from which they were taken – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHxjF5WflRA)

Crossing the labyrinth that we find in this canyon, we reach the rebel fortress. It is protected by a massive gate, so we must find some other entrance to it.

It quickly turns out that the back of the fortress is not that well protected. After using the weapon on the already damaged part, we get inside.

Although from the outside the Orcs’ hideout is protected by huge wooden bales, inside there are only bamboos and patches of animal skins. On the higher levels not much changes, only bamboo bridges have appeared, so maybe let’s go a little lower.

After defeating the traitor, we come across a place leading to some cave. This is some kind of dungeon, although there are more than just prisons there. The underground is very similar to the one on Ulderek’s Rock – narrow corridors, bedrooms and, of course, guards. Already at the very descent a welcoming committee awaits us.

Taking the first steps into the underground, you can see that the place is huge. I myself have spent a really long time here, closely watching what the Orcs have hidden there.
I have prepared some photos so that you can also find out, but I want to suggest everyone to go to this place and see with their own eyes how organized hive Orcs have formed on Zao.

In the corridors, the walls are alternately decorated with torches and skulls. Sometimes Orc flags are hung up. There are also many gargolye’s statues. Here and there you can notice trophies of Minotaurs’ heads hung on the walls. Orc banners are spread everywhere.
There are rooms such as torture halls, dining rooms, forges, and a training room. There are also the previously mentioned prisons and sleeping quarters.
One of these places is dedicated to food scraps and garbage.

However, something caught my attention and I want to draw yours to it as well.

There are several rooms that particularly stand out. It is worth mentioning here, that Orc Warlords, the strongest Orc warriors, are located in such places or next to them.

The first of these places looks like some sort of execution room. It’s interesting to note that you can get one of the Tomes of Knowledge, needed to complete the Tomes of Knowledge Quest here.
This is where the first of the Orc Warlords is located (of course, depending on which way you go first).
There is a lava lake, a platform, and a chair here. My imagination tells me that in this place enemies are punished with death, and then thrown into the lava (or thrown into the lava alive), while someone, in a higher position among the Orcs, watches the execution to their delight. Perhaps the Orc Warlord who is there?

Following the corridor to the south of the previous location, we arrive here.

This is another place with an Orc Warlord, and this time, there is a throne and not a chair. Opposite the throne are the pillory, which means it is easy to deduce, that this is one of the torture rooms. This medieval tool was used to punish and humiliate, for example, thieves.

Well. I understand the barbaric orcs, but what is an almost identical place doing in Yalahar, in the Mage Quarter (Residential Area)?

Unfortunately, I was not able to find any information about it. The only clue (or not) are the inscriptions on the statues by the throne. One of them begins, and the other ends the sentence:

“Kneel down or feel the wrath of the mighty Iberon!”

In the same district, outside, stands the same statue. As it is located on an elevated platform, we are unable to read what is written on it.

Well, whoever Iberon is, or was, this is certainly a story for another time. Maybe he was imprisoned in Zao?

We now go to the last place on our list of „special”. This time, there is no Orc Warlord here, although they are located at the north and south entrances to this room. Inside, there is a Dragon Lord.

Right away we can see that it is a treasure room. Strange, because this place is not mentioned in the lists of treasure rooms on Tibia fansites (e.g. https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/Treasure_Rooms#Zzaion_Treasure_Room) and yet, it is clearly a vault!

It is, of course, locked, and behind the bars we have magical fires, similar to those on the way to Mahrdis (Pharaoh during The Ancient Tombs Quest (Helmet of the Ancients Quest)). It seems that it was not the dragon that posed the real challenge…. Where to get the key from?

Is this some sort of puzzle?

This place immediately interested me. Why don’t the fires burn evenly? Although there is a moment when they are all off, they light up in a certain sequence. It is the same every time, and lasts 21 seconds from the moment the first flames are lit, until they are lit again (tested really many times). I came here for several days, and each time the flames lit in the same pattern.

As you can see in the attached image, all fires have two phases after which they go out. Following this, let’s assume that 2 is a fully lit fire, 1 is dimmed, and 0 is a field with no fire. The sequence looks like this (from the left = from the bottom in the image):

0000000000 -> 2002000022 -> 1221222211 -> 0110111100 -> 0000000000

Dissecting it like this might help with something, but I’m not sure if this time as well. It doesn’t look like a binary system, as it was in the Opticording Sphere Quest… the morse alphabet is unlikely to help here either.

I also noticed that the fires that light up first (i.e. 2002000022), after being extinguished, are off for 3 turns and light up in the 4th, while the second fires (i.e. 0220222200) go off later, and still turn on with the 3rd turn (i.e. faster than the first fires). The full flame phase (i.e. number 2) of the second fires, lasts one turn longer than the first fires…. What is the point here? Should we add another turn in the 0220222200 format?

It would then look like this:

0000000000 -> 2002000022 -> 1221222211 -> 0220222200 -> 0110111100 -> 0000000000

What has changed, is that the first and second fires now have a „solo turn” on a lit fire (2). All the time, however, only second fires have a solo turn on a dim one (1). Is it possible to adjust this somehow…?
If we could delay the first fires by 1 turn, we would get them all burning evenly. Perhaps, the sequence is some hint to achieve this.

I could be wrong, starting counting from the bottom. In the case of the sequence itself, not much will change, however, when we check which fields light up we get:

1, 2, 7, 10 and 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 counting from the top or 1, 4, 9, 10 and 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 from the bottom. The only numbers in common are 1 and 10 as of first fires, and 3, 5, 6, 8 as of second ones.
As there was a Bonelord in Ulderek’s Rock, maybe this has some connection to their language – 469?

I’ve searched the entire dungeon multiple times, checking all the crates and what’s underneath them. I even rummaged through food scraps and found nothing useful. Literally.

I wondered for a while longer what it could mean, and the only thing that came to my mind was the melody. Yes, I know. A melody in Tibia. However, come to think of it… after all, on the way to Vashresamun (another Pharaoh of the HotA Quest), we also have to play instruments to get to her. I’m not an expert in musical instruments, however, at the first moment I thought of playing the flute. Though, when I try to find instruments that are equipped with 10 holes (as many as there are fields for flames in the vault room), I only find a harmonica. In Tibia, the harmonica does not exist. So why not try the flute?

Unfortunately, as you can see it was of little use. I tested it in various ways; apparently, I’m a poor musician.
Attempts to solve this puzzle provided more questions than answers…

At least with a clear conscience I can say that I tried something.

I know that on Tibia Secrets there are many avid adventurers or secret seekers. Perhaps, someone will be interested in the Orc vault and try to get into it. In fact, Curos himself mentioned, that we could take all the loot if we found any. Could he have been referring specifically to this place?

As you can see, there are still many undiscovered or unsolved mysteries in Tibia. Sometimes, they may even turn out to be bugs, and this leads us into blind corners.

It’s hard to know where and what to look for, thus you need to keep your eyes open all the time.

Loqhakk,
Antica

______________________

Sources:
https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/Genesis_IV_(Book)
https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/Intelligence_of_Orcs_(Book)
https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/Orcs_(Book)
https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/The_First_Creatures_II_(Book)
https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/The_War_over_the_Creation_II_(Book)
https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/Ancient_Races_Fragmented_(Book)
https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/Puldrak’s_Wisdom_About_Orcs_(Book)
https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/The_Djinn_Wars_VII_(Book)
https://elkolorado.github.io/tibialibraries/
https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/Elven_Diplomacy_(Book)
https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/The_Age_of_Chaos_I.II_(Book)
https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/The_Orc_King|
https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/Blind_Orc
https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/Curos
https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/Sam%27s_Old_Backpack_Quest
https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/An_Uneasy_Alliance_Quest
https://tibiamaps.io/map#32368,32198,8:1
https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/Treasure_Rooms
https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/Omark_Ikem_Goshak_Ba_Batuk_(Book)
https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/Taka_Arash_Ouk_Karak_Minotaur_(Book)
https://tibia.fandom.com/wiki/Ork_Porak_(Book)
https://tibiasecrets.com/forums/topic/pythius-the-rotten/