After several conversations with soon to be beheaded orks I have concluded that the fastest way to become a General is to kill a General, because Orlek values strength above all else.
There are, however, some things so ingrained in orkish knowledge and belief that without going through them any information about Orlek’s generals would be incomplete. We therefore need a bit of background knowledge.
Before the Demon War, A’kastin was a very different country. At that time there was a struggle for power over the throne. Here we meet an ork shaman known as Hrothgar. This shaman was “killed” by the king of A’kastin at the time, King Marcus.
There is a longer scholarly and arcane explanation of the cooperation between Hrothgar and Ranziel1, but for now it should be understood that in the time when Orlek lived there was no magic in A’kastin unless one had years of training. This was partly because it was in this period that Ewen raised barriers around the Sphere of Magic.
King Marcus was removed from the throne by Hrothgar, who had been resurrected, and the ork bound the king’s life to a light, so if the light went out King Marcus would also die.
It was at this point that Orlek became king of A’kastin.
Orlek was trained by Hrothgar himself, and he also managed to form a group of warriors known as the Kursakkers, led by his faithful second in command, Kummon.
Orlek died due to treachery, and Hrothgar ensured that his spirit was sent to the Spirit Sphere, where he ruled as a god.
It is impossible to talk about the tales of A'kastin and what happened there, without talking about the Demon War.
The Demon War was not a single battle. It was a long attempt by Ballator and his kin to turn A’kastin into an open door and a feeding ground. The first breach came by mortal hands. Scholars and priests reached for forbidden aid and tore the walls that separate the mortal planes from the other Spheres. Once the door was open, the sky dimmed. Holy ground failed. Spirits hid or turned hostile.
What followed looked like conquest, but that was not the plan of the demons. The demons sought to wound the world in a way that would not heal. They wanted the rules of our world to bend, for the gods themselves to kneel.
Armies formed and fell. Cities burned and were rebuilt as traps. Supply lines broke not only by steel but by curses laid over roads and wells.
I will not retell every siege that happened, as this paper is long enough as is, and I fear retaliation from those who will have to peer-review it. For our purpose, it is enough to know that nothing in A’kastin stood during the war.
This is where Orlek belongs in the tale. Bound to A’kastin by Hrothgar’s magic, he could not move his gaze away from the birthplace of King Marcus. Once more, Orlek turned his will to Hrothgar, and the shaman offered a ritual to the god.
Orlek performed the ritual together with the shaman, and as one they summoned every dead spirit and totem beast in order to use them to defend the orks against the demons.
Orlek’s strongest warrior and loyal commander, Kummon, was raised as a living dead, but with enough brain that he would resemble his previous self. But Hrothgar took Kummon’s heart and instead placed a part of his own thoughts in Kummon. With the help of female spirits, Kummon became the forefather of a new lineage of orks, all born without a heart and instead bearing an aspect of Hrothgar’s essence. These orks became known as Blood Orks.
The war ended when the great breach was shut by Kelllwan's Messiah, and the worst of the hosts were driven back to their own sphere.
A'kastin itself is in the same state that it has always been, hungry and weak. The land still carries scars, but they have become hidden by much of the internal conflict the land still suffers from. It just goes to show, that not even a horde of demons could claim A'kastin as its own, so what hope does the Empire have?
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With this in place, we can finally look at Orlek’s Generals. Orlek do not care for what a warrior believes in. If they are strong, even if they may claim to belong to another god, Orlek will point to them as his general.
Kummon
He appointed Kummon as his supreme general who would oversee the other generals. Many scholarly articles could be written about Kummon, but for now the background given is enough. Kummon was loyal to Orlek from the beginning, although some shamans believe that Kummon is simply Hrothgar in disguise at this point.
Kirdor
The first thing Orlek looked for was strength. Not a mighty warrior, strategist and leader, but rather one who was strong like a force of nature and could smash battalions of warriors while taking hundreds of wounds at the same time. He first searched among his own orks but found them unsuitable for his plan. Instead, a minotaur caught his eye. Kirdor, the strongest, ugliest and most brutal of his kind. He became Orlek's second general.
Toli
Orlek’s third general was not so much found as she found him. Toli was a goblin on a mission: steal from Orlek himself. Why, you ask. For no other reason than that she wanted to. And what is more, Toli succeeded. She would also have gotten away with it if she had not openly boasted about it. Orlek, who considered killing the slender and weak goblin, instead saw her value. A general who was not only a master thief, but also an assassin, an information gatherer and utterly ruthless.
Wurgoth
Orlek also needed someone to oversee the spiritual aspect of his followers. Here he found the shaman Wurgoth. In a short time Wurgoth had gathered many followers in his tribe and commanded spirits with unmatched skill, inspiring the tribe’s warriors to extreme courage, violence and frenzy. With a relatively unknown past he had surged forward and quickly consolidated his power. Orlek loved this boldness and ambition and included him among his generals as the fourth. What Orlek did not know was that Wurgoth was Hrothgar’s apprentice.
Sharn
Kummon was a mighty warrior and leader, but not a strategist. He leads the troops from the front, but does not look at the full picture. Orlek therefore found Sharn. A strong warrior flanked by wolves, but more importantly a brilliant strategist. The orks, who were more used to headlong frontal assaults, had suffered heavy losses. Sharn changed this. She led the orks, used their strengths and minimized their weakness. She used the orks’ savagery in her plans and did not force them to fight in a shield wall. She taught them the value of timing their attacks, of flanking maneuvers and of using advanced war machines. Thus she became the fifth.
Spif and Spaf
Not much is known about the two trickesters. Some claim that they have been chosen by other gods. Some claim that they helped Esselaia ascend to divinity. Whatever the case, they are located in A'kastin and does not seem to leave their post. It does not matter, because Orlek knows that while these two goblins might seem almost moronic, when they work together with a singular goal in mind, they are almost unstoppable.
Rohar
The newest general is the subject of considerable debate about whether he should be counted as a general at all. Many believe that he is the reincarnation of Orlek himself. Let us go through some of the feats that Rohar accomplished as a mortal.
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He was an apprentice of Hrothgar. Just as Orlek himself was. Hrothgar trained Orlek over a long time.
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He mastered taking spirits from the spirit world and moving them into empty bodies at a very early stage. This would make sense if one were a reincarnated god of Spirits.
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He rediscovered the Blood Ork ritual and carried it out successfully several times. Just as Orlek invented the ritual, Rohar reinvented it.
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He bought A’kastin from the Empire. He was king for a number of years with a suspicious amount of peace in that period. Just as Orlek was king of A’kastin, Rohar was also king, and both created peace in their time. 2
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He tore a rift in the sky into the demons’ sphere and removed almost all holy grounds, druid circles and arcane anchor points in A’kastin. As Orlek reset all magic, Rohar also reset all magic.
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He learned to walk through the spirit world. Very few can do this without taking permanent harm.
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He achieved near physical immortality. This would be expected for a reincarnated god.
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He led the “Greencutters”. Just as Orlek led the Kursakkers.
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He made a pact with Raffael Moordet. Just as Orlek made a pact with Hrothgar.
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He had a second in command who was nearly as powerful. Rohar’s second in command was the ork smith Branch. Just as Kummon survived the betrayal of Orlek, Branch survived Rohar’s death.3
All in all I would say that all the evidence points to Rohar being Orlek reincarnated. The fact that he never left A’kastin also indicates that he was bound to the land, as Orlek is.
It is uncertain whether Rohar has more power among the generals than Kummon.
1 See my work: Hrothgar and Ranziel: An Arcane Analysis of Ascension to Godhood.
2 Orlek and Rohar are also the only two orks who have been recognized as kings of A’kastin.
3 See my literature: Branch - Kummon resurrected?
I think we are through most of the ingame lore documents I have written. So which one is your favourite?