17) Dar-Kal-An - Inspiring Illustrations - Fantasy Art

17) Dar-Kal-An

Dar-Kal-An of the Bloody Hand Orcs is a product of the Empires expansion and its shameful past. Centuries ago the orcs of the southern coasts were no more advanced in the ways of war than their cousins in the far south or on the western peninsula.  They forged crude weapons and armor, fought like a pack of animals and planned no further than which direction to march. The Blind God-King changed that.

With the power of evil sorceries he blended orc and human and turned these mutated creatures into the iron fist of his army. A score of kingdoms fell beneath the studded boots of these monsters but the wasteland of devastation they left behind added nothing to the glory of the Empire and a dark and shameful page in its history.

Today that devastated land is still home to orcs such as Dar-Kal-An. They fight as men, but have the strength and ferocity of ogres. Their smiths and craftsmen forge fine weapons and steel, but what they cannot do their slaves accomplish. The Bloody Empire is what they call the loose confederation of orcish tribes which inhabit the wasteland. They are a constant source of menace to the borders of the Empire and the surrounding lands to the south and east, but though they have been driven back time and again never have they been truly defeated.