A little history lesson about a certain race before a few things about the pantheons.
Many things can be said about orcs, cruel, cunning, vengeful, relentless.
All sorts of things were labeled upon them sadly many things that are said about them aren't necessarily true as they can be muscle heads, but they know how to plan when in a fight even if the odds are stacked against them.
Cunning?
pffttt hahaha!
When it comes to wars against themselves or humans they don't use plans...
They would just storm through anything thrown at them with their very bodies even if they have to die in the process, as orcs believe that a worthy fight is where you could have a glorious death, at least, for those that weren't evolved into orcs but born as one as it is ingrained into their psyche the moment they open their eyes for the first time.
Orcs will only be vengeful should you shame them and their traditions treating them as mere animals is one that most of the other races tend to do thanks to the infamy their race earned some naturally through their own actions and many of them come from lies of soldiers, mercenaries, adventurers and others.
As a little interesting fact about Orcs, they were meant to be part of the other races but thanks to one misunderstanding they were given little choice but to join the ranks of monsters!
Like dwarves, Orcs could craft some interesting and powerful weapons if they had the right equipment and materials to do so, it's just that thanks to the other races their efforts to craft their own gear to survive and be more civilized always gets ruined by how much time it takes, the nosy eyes and ears of the other races that always seemed to discover their attempts no matter how hard they try to be sneaky.
The most important thing about orcs, they just love a good yet bloody battle as they used embued bones and rocks as substitutes for armor and weapons which made them thoroughly understand other ways to strengthen themselves as through sheer effort they learned how to gain skills of monsters and evolve like monsters do since their GOD was unwilling to let them suffer under the joint efforts of the other races.
with that said... now on to the pantheons of this world.
Each race within this world has a pantheon to worship to receive boons, as for monsters only those that slain a good portion of a race can earn a 'gift' from the good of the race that they butchered as the bone fiend was a good example as 4 full races suffered completely under it.
the humans, elves, gnomes, and dwarves so you can imagine how hard these gods and goddesses were trying to eliminate the threat to which they succeeded at a heavy cost.
But thanks to how much power and promise this monster hand, all of the pantheons, even those that didn't suffer under it, took an interest in this monster and thought to themselves.
"what if I was able to tame one and bring it under my control? and made it into my guardian?"
So the gods decided to spread out a 'gift' to those of their believers, throughout their attempts, many died in horrible ways and atrocious manners as their 'gift' prevented the receiver from learning any skill or even activating a skill until they consummate with one of the bone fiend's bloodline as for how many people each pantheon offered their blessing to numbered 100,000 each to increase their odds of success.
because in their eyes, the races that reside within this world are mere sources of faith, entertainment, and expendable toys with how quickly they can grow in numbers with just a decade or two.
It is funny, how much the races of this world were willing to give to their pantheon yet they are the source of most other sufferings there are more secrets within this but that will be for later~
Right now, Mark snuck up on an orc that was trying to urinate not too far from the camp since they lacked toilets, this orc, however, lacked a certain skill that many orcs were born with thanks to it being one of the craftsmen of the camp which was battle senses, so its death was swift and silent as Mark's teeth were good enough to chomp through the back of its neck, causing the poor orc to shudder before Mark hid along with the shadows before feasting upon the corpse.
Thanks to the evolution and the changes it made to his mentality, Mark hasn't noticed that he was actually fine with eating the creature without any problems whatsoever compared to the other times where he was always feeling squeamish and disgusted for doing the necessary thing.
Since the orc provided no trouble, he decided to try with another orc that was better equipped as his target sported two axes and its senses seemed keener than the first one.
So after stalking this orc for a good hour, the orc separated from the rest as you could hear its stomach growling in hunger, as orcs had to hunt for their own food unless they were craftsmen or injured veterans, and when hunting for their own food the loners tend to be skilled in battle~
The hungry orc made its way into the forest as it looked for tracks of any nearby beasts, since this orc was used to this, it was able to find one within a few minutes as the orcs at the camp became rowdy from the smell of blood that mark left behind from the first orc he consumed.
The culprit of the ongoing heated patrols within the orc camp was stalking his prey, while the orc was stalking a panther that was stalking a rabbit.
Yeah, it was a sight to behold.
But the orc was controlling his breathing as he slowly drew closer to the panther that was preparing to pounce on the rabbit that was eating a plant, before throwing one of his axes into the front shoulder of the panther ruining its chance to pounce as its front leg was crippled now before releasing a bestial growl towards the orc that charged with precision as the remaining axe lopped off the head of the beast.
He was happy with the hearty harvest this time around was about to dismantle it, that was until his ears perked up from hearing the grass near him... shake?
He quickly rolled out of the way while grabbing the axe stuck on the side of the panther as his battle senses were kicking in full throttle as the beast he barely avoided left a nasty gash on his left side as the embued armor that was capable of saving his life from a single death blow that he had on crumbled to dust letting him know that this monster the orc was facing will be a worthy foe!
As this large monster's arm sunk into the dead panther's body so easily that excitement began filling the orc's being.
As his battle lust made him grunt as his eyes started to turn red while smiling widely at the thrill of this upcoming fight the orc released a battle cry as he prepared for a bloody fight that was coming!
*WWWWWAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH*