Poll: do orcs eat humans?

For writers working on documentation, story prose, announcements, and all kinds of Wesnoth text.

Moderator: Forum Moderators

do orcs eat humans?

orcs never eat human meat
4
6%
orcs eat human meat only if there is no other food
16
22%
orcs occasionally eat human meat, but prefer animal meat
24
33%
orcs treat human and animal meat the same way
21
29%
orcs like human meat more than animal meat
7
10%
 
Total votes: 72

User avatar
PapaSmurfReloaded
Posts: 820
Joined: November 17th, 2007, 1:10 pm
Location: Argentina

Re: Poll: do orcs eat humans?

Post by PapaSmurfReloaded »

I would assume most savage orcish tribes would eat the meat of other humanoids.
User avatar
Celtic_Minstrel
Developer
Posts: 2166
Joined: August 3rd, 2012, 11:26 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Poll: do orcs eat humans?

Post by Celtic_Minstrel »

I think it's poor form to assume that savageness equals cannibalism.
Author of The Black Cross of Aleron campaign and Default++ era.
Former maintainer of Steelhive.
User avatar
josteph
Inactive Developer
Posts: 741
Joined: August 19th, 2017, 6:58 pm

Re: Poll: do orcs eat humans?

Post by josteph »

Savageness does not imply cannibalism, but does not preclude it, either.
User avatar
CalculusKing
Posts: 58
Joined: April 5th, 2016, 9:20 am

Re: Poll: do orcs eat humans?

Post by CalculusKing »

I always imagined orcs as treating human meat the same as animal meat. With the exception of starving or particularly brutal orcs, I imagine that they don't go out of their way to eat humans, due to the tendency of humans to fight back with deadly weapons, and for their relatives or societies to take revenge. But after a victorious battle, I imagine the corpses of humans (and low-status or enemy orcs) are fair game for dinner, barring some ransom arrangement for the enemy to reclaim their corpses. Same goes for elves, dwarfs, nagas, saurians, merfolk, and drakes. I imagine the policy on eating the bones of skeletal undead varies form tribe to tribe, with ghouls and zombies never being eaten save by those in the grips of true starvation (and hence willing to brave the risk of food poisoning).
User avatar
sergey
Posts: 475
Joined: January 9th, 2015, 9:25 pm

Re: Poll: do orcs eat humans?

Post by sergey »

Here are recent changes related to this topic https://github.com/wesnoth/wesnoth/pull/4060/files Summary - meat is a derogatory term for humans (and several other sapient races) used by orcs. Also it is a subtle reference to orcs eating humans (other sapient races) opportunistically. This page #4007 contains other dialogue references.
Author of SP scenario Dragon Fight and SP campaign Captured by a Nightmare.
Created The Rise of Wesnoth (alternative mechanics) version of the mainline campaign.
User avatar
tr0ll
Posts: 551
Joined: June 11th, 2006, 8:13 pm
Location: canada

Re: Poll: do orcs eat humans?

Post by tr0ll »

Unlike the dungeons&dragons world, in Wesnoth there are no cross breeds of the various races (in particuolar no half-orcs) so cannibalism is not a relevant issue. I've seen proposals for radically different origins of the races to the point that they are entirely different species. Thus there is no reason orcs couldnt eat humans (or elves, dwarves, goblins, etc).
On the other hand, nobody in Wesnoth needs to eat anything - the entire logistical requirement is satisfied by villages. I think there is a UMC where the bodies of slain foes remain on the map - you could modify that so when an orc pounces on a dead unit its turn ends and it cancels that orc's upkeep in that turn. The new breed of orc could be interesting to play, in the sense that their leaders would take a more aggressive field position and have more flavour.
User avatar
Celtic_Minstrel
Developer
Posts: 2166
Joined: August 3rd, 2012, 11:26 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Poll: do orcs eat humans?

Post by Celtic_Minstrel »

tr0ll wrote: June 13th, 2019, 10:26 pm Unlike the dungeons&dragons world, in Wesnoth there are no cross breeds of the various races (in particuolar no half-orcs) so cannibalism is not a relevant issue. I've seen proposals for radically different origins of the races to the point that they are entirely different species. Thus there is no reason orcs couldnt eat humans (or elves, dwarves, goblins, etc).
Um, there are plenty of reasons why they shouldn't eat humans even if they are totally different species. (Also by the way, goblins are the same species as orcs, so an orc eating a goblin would be genuine cannibalism.)
Author of The Black Cross of Aleron campaign and Default++ era.
Former maintainer of Steelhive.
User avatar
tr0ll
Posts: 551
Joined: June 11th, 2006, 8:13 pm
Location: canada

Re: Poll: do orcs eat humans?

Post by tr0ll »

Celtic_Minstrel wrote: June 14th, 2019, 12:52 am Um, there are plenty of reasons why they shouldn't eat humans even if they are totally different species. (Also by the way, goblins are the same species as orcs, so an orc eating a goblin would be genuine cannibalism.)
You mean not digestible? Or perhaps cultural since orcs talk about meat for the wolves so dogfood would be beneath them. In that case how about a limited exception to let wolves eat dead opponents?
Good catch re:goblins.
User avatar
Celtic_Minstrel
Developer
Posts: 2166
Joined: August 3rd, 2012, 11:26 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Poll: do orcs eat humans?

Post by Celtic_Minstrel »

Those aren't the reasons I was thinking of, though they could be good ones. Maybe try thinking about the underlying reason why cannibalism is bad and consider whether that reasoning might extend beyond just eating one's own species?
Author of The Black Cross of Aleron campaign and Default++ era.
Former maintainer of Steelhive.
User avatar
tr0ll
Posts: 551
Joined: June 11th, 2006, 8:13 pm
Location: canada

Re: Poll: do orcs eat humans?

Post by tr0ll »

Celtic_Minstrel wrote: June 15th, 2019, 2:14 am Those aren't the reasons I was thinking of, though they could be good ones. Maybe try thinking about the underlying reason why cannibalism is bad and consider whether that reasoning might extend beyond just eating one's own species?
Well it isnt cannibalism outside your own or mate-compatible species. Humans dont seem to have many problems eating other species like dolphins and gorillas, even after we know they are intelligent. There is mad-cow related disease to think of, which is a risk of eating any sort of brains. I guess im not recalling anything in canon that prohibits creatures eating each other, its just not in the game mechanics yet.
User avatar
Celtic_Minstrel
Developer
Posts: 2166
Joined: August 3rd, 2012, 11:26 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Poll: do orcs eat humans?

Post by Celtic_Minstrel »

tr0ll wrote: June 15th, 2019, 3:47 am Humans dont seem to have many problems eating other species like dolphins and gorillas, even after we know they are intelligent.
And yet there's a controversy about whether it's okay to hunt whales, so I think maybe you're not seeing the whole story there.
Author of The Black Cross of Aleron campaign and Default++ era.
Former maintainer of Steelhive.
User avatar
tr0ll
Posts: 551
Joined: June 11th, 2006, 8:13 pm
Location: canada

Re: Poll: do orcs eat humans?

Post by tr0ll »

Celtic_Minstrel wrote: June 15th, 2019, 5:21 pm
tr0ll wrote: June 15th, 2019, 3:47 am Humans dont seem to have many problems eating other species like dolphins and gorillas, even after we know they are intelligent.
And yet there's a controversy about whether it's okay to hunt whales, so I think maybe you're not seeing the whole story there.
Yes but that controversy only exists in modern times. Feudal and pre-industrial humans didnt have such qualms. Wesnoth is more similar to that era, though of course the players are not.
User avatar
Celtic_Minstrel
Developer
Posts: 2166
Joined: August 3rd, 2012, 11:26 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Poll: do orcs eat humans?

Post by Celtic_Minstrel »

I don't really think the time-period of the controversy is relevant. Things done in the past can be wrong even if the people of the past didn't think they were wrong.
Author of The Black Cross of Aleron campaign and Default++ era.
Former maintainer of Steelhive.
name
Posts: 570
Joined: January 6th, 2008, 3:32 am

Re: Poll: do orcs eat humans?

Post by name »

Celtic_Minstrel wrote: June 15th, 2019, 5:21 pm so I think maybe you're not seeing the whole story there.
I think maybe this is a much fitter description of your own view on the issue.
User avatar
Celtic_Minstrel
Developer
Posts: 2166
Joined: August 3rd, 2012, 11:26 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Poll: do orcs eat humans?

Post by Celtic_Minstrel »

Naturally I would expect a narrow-minded person to say exactly that.
Author of The Black Cross of Aleron campaign and Default++ era.
Former maintainer of Steelhive.
Post Reply