Peons: A roleplaying guide by Safli
Chapter one: Lore
Throughout Orcish history, the Horde has relied upon peons, the overlooked downcasts of the Horde to perform its manual labour. In all three, possibly four wars, the Horde has utilised peons for multiple uses:
⢠Chopping lumber
⢠Constructing buildings
⢠Repairing existing structures
⢠Mining for ore and gold
⢠Maintaining siege equipment
⢠Assembling siege equipment
⢠Possibly firing siege equipment (the basis of this being an early WarCraft III screenshot)
⢠Acting as cheap, disposable scouts
⢠Defending encampments by throwing spears from Orc burrows
⢠Clearing forestry
⢠Doing the chores and errands of officers
⢠Carrying supply crates and boxes
⢠Unpacking supply crates and boxes
⢠Packing (presumably) supply crates and boxes
⢠Cooking and serving food (taken from role-play experience)
⢠Dissembling metal salvage (taken from role-play experience)
⢠Being sent en masse to assault the enemy (when the situation is really dire)
⢠Farming(?)
As you can see, Peons act as an essential part of any Horde warband, performing the many tasks that the grunts and shamen would not ever do, allowing them to concentrate on fighting the Hordeâs foes instead.
How an Orc becomes classed as a peon has never really been set in stone, though some ideas include:
⢠They are a sub-species of Orc, as they tend to appear smaller than the other orcs in WoW
⢠They are a special caste of Orcs
⢠They are Orcs which have failed their Omâriggor (rite of adulthood) which is a ritual in which Orcs at the age of 20 are tested to see if they will be strong enough to fight. - I find this to be the most likely explanation as to how one becomes a peon.
⢠It is a punishment rank of the Orc for those who show disobedience toward their superiors.
Needless to say, the majority of peons are too weak and/or mentally inept to serve in the field of war, and lack any particular skills of merit. For this reason, peons are forced to work for the rest of their lives in menial labour, with very little break or respite. During the first and second wars, peons received some of the most abysmal treatment, this likely fuelled by the demonic blood that ran through the Orcish race at that time period.
Upon Thrall becoming warchief of the Horde however, the conditions for the peonry were colossally improved. This was because he encouraged his people to treat them in a manner most exceedingly gentler. Whilst this certainly reduced the abuse they received, it alas did not stop it however, for Orcs of the upper classes such as the KorâKron Guard continued to act brutally in regard to them. This was especially true when Thrall and his advisorâs eyes were not laid down upon them.
Despite this, the peons now live a much happier life, and serve the Horde wherever and whenever they may need them, for without peons there could be no Horde.
Peons themselves are at the very, very bottom of Orcish society, and even the most common Orc has the authority to order them around. Peons themselves only have one title they can ambitiously work toward, that being peon overseer, which allows a peon to have limited authority over his or her peers.
Peons often presumably find it difficult to sleep from working all day, and for that reason, there exist peon sleep potions, which are basically strong alcoholic beverages to aid them in dropping off.
Chapter two: Why should I role-play one?
For several reasons of course! Firstly, people generally seem to really like the presence of IC peons, role-playing as one I have received several compliments and kudos from passersby about the fact that was what I was role-playing.
They are relatively easy to role-play as well, due to the simplicity of their characters as presented by the WarCraft RTS games, a mere studying of their quotes from those games acts as an ideal guide.
Since peons act as the very foundations of the pyramid of Orcish hierarchy with very miniscule chances of ascending higher, it allows one greater free reign over what one may do in role-play. For example, a peon need not stand in line when an army receives a briefing, and can walk around and comment on things as one has no real need for fear of demotion. Admittedly, this will in all likelihood end up in the Peon being shushed, slapped, and/or shooed, but I hope you understand my point.
Peons can be as serious and as light hearted as one desires them to be role-played, and creating a new character to act as a peon is cheap, easy, and quick.
Chapter three: How to start up your adventure into the world of Peon RP with a simple character template
Start a new character, an Orc, make sure he/she is bald and lacks thick facial hair, this makes the character resemble the peons of the RTS games. The class I would recommend would be either warrior or rogue, though monk could act as an adequate choice if it were available.
Let us presume that one has chosen a warrior, enter the game world and attempt to obtain the âWovenâ cloth set from a low level armour vendor. Advisable is the vendor up north at Razor Hill, which has this set available.
Equip all of the items of the set; though if you are a warrior, keep wearing the worn trousers you started with for they appear suitably ragged. Once you are all dressed, simply obtain a mining pick. If one lacks an axe, one would recommend you obtained one of them as well, just in case.
Equip the pickaxe, and voila! Done! You are a peon! Now that you have equipped a nice template set, feel free to modify it your own personal whim. You are now ready to get into role-playing!
Chapter four: Anything else?
Only three tips. The first being, if one wishes to simulate the immense weakness of a peon, try capping your level at 20. This way, most hostile mobs will still provide a danger so grunt escorts will continue to serve a purpose, and travelling is less impeded by having access to a basic mount.
As for the second one, acting as a peon actually means role-play is available most of the time if you are located in a hub (excluding blood elf settlements). One would recommend walking up to random bystanders and asking âSomething need doing?â, and if all works well, this individual may provide you with a menial yet engaging task to perform in character. One must note that this functions at best within a base camp during a RP war campaign.
The third and final tip is that the more peons that there are present in an area, the greater the potential for role-playing scenarios! For example, three peons could attempt to go on a mining trip up to a cave, providing IC material for nearby soldiers who will have to escort them. If there existed several peons, they could work together to clear a forest or repair a stronghold! The possibilities are most wide!
Chapter five: âBut I donât think the Horde needs any more peons, its role-play scene is good enough without hundreds of you annoying fellows.â
It doesnât need them no, and this certainly isnât going to fix all of Argent Dawnâs problems, but if it brings smiles to peopleâs faces, I felt I may as well encourage and endorse it with this thread. Admittedly, peon role-play really isnât everyoneâs cup of tea, Iâve met one person who despises it completely and utterly, but I canât lie to you by saying it isnât fun and rewarding.
I hope you enjoyed reading my thread, and thank you exceedingly for doing so. I hope you consider venturing into the wondrous world of peonry some time soon.
Thank you, and may Amanâthul the High father keep you safe!