Religious Attitudes
The Orc attitude to most aspects of life is rooted in religion and the average Orc is very superstitious and believing of the religious myths. Their attitude to death, for example, is that when they die they will join the eternal spirits of the Orc gods for a brief time before being reincarnated round the Wheel of Life into an appropriate station in the next life ("goin' round da weel"). An admirable death in the gods eyes earning them a higher station in the next life, a cowardly or dishonourable death pushing them a step down the ladder to their worst nightmare: coming back as a Squig. This belief is not universal, of course but by far the most common among Goblinoid tribes.
Most Greenskins worship the two major gods, Gork and Mork. These greeskin brother gods are worshiped by all Greenskins of the Warhammer World with the possible exception of Hobgoblins who long ago were abandoned by their gods after they betrayed the Greenskin race.
Orcs oftern build large stone idols of these Gods and they all vary is size and appearance. Forest Goblins build totems with the faces of Gork, Mork and the Spider, who they also worship. These idols are oftern avoided by the Greenskins who are respectful of their gods priversy and scared of the power contained in them. But they are visited by the Shamans on a regular basis to perform ancient rites and cermoneys. Orcs also visity the idols before the eve of battle in order to receive the approval of their gods. Savage Orcs differ in this respect, they are high religious and oftern have fighting contests in front of there crude idols to entintain their lords, Gork and Mork.
Shamans act as a type of greenskin priest, but religion in Orc Society consist maninly of shouting the gods name just before you hit someone. Shamans generally follow all the Orc gods, addressing particular gods when their services are needed, which may or may not be granted. Rarely does a Shaman venerate any one god above all others. On the whole there is no active worship of the gods. Orcs do not pray or attend religious festivles, these are done by the shamans in private and oftern contain nothing more than a large hand full of intoxicating mushrooms a lot of dancing and then the shaman falling over (if he dosn't blow up first).
The Chaos Gods
Like most sensible folk of Human, Elven or Dwarven origin, most Orcs are opposed to chaos in all its forms. Even the Orcs see the effects of chaos first hand. Of course, even the Orcs with the slight resistance to chaos suspected by Human scholars are not immune to its malignant effects and temptations, as evidenced by the mutations the Bloodied Nose Goblins which are marked as the chosen of Khakkekk, to give but one example. However, many Goblinoids take the view they have perfectly good gods of their own and have no particular reason to switch to chaos-style ones. This, their resistance and the common Gobbo inaptitude with magic make the worship of the chaos gods uncommon among the Orcs.
Just like the other Humanoid societies, however, many secret chaos sects are present through Orc society, the larger sects often spanning many different tribes. As much as the Orcs do to try to stop this, the Orcs worship of chaos grows apace. Some hardy individuals, the Kaoshunters, actively seek out the cancer of chaos and destroy it wherever it may be found, however this does little to stop the inevitable spread of its corruption. Chaotic Goblin tribes often wander the darklands making no attempt to hide the hideous corruption their chosen god has marked them with. The Orcs, as might be expected, have their own names for the major chaos gods. All are worshipped but the most popular are Slaanesh, Khorne and Khakkekk.
Larekk: the Mother Goddess
Larekk is sister of Khakkekk, who as a young god took the chaotic route to power, for which she will forever despise him. The only female Orc deity known, Larekk is the Orc goddess of fertility, birth and sexual pleasures. Larekk is usually portrayed as a lusciously slim and beautiful goblin, whom any male goblins with an ounce of sense would give anything to mate with. She is worshiped by most, if not all, Goblinoid everywhere, to some degree.
Trials to Larekk almost always involve mating. A typical trial might me to seduce a particularly stuffy Doom Diver who likes his wooden wings too much, while a trickier trial could be to seduce and bear the offspring of an Elf or Dwarf, as a test of the subjects' devotion to Larekk.
Goffic: God of Death, Doom and Fate
Where Larekk represents birth on 'da weel of life', Goffic represents the reclaiming of the spirit in death, as well as the forces of doom and fate. Goffic appraises each dying Goblinoids' life and reincarnates them via Larekk to an appropriate station in the next. Few Goblinoids actively worship Goffic and those that do are seen as morbid and generally not made welcome in normal Gobbo society: Goblinoids may not be scared of death, but they don't want to tempt fate by worshipping it. The worship of Goffic is generally a cultish affair, keeping Goffic appeased with regular sacrifices. Goffic is generally portrayed as a Black Orc wearing black armour and wielding a fiery two-handed greatsword. Common symbols of his is a black stylised Bulls head.
Worship groups tend to travel as they are not accepted by most normal Goblinoids. The spread of the cult is minimal as few aspire to join its morbidly regarded ranks. Followers of Goffic are shunned by most normal Goblinoids , although bonds are occasionally formed with followers of Red Eye. For their part the folowers of Goffic regard others with neutrality, knowing that all Goblinoids will come to Goffic eventually, whether worshippers or not.
Rituals of blood sacrifice to Goffic are held at regular intervals to keep the death god appeased, a practice Goffic has done nothing to stop, but it is not clear whether this is a requirement of his worship. Sacrifices range from Boars, Wolves and Rats to fellow members of the Greenskin race and sometimes members of the other Humanoid races.
Bork: God of Command and Courage
Bork is the Goblinoid god of courage, command, strong leadership and tactics. He is most often portrayed as a battle weathered Orc or Hobgoblin dressed in gleaming mail armour with various charts tucked in his belt. Bork is mostly venerated by Gobbo generals, for obvious reasons. Bork is worshipped by most higher placed Orcs to some degree, in order to get Borks blessing on their plans and tactics.
Gork: God of Battle
Gork is the Goblinoid god of war, battle might and the Waaargh. Followers of Gork revel in battle and are willing to go down fighting to the last. Most often portrayed as a large muscular Orc or Savage Orc wearing bloodied armour and with a pair of decidedly nasty looking two handed broadswords each of which he wields one handed, Gork is worshipped especially by the Orc, Savage Orc, Black Orc and Hobgoblin species. Gork expects his followers to enter the fray of the battle without hesitation, except perhaps with some cunning, foresight and planning aided by brother Mork and father Bork.
Mork: God of Guile and Cunning
Mork is the Goblinoid god of cunning, strategy, guile and sneakiness, "The cunningest sneakiest god in the 'ooniverse". The classical image of Mork, a master of disguise and the other rogue-ish arts, is one of a Hobgoblin dressed in light clothing and a black cloak, standing partway between the shadows and the moonlight. Mork is mostly venerated by Gobbo theives, Sneakin' Gitz, Assassins, etc.
Khakkekk: Goblinoid God of Chaos
Brother of Larekk, Khakkekk is a Goblinoid deity who turned to chaos as a young god. Khakkekk appears, to Old World Scholar eyes, as a cross between Khorne and Khaine, accepting tributes of blood and granting magic but having other qualities and tendencies very reminiscent of Khorne. Khakkekk appears as a very large grotesque, eight armed, horned goblin carrying a sharp sacrificial knife/cleaver in each hand and with a leering facial expression.
"Ratscrote Boggobbler, the tribal Blood Wizard has done his best to convert the tribe to the worship of Khakkekk, a fairly bloody goblin deity who resembles Khorne, the chaos blood god. Khakkekk accepts tributes of blood, but does allow his servants some use of magic. Perhaps Ratscrotes prayers and rites have had some effect because the Bloodied Nose Goblins have suffered mutation and are marked out as the favoured of Khakkekk."
Khakkekk is mainly worshiped in parts of the Darklands in scattered goblin communities. His Temples are maintained by cultists, the main feature being a large altar, usually red uppermost.
Khakkekk shares a mutual contempt with the other Gobbo gods. He craves to be the one who will claim the world when chaos finally claims it to the void and maintains no friendly relations, Goblinoid or otherwise. Khakkekks embrace of chaos has left him totally, utterly mad.
Yor, God of Snotlings
Yor is the Goblinoid patron of Snotlings. Snotling pictograms depict Yor as a large Snotling wearing full armour and carrying a large staff. Not much is known about him but he seems to exist and bless his little followers. The cult of Yor is largely a nomadic one, wandering the Goblinoid lands. The ever moving altars of the cult are Yors only temples.
Arrak: the Spider God
Worshipped by many forest dwelling goblin tribes, Arrak is lord of spiders, cobwebs and forests. His followers are totally devout and constantly praying and fanatically erecting statues, decorating tree stumps, etc. in his honour. He is depicted in a number of strange ways including a giant Black Widow spider, a giant spider with a goblin head or a goblin with the head of a spider and arms in feathered wargear, a style of dress many of his followers try to emulate.
Forest dwelling Goblins tend to dedicate groves they habitually travel close to or dwell in to Arrak and such groves are often to be found with various paintings of spiders and the like decorating the outlining trees of the grove and a the tree stump in the centre - this stump is often used as a holy altar to Arrak.
Arrak demands regular worship and imposes a stricure that no spider should be intentionally harmed or be allowed to be harmed, even in self defence.
Red Eye: the Night God
Red Eye is the Goblin god of night, the underworld, caverns and (almost) all associated with them. He has an immense following amongst cave and underground hold dwelling Night Goblins, but less popular among Orcs and their ilk. He is usually depicted as a goblin, barely visible in the darkness, looking out with two beady, red, glowing eyes.
Bad Asp: God of Savagery
God of savagery, Bad Asp is worshipped almost exclusively by Savage Orc tribes. He is wild and ferocious is devoutly respected by his Savage subjects. Bad Asp is usually portrayed as a huge Viper snake ready to strike or an angry Wild Boar, reflected in the Savage Orc tattoos.
Doblic: God of Squigs
Of Doblic, Goblinoid patron deity of Squigs, little is known. He appears as a large blue furry Squig many times the size of a Cave Squig, complete with suitably scaled up Cave Squig teeth. Doblic is infinitely more intelligent than even a Brain Squig and represents Squig-kind to the other Goblinoid gods.