The birth cries Shol bellowed out overtook raging thunder outside, a portentous omen among the orc clans. Was it any other orc it would’ve been a day of celebration and feasting. But the babe crying out was grey of skin, and a dead pall hung in the shaman’s hut.

Among the verdant skinned orcs, grey skin was a sign of tremendous necromantic potential. Indeed, it was a grey skinned orc that led the clans into the Uprising, a war against their dwarven progenitors that nearly damned their race. Since then, grey skinned orcs were put to the knife, or in rare displays mercy, banished to the wilds.

The chieftain moved for ceremonial dagger, feeling once again the weight of the station, but a clan elder stayed his hand. The Stormscreamer, Urub, had marked the birth of this one, and it was unwise to offend such a temperamental god. The elder offered to take the babe into exile, to the Dead Steppes, were the bones of the honorable chieftains and warriors slept. The chieftain agreed, sparing what they could, the village saw the elder and still crying Shol off into stormy night.

On the Deadsteppes, isolated by even Orc standards, Shol grew into a powerful and talented shaman. Though her training began under the tutelage of the elder, who himself was a shaman of some renown, she quickly outstripped her master, and began learning from the spirits that resided in this holy place. She was not only gifted in necromancy, but all manner of mystic arts: she could commune with natural spirits and elementals, read the secret tales of the stars and see the past and future, and could even tame and banish the odd demon, though she rarely indulged in such profane arts. The elder, satisfied that Shol could take care of herself now, succumbed to the Rest, and, with permission of the spirits, Shol buried his bones among the finest shamans of her people.

It was not long until the depths of her abilities attracted outside eyes. Young orc braves sought her out, seeking out spiritual counseling. Foreign mystics approached her, offering her trades of wisdom and power. Realizing the world was much larger than she could dream, Shol resolved to set out on a journey of discovery and meditation.

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A commission from an anonymous client. I think I've only ever drawn one female orc before this. Shol was definitely a departure from what people these days think of when the subject of a female orc is mentioned.