The zhadii (singular zhadi), known as "orcs" to much of the rest of the world, are the native inhabitants of the continent of Australia. Considered savage or barbaric by many, they have a longer history than any of the other sentient races, and have seen their share of empires rise and fall.
Origins[]
The zhadii are extremely unusual, in that they are the only sentient humanoids of the world not descended from mammalian stock. Somehow, during the days of choking ash and blotted sun, the flora and fauna of Australia managed to escape the harshest effects of the extinction event. Certainly, many species were lost, but while the rest of the world lost all of its non-avian dinosaurs, Australia retained enough for dinosaurs to remain to the present day. While their exact ancestral group is unclear, from these, the zhadii emerged.
Modern-Day Distribution[]
The zhadi have not spread far from their ancestral homeland, which they control to the exclusion of all others to this day. The nearby islands are all inhabited by zhadii, of course, and some have spread as far north as Cambodia, Thailand, and Malaysia. In more recent times, with better modes of transportation, individual zhadii have on occasion left to travel the world. However, there are no zhadi communities of any note outside of Southeast Asia and Australasia.