A major portion of the 2nd edition Spelljammer plotlines centered on the Scro, a group of more intelligent Orcs (Get it, Scro, Orcs? Get, it's just Orcs spelled backwards!) who were locked in a mutually genocidal war with all Elves. The Elves thought they had won the war a hundred years ago, but the Scro were just hiding in a remote crystal sphere and have begun to re-emerge. Both the Elves and the Scro were gearing up their genocide machines to finish eachother off in this, the Second Unhuman War!
This backdrop was kind of interesting to use as the Elves recruited PCs to work as mercenaries to help finish their genocide against the re-emerging Scro threat, and gave DMs an excuse to fight massive battles between what were obvious ripoffs of 40k Orcs, Tyranids, Guyver Bionoids, and Elvish Mecha. Basically a way to draw in 40k players but with AD&D 2e, Just add your own Space Marines.
In retrospect, the whole plotline was a little simplistic, and was based on the old view of Orcs as irredeemably evil brutes who were not worth considering as protagonists in their own right. Given how 5e has sort of rolled back the idea of inborn alignment, and given how genocide of even an "evil" species is probably not tolerable behavior out of the good guys in D&D, the Scro became out of place in 5e Spelljammer. Further, instead of a monolithic Elven Imperial Navy with branches on
every world in every sphere, the Elves in 5e Spelljammer are a much more
varied society, with friendly outposts, and antagonistic expansionist
empires, and other unaligned or neutral nations as well, so the whole story of the First and Second Unhuman Wars became just nonsensical.
But I can't just let a piece of background die. I've been toying with ways to rewrite the Scro to be a bit more compatible with the 5e Spelljammer and the sensibilities of a modern group. So, without further ado, I present the Dukagshi - a re-imagining of the Scro into the universe described in the 5e Spelljammer material.
The Dukagshi
Hundreds of years ago, several ships full of Xaryxian Astral Elves landed on the surface of a world named Morag, in a distant crystal sphere. The elves were attempting to build a beachhead where they could cultivate raw materials for a new fleet that would occupy Moragspace and give them a secure base of operations in the area.
Like many worlds in many spheres, Morag had a population of Orcish tribes, but unlike many worlds, Morag's Orcs were were particularly intelligent and worked well with each other and with the other sapient races. Because of their skills, Morag's Orcs were the dominant species on the planet, while Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Halflings were relatively rare. When Elvish colonial forces landed on Morag, and attempted to push aside a primarily Orcish tribe, the tribe staged a daring nighttime raid, and quickly overwhelmed the Elvish crews, seizing control of the ships. Among this group of raiders a particularly intelligent Orcish battle wizard by the name of Dukagsh found the notes of the Elvish Helmsman, and was able to unlock the secret of constructing Spelljamming helms, by reverse-engineering examples aboard the Elvish ships. A fellow tribeswoman, a Goblin Alchemist by the name of Scroguree likewise had success identifying the components involved in the production of Smokepowder.
Dukagsh's discoveries of Spelljamming magic and smoke powder propelled him to become the leader his tribe, and eventually a large confederation of tribes. With a large portion of Morag's Orcs united under his guidance, Dukagsh spent decades building a small fleet of Orcish vessels in secret caverns near the poles of Morag. Once the fleet was completed, Dukagsh and his people ventured forth into Moragspace. They discovered that the Xaryxian Elves had established several shipyards and were busy extracting the mineral and mystical resources of Moragspace. After a fierce rebellious campaign Dukagsh and his forces were able to drive back the Elvish forces out of Moragspace. Unfortunately, as a parting shot the Elves were able to deploy their final weapon: a device which drained all energy from the sun in Moragspace, spelling the end of life on Morag and the other worlds in the sphere.
Taking the name of the hero who led them in the bittersweet battle for freedom, the now homeless Dukagshi ventured forth into the Astral Sea to find a new home for their people. They also seek to assist others to defend their homes from the Xaryxian Elves, which has earned them strange allies throughout the spheres: Lizardfolk, Humans, Neogi and even some Elves have met the Dukagshi and become allies, though the Dukagshi have become used to the initial prejudice they often face. Fortunately, this has not dissuaded them in their mission to push back the forces of the Xaryxian Elves, and work with the peoples of various spheres to defend themselves.
