Introduction
The Yargish-speaking orcs live in a mountain region known as the Shavars (u-Nashavar - the root shavar is of unknown, presumably foreign, origin), surrounded on all sides by areas peopled by other races, relations with which are sparse and predominantly hostile. Since their mountaineous homeland is not particularly attractive to outsiders, they are, however, under little external pressure to unite, and despite their common language are generally more preoccupied with internal rivalries and differences than with any common identity. The best proof therefore is undoubtly their lack of a self-designation in common usage. Since the "title" of yarg "warrior" is reserved for Yargish-speakers, whereas a foreign combatant is a yaran "fighter", they in war with outsiders may characterize themselves simply as u-Nayarg "the Warriors", but the only term including the entire population is u-Natay u-Nashavariz-ung "the Orcs of the Shavars". Neighbouring peoples primarily encounter them in the guise of warriors and raiders, wherefore it is hardly surprising that their designations in alien languages are generally based on yarg- or nayarg-, which has been taken as model for the English term 'Yargish'.

The chief unit of identification is the jand, or "clan". There are five major clans - the Uzgay, the Kantay, the Jighar, the Fanyyaran and the Garyung - and a number of smaller ones. The clan is theoretically a genetic grouping, but in practice individuals, particularly females, quite frequently change clan membership. The clan identity is expressed by certain common symbols and traditions, and the deep-seated assumption that its members share a solidarity with one another against the rest of the world. Conflict within the Yargish population is almost always described in terms of interclan rivalry.

The only political "office" the Yargish orcs acknowledge is that of khurg, or "chief". The only qualification for chiefhood is finding warriors who are ready to accept the candidate as their leader. It is therefore a position any male orc can aspire to - the successful would-be chief will be a successful warrior, perceived as fair-dealing and, usually, descended from former chiefs. The typical chief will have a following of one or a few dozen warriors with their families - the very successful one a following of a few hundred warriors. Sometimes a powerful and popular chief can get other chiefs to recognize him as "paramount chief"; at least once in recorded history a such has become de facto leader of all the orcs of the Shavars. Typically a chief and all his followers will belong to the same clan, but exceptions are found.

The basics of the Yargish language can be found in the Introduction to Yargish article. It will be noted that the clan-names function as adjectives, as collective nouns, and as countable nouns; eg Uzgay can mean "Uzgayic", or "an Uzgay" (ie, an individual member of the clan), u-Uzgay can mean "the Uzgay (clan)", or "the Uzgay (individual)". In the part alphabetic, part logographic Yargish writing system, which is primarily used for short inscriptions on tombs and on artefacts like weapons, each clan-name is represented by a logographic grapheme; these are often used by themselves as a kind of "heraldric" signs.

The Uzgay
The Uzgay is the numerically strongest clan of the Shavars, living primarily in the central parts of the mountains. They take their name from the revered founder/ancestor of the clan, Uzgay Yarkanch. The records of other races show that he, about 500 years before the present, lead a small band of warriors from the distant North to the Shavars, and eventually managed to turn himself to the supreme chief of all the orc groups of the mountains, whereupon he led them in a series of compaigns against neighbouring peoples. His activities led to the end of human and dwarf settlement in the Shavars. The name Uzgay is not analyzable in Yargish, and probably was his original, northern, name, whereas Yarkanch is a Yargish name meaning "war-iron", presumeably given to him by his Shavarian followers. Uzgay Yarkanch's tomb, a large mound topped by a circle of megaliths, situated in a high-lying vale in the middle of the Shavars, is a site of great importance to the Uzgay.

The Uzgay logogramme is a stylized sun, preferably in white-on-red. Red colour on clothes etc are popular as indication of Uzgay allegiance.

The Kantay
The Kantay, the second largest clan and traditional arch-rivals of the Uzgay, live primarily in the southern parts of the Shavars. Their name is a contraction of kanch tay "iron orc(s)" (it goes back to before the pl marker na- was obligatory), and their founder/ancestor is known simply as Kanch Khurg "Iron Chief". This unusual name and the fact that the Iron Chief is not known from the records of other races makes it likely that he is a wholly mythical figure. Despite this, they have the perhaps strongest internal cohesion of all the clans, primarily to due relatively frequent contacts with human and dwarf settlements to the south.

The Kantay logogramme is two crossed swords or daggers, preferably in black on white or metal. Black clothing is popular with the Kantay, and Kantay warriors tend to have white-painted shields, with the Kantay logogramme or other signs in black painted on.

The Jighar
The Jighar are spread over the entirety of the Shavars to a much higher degree than the Uzgay or Kantay, spread in many small groups. There is however a marked concentration of them in the easternmost ranges - this may be seen as the Jighar homeland. Many of the westernly Jighar groups have apparently defected from the Uzgay or the Kantay due to intraclan conflicts. The clan-name derives from the founder/ancestor Jighar, who was one of Uzgay Yarkanch's original, northern, followers. After Uzgay's death Jighar tried to assume the former's mantle as supreme chief, but failed to get even a majority of chiefs to recognize his leadership. The resultant fighting ended with Jighar's death in battle, but the descendants of his followers still call themselves the Jighar. The name is, presumably, of the same northern origin as 'Uzgay'.

The Jighar logogramme is a stylized sickle moon. Unlike the Uzgay and the Kantay, the Jighar has no "clan colour".

The Fanyyaran
The Fanyyaran are spread over a wide, thinly populated area across the west and north of the Shavars. The name means "Fire Warrior(s)", from fany "flame, fire" and yaran "fighter, warrior". The use of yaran is surpising, since as mentioned above this form is usually used of outsiders, Yargish warriors normally being refered to as yarg, using another agental formation. The origin of this anomaly is lost - possibly the clan-name may go back to a time where this differentiation between yaran and yarg was not yet carried through. The clan's founder/ancestor is considered to be Khurjid, known as u-Fany "the Flame", who lived some two centuries ago. However, it appears that a clan known as the Fanyyaran existed long before that - Khurjid's role may have been to establish it as a powerful major one. His name, at any rate, means "descendant of chiefs", which may be considered ironic for someone whom present-day chiefs do their best to claim as ancestor.

The Fanyyaran logogramme is, hardly surprisingly, a stylized flame. Yellow and red are the clan's favoured colours.

The Garyung
The primary Garyung area is in the northeast of the Shavars, with substantial pockets to the south in areas dominated by the Uzgay and the Jighar. They are the smallest of the major clans, but still several times more numerous than the largest of the minor ones. The element gar means "shining" or "bright", whereas yung probably is an old word for "eye" - this is supported by the Garyung logogramme, which depicts a stylized eye. The Garyung are thus the "Bright Eyes". Their founder/ancestor was Yargakin Yurguz, who lived almost six centuries ago - the Garyung are the only of the presently major clans that is certain to go back to the times before Uzgay Yarkanch. The founder/ancestor's name means "Warrior-falcon Great-claw".

As mentioned above, the Garyung logogramme is a stylized eye. This is traditionally carried out in red-on-black, but apart from this the clan does not show much special attachment to these colours.