Smoking Traditions of Tamriel: Orsinium

Among the Orcs of Orsinium, smoking has taken on a status and style as unique as the rough people who inhabit that that small stretch of highland. Being a small and largely monolithic culture, the smoking arts of Orsinium have not flourished in perhaps as vast a variety as elsewhere, but the styles are no less intriguing.

In a culture where everything has a purpose and nothing goes to waste, Tobacco is seen as at best a luxury item and at worst, a wasteful and decadent vice. The cold and barren highlands of Orsinium are unable to support tobacco cultivation, and Imports from Bretony and the Cyrod are staggeringly expensive. This limitation has forced the growth of an entirely unique (and often denigrated by outsiders) smoking tradition.

First and foremost, we must discuss the Orcish pipe, the Growash. The Growash is a short, broad pipe nearly the size of a man’s fist. These pipes are usually made of roughly-hewn stone or clay, and may sometimes be decorated with geometric motifs. The Growash is made with a wide, deep bowl and short stem that supports the proper smoking of Gimesh.

Gimesh is a smokable mixture of the dung of the large Tardigrades that the Orcs rely upon. Gimesh is made by first washing the Tardigrade dung to remove leftover digestive enzymes (which would lend a foul odor), then drying, chopping, and blending it with medicinal and aromatic herbs and grasses, reconstituting it with clean water, then packing it into plum-sized balls which are cured in a brick oven to render a spongy, slightly moist ball of green-brown Gimesh. Gimesh is produced year-round, and best smoked fresh.

The Gimesh is placed in the Growash bowl, and lit on fire. The flame is allowed to grow until it consumes the uppermost outer layer of the Gimesh, then blown out for smoking. This allows the Gimesh to slowly smoulder. Contrary to popular belief, the gimesh is not of a foul or offensive odor or flavor, but rather quite vegetal with a robust, nutty body. Gimesh smoke has a mild psychotropic and narcotic effect, more noticeable among first-time users, that greatly enhances sensory perception whilst reducing the feelings of pain and giving a powerful boost to the metabolism. It is said that being able to hear ants crawling up a tree is a sign that one has acquired good Gimesh, being unable to feel the ants biting you is an even better sign. For this reason, Gimesh is incredibly popular among warriors and heavy laborers, although it is frequently smoked by Orcs of all walks of life.

Among the landed elite, Nibenese Kiseru and Breton Regimental pipes are sometimes seen, often as a sign of status, usually captured by warriors in days past and handed down as heirlooms. These pipes are sometimes used for tobacco, but due to the exorbitant import costs they are more frequently used for Gimesh.