Of Orcs and Men first puts the player into the role of an elite Orc soldier, Arkail, from the legendary legion of Bloodjaws. The legion is a league of warriors deeply involved in the war between the Orcs and the Goblins on one side and their persecutors, Humankind, on the other. As a veteran warrior who has seen the most brutal of battles, the player is appointed by the Orc commander to complete a mission that could change the course of the war, to kill the Emperor himself, the man responsible for the bloodshed. A Goblin, Styx, soon joins the player, an unlikely but indispensable ally.