All the great savage and martial tribes of our past have ridden to war. Whether we are considering the Mongols or Apaches, they have achieved speed and lethality through the concerted use of horses, so that they can strike and then disappear before their enemies have a chance to react. However, horses seem prosaic for orcs to go into battle, so what other kind of mount could we give them?
The Lord of the Rings exemplified Tolkien’s great creation when it came to goblin mounts: the direworms. These giant wolves were intelligent, powerful, deadly, and strong enough to carry a fully armed goblin on their back, but any new attempt to create a mount would be better off with a novel creation. What kind of mount would then follow the temperament of a mountain orc?
An immediate possibility drawn from the real world would be mountain goats, which can reach truly impressive sizes and are agile enough to navigate cliffs. However, there are some limitations. They lack the fearsome reputation of wargs or horse nobility, being, come on, goats, and they don’t seem fit for long-range combat. Clearly we have to look further.
What about giant scorpions? In a fantasy setting, we might postulate that they are rare but terrible predators, and that orcs breed them as mounts, given their ability to navigate the rocks and cliffs of the peaks on which they live. However, can scorpions be trained to act as cavalry? Could they be used to travel around the world, doing the kind of long-term damage that horses could?
What about mountain ponies? Too cute, the most suitable type of mount for a hobbit. We could also postulate wild boars, huge, bristly and fearsome, but these would be rare to find in the mountains, most likely in the lowlands. Although, it must be said, that the mounts would not necessarily be used in the mountains proper and could therefore be cultivated in the lowlands, an innovation from a particularly clever leader who would take the initiative and surprise his opponents …