Thank you! It's hard not to feel pity for orcs as a whole as they were created from elves and I imagine that wasn't a pain free process and Sauron doesn't seem any less fond of using torture than Melkor.

Have you ever seen 'The Dreamstone' cartoon? I think there's a LotR influence there. There are orc like creatures in it who would rather spend their days down the pub drinking, but they can't say no to a big bad when he tells them to go and commit evil (or pinch magical artifacts).