Speaking literally, Ed, or the Ed presented before them, was indeed an orc. Ed as a being however was not an orc. He was a consciousness. The orc was nothing but a husk that the consciousness being Ed inhabited.
Explaining this concept to the orcs in detail would be both complicated and needless. The best of course of action was to omit some details and dumb down lots of explanations.
Fortunately, the smartest, or at least most talented, minds of Sanctuary were the ones elected for the Sanctuary Council. Ed was confident they would still be able to get the gist of things.
"I am not an orc, but I am an orc right now" Ed saw the confusion of the orcs but he continued anyway. They wanted to say something, but the impact of Ed's words had yet to fade. Plus, now he was an orc now...? Either the previous statement was a joke or there was more to see.
The orcs quickly got their answer.
I want to quickly express my thanks to Rabiddoughnuts as well as apologize for the mistakes I made in regards to mortars and cannons. This might seem like something small to others but, in spite of my lacking research skills, I do not like misinformation.
So a quick disclaimer, please do not get your information from my novel unless I cite any sources! I don't think anybody needed to hear that but just in case.
On that note, if you guys want to discuss something I mention on the novel and provide sources be it right or wrong you are more than welcome to. That would actually be very well appreciated.
Anyway, thanks for reading~!