Trolls

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Artwork by unknown Trolls Note: This creature can only be played by Event Team-Members.

Trolls are large, dangerous and generally stupid creatures that inhabit the Realms. Low in number, they have been documented only rarely, until reaching the lands of Thales. In those lands, where the people stayed close together, a group of trolls were found near the Cloud Temple.

Physical Characteristics

It is a well-known fact that Trolls are giant creatures. They are taller and wider than Orcs, and can grow up to twelve feet tall, and weigh up to eight-hundred pounds. Because of this, it is a challenge for Trolls to be sneaky, so let it be known that only the laziest can be snuck up on by a Troll! They have sturdy feet and stout legs and have mostly fat upper bodies. They look quite similar to a massive, fat Orc.

Trolls have brown skin, but at times it may appear as green because moss often grows on their body while they are at rest. Their skin often grows thick patches of hair, but they are otherwise bald. The skin of a Troll is rough and thick, and in turn hard to pierce through, and is capable of bearing cold temperatures. Their skin is also often dry and flaky, so Trolls are known to be scratching at their skin often.

Trolls have ugly faces in the views of men, often having bulbous noses, ears that stick out, crooked teeth, and bushy eyebrows. Female Trolls will sometimes try to cover up their homeliness with mud, which is their form of “makeup”. Male Trolls also feature tusks, though it takes many years for these to grow and for the most part, only elderly Trolls will have these.

Trolls have great big hands meant for grabbing and squishing, something they like to do to their prey. Their feet are also large and are meant to stomp and smash.

Signs of Troll Activity

Trolls often live near caves, as they must reside to those at night. You can most often tell that a Troll Cave is inhabited by the smell of rot. They care little for hygiene, and their stomachs and noses can handle the stink of death. They leave the dead remains of their prey (after the prey has been eaten, of course) in their caves and keep their bones as tokens and collectibles. So, if you ever find a cave that stinks of death, stay out, for there is a Troll inside.

Trolls also leave footprints where they walk, big and heavy footprints. These are no challenge to identify as they resemble those of a giant Human. Some may be missing toes, but all in all, if you run across a giant footprint in the mud, then it was probably a Troll.

Trolls will also make fires at night to cook their meals, and do not bother to clean the remnants of these fires up after morning breaks. If you come across a giant fire pit with coals that are still hot, then you ought to run, for there was most likely a Troll camp here. Be wary around these, for a Troll is nearby!

Another sign that a Troll is nearby might be a lack of sheep around your local farm. They sure do love Roast Mutton and will make a habit of stealing these bovines from farms. If sheep are missing without any explanation, keep an eye out for Trolls.

Behavior

Trolls live in numbers of 1-3; if it were any less, Trolls would not exist, and anymore, Trolls would die out in battles and fights with each other. They are an argumentative creature, and often pick brawls with each other over the simplest things (like who is stronger, what color the night sky is, whose lamb chop is bigger, etc.). They, for the most part, will not kill each other on purpose, though. Trolls are quick to anger and are known to smash and stomp people when they are upset. It is wise to keep out of the way of an angry Troll.

Trolls cannot handle daylight. It is said that being in sunlight will turn a Troll into stone, which is in fact true. Cursed by an Ancient Artifact in the Old Days, their ability to live in the sun has been lost! It is a sad fate, but Trolls have trudged through this and live in the night. However, if a Troll is turned into stone in daylight, they turn back to their normal forms once night falls.

During the day, they will live inside of their caves and in the shadows, often either sleeping, eating, counting their gold, arguing with each other, or staring blankly at the rock walls around them. At night, they will search for food, and once the food is found, they will build a great fire. At this fire, they will tell stories, cook their food, and of course, argue.

Trolls can live for many, many years, but usually die beforehand. No Troll has ever lived past the age of eight-hundred.

Trolls wear clothes sometimes, depending on if they like the look of it or not. They despise fancy clothes and instead wear articles that are more along the lines of rags. The Trolls who do wear clothes are usually the younger, more rebellious ones.

It is a fallacy that Trolls live under bridges - unless these bridges have caves under them. There was once a great Whitewash Orc who sat under a bridge, collecting tolls from unlucky travelers, and was falsely called a Troll. This legend is well known, but few know that Trolls don’t live under bridges - unless they have caves under them!

Trolls will choose a mate for life and do not choose another partner unless their mate has died. Cheating on a spouse has never happened, and never will happen, in the Troll community.

Intelligence

Let it be known that Trolls are not held in high regards for their intelligence. They are extremely stupid, though they do have the capacity to understand and speak in the tongues of humans. A Troll can barely handle the thought of math, they cannot read (and instead draw pictures in mud and rocks), and they have trouble answering riddles. Because of this stupidity, Trolls can be tricked and deceived rather easily. Do not rely solely on tricking Trolls, though, for their size and strength is still to reckon with!

The smartest troll to ever have been encountered by the descendants is the troll Mi. A Troll that lived a cave close to the forest Dwarf village of Hefrumm. He was a great alchemist despite his inherent lack of intelligence.

History

In the first days that the world brought life to the realm of Anthos, a creature was born into existence. It was not beautiful, nor gentle, nor even very kind, but it was born with a sole purpose; to survive. This creature that was brought to Anthos was called the Troll. Now, being some of the only humanoids in Anthos at this time, the Trolls were some of the first to light fires and use tools like sticks and clubs. Due to their simple minds, the Trolls were not builders; they tended to pillage and steal food and tools from other Trolls, rather than create things for themselves.

Few know why Trolls cannot bear to live in sunlight, though the true answer to that is often guessed and speculated. Legends may grow of the Troll's Curse, but those are yet to be made!

After realizing their curse, Trolls chose to live in caves and to find rest in dark forests. They stuck together in groups and inhabited the forested regions of Anthos and especially the area of land that is now called Malinor.

For the most part, Trolls have been nomadic, roaming the dark forests that they call home in search of food like deer, bears, and other large animals. They can, however, live in any place that has a cave and a steady supply of food and water nearby. Because of this, you can find them nearly anywhere in Anthos, yet they do not live in the hot desert regions of the land.

Trolls and Sunlight

Trolls have a natural weakness to sunlight and thus inhabit caves, forests, and man-made cover such as the underside of bridges during the day where they can hide from the sun's rays. Direct sunlight will petrify the areas of the troll's hide it shines on in seconds, causing it to "burn" into a stone-like form to protect the troll from further damage. This impedes the movement of the burned parts and more importantly is excruciatingly painful for the troll, causing it to seek cover during the day.

Such is the pain that a troll cannot suffer through it via willpower: they will flee for shade or darkness and if prevented will do all in their power to reach it. Looking directly at the sun will blind a troll temporarily, allowing those who trick it into looking at sunlight escape. The petrification wounds take one day or night of non-exposure to heal, although trolls frequently petrified in the same place may keep permanent stony scarring.

Only direct sunlight petrifies a troll: reflections off of everyday objects are uncomfortable but do not cause its hide to burn to stone. A true mirror (not reflections off of metallic objects or windows) will petrify the parts of troll hide it is shone on slowly and a concave mirror can be used to focus the sun to hit a troll with its full effect. Note that people do not carry concave mirrors around with them just because: unless a person is specifically hunting the troll, they would probably not carry around a concave mirror.

The canopy cover of tree leaves counts as shade during the day, although sunlight patches between the trees must be avoided. (As general guidance, if a mob would light on fire this counts as direct sunlight, although at dawn and sunset this guideline doesn't apply as well).

Clerical "sunlight" is highly uncomfortable for trolls and hurts their sensitive eyes but does not petrify them. It may drive them off provided the troll has not been previously provoked. Light from sources other than the sun, be it from torches, fire, natural sources or magic does not petrify a troll. At night trolls cannot be petrified (there is no sunlight to do so) and are at their most dangerous.

Trolls Today

Since the races of Aegis and Asulon have migrated to Anthos, the lifestyle of Trolls has had to change. Instead of being the top predators that they once were, they now are generally reclusive and try to hide from civilization as a whole. There are not many Trolls that live now, probably under thirty in all... It may not be too long before the Troll population dies out, but that, only the future can tell.

From interaction with the descendant races, Trolls have learned to speak, and are capable of holding conversations. They are, as recently explained, very stupid. Not many people like talking to Trolls.

In 1753 the dwarves met a semi-intelligent troll that was able to create potions and speak, this created a precedence that showed that trolls are capable of more than was previously known.