Trolls

"The only bad thing about trolls being all but extinct is that without seeing one up close--and that mangy bag of sawdust that Furkza the Swindler will charge you a copper for a glimpse of doesn't count--there's no way to truly understand what savage monsters they really are. Some people hear that they take human prisoners and can grunt out a word or two and make the mistake of thinking they're reasoning creatures. Make no mistake, though: "prisoners" are just food they ain't done playing with yet and their speech isn't the communication of some intelligent creature. Their talk is pure mimicry, just like a parrot shitting down some pirate king's shoulder. Trolls are savage, brutal beasts, and if you ever run into one the best thing you can do is hope they kill you first so you don't have to hear the agonizing screams of your companions." --Rasyan Half-Face, Troll Attack Survivor

Basic Information

Anatomy

Trolls are tall, barrel-chested creatures with heavily-muscled limbs and iron gray skin. Though naturally bipedal, trolls have very long arms that allow them to travel on all fours in a manner similar to that of a monkey when they need to cover ground quickly. Trolls are generally between 8' and 12' tall at full height, but their stooped posture makes them appear a foot or two shorter. When walking on two legs, they often drag their hands along the ground, perhaps feeling their way along due to their poor eyesight.

Genetics and Reproduction

The troll mating ritual is so violent and vile that it's said to disgust even Kreeshka of the Perplexing Genetals, whose tastes can hardly be considered prudish. In any case, the ritual always ends with one of the participants dead. If it's the female, the male simply leaves the corpse where it lies and wanders off to feed or die from its wounds. If the male ends up dead, the female expels the fertilized egg from her body and buries it in the corpse of her mate (if she lives long enough). In either case, the egg feeds off the dead parent until it's large enough to break out of the egg sac, at which point it devours whatever's left of the corpse before setting out to find live food. Since a decomposing troll body is one of the most noxious objects on earth (so vile that it kills the surrounding plant life), there's little chance of predators eating the developing troll before it's ready to feed.

Ecology and Habitats

Trolls prefer to make their lairs in caves, so they're most often encountered in hilly or mountainous areas. In the days of Vargo the Trollslayer, trolls lived and hunted in packs. Back then, a pack of trolls could hunt widely across the plains, feasting on large beasts, herd animals, and the odd caravan or outpost of humans. Their only real enemies were the Horse Lords, who as a people have a long-standing hatred for the creatures and take a special delight in their destruction. When the first permanent settlements were established on the plains, trolls posed a constant threat to travelers, which led to the common practice of offering standing bounties on troll heads, ears, or scalps. Between the rise of "Troll Hunter" as a steady occupation and the slow rate of reproduction among trolls, their numbers dwindled rapidly as more and more settlers arrived to the Plains of Tarsa.
Today, trolls are solitary creatures. Since most creatures or herds large enough to feed a troll pack fall under human protection, the adaptation to solitary hunting is most likely a matter of resources. However, the fact that troll mating simply replaces a mature troll with a younger one (and in some cases neither parent survives the coupling) lead some to speculate that trolls have stopped travelling in packs out of some primal instinct to protect the species by forcing human hunters to kill them one at a time. The threat of humans has forced trolls into increasingly desolate stretches of wilderness.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Trolls are carnivores who require enormous amounts of meat to remain healthy and active. They prefer meals that are still squirming, or at least still warm, which is probably where the belief that trolls take prisoners comes from. When trolls encounter more prey than they can eat in one meal, they often drag the leftovers back to their lair with broken legs, arms, and spines in order to keep them alive but unable to escape. From what little evidence is available, there's not any particular intelligence behind this tactic. Instead, trolls appear to simply twist and bend different parts of the prey's body until the cracking noises stop being loud enough to hold their interest. Although they prefer warm meals, trolls will eat dead and even rancid flesh when necessary.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Troll skin can be fashioned into a strong, pliable armor by a leather worker who knows how to remove its stench. Troll blood is somewhat acidic and highly toxic, making it valuable to alchemists, some tradesmen, and those who deal in poisons.

Facial characteristics

Trolls have large heads with prominent brows and long, scraggly hair that grows from the top, sides, and back of their heads. Their large, pointed ears are set higher and farther back on the head than humans, extending a few inches above the top of the troll's head. Trolls have small, squinty eyes and wide, bulbous noses with large nostrils. The troll's most prominent feature is its mouth, which is large and filled with dozens of sharp, pointed teeth running in all directions. A troll mouth is somewhat reminiscent of that of a lamprey. Mature male trolls sprout goat-like, backward-curving horns from both sides of their foreheads.

Average Intelligence

Trolls don't possess any more intelligence than a wolf, lion, or other large predator. The belief that they are thinking creatures is due to their humanoid appearance and their ability to mimic the human voice. They have been known to use this mimicry to lure humans into ambushes, a tactic that works largely because the human words that trolls hear frequently enough to learn are the desperate cries for help of their victims.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Trolls can see equally well at night or during daylight, but that's only because they're practically blind. Unfortunately for their victims, a troll's senses of smell and hearing are so well-honed that their poor vision barely inconveniences them in most situations. Rumors that trolls can smell "weakness"--usually presumed to mean fresh blood, infected wounds, or perhaps even disease--are unconfirmed but entirely plausible.

by Juan Navarro