Troll

Trolls are a dangerous species of goblinoid demikith and the fourth largest species of goblinoid to exist – rivaled only by the Giant, Cyclops, and Yeti. Often thought to have originally come about from mutations due to over-exposure to sources of blight, trolls possess many properties which could be considered unnatural or supernatural but stem from unknown origin.
The most well-known of said odd properties is the complete lack of any female trolls. While some old myths and historical documents make occasional references to trollwives or trollmothers, it is unclear whether these were in reference to actual female trolls or simply to other female goblinoids, but no proof of fully-fledged trolls of the female sex have ever been documented in fact. In light of this, trolls must mate with other goblinoid species to produce offspring, and their children are always born as males of the same species as their father. Half-trolls or members of other goblinoid species with trollic heritage, therefore, cannot exist.
While on occasion the bearer of a troll's child will have been made so willingly, trolls are far more well-known for their propensity of kidnapping or otherwise extorting female members from nearby settlements or traveling groups and keeping them enslaved to breed heirs. Such kidnappings are rare occurrences overall – trolls are both long-lived and typically disinclined to the company of other trolls not a part of their family units – but the creatures remain inextricably tied with the practice in most cultures all the same.
The second odd quality which most often comes to mind is the regenerative healing properties which paradoxically grow in strength as a troll ages. A fledgling troll has qualities more or less akin to any other goblinoid kith of comparable size, while an elder troll of two or three centuries possesses physical regeneration nearly comparable to that of some undead. This healing is less perfect than the sorts exhibited by the truly supernatural – no troll has ever been known to be capable of re-attaching limbs or returning from a decapitation, and scars of their former wounds are still left across their bodies – but the natural rate at which their bodies repair still leaves them nearly immune to death by attrition, fatigue, or exsanguination.

Basic Information

Anatomy

by Seryeon Jung

Trolls resemble humans and orcs more closely than their cousins of more relative size, such as the yeti or ogre, but would still be quite hard-pressed to ever be mistaken for anything else. As with most goblinoids, they stand upright on bipedal hind legs, though each of their limbs is slightly longer than one might expect for a more well-proportioned creature. Troll skin pigmentation ranges from a deep blue-gray to more muddy greenish-brown shades, and may or may not be covered across most of their bodies by black, brown, or red-orange hair with a coarse and almost prickly texture.
Trolls display a range in heights and builds dramatically more varied than other goblinoids; the shortest adult troll in Eletheros recorded at 5'10" while the tallest was 12'6". A particularly large elder slain by Sinkewan soldiers in northern Ivskia was 14'3", though seemed to display trouble walking or standing upright.

by Taran Fiddler