Aerundar Monster Manual - Trolls

Aerundar Monster Manual

Trolls


"Once I saw the strangest sight of my life; a bunch of gigantic figures with arms longer than legs, long tails like a cow's, flat noses and upward-pointing tusks building what looked like a massive wall right in the middle of a field.  They kept getting in the way of a goatherd and demanding a toll every morning in the form of a butchered goat for their breakfast.  I actually came up to the goatherd and wondered if he knew anyone willing to pay for them.  He gave me a funny look and said that they were under the pay of the local lord, who asked them to build a fort able to resist cannonfire, and intended to hire them again as guards against pirates.  I've never looked at these things called trolls the same way again.  Or goatherds for that matter..."
- Donovan O’Rourke, Human Gunslinger

Trolls are a race of Giantkin, and are believed to be distantly related to both giants and ogres.  The visible differences between them and their relatives are astounding, as Trolls are physically slumped forward in a permanent hunchback position, coming ten feet tall to the shoulders, with longer arms than their legs; arms long enough that they often walk on all fours with their knuckles in order to protect their clawed nails.  They tend to have foul odors from lack of bathing and bad breath, and are infamous among common folk for their bad reputation of being incredibly ravenous feeders.

What really sets them apart from their cousins among giantkind is that Trolls are, for all intents and purposes, friendly; at least, friendly in terms of giants.  Try to approach and talk to a giant and you're likely to wind up in the soup pot, but try to talk to a Troll and they will at least listen first.  It is agreeable that Trolls are largely considered unintelligent, with brains not big enough for their massive bodies, but there is a difference between 'stupid' and 'slow' or 'distracted,' and Trolls can easily be described as both slow and distracted at once.  However many an adventurer has learned how to avoid unnecessary entanglements that can end on a spit over a fire by knowing the difference between a Troll and an Ogre or an Ettin.

If there is one thing that Trolls have managed to earn for their reputation, it's that they are unfussy eaters.  Being huge in a world where resources are slim and the next meal is never guaranteed makes this an easy thing to pass up, though Trolls seem to have a habit of being caught digging up shallow graves or with cauldrons full of uneaten shoes and buttons from their previous meals.  Worse still is that every Troll is born a glutton; a Troll's ravenous hunger dictates their existence more than anything else, and many have observed Trolls eating food bones and all, and other things most would consider non-edible besides such as wood, leather, even rocks.  This is largely to feed a Troll's greatest line of defense other than their size and strength; an advanced ability to regenerate their wounds faster than most creatures.

Most stories that tell of Trolls able to regrow into two different Trolls after being split in two is largely folly.  Trolls can die just like any other animal if they lose too much blood or are cut into pieces, and they are believed to be unable to regenerate from massive brain trauma, though more than a few have managed to defy this theory.  However a Troll is capable of regrowing a whole hand if he first eats the one that was cut off, as well as the man who managed to chop it off not long after.  Other wounds are quickly ignored or just serve to make it mad.  The only real pain that can faze a Troll is acid or fire, which scars them and makes wounds harder to regenerate.

Despite their bad reputation, Trolls are known for their diligent mindset.  A Troll's distracted nature never goes very far unless they have little to do or are bored, in which case they become single-minded and hyper-focused on a task once their minds are set to it.  In place of Dwarves when unavailable, some communities have taken to hiring Trolls to act as masons, as Trolls have proven to be incredible builders with a neat sense of balance and architecture that seems almost unfitting for their body type.  Of course, Trolls hardly ever do any work for free and expect pay; thankfully this is rarely in coin unless the Troll in particular is very well educated, as they are just as content with fulfilling their particular obsessions or, in most cases, just getting a guaranteed meal that they don't have to steal or hunt for themselves.

One other thing unique among the other Giantkin is that Trolls are often picked on by the other Giantkin races.  Nobody knows if it's because they willingly fit in with civilized societies or if it's because they're easiest to bully because of how different they appear, but Trolls are quick to side with anyone who happens to be fighting against a Giant and vice-versa.  The intense hatred between these two races seems almost unnatural, though given the amount of food needed to keep a healthy population of either race alive is next to impossible it isn't that hard to understand.

Trolls are also highly claustrophobic and have a fear of being in enclosed spaces, especially enclosed spaces that move.  This makes transporting live Trolls next to impossible without an immense supply of sedatives, something that further baffles scholars in explaining why there are so many Trolls everywhere.

Troll Variants

Like Giants, Trolls come in all shapes and sizes and are very widespread throughout Aerundar despite their huge size and natural tendency to hate flying in ships.  Due to the unique nature of many of the environments they call home, Trolls often have adapted specifically to fit those regions, and as such no two Troll variants look the same.  The most common types of Troll, Hill Trolls, are green in color, which makes the color synonymous with their race to the common folk of Aerundar.

Chimney Troll
"Master man-man want fire-clean house, yeah?  Troll-man do can this.  Make stack-smoke shine pretty-pretty, like pretty rocks, yeah?"
Chimney Trolls, also called Street Trolls or House Trolls, are not necessarily a type of Troll in and of themselves, but rather a slang used by city folk to refer to Trolls hired or imported to act as masons and laborers for some of the larger cities in Aerundar, the most common populations being found in Dragon's Talon.  A Chimney Troll is most commonly sent to a city when they are in their infancy; mostly runts handed off by the more 'intelligent' Troll parents who don't eat runt offspring outright, or orphans who wander into a mercenary encampment or a village that doesn't immediately bring out the pitchforks.  When sent to cities they are soon taught as many of the know-hows as is possible, and are kept close watch with some cities even chaining their Trolls to keep them in line; this is more of a precaution than outright slavery to keep a Troll's infamous temper in check, and most Chimney Trolls are accepting of this; at least they rarely complain outside of when they are angry.  Oddly enough, Chimney Trolls lose their fear of fire when working, likely due to the habit of introducing them as chimney sweeps at a young age and later inducting them to clean furnaces when adults, hence their moniker.

Forest Troll
Rarest of their race, Forest Trolls are often found within the Shaevar Isles, serving alongside other races like Wood Giants and Treants in service to the Elves.  Forest Trolls are also the smallest of their kind, standing by the knuckles at little more than eight feet.  They have pronounced pointed noses and ears and tend to wear leaves in their hair as decorations.  Despite being the rarest of their race, or perhaps because they are the rarest, Forest Trolls are incredibly promiscuous and have been known to be admirers of other races, the source of amusing stories of 'Trollwives' and 'Trollgrooms' used to explain any disappearances and reappearances near the forests of the Shaevar isles.

Ice Troll
"Trolls don't take too long to grow.  Ice Trolls are the biggest and long lived, and they don't become adults until they're about fourteen.  By then they're about that many feet tall.  The stories you hear about Trolls hunting people and butchering them alive...they're the kind of trolls that make you wish that was the real thing."
- Baelof Wolfsborn, Human Barbarian
If ever there was a kind of Troll that earned their fell reputation, Ice Trolls are it.  The tallest kind of troll at fourteen feet from shoulder to knuckle, Ice Trolls are by far the strongest, most intelligent, most cunning, and most savage of their race.  Living in the frozen cold of Northrond, often having to share territory and resources with Ice Giants, White or Gray Dragons, Dire Wolves and the like, Ice Trolls have exchanged their peoples' willingness to cooperate into a surefire and open savagery against any potential competition.  An Ice Troll will not hesitate to put a traveler into the soup pot, if he doesn't eat them clothes and all, but will go even further and torture the human into telling where they came from and how many more there are.  Ice Troll raids on villages and holdfasts are stories that bear very little embellishment.  Most of the time the tales are true through and through, including the parts where they eat children alive and swallow babes whole, carting away as many villagers as they can back to their lairs.  You'd be mistaken if you thought the Ice Trolls were taking prisoners; they were simply taking out the groceries.

Hill Troll
"Be good Troll-man, honest-Moggo.  Man-mans try pick an shout at Moggo, say hurt-words.  Moggo no listen, no get mad, but want be funny like with Gran-gran.  Moggo pick up man-man shirt, hang on woof like Gran-gran does Pen-Wen's shirts on big string, only man-mans still in shirt."
-Moggo Bricklayer of Dragon's Talon
The most common type of Troll, found throughout Aerundar's South and Southwest regions and mostly predominant along the islands surrounding Aerundar's northern face, Hill Trolls have the appearance that is synonymous with the common outlook of Trollkind to the common folk; big, green, and tusky.  Hill Trolls tend to have coarse hair covering their backs that leads up to their tails, which is bare save for a tuft of hair at the end that wards away flies like a cow's.  They have long, nimble fingers and coarse knuckles used for walking, and tend to have broad, pointed noses that lay flat on their faces.  Their tusks point upwards from their lower jaws and tend to be used to denote age, with the oldest Trolls having the most bottom teeth turned into tusks.  In fact, it's believed that this is how Hill Trolls die of old age, as their teeth become big enough that it's next to impossible to chew normally and they slowly starve to death.  Hill Trolls are also commonly known as Bridge Trolls, as they have a habit of building bridges over gaps and gulleys and living under them as a makeshift lair, demanding a toll to any who would cross and often breaking the limbs of those who can't pay.

Marsh Troll
Smaller than Hill Trolls but larger than Forest Trolls, Marsh Trolls are one of the least common Trolls in Aerundar, found mostly where water is commonplace and some of the greatest competitors, that being Moor Giants, are scarce.  Marsh Trolls stand at about 9-10 feet from shoulder to knuckle and  are physically imposing, with long hair that clings like witch hazel to their bodies and with webbed hands used for scooping food.  Marsh Trolls, however, are commonly vegetarians whose only exceptions to their largely plant diet is honey, insects, and water arthropods such as marsh crabs or mudbugs.  Marsh Trolls generally avoid contact with people, and are largely mute; speaking in raspy voices difficult to understand for those without good hearing.  The only other populations known of Marsh Trolls exist in the Deep Abyss, the Elemental Plane of Water, which appears to be their natural home.

Rock Troll
"Once my uncle showed up angrily to my front door, asked me to take on a job to kill a Rock Troll he said gave him some great slight.  Figured that my uncle was family enough that I could make a slight exception to my normal credo; never get involved in a feud.  Thankfully before I put an arrow in the sucker's gob I found out from a local villager that the 'slight' to my uncle's pride was that the big bugger was hired to repair their bridge; said he was cheaper, and worked a better job.  I turned my uncle down and never did business with him again."
- Brock Grimbeard, Dwarven Fighter and professional Monster Slayer
Rock Trolls are found almost exclusively in Aldrahar, living within the mountains, in the Deep Tunnels, or wandering between caves in the dunes and dust plains not claimed by Hill Giants or other dangers.  They're about as big as Hill Trolls and look similar, except instead of green they tend to be brown in color, and instead of hair on their back they tend to have massive growths as hard as rock that gives them their name.  Rock Trolls have the habit of munching on limestone, which is likely the source of their natural line of defense.  Rock Trolls are known for giving Dwarves a run for their money when it comes to building, a fact that peeves many Dwarves who are looking for work.