Trolls

 

The origin of the Trolls in Britain is unknown. Some say that they have lived here since time immemorial, some say they came with the Saxons or the Irish. Some scholars even maintain that they are entirely mythical creatures, sprung from the minds of gullible, drunken peasants who have been frightened by a bear or a boar in the woods far from the learned centres of culture.

Most common people do believe in their existance, though, espescially in Wales and East Anglia, where the sightings has been most frequent. From what they tell, there appear to be not one, but two different kinds of Trolls. The tales do differ a lot between the east and the west, and the two kinds of Trolls are referred to as Mountain (in Wales) and Woodland (in East Anglia) Trolls.

The differences lie mostly in the the areas of culture (or lack thereof), philosophy and way of life. In appearance and general behaviour the Mountain and Woodland Trolls are very much alike, although the former tend to be bigger and more rash.

 

Appearances

Trolls are big, with a typical height between 2.5 and 3.5 meters. They are both tall and broad of shoulders, very strong, and have great endurance. Quite surprisingly, they are not clumsy, despite their size, and can show amazing agility. They are built like very powerful humans, but have longer arms, which they sometimes employ in movement, espescially in rough terrain. Their bodies are covered in thick fur, black or brown, and they do not wear clothes at all. On the head the fur turns into a mane, resembling hair, which they leave unkempt. The males also have beards. The color of their skin varies between green-gray and brown. Their hide is very tough, and gets tougher as they age. If anything, they find the climate too warm, but it seems they are too stubborn to move farther north.

Their faces are most often very ugly, like a parody of a man. Their ears are huge and pointed, their noses long and broad, their foreheads low. They have broad mouths with thick lips and big, yellow teeth. Their eyes are small, and the eyebrows are very hairy.

They seldom clean themselves, cannot swim, and do not like getting wet. Because of this, their appearance melts well into the terrain. The Woodland Trolls are often covered with straws, leaves, dirt and moss; the Mountain Trolls with dust and dirt.

As they grow older, the colour of the fur starts to fade and turn gray, and it is reputed that the king of the Woodland Trolls is almost completely white. In this statement lies the most unsettling fact about trolls: they do not die of age, nor do their powers wane as the years go by! Apparently, they reach their full height at the age of fifty, but their strength continues to grow, although their agility lessens with the centuries. One old Troll was seen fetching dinner from a Lord’s pastures, he left with one full-grown bull under each arm. Thus encumbered, he couldn't climb over the low wall surrounding the field, and fell flat on his face. He shrugged, left one of the bulls behind and left, climbing with the help of his one free arm, without coming back for the other bull.

Fortunately, they mate for life and do not try to find another mate if, as sometimes happens, their partner is killed or incapacitated. Furthermore, their fertility is low - few couples have more than one cub. The old ones are less agile than the young, but bigger and stronger.

 

Turn to stone

What lies behind the stories of Trolls turning into stone when exposed to the sun is the fact that Trolls get drowsy when out in daytime, they're normally a nighttime species. Added to this, there is the peculiar fact that Trolls sometimes, for reasons unknown, can stay in one place for a very long time. Some say this is because their stubbornness - if a Troll decides to wait for something, it will not lose interest.

Others, often naive romatics, claim that it has searched solitude to contemplate some problem beyond our fathoming. This does seem, in view of what we know of Trolls' intellectual gifts, quite improbable. However, after enough time has passed, it will be undistinguishable from the surrounding terrain, overgrown with moss and grass, surrounded by trees and bushes.

Stories tell of travellers seeking shelter from the wind behind a rock, a rock which wakes when a fire is lit against its side. Thus awakened, the Troll is often furious at having been disturbed and attacks at once. After the disturbance is removed, however, the Troll is likely to return to its former, dormant state.

 

Game mechanics

A Troll awakened like this starts with a DEX and STR at 2, and doubles these points every melée round until he is up to normal. This generally takes five rounds. A simple table that shows STR, DEX, Damage and fighting skills for the different Trolls are given at the end of this article.

 

Diet

A Troll will normally eat anything that isn't too hard to chew. Trees and rocks are generally left alone, and when they catch a larger animal or a person, their first action is to rip off the head and throw it away. It is speculated that this is because they do not like the taste of brains. A Troll is usually hungry all the time, but since this is the normal state for a Troll, they have learned to ignore it. A Troll pursuing another matter may pass a stack of hay or a herd of sheep without being distracted.

 

Cold iron

Common folk say that in order to prevent a Troll’s entry to a house, you should put a horseshoe over the door, since Trolls cannot stand the prescence of cold iron. Strangely enough, this does not seem to be superstition. Reliable reports tell that a Troll, chasing people, willturn away once the people reach the sanctuary beyond the horseshoe. On the other hand, they do not react this way when threathened with a sword or an axe.

 

Fighting a Troll

First, an enraged Troll does not stop fighting until the threat is no more. It won't become unconscious, but continues to fight with its full power until dead. On the other hand, a Troll does not fight for reasons other than self-defence or when hunting its prey. Unfortunately, they consider humans prey, although they tend to avoid stalking an armoured knight. This is not because of fear, a concept they do not understand, but rather because the food comes in an inconvenient package.

As with some animals, you can try to fool a Troll that you are dead, in which case it will not need to defend itself. But if you do, you can only hope that it doesn't decide it has the time for a quick snack.

Normally, they fight with their bare hands or use a club. On their fingers they have sharp claws which often carry infections. These claws cannot penetrate a metal armour, though. Some Trolls have acquired great swords or spears. A fight with a Troll armed such is to be avoided, since they often have trained up a considerable skill, wielding the weapon single-handedly and using whatever they find nearby (trees, sheep, unconscious knights) as a shield.

 

Game mechanics

Attacks: two fist/claw or one club or one great sword/spear (these Trolls should be very rare, and have a skill at no less than 12)

Damage: (STR+SIZ)/8 with fist/claw and club (because of the bluntness of the weapon) (STR+SIZ)/6 with Great Sword or Spear (given in parethesis below)

 

Typical stats and skills for Trolls of different age (very few Trolls have Sword or Spear skills)

  SIZ DEX STR CON Mov HP Dam Fist Club Sw/sp Arm.
Young 20 20 20 15 4 35 5d6 (7d6) 16 12 13 6
Mature 25 15 25 20 4 45 6d6 (8d6) 13 13 15 7
Old 30 10 30 25 4 55 7d6 (10d6) 10 14 17 8

 

Awakening tables

Young Troll

Round DEX STR Mov Dam Fist Club Sw/sp
1 2 2 0.5 3d6 (4d6) 2 2 2
2 4 4 1 3d6 (4d6) 6 4 4
3 8 8 2 4d6 (5d6) 10 7 7
4 16 16 3 4d6 (6d6) 14 10 10
5 20 20 4 5d6 (7d6) 16 12 13

 

Mature Troll

Round DEX STR Mov Dam Fist Club Sw/sp
1 2 2 0.5 3d6 (5d6) 2 2 2
2 4 4 1 4d6 (5d6) 6 4 4
3 8 8 2 4d6 (6d6) 9 7 8
4 15 16 3 5d6 (6d6) 11 10 12
5 15 25 4 6d6 (8d6) 13 13 15

 

Old Troll

Round DEX STR Mov Dam Fist Club Sw/sp
1 2 2 0.5 3d6 (5d6) 2 2 2
2 4 4 1 4d6 (6d6) 4 4 4
3 8 8 2 5d6 (6d6) 6 7 8
4 10 16 3 6d6 (8d6) 8 10 12
5 10 30 4 7d6 (10d6) 10 14 17

 

Personality

As has been stated earlier, Trolls are not animals. They can communicate and have societies with, to stretch the definition of the word a bit, ethics and rules. Generally, the Mountain Trolls are less intelligent and ‘civilized’ than their Woodland cousins, but even among these you find a rather developed, for want of a better word, culture. Although different in sophistication, all Trolls share some common traits.

 

These are the following:

Curiosity

All Trolls are very curious and are often willing to put off an easy meal to pursue a question or to gather new knowledge. They are, reputedly, fond of riddles and seems to be especially interested in all aspects of nature. If a plant or herb has some special properties, a Troll will know.

Unfortunately, they appear to be very jealous when it comes to knowledge. They might be ready to tell you what you want to know, but the answer always has a prize. It is possible to try to trick a Troll to reveal something out of pride, by showing doubt of their knowledge, but this could be dangerous. If the Troll realizes you are trying to fool it, it might tell you a lie, or become furious and attack without preamble.

 

Pride

Trolls are generally very proud creatures. If challenged, they almost always responds, even in the face of overwhelming odds. It will remember any slights and is not inclined to forgive. If you make an enemy of a Troll, there can be no reconcilation. You can hardly force a Troll to obey your command, their pride will not admitt it.

 

Honour

Paired with their pride, Trolls do have honour, altough their definition of the concept is not the correct one, as used by our knights and lords. There is nothing in their code to stop them from stealing cattle or to kill someone out of mere irritation.

But their hospitality is absolute. Once invited to a Troll’s home, you are seen not as a guest, but as a family member, all throughout the duration of your stay. This might well be the reason why very few men have been offered this honour. Most Trolls would find it difficult to see what normally would be a meal as a brother instead.

Furthermore, an oath or a vow given by a Troll is not a promise, but a fact. If it is possible at all to fulfill, it will be done, and if not, the Troll will perish trying. It is hard, though, to extract this prize from a Troll. The only way would be to do the Troll a great favour, something it couldn’t have done by itself. A Troll does always pay its debts, wether he owes revenge or assistance.

But be wary of lending a Troll assistance unasked for; if you presume he need help and step in to lend a hand, his pride might get hurt, in which case he will acknowledge a debt of the former kind mentioned above.

 

Fascination of beauty

This might sound strange in view of their appearance, but Trolls apparently enjoy beauty more than many men, particurlarly the fragile kind of beauty. Flowers, butterflies, birds and does can captivate them in mid-stride. They never hurt beautiful women or children, although many maid and playing child have been shocked and frightened when noticing a lumbering Troll watching them intently from the woods. In fact, sometimes they bring women and children as guests, or rather, abductees.

There has been reports of changelings too, when a Troll has made an, in its own opinion surely fair enough, exchange of babies. Apparently the Troll doing such an exchange believes its own child will be reared by its new-found parents. Obviously, this is seldom the case. The Troll-baby is, as far as we can tell, almost always put to death, making an agreement to reverse the exchange with the Troll impossible.

The shock the parents recieve when they find an ugly Troll-todling in the crib instead of their beloved child could only be surpassed by the child’s horror when facing the abductor. This is why many a baby has a horseshoe or some other item of iron in the crib, since Trolls, as we’ve said earlier, cannot stand cold iron.