Hill trolls are the weakest of the subraces, they are
much stronger than an average human, strong enough to rip free from a
pin spell, and have a light brown coloration to their hides. They are
also among the least intelligent of the trollish races but do organize
in villages, caring for the group over individuals. Hill trolls often
live on the surface though in Neridia they have been driven
underground. On occasion a village is still found high in the
mountains where few people venture. Hill trolls breed the fastest out
of the trollish subraces. They are in season twice a year and they
bear their young in five months. For a troll woman, life is often a
period of perpetual pregnancy. They often have multiple births with
litters of up to five or even six young. The young mature in a year’s
time and are able to act as full adults in the tribe.
The Stone trolls are stronger than the hill trolls,
able to rip free from a bind spell, and have a dark brown hide. The
stone troll villages are more organized than the hill trolls often
having such amenities as a forge and storehouse. Stone trolls often
lead hill trolls and are the most common of the trollish races. Like
hill trolls the stone troll women are nearly perpetually pregnant.
They bear their litters twice a year and they are always of high
numbers, usually close to eight. They mature somewhat slower than the
hill trolls, the young being immature for a period of two years and
then able to act as a sixteen year old human could.
The Bone trolls or War trolls as they
are often called are physically superior to both Hill and Stone
trolls. However, they tend to be limited in intellect often resulting
in them trying to fight their way through any situation. They have no
real organization and take what they need to survive rather than
organize to survive. Physically they are strong enough to rip their
way free from a web spell and employ weapons with great skill. These
trolls, however, tend to be very limited in use of magic. Their skin
is grey in color and they usually live in caves in small groups. War
trolls are often controlled either by their more intelligent brethren,
the Stone trolls or their more powerful brethren the Deep trolls. The
war trolls breed whenever possible to raise more and more warriors of
their people. Each six-month cycle the women give birth and luckily
for us they only bear two or three young instead of the six or more
that other trollish subraces do. The young however mature as fast as
the hill trolls do and even if not quite mature are often pushed out
of the den to fight and prove themselves worthy of life.
Even though they are capable of reasoned thought and government,
the trolls seen to all hate other life with a passion and thus peace
with them is unachievable.
Deep trolls
are the most powerful of the trollish
races; they are the primordial trolls from which others troll races
have descended. They are black-skinned and are more powerful and more
intelligent than any of their brethren. They are strong enough to be
able to rip through a confine spell though they take a fair amount of
damage doing so. The Deep trolls are masters of magic and are said to
be responsible for the breeding of the trollish subraces as workers
and warriors. Unlike the other trollish races, the Deep trolls tend
not to come to the surface in great numbers. They have been known to
use magics to change themselves and often have individual members of
their society altered to serve a specific role in their society or
warfare. It is said that through these magics which they use to change
themselves came their resistance to fire relative to the rest of the
trollish races, fire only affecting them as it would any normal race.
Deep trolls are the keepers of the higher magics and the circles of
power for their race. Deep trolls unlike the other trollish subraces
only breed one time each year and they almost never bear more than two
children at a time. The deep troll young take three years to mature.
All this keeps the relative numbers of deep trolls down but their
greater physical and mental prowess tends to make them longer lived
and more successful than their populous brethren.
