Trolls: Denizens of the Deep, Wild, and Unseen.

[Pretzelparty]

All across Whitescar Caribou deal with these creatures: Trolls. To an outsider it may appear these beings are no different to any of the other monstrous aggressive creatures that roam the lands. This is absolutely untrue.

 

Trolls come in all different sizes, shapes, and can even have entirely different ways of existing. There are, however recurring acts that occur across most of the differing subspecies along with appearances. The most common breed of troll that causes the caribou inhabitants no shortness of grief would be the Cave troll. When outsiders think of the trolls of Whitescar these are most likely what are pictured: bull moose sized creatures, covered in shaggy brown fur, with longish tails. Their maws are full of sharp teeth held by long muzzles, small eyes and a thinly furred face. Known for traveling in packs, stealing from homesteads, and even kidnapping caribou from caravans and in their cradles: These trolls are detested even amongst the rebel clans.

 

It's a shame that those who visit almost hear only about the latest events that the cavern dwellers have caused as they would see that there are a great deal of other trolls in the land who clash greatly with their ground dwelling counterparts.

 

There is a friendly face among the trolls: The Nisse. The Nisse are a curious … and rather cute species of troll when you can convince them to show themselves. Not much larger than a mouse, A Nisse is covered in a large fluff of brown fur. From what has been seen their eyes are rarely visible, typically covered up by the aforementioned fur. They have slightly stubby muzzles and usually you can tell their mood by tiny smiles they sport or the tiny frowns they express... then again it's rare to get them to show themselves to a simple traveler. Usually Nisse make their homes in the dwellings of caribou, rather than messing up the place or stealing from the homeowners they've been most known for cleaning, and assisting with certain things around the house in exchange for food if the owner of the home can provide it. Finding and observing them proves to be a very difficult task, in no small part thanks to their impressive speed and surprising strength. There are no records of them ever harming a caribou of their own accord, rather they have been known to be a great hindrance to thieves who enter a home uninvited.

 

A middle ground between friendly and hostile has been most notably filled by the neutral Forest Trolls. These beings are large enough you could conceivably build a small house on their backs if said backs weren't covered in shrubbery and trees of varying sizes. They seem to be herbivorous, mostly eating berry bushes of all types. If approached carefully and respectfully they are known to tolerate the presence of Caribou so long as they don't attempt anything aggressive towards them.

 

The most unusual trolls that Caribou have dealt with would be the mysterious Hulder. Some skalds and historians are still unsure if they can be called true trolls at all. Seeing as the Hulder have a strange form of unusually attractive members of the caribou species with some subtle and not so subtle hints at their troll origins. A traveler could have met a Hulder without even knowing, as all of them who appear to the rest of Caribou kind wear thick clothing such as robes in order to hide the troll tails that take the place of the small tufted tails natural caribou have. Still a very reclusive species they are not known to be aggressive, in fact they are comparable to the Nisse in that they will sometimes assist hardworking caribou with tasks and then just disappear.

 

The most dangerous and frightening Troll breeds would be elemental trolls. Mountain trolls, Rime Trolls, Wind Trolls, and Sea trolls. These trolls are especially notorious... but few only three of these types have been seen regularly.

 

The Mountain trolls are great stone behemoths, dangerously territorial and aggressive they seem to monitor and patrol the spine of the world serpent. The reason these trolls are rarely encountered during daytimes was made known through them. When the daylight comes and hits them, they turn to their namesake and merge into the mountains until the sunlight fades.

 

Rime trolls also disappear during the daytime, but are also limited to appearing only during freak snowstorms and blizzards. Suspected to be kin to the Wind troll who roam the flatlands. They are known for their ability to produce gale force, freezing winds from their maws. One of the troll breeds who show some form of intelligence, they are often accompanied by large white lupine creatures who produce small whiteouts around them.

 

Any great windstorm that plagues the flatlands or plains out of nowhere at night can readily be blamed on the Wind Trolls known as the Kajsa. Despite their tendency to cause dangerous windstorms they are relatively rare to anger. It is possible to converse with one but don't expect to hold it's attention long before you're blown to the distance for being “Boring”.

 

Sea Trolls are only seen on Whitescar shorelines. Much like the trolls native to the mountains, they tower over most creatures. They tend to build small, crude settlements along the shores and almost never venture inland. They are however fiercely terrotorial and will ambush and assault any vessel in the water or airship that is low enough for them to bring down via thrown projectile. On occasion these creatures can be seen in battles with the Kaiju who harass neighpon, recent reports suggest that they may be trying to tame younger versions of the beasts for unknown purposes.

 

Finally we come to the most difficult to find breed of troll in Whitescare: The Fire Trolls called the Surtr. Visual accounts of this breed are hard to come by as they often make residence in the deepest caverns and ancient ruins of Whitescar. Journals by explorers depict them as being jet black quadrupedal giants with burning orange eyes. Thankfully these beasts rarely leave their dwellings unless provoked or something is stolen from them.

 

To any travelers curious about the trolls. I advise you not try to observe or analyze these creatures without a native guide.

 

Magical Fauna of Whitescar: Trolls

Eydis Hildusdottir, Skald and Historian of Clan Hakon