The trolls, also called the night men, are beings associated with darkness and the night. They are typically larger than humans, with grey skin, snouts, and tusks. Trolls are often, but not always, hostile to humans. Although the details of their ways are mysterious, it is widely known that they are matriarchal and that they consider almost everything edible. Trolls are nocturnal and most comfortable in the dark and cold. Thus, they are most likely to raid during Dark Season. Seldomly, they have been known to ride giant, beetle-like insects, the shells of which they also fashion into both armor and decorations.
Their chief goddess is Kyger Litor. Other troll gods are Argan Argar, Zorak Zoran, and Cragspider. In general, their pantheon is hostile to both the storm and solar gods, but also to Chaos. Besides their gods, trolls also deal with darkness spirits.
Ride Like the Wind[]
Trolls first appear in Ride Like the Wind. Depending on your choices during clan creation, the trolls are a possible ancestral enemy of your clan.
The Scarab spirit will help you in your dealings with trolls. Similarly, the Iron Gear treasure helps you deal with trolls as well as elves.
Events[]
Trolls appear in the following events:
- Battle on the Hill of Gold
- Family Compensation Demanded
- Troll Aggression
- Troll Compensation
- Troll Traders
- Wounded Trolls
- Yarm Tree Devoured
Lore[]
Your clan circle may say the following about trolls:
- "Not every clan considers trolls their primary enemy, but they all consider them a foe."
- "The mother of trolls woke up hungry in the dark, and started to eat the world."
- "Trolls are always tough opponents."
Myths & Rituals[]
The troll god Zorak Zoran appear in the myth Hippogriff Reborn and its corresponding ritual Gamari Horse Mother. Trolls also figure in the end-game ritual 'A fight against invading trolls'. They also have a minor appearance in another end-game ritual, 'Rivalry between warlords.'
Lights Going Out[]
Trolls return, more relevant than ever, in Lights Going Out. During the game's clan creation, you may choose to ward your fortress, Berenstead, against trolls, which gives you an advantage over them in battle.
You may hear of four groups of trolls in the game, three of which are ruled by queens—"wise and strong" Irrekar Ulombar, "cunning" Teshat Kezrat and "fearsome" Irak Ilag—with the fourth of the belief that the time of queens is over. It is possible to develop friendly relations with those ruled by Irrekarr Ulombar, in a series of events starting with Troll Emissaries.
The Scarab spirit from Ride Like the Wind returns in Lights Going Out, but the Iron Gear treasure does not.
Throughout a game of Lights Going Out, you may hear variations of the following reports:
| “ | <Reliable stories say/I have heard> that <the trolls mustered an army/a large army of trolls assembled> to fight Chaos, and <killed thousands of broos/suffered horrible losses>. <Normally a troll victory would be bad news, but I have to thank them for fighting an even worse enemy/I am no fan of trolls, but they hate Chaos as much as we do, so I can't consider this good news>. | ” |
| “ | Supposedly a large band of trolls accompanied by dozens of darkness spirits attacked a bandit camp and killed all of them, feasting on their remains.
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” |
| “ | In response to repeated provocations, a band of trolls launched a devestating raid against the <Other Clan>s. They did some looting but were mainly concerned with killing. When they finally withdrew, the trolls took the bodies of the slain. The implications of that are best not dwelled upon. | ” |
| “ | As we traveled to the <northwest>, my party met towering trolls wearing armor fashioned from the carapaces of monstrous beetles. Despite my peaceful overtures, they attacked. We easily bested them. Their survivors fled, leaving behind cloth decorated with glittering insect shells worth <Number> cows. | ” |
Events[]
Trolls appear in the following events:
- Darkness Spirit Attack
- Troll Emissaries
- Troll Mercenaries
- Troll Scour Offer
- Trolls Seek Treasure
- Troll Queen
They can also be seen taking part in the Unity Battle in the New Dawn Victory ending.
Lore[]
Your clan ring says:
- "It's still a little hard to think of trolls as people, not monsters."
- "Trolls have only recently trained their spirits to attack fortifications."
- "Some say their main god is a death deity, but in fact it is their great mother Kyger Litor."
- "Trolls have great spirit power. Maybe the treasure is a spirit."
- "Trolls prefer edible gifts."
- "Trolls can raid us, but we can't reliably raid them in return."
- "The remaining foes of the trolls are the forces of Chaos—and solar worshipers, like us."
- "Trolls hate Chaos as much as we do."
- "Three words of advice when dealing with trolls: careful, careful, careful."
- "We need unity with the trolls for the day of final battle."
Myths & Rituals[]
The trolls receives a brief mention in the myth How Horses Came to Orlanthstead.
Though trolls don't appear in any Lights Going Out rituals, the troll divinity Cragspider may be contacted by traversing through a gate into the Otherworld, see Other Side: Cragspider's Lair.
In Battle[]
Trolls are uniquely suited to raid during Dark Season and will not hesitate to do so. Also, unlike your enemies inside the valley, while trolls may raid you, you can't raid them back.
In an increasingly dark and cold Glorantha, trolls are fearsome opponents; one troll warrior is roughly equal to three human ones. They fight on foot with slingstones and clubs, and their shamans can summon terrible insect monsters to the battlefield. In this era no troll is truly weak, though some of their champions are exceptionally strong and large. For their Heroic Combat events, see Heroic Combat: Trolls.
They have a unique combat ritual, Gloom, calling on their darkness gods to aid them in the battle. They will never set aside a reserve and will never accept your requests to parley—perhaps, as inhuman beings, they don't recognize them. Or maybe they're just too hungry to consider the idea.
Ride Like the Wind[]
If trolls are your ancestral enemies in Ride Like the Wind, they may raid you more often. However, since your clan has been battling trolls since ancestral times, you will also be better at fighting them. Still, the Tusk Burning Banner treasure, which decreases magnitude of defeat when defending against trolls, may be helpful.
Lights Going Out[]
In Lights Going Out, your ancestors are not so concerned about trolls being your ancestral enemies. Still, if you choose to ward Berenstead against trolls during the game's clan creation, it will give you an advantage over them should they raid you and may even make them fail outright before a battle even commences, rewarding you with a small amount of Magic. The Tusk Burning Banner returns in Lights Going Out and is still helpful when defending against trolls.
If, during the Troll Queen event, you ally with the trolls ruled by Queen Irrekar Ulombar, they will gift you the Tomorrow Skull, signaling to trolls under her rule not to attack you. Because the trolls in Lights Going Out are modeled as four separate clans, one of which is Irrekar's, this will effectively decrease the frequency of troll raids by a quarter. The other three will always be hostile, however, and since they are different clans, it means that even if one takes heavy casualties in a raid, another that is unaffected may still attack you with their full strength.
Other Stories[]
For more, read here about the (quite different) trolls in the King of Dragon Pass wiki and here on the Glorantha wiki.
Gallery[]
In Ride Like the Wind, trolls are drawn by a variety of artists—Simon Roy for battles, Michelle Lockamy for Gods War appearances, and Jan Pospíšil for other scenes.
