From: Rannou@info.polymtl.ca (Patrick Rannou)
Subject: Re: Trolls' regeneration
Organization: Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, Canada
	<1992Oct6.005640.24176@ncsu.edu> <BvpJsF.EHE@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca>
	<torban.718514816@csuvax1>
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 04:38:08 GMT

In article <torban.718514816@csuvax1> torban@csuvax1.csu.murdoch.edu.au (Torban Bennett) writes:

   >>|> 	Is a troll alive?
   >>Of course its alive.  It eats, grows, excretes, etc.  (don't have a bio book
   >Grows?  Are there baby trolls?  It doesn't age.  It regenerates, but it does
   >not grow.  It doesn't need to breath, else you could kill a troll by 
   >submerging it in water.

   You'll have to forgive my ignorance on the topic (I am not well read on
   Trolls ;-) but I have been dying to respond to this lengthy discussion.
   Either they are living animals or they are creatures totally of magic, if they
   eat food they must be part living. 

   >>|> Are they immortal (they shouldn't age thanks to regeneration)?
   >>They can be killed, but they shouldn't have any inate lifespan due to
   >>regeneration.
   >Killed or destroyed?  Wraiths are destroyed, bears are killed.  Is there any
   >other immortal creature that is alive?

   They could certainly age *with* regeneration.  As they get older the
   regeneration slows done.  Just like humans and natural healing.
   As for reproduction are Trolls asexual or sexual? It would be possible for
   them to have one of these 'normal' methods if they were an animal.
   (And yes, before anyone writes in, Aphids can reproduce asexually.  So that
   method is not unique to plants)

I'd say they age. Human cells reproduce by fission. Thus, two new identical
cells are created from an old cell, which served as "model" and contained
both cell just before fission. So, if the cell was genetically coded for
"old guy", why the new cells shouldn't have this particularity also? I
mean, the human body changes ALL it's ceels (except in the brain) every 7
years. We are constantly regrowing new skin. But human regeneration slows
down with age. So I'd guess a troll could die from old age. So what if he
loses an arm, he regenerates it VERY slowly, and the "new" arm is indeed
looking just like the other" the arm of an old troll. I remember seeing a
picture with trolls in it, and some definitiely looked younger than others,
and one looked like he could crumble on touch, tough he still looked
menacing (guess they're too stupid to know when they're finished).

I also happen to like the trolls from the Dragon magazine, back before
SnarfQuest, when the comic was about a dragon making "wargames" using
trolls as pieces...


   >>|> 	Is a troll regenerated from a finger a new troll?
   >>If you give it enough time and keep away from fire/acid.
   >No, I mean a NEW troll, as opposed to the same troll reborn to extract
   >revenge!

   OK now we get to the good bit.  Killing a Troll and regeneration.
   Firstly killing.  I say yes to suffocation, but it may take a long time!
   All animals require O2 to live, and I would say a Troll especially,
   as it would need it for the extra metabolism involved in regeneration.
   Of course it could produce some anaerobic(sp?) source of energy to store
   for emergencies.  This would mean it could live for some time (how long?)
   without air (as I imagine the Alien from Alien would!) It would also affect
   the speed (slow it done, as energy stores get exhausted) of regeration 
   after much 'choppy choppy' (as someone mentioned previously)

   For a body piece to grow into a 'new' troll, it would require some form
   of magic (there's just no 'realistic' way a finger can gain enough matter
   to become a new troll.  This process of growing requires food ;-)
   Also it avoids the problem already raised (by another poster) of two
   'pieces' being left, how does each piece know which is the bigger, or what
   if both pieces are the same size?  So you must have some sort magic to avoid
   the scientific anomalies.

Unless a troll is mostly magical... Or it regenerates directly from the
chemical elements in the air!

   Two final points.  Poison to kill a Troll.  Yes.  Even with new cells being
   produced, the poison can remain around to kill these as well (just like the
   ozone layer, one molecule of CFC can destroy hundreds of ozone molecules)
   Psionics.  Kill no, disable yes!  People talked about the trolls mind being
   fried, reduced to "Food, eat! Food eat" but its still a psychotic killer.  Body
   movement is controlled by the brain as well, so if you destroy certain parts
   of the brain, you can disable all motor function!  

Agreed. Me, I just do it "mindless beast". Even with their head splattered
all over (they don't have a brain, not even a heart, in some campaigns.
It's just some kind of meaty fungus...), they fight on... mindless things
don't need a brain to fight. Do squeletons need a brain to fight?



--
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| Patrick "Paradak" Rannou. |
| Rannou@info.polymtl.ca    |
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