Cloven

Descendants of Giants, the Trolls have long been seen as monsters by mortal kind, they were a rare and reclusive race who kept to themselves in caves or beneath the earth. When The End War was over and the first expeditions to the Godswood began, Trolls came to volunteer in larger numbers than people knew even existed. For the first time in a thousand generations, the Cloven had hopes of reuniting with their other half and finally being whole.

## Appearance

Trolls have mottled skin the color and texture of different kinds of stone. Their facial features are strongly defined and rigid.

Even the shortest among them tend to stand nearly 7 feet tall, and they are naturally well muscled without needing to exercise or train, as if they were carved that way, rather than grew into naturally. All of the Cloven have only one arm, but which arm they have is up to chance. There is a wound along the opposite shoulder that is scarred and turned to actual stone.

Most trolls are completely devoid of any hair other than on their large, often misshapen feet. If a troll does have hair, its often never cut, and completely unkempt. A troll with hair on their head is either believed to have a non-troll ancestor in their family line, or is blessed by some god or wight. Body hair however, is rarely seen as a magical gift.

Instead of wounds healing over as scars, on a troll, the wounds tend to turn to stone and in rare cases, the wound may even take on a texture similar to that of an ore vein in stone.

## Nature

##### Untrusting Loners

Due to a timeless history of generational trauma, being considered the enemies of most gods of mortals as well as their unbalanced personalities, Trolls have few friends even amongst their own kin. Many Trolls are forced to wander the world, homeless, friendless, searching for something to fill the void of their missing half. The journey to Asphodel however was a joint effort with other mortals, and a turning point in the Troll's history.

##### Unbalanced Personalities

Cloven often have grandiose, exaggerated and unbalanced personalities. Whether they have hair-thin tempers or are too meek to make any decisions for themselves, regardless of how small. This is because they are not whole. Their other halves would normally allow them to function normally, as a well adjusted individual, but on their own, each half is bound to make a mess in most social situations.

## Religious Inclinations

The Trolls and Giants are considered the enemies of most gods on the side of Sabarüm in the Endless Struggle, and yet, Trolls and Giants are generally not aligned with the forces of chaos either. Trolls are perpetual outsiders, even when it comes to religions, and as such most choose not to engage with religious practices of any kind. Troll priests are rare, but the few there are, will likely be followers of Ymir, and trying to form a community where Trolls can watch out for each other, and find their "missing half" in each other, rather than in some far away land talked about in fairytales.

## Folklore

The most famous Folklore about the Cloven is that of their origin.

### **The Cleaving of the Ettin**

*The Ettin or, rock trolls, were once two headed humanoids who roamed the world among their kin the giants, in the Nightlands, long before they were called such. Their skill with craftsmanship, and architecture impressed The High God Sabarüm , who decided he needed their service to build his kingdom. But soon he found he could do nothing to earn their servitude. The two souls of the Ettin completed each other, and they wanted for nothing. Seeking to quell this simple contentment, Sabarüm commanded his daughter Shapash, Goddess of birth, to split their newborns in twain, for only her sword was gentle and steady enough to split the babe without killing it. It is said that when she created the first Cloven, a terrible curse was placed on the Ettin, and from then on, every child conceived outside the Godswood would be born with one head, one arm and one soul, its other half taken by angels or spirits, whisked away to the Godswood of Idunn, to serve Sabarüm in the construction of his eternal kingdom. The enraged Ettin waged war against the Godswood for generations, but were defeated again and again by its four mighty guardians.*

## Magic

##### Runic Magic

Despite their reputations as dim-witted brutes, the cloven can be quite wise, and are often talented with magic. The cloven developed their own school of magic in ancient times, it is never to be taught to outsiders, and draws power from the language of giants and their old runes.