Trolls

Trolls are large, predatory beasts, which primarily live in northern Arvinder, ranging from cold tundras, boreal forests, and cold mountains. They rank quite highly in the food chain, and are renowned among the people who share habitats with them for their strength and ferocity, with many cultures hunting them for sport.

## Physiology

### Appearance

Trolls are huge, somewhat simian creatures which stand with a hunched posture on their hind legs, though when sprinting, they drop to their knuckles to run for short burst. They are covered in several layers of muscle and insulating fatty tissue, topped off with an oily white fur that adds further insulation from the cold and camouflage in their snowy environment. Both their hands and feet are covered in thick, dark skin, with their fingers and toes both being tipped with claws, used for tearing flesh. They possess wicked fangs, pointed ears, and blue eyes, as well as a pair of horns atop their heads, which are more prominent in males. Adult males stand between ten and twelve feet tall, weighing from twelve hundred to sixteen hundred pounds on average, whilst adult females usually stand between nine to ten and a half feet in height, and weigh between one thousand and thirteen hundred pounds.

### Diet

Trolls are predators, subsisting primarily on meat, though they do occasionally supplement their diets with various roots, as well as digging out insects from rotting wood. Due to their considerable dietary requirements, trolls need large hunting territories, which they will defend from other trolls, with any who loses a fight and not fleeing often being eaten by the victor.

### Life Cycle

Troll pregnancies last about ten months, with the mating season occurring during the summer so that the cubs may be born the next spring. Females usually give birth to litters of two or three cubs, which will typically nurse for about six to eight months, before learning to subsist on meat. The cubs will usually remain with their mother until age three, during which time the mother must defend them from any adult males who happen by, as they are fiercely territorial. Once the cubs are three years old, and entering adolescence, they will be kicked out of their mother's territory, and made to find hunting grounds of their own. One or two adolescents will often be killed by territorial adults before they can establish territory of their own. Trolls reach full maturity at about age six, and it is at this time when they usually begin engaging in mating rituals of their own. They will begin to degrade physically at around age fifteen, and will usually die of old age by the time that they are twenty years of age.

## Abilities

Keen Senses: Trolls are possessed of sharp senses, being able to see well in low light conditions, track scents of their prey, and being gifted with sharp hearing.

Roar: Trolls possess extremely loud, magical roars, which they employ when hunting to stun and disorient their prey long enough to close in for the kill. Trolls are able to somewhat regulate the effects of their roar, being able to focus it on targeted individuals for a more potent effect, or spread it out to work on groups. The potency of their roar is stronger in adults, and is also affected by the troll's health, with more well fed trolls being able to produce more potent roars.

Superhuman Speed: Trolls are able to run at fairly impressive speeds for short bursts, being able to sprint at top speeds of about thirty five miles per hour.

Superhuman Strength: Trolls are incredibly strong, and are able to easily dismember most normal creatures with their powerful claws. Additionally, they possess bites that can crunch through bones with little difficulty. Trolls are also capable of knocking down small trees, a strategy that many employ when chasing prey that has climbed them.

## Weaknesses

Trolls are mortal creatures, and can be killed through standard means such as blood loss, head trauma, organ damage, or decapitation.

Fire: Trolls are terrified of fire, due to the fact that the oils in their fur are extremely flammable. Most will flee at the sight of a few torches being waved around, though the particularly desperate may persist in their hunting even if fire is near. If they are actually set ablaze, however, most trolls will enter a frenzy where they roll about on the ground, beating at themselves in an attempt to extinguish the flames.