A very rough sketch, quickie ref sheet.
Background:
Trolls are an artificial species, a mix of human and native Caranoctian reptilian mammals, created by the Aelvians to be physically tough, highly intelligent slaves. It didn't quite work out - the trolls rebelled, slaughtered their creators and destroyed their city, Thorcasia, and escaped into the wilderness. Now that the human-Aelvian war is over, they've begun trying to decode Aelvian magic for their own use, and are gathering information on the new pan-species society (whether to join it or conquer it, no one but the trolls know).
Anatomy:
Compared to the average human, trolls are gawky-looking, with corded, stringy muscle and knobby joints. Their sloped shoulders and slouching posture make them seem a bit shorter than they really are. The arms and torso are longer, especially the forearms, and the legs shorter, especially the thigh. They walk and stand with the heel touching the ground, but raise up on their toes to run (this one is shown in the digitigrade pose). The tail is very flexible, but not prehensile, and shows mood, similar to a cat's.
There are four digits on the hands and feet. The middle toe is the longest, the first toe is set back like a dewclaw and slightly opposable. Claws do not retract. The wrists, elbows and heels sport curved spurs which are made of keratin and can be trimmed down. There may be smaller, extra spurs along the back of the arms, legs, and on the spine.
Trolls are more reptile than mammal - no nipples, no navel, no sweat glands, no facial or pubic hair, and very sparse, straight body hair. The skin is covered in grainy scales dotted here and there with larger, bony scutes. There are often iguana-like spines on the edge of the jaw, chin, bridge of nose and eyebrows. Hair is very thick and lank, almost more like flexible quills, and runs down the spine as a mane, tipping the tail in a tuft.
Skin color is usually some variation of yellowish-greenish-gray, dull slate blue, or terracotta, with darker or lighter mottling or other markings, including patches of cobalt blue. Hair can be black, rusty brown, orange or very dark blue, often with a lot of gray mixed in. Rare albinos have light blue or white skin, and blue or white hair (blue is a structural color, not a pigment, and unaffected by albinism). The sclera (white) of the eye is black, the pupil round, and the iris comes in pale shades of gold, orange, gray, blue or green.
On the forehead is what appears to be a dark reddish-black jewel, smooth and oval, set into the skin. This is actually a parietal eye. No lid, no pupil, it is mainly used to sense infrared light.
Trolls all have very similar facial features, probably because a single human was used as a model: low forehead, narrow, close-set eyes, prodigious aquiline nose, wide, thin-lipped mouth, sharply angled jaw, hollow cheeks and pointy chin. Some appear almost human, others are more feral with prognathous jaws. The teeth are all sharp and rather crooked (they are continually replaced, like a reptile's). Older trolls have fewer, bigger teeth with more gaps. The tongue is long and purple with a forked yellow tip, the saliva mildly poisonous.
Trolls have a single gender (isogamy) - they aren't hermaphrodites. The genitalia are located where you'd expect, hidden behind firmly clasped-closed folds of skin. To humans, they all appear masculine, but in fact both partners will come away from a romp pregnant. Newborn trolls, trollspawn, look like hideous, reptilian kittens and are able to run and hunt almost from the start. When they're able to walk upright and imitate speech a little, they're called imps, and remain so until sexual maturity (about age 10).
Psychology & Culture:
Trolls are aggressive carnivores. They tend to band together in structured troops, but are rather asocial and squabble constantly over rank. The two most dominant will usually be the only ones in a troop who breed. They can, however, be surprisingly tolerant and kind towards infants and others who are obviously helpless and unthreatening.
Trolls are extremely intelligent, more so than humans, logical, stubborn, systematic, quick-thinking and inquisitive, but not terribly creative. They don;t enjoy fiction or abstract art and their music is mainly percussive. Their clothes are dull and practical, tight fitting on the torso but loose on the limbs to allow freedom of movement, and usually with high, stiff collars (during fights a swipe of the wrist spur to the throat is a popular move). They almost never have piercings, jewelery or other decorations.
Oddly, trolls tend to either be very loquacious or extremely taciturn.
Currently most trolls either live in the deep swamps of Guldurgu where they hid during the wars, or in the ruins of Thorcasia, where they research the lost magic of the Aelvians.
Background:
Trolls are an artificial species, a mix of human and native Caranoctian reptilian mammals, created by the Aelvians to be physically tough, highly intelligent slaves. It didn't quite work out - the trolls rebelled, slaughtered their creators and destroyed their city, Thorcasia, and escaped into the wilderness. Now that the human-Aelvian war is over, they've begun trying to decode Aelvian magic for their own use, and are gathering information on the new pan-species society (whether to join it or conquer it, no one but the trolls know).
Anatomy:
Compared to the average human, trolls are gawky-looking, with corded, stringy muscle and knobby joints. Their sloped shoulders and slouching posture make them seem a bit shorter than they really are. The arms and torso are longer, especially the forearms, and the legs shorter, especially the thigh. They walk and stand with the heel touching the ground, but raise up on their toes to run (this one is shown in the digitigrade pose). The tail is very flexible, but not prehensile, and shows mood, similar to a cat's.
There are four digits on the hands and feet. The middle toe is the longest, the first toe is set back like a dewclaw and slightly opposable. Claws do not retract. The wrists, elbows and heels sport curved spurs which are made of keratin and can be trimmed down. There may be smaller, extra spurs along the back of the arms, legs, and on the spine.
Trolls are more reptile than mammal - no nipples, no navel, no sweat glands, no facial or pubic hair, and very sparse, straight body hair. The skin is covered in grainy scales dotted here and there with larger, bony scutes. There are often iguana-like spines on the edge of the jaw, chin, bridge of nose and eyebrows. Hair is very thick and lank, almost more like flexible quills, and runs down the spine as a mane, tipping the tail in a tuft.
Skin color is usually some variation of yellowish-greenish-gray, dull slate blue, or terracotta, with darker or lighter mottling or other markings, including patches of cobalt blue. Hair can be black, rusty brown, orange or very dark blue, often with a lot of gray mixed in. Rare albinos have light blue or white skin, and blue or white hair (blue is a structural color, not a pigment, and unaffected by albinism). The sclera (white) of the eye is black, the pupil round, and the iris comes in pale shades of gold, orange, gray, blue or green.
On the forehead is what appears to be a dark reddish-black jewel, smooth and oval, set into the skin. This is actually a parietal eye. No lid, no pupil, it is mainly used to sense infrared light.
Trolls all have very similar facial features, probably because a single human was used as a model: low forehead, narrow, close-set eyes, prodigious aquiline nose, wide, thin-lipped mouth, sharply angled jaw, hollow cheeks and pointy chin. Some appear almost human, others are more feral with prognathous jaws. The teeth are all sharp and rather crooked (they are continually replaced, like a reptile's). Older trolls have fewer, bigger teeth with more gaps. The tongue is long and purple with a forked yellow tip, the saliva mildly poisonous.
Trolls have a single gender (isogamy) - they aren't hermaphrodites. The genitalia are located where you'd expect, hidden behind firmly clasped-closed folds of skin. To humans, they all appear masculine, but in fact both partners will come away from a romp pregnant. Newborn trolls, trollspawn, look like hideous, reptilian kittens and are able to run and hunt almost from the start. When they're able to walk upright and imitate speech a little, they're called imps, and remain so until sexual maturity (about age 10).
Psychology & Culture:
Trolls are aggressive carnivores. They tend to band together in structured troops, but are rather asocial and squabble constantly over rank. The two most dominant will usually be the only ones in a troop who breed. They can, however, be surprisingly tolerant and kind towards infants and others who are obviously helpless and unthreatening.
Trolls are extremely intelligent, more so than humans, logical, stubborn, systematic, quick-thinking and inquisitive, but not terribly creative. They don;t enjoy fiction or abstract art and their music is mainly percussive. Their clothes are dull and practical, tight fitting on the torso but loose on the limbs to allow freedom of movement, and usually with high, stiff collars (during fights a swipe of the wrist spur to the throat is a popular move). They almost never have piercings, jewelery or other decorations.
Oddly, trolls tend to either be very loquacious or extremely taciturn.
Currently most trolls either live in the deep swamps of Guldurgu where they hid during the wars, or in the ruins of Thorcasia, where they research the lost magic of the Aelvians.
Category Artwork (Digital) / General Furry Art
Species Reptilian (Other)
Size 662 x 720px
File Size 106.6 kB
I think no sweat glands is a design flaw by the Aelvians that would limit their fighting ability (animals that don't sweat, like pigs, can be killed just by making them run until their core temperature fries their brain--or just leave them outside on a hot day). That would force their tactics away from sustained combat to swiftly overwhelming with numbers. I would imagine their reptilian side would enjoy sunning spots (warm blooded doesn't matter--just ask my dogs). I've always believed that intelligence and creativity go hand-in-hand, but that's probably just my own prejudice.
Well, I was trying to keep this a short-enough-to-read version and not get into all the detail. They cool off the same way birds do, with rapid panting and a more efficient respiratory system, and they're also temporally heterothermic. The idea behind that was to work them hard all night, then let them shut down during the day. They tend to be more nocturnal than diurnal. There's also their build to take into consideration - very thin, they'd shed heat much more easily than a pig. They probably would be better off if they could sweat, but Aelvians aren't perfect.
As for intelligence and creativity, I would have to disagree. I think creativity is a certain *kind* of intelligence, and intelligence is a prerequisite for creativity.
As for intelligence and creativity, I would have to disagree. I think creativity is a certain *kind* of intelligence, and intelligence is a prerequisite for creativity.
I can see how their build would help them shed heat, especially if they concentrated their bloodflow in their extremities, like ostriches. Looking through your other references, I'm thinking Aelvians are pretty much humans who learned to access magic and set themselves up as wizards, yes? That is to say, they're not one of the nonhuman fill-in species. Defining creativity in a practical way is probably as difficult as really defining intelligence (at least in a bluntly comparative way, like saying a dog > horse or vice-versa). In defining creativity, I would make a distinction between innovation and imagination. Schizophrenics might have an amazing imagination, but their productivity is not good. Innovation is being able to see previously unknown connections and combining ideas or items in novel ways to create something novel and unique. I guess it would follow that there are no troll researchers--only librarians. Fortunately for humans, that will probably make it impossible for them to recover the arts of magic, unless there's a step-by-step process written down somewhere.
Yup, Aelvians are a side branch of humans. I have this whole complicated history worked out.
Perhaps what I should say with trolls is that they aren't artistic, rather than they aren't creative. They're innovative in practical ways - but no flourishes, no abstractions, nothing without a purpose. And of course there are probably isolated individuals who really would be considered artistic.
Perhaps what I should say with trolls is that they aren't artistic, rather than they aren't creative. They're innovative in practical ways - but no flourishes, no abstractions, nothing without a purpose. And of course there are probably isolated individuals who really would be considered artistic.
I can imagine those people are looked on as mental aberrations in troll society. "Yes, sadly, even we have our embarrassments. I had a third cousin who wore a necklace for no reason, and painted her house in a color that had no meaning." I can imagine it's like the Mennonites, only instead of shunning ornamentation for religious reasons, they simply don't see the point. Sounds like they'd have embraced the Bauhaus movement.
Hah, I hadn't thought about comparing them to Mennonites. They like experimental tech/magic stuff, but you're right, they're rather spartan. I imagine they might keep trophies of defeated enemies as decoration, and tell long boring detailed stories about their triumphs.
Your trolls are among my favorite humanoid species. All the detail and thought you put into their physiology and history... it's pretty damned awesome! Gah, I had more to say, but I just woke up and my brain's not working right. I am highly amused by the expression on the humans face though haha.
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