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Troll

A brutish Troll wielding a primitive stone hammer.

A Troll is a large, brutish, monstrous humanoid native to the northern Old World, particularly Troll Country, Norsca and the Chaos Wastes. They are as witlessly stupid as they are bone-crushingly powerful.

They care for little save the acquisition of their next meal, though this need makes them exploitable for use as powerful infantry by several factions, including Greenskins, the armies of the Norscans and the forces of Chaos.

Role

Total War Troll Render 1

Rendering of a Troll for Total War: Warhammer

Trolls are voracious creatures, more motivated by hunger and the constant search for enough food to satisfy their great appetites than anything else. Appropriately enough, their digestive systems can cope with almost anything, including, as rumoured, rock and metal. Trolls commonly join rampaging armies of Greenskins for the promise of food.

Trolls in Troll country

The various types of Trolls found in Troll Country.

Trolls are found in their greatest numbers in the lands of the aptly-named Troll Country in the northern Old World, which borders the lands of Norsca to the north and other Chaos-tainted regions in close proximity to the Chaos Wastes. Trolls are by nature creatures of Chaos, its corrupting taint playing a primary role in their origins and continued existence.

Trolls are infamous for several abilities. Their digestive juices are among the most corrosive acids known in the mortal world and disembowelling a Troll can often result in the death of the attacker himself as the acid sprays out. Secondly, Trolls possess an uncanny ability to quickly regenerate even the most grievous wounds, perhaps as a coping mechanism against their own extremely corrosive digestive juices. In due time almost all of a Troll's wounds will be healed, no matter how mortal. Their only known weakness is fire, for wounds inflicted on a Troll with fire will not regenerate.

Furthermore, though Trolls sometimes make use of weapons, such as primitive stone clubs, hammers and bones, they are more than capable of ripping someone apart with their bare hands and claws.

Breeds

Troll

A Troll in battle alongside Goblins.

  • Common Trolls - Common Trolls are usually found roaming the wild, hunting animals or preying on travellers and livestock. They are dull-witted yet capable fighters, although easily distracted. Greenskin tribes often "bribe" these Trolls to join their Waaagh!s, promising an opportunity to eat Men, Dwarfs and their many other foes (or even Goblins should there temporarily be no enemy to fight and the Troll be hungry, not that the Orcs care).[1a]
  • River Trolls - River Trolls are Trolls that, as their name suggests, live in shallow waters such as rivers or marshes. They usually prey on fish, yet there have been numerous reports of fishermen gone missing. These Trolls are foul; their rancid smell is noticeable from afar and they are rightly feared for their ability to vomit acid onto their victims. Their appearance has become more greenish and scaly, adapting to life in the water.[2a]
  • Giant River Troll Hags - Giant River Troll Hags are hateful and bitter creatures, far larger and more dangerous than their common kin.
  • Stone Trolls - Stone Trolls are native to mountainous and rocky regions, and occasionally even eat rocks and stones. As a result, they have acquired some rock-like physical characteristics, including a very tough, almost stony hide. Another extraordinary characteristic is that Stone Trolls are extremely resistant towards magic.[3a]
  • Snow Trolls - Snow Trolls are native to snow-covered mountains, often living in bone-strewn caves. They stand nearly twelve feet tall and are covered in thick, matted fur.[4a]

Chaos Troll Breeds

While all Trolls are by nature originally creatures of Chaos, most Trolls are too stupid to directly look for the favour of the Ruinous Powers, instead rampaging like dumb animals throughout the Old World. However, some Trolls have been more directly touched by the mutating power of Chaos, resulting in breeds more powerful than their lesser kin. Despite retaining their cousins' stupidity, these Chaos Trolls have proven themselves more loyal to the Dark Gods, often fighting in armies side-by-side with their other mortal and daemonic followers.

  • Chaos Trolls - While all Trolls are touched by Chaos, some have undergone more direct mutation that has twisted them into even more fearsome and aggressive creatures than normal. They can possess all forms of mutations, two heads being a common affliction. Like all Trolls, they are a terrifyingly powerful, fast-moving creature with flesh that can quickly restore itself, or, to be precise, warp itself into ever more terrible mutations. Unlike most Trolls, however, they literally use vomit as a weapon, acidic bile dissolving the flesh of their puny enemies. They can throw up even more repulsive things, including swathes of carnivorous worms or even the energy of Chaos. While the common River and Stone Trolls ally with Greenskins, these children of Chaos are loyal to their Dark God fathers and they will often accompany the Warriors of Chaos in their campaigns. Unfortunately for the latter, no amount of mutations has managed to cure their stupidity and animosity.[5a]
  • Ice Trolls - Primarily found in the frozen wastes of Norsca, Ice Trolls have mutated due to their proximity to the Chaos Wastes, allowing them to freeze their enemies with an icy breath. As such, they are commonly used by the armies of the Chaos-worshipping Norscans as beasts of war.[6a]
  • Bile Trolls - Corrupt of flesh and dwelling in living agony, Bile Trolls have been corrupted by the Chaos God Nurgle. Their ability to heal is less than that of their uncorrupted kin, as it is overtaxed by their constant suffering, but their touch is a lethal poison and their corrosive bile rots away living flesh in seconds. Long ago the Troll chief Raak Stoneshatterer united many of his fellow Chaos Trolls in a great warband to challenge the Champions of Chaos for the favour of the Dark Gods. Victory after victory followed, and Raak and his monstrous kin grew fat and arrogant, but their fortune would end when they faced and defeated the horde of Gulvas Bloatchild, favoured son of the Plague Father. When the triumphant Trolls devoured their foes, they were filled with the most potent diseases and cankers of Nurgle's devising, but they did not perish. Instead, the Trolls became twisted, tormented creatures, their bodies bloated and agonised, endlessly regenerating only to be devoured again from within. The Bile Trolls are those who descend from Raak's followers and those among Troll-kin who have shared their fate. Haunting the Cold Mires of Troll Country, Bile Trolls are few in number and shunned by their kin, who do not wish to share their curse.[7a]
  • Lava Trolls - Lava Trolls are only a briefly mentioned breed that lives within magma caverns deep beneath the Dark Lands. Chaos Dwarfs have been known to use massive harpoon-guns to take down these beasts, as they are the only known Troll breed able to endure the effects of fire, which is a Troll's one true weakness.[7b]

Miniatures

Sources

  • 1: Warhammer Armies: Orcs & Goblins (4th Edition)
    • 1a: pg. 92
  • 2: Warhammer Armies: Orcs & Goblins (6th Edition)
    • 2a: pg. 21
  • 3: Warhammer Armies: Orcs & Goblins (7th Edition)
    • 3a: pg. 32
  • 4: King of Black Crag (Short Story) by Guy Haley
  • 5: Warhammer Armies: Warriors of Chaos (7th Edition)
    • 5a: pg. 60
  • 6: Total War: Warhammer (PC Game)
  • 7: Tamurkhan: The Throne of Chaos (8th Edition)
    • 7a: pg. 129
    • 7b: pg. 179

Gallery

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