The Beast Fears Fire - Trolls

This is the last of the Beast Fears Fire Monsters! Wooo!

Trolls [Want 4]
Impulse - To Curate the Past

Trolls don't really believe in the Mother. They know the sandrisas, they have seen them, and on the rare occasions that you can get a troll to say anything about them, they will usually say the sandrisas are full of it, but very powerful, so don't bother bringing it up around them. Trolls claim to be quite old, created from the Earth (with a little Wood thrown in), in the earliest days, they were tasked to dig the Underworld, and more than a few still live down there. Still others live on the surface, and tend to prefer the mountains and other out-of-the-way places to live quietly. They don't care. Not usually. Not about much of anything. There haven't been new trolls in only-they-know-how-long, so their numbers are few and have dropped from the old days due to attrition. Until recently, Cricks thought that the nearest trolls lived in the Surlycrow, but a handful have come down from the mountains since the receding of the ice,

Trolls are big, almost twice human size, but spindly and hunched with the distinct appearance of being carved out of roots and stone. They have long arms and can go on all fours when they feel like it. Trolls have no sex, but adopt gender (something that is apparently vary important to their identity), usually male or female, but occasionally neuter or intersex or something different, and refer to one another as sister, brother or sibling as the case demands. Trolls wear baggy garments full of pockets and long, richly dyed and carefully constructed coats, usually in bright colors. Trolls appreciate anything colorful, and are usually willing to trade for colorful objects. Trolls do not need to eat, but like to. They especially like noodles and dumplings, as well as spicy food and alcohol (though they cannot get intoxicated, they appreciate the taste). Every troll carries a great weapon forged from the tools they used to dig the Black Mansions as a symbol that they will not be enslaved again. Trolls are not especially violent, but they can be terrifying fighters and extremely difficult to kill. Trolls choose names based on plants, usually the flower, fruit or seed of the plant - Turnipseed, Cherrystone, Samarra, Catkin; something like that.

Harm - 4 Trolls are incredibly strong, tough as boulders and seasoned hardwood, and armed as a matter of course. They are usually not interested in fighting except to defend their person an property. If you fight a troll, face Violence as usual, and godspeed. Human-troll interactions are most common when one or the other is looking for something from the past. Trolls enjoy keeping collections, and know places where things were buried in the old days. They tend to make their homes in and around these places, old pre-imperial ruins, libraries, seed archives, research stations, military fortresses, things like that. Treasure hunters and scholars are the most likely to run into them on purpose (treasure hunters are the most likely to have to fight with them, if they don't mind their manners), and it's possible, though difficult to trade with trolls for something of the ancient world.

Sifting the Hoard
When you are going through a troll's stuff, either to trade or steal, face Want.
On a Hit, you find something of use or interest, but the Moderator gets a Soft Move (which, if you're stealing is, I bet, "The Troll Finds Out."
On a Hard Hit, you find something interesting or useful and the Troll is either willing to trade, or doesn't know you took it. Do be warned, trolls are good trackers, and you may be facing Disaster (and disaster) soon.
On a Miss, you find the thing you absolutely need for what you mean to do, but the troll isn't willing to part with it unless you do something (dangerous and difficult) for it first. If you're stealing it, the first you know that the troll has found you is when the troll bounces you off the walls a few times and you suffer Harm as stated.

Cause I love you like a mountain
Trolls should be a treasure trove of history, but their general indifference to the actions of human beings and their tendency to be hermits makes their recollections, when they can be persuaded to share them, of little use to historians. Lahesian trolls are somewhat divided by the sandrisas, into those who are willing to work for them and those who aren't, and the trolls report that troll-on-troll violence has resulted from these arrangements, something that scholars weren't aware even happened. This has left Lahesian trolls more than a little upset and makes trolls from other regions hesitant to make contact with them. There are rumors that troll bodies are composed almost entirely of esoteric wood, but anyone who successfully kills a troll had best keep that to themselves. Murrenic law treats that as murder and any troll who finds out is bound to return the favor.