Sea Troll

Creation Story:

… When it was Dagon’s turn to throw his stone to determine where his race would live he hit the ocean. He was scorned for this. Upon leaving the party he went to work. After Dagon settled in his trench he began his work. He first took the blackest muck from the sea floor and shaped it to his liking, then he filleted a whale and gave the muck the bones of the great beast. Next he skinned a shark and fitted the skin to the muck. Finally he took his creation to his trench and in the deepest part of the sea above the hottest hydro-thermal geyser used the power of the sea to give life to the first Sea Troll. He repeated this process six more times and placed each of his creations in one of the seven seas. He then said to them, “Mate with the creatures of the sea to bring forth more kin in my name.” And so they did and their populations grew, Dagon returned and was pleased with their progress. Dagon called the seven original Sea Trolls once more and said, “The land is our adversary, and the cur which walk the land are also our enemies. The strongest among you my children may make a pilgrimage to my trench to receive my blessing. This blessing will allow you to walk and breathe the air of the land, so that you may wage war upon those who walk it!” The seven Sea Trolls now collectively called the Deep Ones returned to their homes and preached the word of Dagon. With this The Order of Dagon was formed.

General

Sea Trolls much like Forest Trolls do not fear the sun like the Trolls of Marjak. However, they do prefer the dark depths of the oceans from which their creator Dagon rules. Sea Trolls reproduce by polyping. Sea Trolls place polyps by pressing their polyp organs against a host. The polyp then grows over the course of two days and then pops off and grows into an adult sea troll over the course of 16 months. Sea Trolls place polyps by stabbing any organism with their toung the main polyp organ or by pressing their palm on an organism which also inserts polyps into the host. Polyps will not develop on a Sea Troll. That being said Sea Trolls will not shake hands with each other and nor will they hold hands with each other. Sea Trolls greet each other with giant hugs. It is considered impolite to try and shake a Sea Troll’s hand or give a Sea Troll a high five. In order to prevent inadvertent polyping many Sea Trolls wear gloves and or hand wraps all the time. Sea Trolls are similar to amphibians in that they are born with only gills. They slowly develop lungs but, unlike amphibians, once their lungs are developed retain their gills and can breathe both on land and under water. One day when there was a particularly violent storm Paddie the carpenter was repairing one of the logs that contributed to the boardwalk that led from the market to the Northern houses. Out of nowhere a wave lifted the loose board that Paddie was standing on away from the boardwalk. And like that surfing was invented.

Sea Trolls on Land

A Sea Troll may walk on land only if it has the mark of Dagon. That being said there are exceptions. Sea Trolls may walk on beaches and small islands for some reason or another. A Sea Trolls without the mark of Dagon are sometimes even able to walk far enough inland to raid costal settlements. There is the story of Gill the Sea Troll who failed to get the mark of Dagon several times. He wanted very much to see what it was like on land. So he gathered all his friends who had the mark of Dagon and convinced them to carry him on land. However, a family of giants were at the beach that day and as Gill and his friends were walking across the giant’s picnic blanket they were mistaken for ants and squished. For obvious reasons Sea Trolls are very strong swimmers and sailors.

Settlements

Sea Trolls live in large coral and wooden villages in the ocean. The above water villages are made almost entirely out of wood and look a lot like Pacifidlog Town from Pokémon ruby and sapphire. The undersea settlements are an extension right below the wooden villages. However, deep sea underwater only settlements are extremely common. The undersea settlements are carved into deep sea mountains and large coral reefs.

Clothing

Clothing, weapons, and the skin color of the Sea Troll are all reliant on the location of the Sea Troll’s settlement. The near surface dwelling Sea Trolls use much more fabric materials in their clothing and usually have skin colors of varying shades of blue. Deep Sea Trolls use much more kelp and seaweed based clothing as well as a lot of shellfish and fish skin clothing. Deep Sea Trolls are usually dark orange and red colors. Sea Trolls that live in coral reefs have clothing that is a mixture of the Deep Sea and near surface Sea Troll clothing. Sea Trolls that live in coral reefs have much more variation in color they range from neon oranges, pinks, yellows, and blues to more tame grays, blacks, browns, and reds. Near surface Sea Trolls have weapons and armor made primarily out of wood, metal, scale, and bone. Deep Sea Trolls have weapons and armor made primarily out of stone, scale, bone, crustacean, and coral. Sea Trolls that reside in coral reefs have weapons and armor made primarily out of coral, algae, lichen, bone, scale, crustacean, and turtle.

Spirituality

Sea Trolls are highly religious and reverent of nature. The Sea Trolls are of the Order of Dagon and worship Dagon exclusively. Sea Troll elders called Deep Ones are the teachers, healers, and religious leaders of the Sea Trolls. Sea Trolls hold Dagon, the sea, and sea life in high esteem and they do everything to revere, respect, and protect their native home. Sea Trolls hold sea life in such high esteem that they may only eat a sea animal if it has been killed in a respectful way, similar to kosher Jewish meat and halal Muslim meat. The reverence to sea creatures goes so far as to make sure that every part of the animal is used, nothing goes to waste. Sea Trolls also recycle everything. In order to protect their ocean home they use everything that other races would consider trash to make clothing, weapons, armor, buildings, furniture, and baubles. Sea Trolls love shinnies, baubles, and accessories! But any and all items made from a sea creature is considered to be more of a talisman. Sea Trolls gather to worship Dagon around the hydro-thermal heat vents that line the ocean floor. Sea Trolls from Caribbean region have cultivated a strain of seaweed similar to the marijuana plant found on land. They smoke it as part of their religious ceremonies although how they smoke it underwater is a mystery lost to the ages.

In Battle

Sea Trolls are also marvelous fighters. Sea trolls are the most dangerous creature that can attack a ship at sea. Sea trolls are not just dangerous at sea but also on land. Sea Trolls are relentless unyielding creatures that don’t know the meaning of surrender. Sea trolls are not the strongest nor fastest creatures on land but make up for this by being sneaky and highly tactical. Sea Trolls are great tacticians and highly competent strategists. Sea Trolls are excellent at sneak attacks and surprise attacks both on land and at sea. This is mostly because when they lay down they look like refuse piles. Sea Trolls ride the giant estuary otters into battle on both land and sea.