Fear the Night!
In recent years, you often thought about leaving home, carving out a place for yourself, looking for a partner, starting a family of your own the works. 'Somenight. Somenight soon!', or so you told yourself.
With the cave entrance to your current family home blockaded by a blazing pyre, plus a thirty-strong host of heavily armed daylight races, it seems like that uncertain future night, might have come a bit sooner than expected.
~
Four handful of humans, some elves, dwarves and several halfbreeds, is the surprising reception that awaits you at your homestead. Some of the hosts weaponry is netted in black blood, and one elven mage keeps the fires' smoke billowing into the cave, but you aren't terribly worried about your family. For one, Nufghrin Terrorglazed, isn't a Shadow Ogre easily bested with an age of over two centuries, father draws from an ample well of experience and skills. As for your mother, while she is "only" one of his consorts, she is greatly favoured for having borne him a trueborn night troll. While a bit unfair of a thought towards your aunts and lesser siblings, she would be one of the last in the family to be sacrificed.
The gross of your confidence though, lies in the fact that the cave in question once housed a mine. A mine, which breached the local caverns, and lies quite close to a nearby subterranean trade-route. Only a goblin host would be able to follow your family into there, and those know better than that. Since you were also the only one tasked with hunting for tonight, and the hostile group not seeming sneaky enough to get the drop on any of you either, you conclude that your family should be safe.
Still, attacking your home and family, you can't have that scum walk off completely unscathed. It isn't only about revenge, but also about night trolls having to uphold a repuation. Alright, it might be more about revenge, but still. You know the area, dawn is still a few hours away and they are currently focused on the cave entrance. At the very least hounding them from a distance, would be an easy task, without much risk involved on your part. But first, you try to remember what your elders taught you.
The first point of order before approaching combat, is to always use or consider your abilities, as it will have the largest impact on all that follows. For fighting against your father and by extension, the rest of your close family these daylight creatures certainly have the right idea. The flames they lit are strong enough to make casting illusions hard work, and the cave, currently not sealed by a stone slab due to it being night-time, isn't going to help much with that either - provided that they keep pumping smoke into it. Or so they think. They did not seem to count on your appearance though.
Nocturnal Troll
Holding control over the night-fire, these trolls can use their black flames to spread darkness even in daylight. The fuel required for these special flames, is either the life-force of those burned by it, or sources of light like conventional fire, or magical forms of light.
Macabre Troll
Feared for their enthralling voices, which can force a command on the unwary at an inopportune moment or even brainwash those exposed for an extended period of time. Unlikely to affect multiple people at once, nor those stout of heart.
Moonlight Troll
Strengthened by the pale light of the moon, yes, even able to hide in otherwise plain sight while under its otherwise disdained glow, is the infamous ability of these night trolls. Being less drained when exposed to the accursed sun, isn't unwelcome by them either.
Shadow Troll
Shaping the darkness into realistic seeming phantoms, confusing the enemy with voices out of no-where, the illusions of these night trolls have great potential to weaken their enemies before combat even begins. Fire and magical light though, dispel their more complicated illusions with ease.
Umbral Troll
Strengthened by drawing on ambient fear, these night trolls try to incite a vicious cycle of displaying their growing powers, and the fear that this entails. Due to their similarities in nature, they also hold greater sway with the bogeymen.
Vile Troll
There are no wounds that these night trolls can't heal, with even missing limbs regenerating, for as long as they have access to sentient flesh. Eating a fresh heart, will also gift them increased abilities, though unless it comes from a demigod or similar, the dark blessing is only temporary in nature.
Aah, yes. This, could work. As for the second lesson of your elders, it is to not enter into melee combat blindly, but with a goal. Achieve that goal, and withdraw to strike anew - that, is the night troll way. While it may seem cowardly, especially with all of your kind strong enough for several persons of other races, your race is accustomed to being out-numbered heavily. Just, as it is right now; Considering your own family as their enemy, the attacking low-lives have planned it all out. A spear-wall placed in front of the pyre, blocks the entrance to your former home. With your family having an ogre physique, they would have been hard-pressed to run through, much less even fight, in those goblin-sized tunnels.
You though, are out in the open which not only leaves your body far more room, but also more tactics available, than a blind charge into several speartips.
Nightly Fiend
Armed with especially vicious claws, a devastating set of teeth in their maws, thick fur and a hide to match, plus two elongated horns on their head, these night trolls are simply devastating in close combat. With a body-control to match their natural weaponry, each of their movements is bound to rend, maim or killing their enemies otherwise.
Nightly Freak
Outfitted with hardy scales, webbed appendages and a tail to manoeuvre their favoured element, these night trolls have great advantages in any waters, or swampy environments. Their gills also allow them to stay underneath for extended periods of time, leaving most of their victims unsuspecting, and often enough easy prey.
Nightly Horror
Hollow eye-sockets, are the trademark of these strain of night trolls, though contrary to expectations, their sight is the most superior one amongst their peers. With their true eyes incorporeal, so is their sight in close quarters making ambushing them only possible from a distance, or during sleep. Not, that their hard carapace promises much success for such endeavours either.
Nightly Ogre
Large even for night troll standards, ogres tower above all of the common races by at the very least - two heads. Complimenting their build, is another set of arms, and no true downsides to their frame besides their greater need for food, and their body being an easier target due to its size.
Nightly Terror
Almost unassuming in their simplistic form, the identifying trait of these night trolls are their three eyes gifting them with an extended field of vision. Their true advantage though, lies in their double-jointed limbs, allowing them to dodge an attack in astonishing ways, and claws with a venom capable of slowly driving those injured by them into madness.
Nightly Wraith
The physically weakest night trolls by far, they sport a rather lithe build, clawed feet and a pair of arms somewhat unsuited to combat. Having the inherent ability to fly, makes up for all of these inconveniences though - or so they claim, at least.
The last point of interest for combat tactics, is, unsurprisingly, your own gender. Many a night troll has anguished in hindsight at killing a promising potential mate, and while you are unsure about taking someone from this particular batch, that is not all. The enemies reaction towards you, too, might also differ slightly depending upon your gender. This is primarily based on most races fielding a good deal more men into combat, the later often vying to protect the present womenfolk against possible abduction or shivering in their boots at the thought of a lady troll abducting them instead.
Male
While it certainly is beneficial to have multiple partners, all of which which could give birth to a new night troll, it is quite difficult for most female consorts of lesser races or powers to conceive children. In essence, for the lack of viable partners, male night trolls might even be considered somewhat infertile. With enough consorts though, they can easily overcome that demerit, and are known to often amass larger families with plenty of consorts and lesser children.
Female
The greatest drawback of female night trolls, is that they have to bear all of their offspring on their own. While their pregnancy is quite short at only three months, they are also known to birth a higher rate of true-blooded night trolls as well. A strong consort is still needed either way, as even female night trolls don't conceive easily, with them mostly preferring to amass smaller families, but of a higher strength.
Ducking behind a nearby glumprong with a chuckle and taking the best treats from the deer you originally hunted for your family - plans slowly take form. Mmmh. Delicious Innards. You can't wait to have a taste from some of theirs, too. Before dawn breaks, so you decide, they will know...
Please complete the following;
We are a "Gender" "Night" "Troll".
Well then, I am pleased enough with this set-up, as to start it. I hope I made a good deal of different options available, without giving any unneccessary / redundant choices. My originaly planned "points for perks"-system, clearly wound up that way, and also too extensive for a SG. Eh. Either way.
Enjoy~
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Topic: [SG] Fear the Night! (Read 1585 times)