The Black Troll, unlike many of their relative trollkin, have learned to set aside their fear of fire, so much so that they use it as their primary method of attack, favoring the use of flaming arrows. They have become adept at fashioning the bows as well as the arrows for which they are known, weapons built more for functionality than form, lending them a crude but effective appearance. The bows are of particular interest, having been shaped so that the center portion of the bow bends back inwards toward the drawstring. The unique shape of these bows lends the flight of their arrows an additional three units per distance range, due to the fact that the drawstring is pulled back farther than on a more conventional bow, allowing the strength of the pull to function greater than it actually is.

They are well aware of their surrounding habitat, and that any fires caused by the arrows will extinguish themselves before they are allowed to get out of hand, due to the inordinate amount of rain in the Vanquil Woods. Despite the fact that fire is one of the primary banes of Trollkin, the Black continues to use it, due either to their lack of intelligence, or that they wish to disguise their fear from the searing flames.

Like most trolls, the Black can regenerate three hit points of health per round, which starts three rounds after first blood has been drawn, even going so far as to regrow severed limbs. When unarmed, or forced into close-quarter combat, the Black Troll attacks with a claw / claw / bite combination. The Black usually does not allow itself to be confronted in such a manner, preferring long range combat and well planned ambushes. The Black relies upon melee weapons only when it can use its well-developed stealth to attack enemies from behind, or when overwhelming numbers deem long range combat unnecessary.

Habitat / Society: The deep woodlands are home to the Black Trolls, highly inhospitable lands rarely traveled by the light at heart. Underground burrows hidden beneath the foliage of the trees and shrubbery contain their resting quarters, nearly undetectable from the eye of the unwary. These holes resemble giant foxholes, usually crafted for one such troll. The troll usually uses these quarters for no other reason than to sleep, and to hide valuables that have been stolen from various victims while protecting their lands from intruders. The remainder of their time is spent roaming their habitat, in search of food, which generally consists only of meat. The society of the Black Troll is highly individualized, where each member of the tribe must fend for his or her own sustenance. Blacks will band together when threatened by outside forces, however, and are fairly loyal to each other during such occurrences. When it comes to food, the Black Troll is extremely self absorbed, preferring to save meat that it can not consume immediately, rather than give it to a starving member of the tribe. They feel that those who cannot maintain their own sustenance are weak, and do not deserve to be pampered to by the rest of the tribe. The exceptions to this are the females of the tribe, who are generally larger and more muscular than the male trolls. Females are relatively rare among the Black Trolls, and as the trolls are smart enough to realize that the females are needed for procreation, the females are well attended to, and are allowed their choice of mate, despite personal feelings of the male involved. Females generally take on several mates in their lifetimes, and if there is a limit to how many children the Black Troll can produce, it has not yet been reached. Male Blacks chosen by the female remain loyal to the female even after the female has moved on to another. Discarded males then serve as loyal troops of the female, unless they are again chosen as mate by that, or another female. Males among the tribe unerringly follow the orders of the female delivering them, even going so far as to set aside personal differences for the good of the female. As such, the females unwittingly run the tribe as leaders, with the most headstrong among them acting as the chieftain of the clan.

 

Ecology: Black Trolls survive on a diet of meat, usually taken from smaller animals that will feed but one troll, having no desire to feed any other. The exception to this is when the troll has slain a larger beast in defense of the tribes territory, which usually extends to surround the tribes immediate holdings by about three miles in all directions. On such occurrences, the troll will more often than not eat what it wishes of the creature and leave the rest to rot, or for some scavenging creature to come upon. Few creatures feed on the Black Troll, as the taste of their singed flesh is highly undesirable by any but the most desperate of creatures. Black Trolls live by the unwritten laws of the Vanquil Woods, and as such will coincide with other creatures of the Wood so long as their boundaries remain uncrossed. The strange bows crafted by these creatures, the hooked bow, as they refer to it, will fetch upwards of a hundred gold to collectors for their rarity, and for the difficulty often associated with retrieving one from these reclusive humanoids. Those decorated by feathers or bones can be worth slightly more than those.

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