[Glorantha] Trolls

In message <391836.27020.qm@web27206.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Jane Williams writes:

>A few questions here, but all about trolls. I've been
>reading the UW UZ book, and seem to have been left
>with some gaps in my understanding.
>
>Fire. I know trolls don't like it, I see that ZZ has a
>sub-cult (Amanstan) that can control it. But that also
>refers to "whenever an uz extinguishes or devours a
>fire". I can't find any reference to any ability to do
>so. Is there one cult in particular that deals with
>putting fires out?

Well Darkness is an element in Glorantha so any Darkness magic can be used against Fire/Light. Xiola Umbar has "Shield of Darkness". Argen Argar has "Create Shadow" and "Suppress Fire". Karrg has "Darkshield", "Command Living Darkness" and "Command Spirit of Darkness". Given that many troll cults use spirits I would expect specific fire extinguishing spirits to have been bound by many shamen.

>How about smoke? That being dark, I can see trolls
>liking it, were it not for the connection with fire.

Why bother with an imperfect substitute for real darkness?

>I'm considering a troll NPC - a Xiola Umbar type who's
>after power (it says Uz who seek power are among her
>followers). I was going to give her a ZZ brother. Yes,
>a bit weird, yes, probably not going to be all that
>successful - but while they're trying, what will their
>battle tactics be like? How will they differ from a
>"normal" troll warband, when fighting humans? I was
>thinking of the ZZ and his followers as a shock attack
>force, and lots of trollkin protected by the XU so
>they can't be wiped out by the humans. Does that make
>sense? Or would the protective and loving XU want to
>keep the poor little trollkin away from anything
>dangerous?

XU isn't CA. She's protective and loving by Uz standards. So whereas the typical troll reaction would be to eat an injured Enlo XU would heal it. She's still going to regard them as expendable. She'll use her magic to protect the Enlo but they're there to protect her.

I'd suggest she has a bodyguard of warrior trollkin and a rabble of workers/food to absorb casualties.

-- 
Donald Oddy
http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/