There are 11 troll tribes currently dwelling within the Elder Wilds, they comprise about 18 percent of all trolls in Elder wilds but provide what limited structure there is to troll society.

Trang

An Influential  Troll Tribe of the Black Spire Gorge Temple complex in Tork Hills, the tribe maintains wealth from tributes paid by other clans to access to great temples. It is not a large tribe but holds most influence and power of all the tribes.

The tribe is led by the “Great Old Mother” High Priestess of Kygor Lytor, a mistress race troll who claims to have met Arkat in her younger days. She despises and is despised by Cragspider for reasons no one but they can remember.

Gar Tola

A Tork Hills tribe that controls all the Creeping Place insect farms and all trade from Dragori Inkarth and to a lesser extent  the blue moon plateau. Once a year in sea season a great market is held outside the pits with Merchants from outside the elder wilds in attendance as well as many friendly clans from across the Elder Wilds.

The tribe has good relations with the Giants, and has be known to send  trollball team to Gon Ortas castle on occasion.

Leadership of the tribe comes from an unseen leader called ‘the spider’, who may be a spirit, a demon or an old mistress race troll. Her orders are communicated through her own priesthood, the priesthood of Gorakiki or the priesthood of Argan Argar who are powerful in the tribe.

Bone Gnashers

The most warlike of the tribes with a high proportion of Zorak Zoran and Arkat worshippers, they hold lands at the north end of Tork Hills, and consider themselves the guardians of the Wailing Place. They are also the tribe most likely to attempt to raid the elves of the El’oring wilds in force.

Though a compact tribe They run both a major Zorak Zoran temple and one the few troll forges operating within the Elder Wilds.  A Zorak Zoran Deathlord ‘Gnasher’ leads the clan from the front and is the only male mistress race troll some outside the priesthoods ever sees in the Elder wilds.

Gork

A large tribe based round am series of caves and old ruins at the south end of Gorks hills. They have a strong magical spirit in their protector ‘Gork’.   They trade with  both the Bone Gnashers and Gar Tola Tribes, despite the danger posed by the elves of the er’oring wilds.

They have poor relations with the Trang Tribe due to Gork tribe having their own temples. The Gork tribe is led by Gorks Daughter, a mystic figure presumably a mistress race troll who lives in the Temple of Gork.

Danar Tol

The Danar Tol tribe is large loose affiliation of hunting clans which hunts to north of Gork hills and  the Er’oing wilds. They are large in numbers, but often end up skirmishing with riders from the north, over hunting grounds.

Zong is the major Diety worshipped by the tribe, and worship is distributed between the clans. Leadership of the tribe is fluid, a clan leader will pull the tribe together for a common goal and then when the goal is complete fade to the background.

Thunder Pit

These hunters roam the North Plain just to the west of Tork Hills, and claim to be the best thunder lizard hunters known anywhere in Glorantha. They often use pit hunting  for all kinds of larger prey.  They usually hunt in large groups and are not usually that stealthy.

Tribe leadership always rest with mother of the winner of the Greathunt each year, so the tribe rarely has stable leadership.

Blue Dog Eaters

A hunting tribe to the west of the North Plain and the troll tribe most often encountered by votanki hunters who take to hunting in the Elder Wilds.  They are stealthy vicious hunters, who are equally cautious of human hunters and will not pick a fight for no reason.

The tribe is a loose confederation of Clans with no strong leader, they skirmish with the Thunder Pit over hunting rights. Worship of Zong, Kygor Lytor and Ancestors is common.

Unta Mor

This large tribe of hunting clans has its range on the east of the troll hills and the foothills of the rockwood mountains. A good third of its clans live and hunt in cave systems under the rockwood mountains and never see the open sky.

They are on good terms with the Trang Tribe, and many of its clans worship at Black Spire Gorge.

A surprising conflict the tribe has is with some of the wind children of the rockwood mountains and the Unta Mor tribe believe the flesh of wind children to a particular delicacy.  This has led to some of the tribe becoming expert climbers.

Bara Du

The largest tribe of trolls can be found all over the troll hill. They are hunters with large expansive hunting ranges and they protect their hunting rights strongley.  This often brings them into conflict with the Thunder Pit Tribe.

The tribe is wise not to engage in conflict with the more structured tribes whoes services it benefits from, but is happy to ensure it keeps its advantages by intimidating the other hunting tribes and independent clans.

For the last 5 years the tribe has been led well by a Darktroll know simply as  ‘Mama Di‘

Naxar

The Naxar tribe hunt high in the rockwoods, and well into giant land. Which leads them into conflict with some of the younger giants. They are a smaller hunting tribe but one that those travelling through Gon Ortas pass are wise to pay.

Guttuz

A large tribe from the bear hill and woods who are in constant conflict with the Green elves and humans who also dwell in the woods, making it currently the most volatile spot in Elder Wilds.

They are a traditional hunting tribe who is trying to expand due to weight of numbers.

Their former Tribal Mother recently recruited  a Zorak Zoran warlord called Kieger Ba from Dragori Inkarth to fight for them. However things did not go as planned when his trolls slaughtered his employer and her whole clan before claiming leadership of the tribe for himself.

Currently Kieger Ba is waging war on the elves of Bear woods with little success, but is raising and sending notable number of undead trolls into the bear woods to cause havoc.

Though one of the largest bodies of trolls in Glorantha The trolls of the Elder wilds are a wild and disorganised mob even by Troll standards.  By and large they are primitive hunters with strong family & clans loyalty, but weak and limited Tribal structures.

The  main clusters of trolls society  based round two hilly regions known as Gork Hills and Tork Hills known simply as  Troll hills by the local Humans.

Troll Clans

The base troll community is the Clan and they are broadly categorised as follows

Wild Clans

Wild hunters clans which roam freely with no set  hunting grounds or permanent base of operations, wild clans can be independent or can be which are part of a tribe, but most wild clans are independent and have no tribal affiliation. Those associated with a tribe will usually roam around a tribes range, but may roam further if they wish too.

Wild clans of trolls can be found all over the Elder Wilds with the exception of the woods of the Aldryami.

The clans are smaller in size than hunting clans with regular hunting lands, as food is harder to come by and useless trollkin tend to be eaten or cast out more readily than with static clans, an average clan size is around 100 trolls and trollkin. There are approximately 1700 of these clans in the elder wilds.

A wild clan will usually comprise of ;

• 20 – 40 dark trolls
• 0 – 8 great trolls
• 0 – 12 superior trollkin
• 40 – 80 trollkin
• 0 -6 cave trolls

Wild clans sometimes are lead by the highest ranking hunter rather than the ranking mother as usual with trolls much to the disgust of more conservative clans.

Usually worshipping ancestors, Zong  or Kyger Litor, they most will have a priestess or shaman within the clan, and they will visit shrines and other troll holy places on their travels.

Hunter Clans

Hunter clans are clans of troll hunters who have a fixed hunting lands and a permanent lair, they are clustered around the key trolls strongholds of Tork and Gork Hills, but are common right across the Elder Wilds.

A higher proportion of hunter clans are associated with tribes but still most are still free from tribal ties, however most clans close to major trolls sites are associated with the respective tribe.

Troll hunter clans are larger than the  wild clans with an average size or around 200 trolls. There are approximately 1700 of these clans in the Elder Wilds.

A wild clan will usually comprise of ;

• 30 – 70 dark trolls
• 4 – 12 great trolls
• 4 – 16 superior trollkin
• 80 – 160 trollkin
• 0 -6 cave trolls

Leadership is always with the ranking mother and priestess, usually worshipping ancestors, Zong or Kyger Litor. They will have a priestess or shaman without fail, and most clans will support their own shrines or minor temples.  Hunter clans will usually allow friendly and neutral wild clans to use there shrines and temples for the right price.

Barbarian Clans

These are more structured clans similar to ‘civilized’ trolls all over Glorantha, they make up a very small part of the population of the Elder Wilds, but they fulfil key roles in this troll heartland.

Barbarian clans are always central to tribal structures and located in and around key troll sites, they are considerably bigger than other clans, but do contain higher proportions of trollkin.

The barbarian clans are responsible for major innovations within troll society in the Elder Wilds such as trade caravans, insect breeding , metal working and the running of larger temples and holy sites.

The barbarian clans are led by powerful priestesses and their tribes may be led by mistress race trolls, they are traditional and conservative by nature.

The clans are much larger on average with approximately 300 trolls and trollkin each, but they are very few in number, with only 28 such clans existing in the heart of the Troll Strongholds.

A barbarian clan will usually comprise of ;

• 0 – 1 Mistress Race trolls
• 60 – 120 dark trolls
• 8 – 14 great trolls
• 8 – 24 superior trollkin
• 150 – 300 trollkin
• 0 – 6 cave trolls

The barbarian clans worship a range of gods and diverse spiritual variation can be found in these clans.

Trollkin Mobs

Many trollkin are flee or are forced from their families and clans, these congregate into small gangs or large mobs which roam around and away from major troll strongholds. Most are short lived either being eaten by ‘Proper UZ’ or heading away from troll lands and failing to survive. However mobs have been known to  reach human controlled Balazar or into the Redlands.

Trollkin mobs vary in size and can comprise of

• 10 – 80 Trollkin
• 0 – 8 Superior Trollkin

A large mob will usually cause devastation and chaos where it goes, eating most things in its path, and a such becomes a target for all hunters human, troll or otherwise in the area.

Occasionally a number if trollkin mobs will form into a trollkin horde, at this point the troll tribes will actively send war parties to destroy the horde before it does to much damage, or drive them towards elf woods.

Smaller gangs lead by superior trollkin to tend to have a longer lifespan and can be found hiding away in corners of the Elder Wilds trying to avoid everyone else.

Cave Troll Families

A number of small independent cave trolls families live deep within the eastern Rockwoods, they don’t interact much with most of the trolls of the Elder Wilds, and are as prone to eat fellow trolls as communicate.

Troll Tribes

Most trolls clans within the elder wilds are not part of a Tribe, however there are a small number of tribes operating within the Elder wilds and they account for about 100,000 trolls and trollkin in total, which is about 18% of the Elder Wilds population, but about 30% of proper trolls. I will do a more detailed breakdown of the troll tribes in a different post.

The Guide to Glorantha states we have 430,000 trolls in the Elder Wilds, The old Griffin Mountain gave us nowhere near that Kind of depth for the UZ in the Elder wilds, here are a few of my ideas for interesting troll sites and communities.

These are virtually unknown by humans and travellers will have to penetrate deep into the troll heartlands to find them.

Black Spire Gorge– Great Temple & Cave Complex deep within a river George the troll hills, A basalt spike rising from the centre of the gorge provides a mystical feature at the centre of what is the Elder wilds largest troll community. This site is in the domain of the Trang Tribe, but independent clans and  clans of many tribes visit the community to worship at the region’s largest temples.

The population is very transient but there could be up to 2500 trolls and trollkin within a miles radius of the major temples at any one point in time

The Creeping Place – The Gara Tol tribe controls these large insect breeding pits in a chasm in the Troll hills. It is also the site of great markets whenever troll caravans come from  the Blue Moon Plateau or Shadows Dance.

7 Sons of Zong – These 7 stone monoliths of troll faces are spread a couple miles apart across the  North plain leading away to the west from Troll Hills, they are sacred site to the cult of Zong and often prey is left on them as a sacrifice for further hunting success.

The Tar Pits – A Stretch of plains frequented by deep rich tar pits. It is a Zong Hunting site where trolls have traditionally hunted by chasing dinosaurs into the pits of tar.

Black Plinth – A troll fertility site holy to Kyger Lytor, it is said any mating made at the plinth in Dark Season will not be affected by the Trollkin curse.

Dragon Ruins of Gork -Ruins for EWF era magical settlement of some size built in Gorks Hills, there are signs it was destroyed by trolls or the Aldryami or maybe both. These are the supposed resting place of the mythical Vampire of Gorks hills.

The Wailing Place – A desolate place and former battlefield about 4 miles in diameter at the northern end of the troll hills. The ground here is blasted and nothing has grown here in close to a millennium.  This place is holy to Zorak Zoran and some obscure cults of Arkat. Ghosts and undead frequent, but never leave the area.

This place is still feared by the elves, who if given choice will not come within 15 miles of it.

The Shifting Pit – A deep hunting pit created by Zong that moves through troll hunting grounds changing its position by a few miles each night. it is  followed by  a troll Hunter Clan who worship both Zong and the spirit of the pit, who are able to predict  its movements.

The Dragons Spike -A small hill shaped like a single horn of bone growing out of the earth, it is magical place feared by the trolls but they don’t know why. However dragonnewt plinths are situated close to the site.

Shadow Creek – Stream of black water from springs at the bottom of the Black Spire Gorge where shamans often bind shades and undines. The stream flows to the Basalt spike outside the temple complex, where its seems to feed the pillars slow steady growth to the sky.

Offas Pile – Pile of refuse, rocks, junk, bodies and  bones which is home to some 200 – 600 trollkin at any one point. Most proper trolls avoid this place as it is ‘beneath them’. The Trollkin worship a  local spirit known simply as the  ‘The Eater’.