Trolls and the Greenskins

In The Beginning
In the aftermath of the cataclysm which wiped out the Progenitors, a number of different races arose to fill the void left by their forebears. The dwarves and elves eventually founded their fledgling societies, the gnomes fled to the First World and returned, and the early humans began learning the secrets of civilisation from the dwarves. Also during this time, the trollish race was undergoing a schism.

A brutal and bestial race, trolls were not known for any form of meaningful technology or society. However, a small sub-type of troll was developing over time - smaller, leaner, and a lot more intelligent than their feral kin. Over time these intelligent trolls began breeding true, and distancing themselves from their cousins. Developing the early tools of civilisation on their own, they none the less began forming their own societies alongside the other races of Chimyrr.

Magic and Bloodburning
The first major development for the fledgling race was tied to their inherent racial regenerative powers. Trolls, while lesser physical specimens than proper feral trolls, were still imposing creatures. This definitely contributed the successes of the early troll societies, providing the ability to recover for wounds inflicted in hunting, combat or simple accidents. However, the trolls were not as adept at the arcane arts as other races - naturally isolationist, the basics of arcanery were slow to be discovered by the trolls, and the race began falling behind their neighbours.

Witchcraft was always greatly prized by the trolls, but was an unreliable source of arcane magic as it relied on the knowledge as to how to manipulate the arcane being provided by mysterious, unknown sources. Those trolls lucky enough to find a patron were well regarded by their society, but remained a relative rarity despite that.

This deficiency was solved by a troll shaman by the name of Dhetri. Forming a cabal of like-minded shaman, witches, druids, and oracles, she saw a solution to the trolls’ lack of arcane magic - they would create their own sorcerous bloodline. By being able to inherit arcane magic rather than being forced to uncover each secret piece by piece, the trolls could gain magical prowess on their own terms.

Research and experiments were conducted on existing sorcerous bloodlines - ideas such as breeding in the blood of dragons into trollish bloodlines, or signing various pacts with planar entities were raised, but ultimately discarded. Dhetri had made her decision - they would create their own sorcerous bloodline. The details of how Dhetri and her disciples went about crafting their spell has been lost to history, but the results are well know.

Pooling their power and utilising various spells, reagents, and sacrifices, Dhetri’s cabal cast a spell of unimaginable power. Dhetri herself ascended to minor divinity, and the trollish race was granted their sorcerous blood - at the cost of their own regenerative abilities. Dubbed the “bloodburn”, this arcane power seared the healing capabilities from the race forever, in exchange for a permanent bestowal of magical potential.

This magic of “bloodburning” provides  all those with trollish blood its power, just like any other sorcerous bloodline. Forever linked to the trolls’ lost regenerative powers, the bloodburnt bloodline provides trolls the ability to sacrifice health, blood, or even body parts to fuel their arcane magic. Some of the most accomplished trollish sorcerers are the Sorcerer Kings of the original trollish kingdoms - their physical forms little more than a half-mummified, limbless torso, housing their unimaginable magical power.

Dhetri left for the planes after that, the trollish race’s new patron deity. She claimed a section of the Eternal City of Axis - Managaban, the trollish afterlife - and has watched over her “children” ever since.

Racecrafting and the Orcs
In the millennia following Dhetri’s gift of the bloodburnt bloodline, many trolls experimented with their newfound arcane gifts - as any troll could learn to master the magic inherent in their blood, the population surged with sorcerers. Many new disciplines were discovered - the ability to shed blood to remain spent power, the ability to share arcane knowledge from one another by the sharing of blood or flesh, the ability to literally sacrifice body parts to fuel amazingly powerful magic. The greatest discovery, however, was the discipline that became known as “Racecrafting”.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Developed by a magical researcher by the name of Ghaar, the troll had specialised in experiments focused on the interaction of trollish blood with other creatures. Experimenting on trolls, humans, gnolls, and worse, Ghaar pursued every blood interaction he could. His experiments and research spanned many years, but eventually his monomania bore fruit - he had created an “artificial” race, which was able to breed true. He named them “orcs”.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">This new race stood shorter than a troll, but around the same height as a human, with ashen green skin. Muscular and hardy, they also exhibited two main extremes of emotion - slow, patient stoicism when faced with labour or hardship, or brutal frenzied bloodlust when goaded to battle. The orcs proved loyal, pliable, and above all, not very ambitious.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Naturally isolationist and slow to breed, trollish society had been suffering population issues for centuries, especially when compared their more fecund neighbours, especially the humans. Generally unwilling to allow foreigners into their settlements, let alone other races, this meant that both troll numbers were low, and the naturally haughty race was forced to fill every role from greatest leader to lowliest servant. The orcs changed this.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Once the species was shown to be able to breed true, the trolls began to cultivate their new subjects. Soon the orcs spread throughout the trollish kingdoms, providing a class of labourers and soldiers. Inspired by this achievement, many other trolls began to replicate Ghaar’s research and results, and making their own advances in racecrafting. In recognition, Ghaar was elevated to demi-godhood by Dhetri, who now serves at her side in Managaban.

<span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:bold;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Greenskins and Various Errors
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">With the knowledges that they were able to literally craft new races, trollish sorcerers looked to other vacancies in their society. While orcs were hardy and strong, they lacked inherent cleverness and creativity. Many tried to breed smarter, more capable orcs, but other trolls began looking at what would be required to create a completely separate species with the traits they desired. Replicating much of Ghaar’s earlier research, these sorcerers looked in new directions, and eventually their work bore fruit - the goblins.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Cunning, smart, and dexterous, goblins were also small, chaotic, and rather craven. They were smart where orcs were dull, routinely able to perform mentally well above what most orcs managed. Excelling where the orcs lacked, and vice versa, these goblins were also bred by the trolls, and proliferated the trollish kingdoms. Put to work in tasks requiring manual or metal dexterity, the goblins became the trolls’ engineers, scouts, and merchants.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Eventually, another deficiency was identified by the trollish racecrafters. With the chaotic nature of goblins and the stoic, unimaginative nature of the orcs, both races required a lot of management from trollish overseers. Experimenting and crossing both goblins and orcs, and other races and sources, the sorcerers worked at developing a leadership caste. Ultimately, they were successful, thus ushering in the hobgoblin race.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Looking nothing more like a literal orc/goblin crossbreed, the hobgoblins were as driven and disciplined as their orcish and goblin cousins were not. Bred in smaller numbers than the orcs and goblins, the hobgoblins nonetheless spread throughout trollish civilisation, filling the role over overseers and direct agents for their trollish masters.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">While those three races - orc, goblin, and hobgoblin - form the backbone of the trollish kingdoms’ servile populations, they are not the only crafted races - just the most common. However, not every trollish attempt at racecrafting resulting in success. As proficient as they eventually became, the trolls nevertheless released a number of failed creations which managed to proliferate despite their rejection and survive. The two primary examples being the bugbears and the ogres.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">Bugbears were an early form of the species which eventually became the hobgoblins, but displayed the complete opposite tendencies the trolls desired. Violent, unruly, and sadistic, the trolls disposed of their creations, but where other experiments had disappeared or perished, the bugbears fled into the wilds and survived. Able to breed true the bugbears left their trollish creators behind, and led their own lives of savagery.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">The other major failure were the ogres. An attempt to breed a race more physically capable than orcs as beasts of burden and living weapons, trolls experimented with mixing their existing races with various giant bloodlines. Unfortunately, the ogres suffered from degenerative blood from their very inception, twisting their forms and leaving them slow witted and cruel. Deciding their incestous degeneration enough to kill the race, the early ogres were abandoned to the wilds - where defying reason, they too proliferated and spread across the surface of Chimyrr.

<span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:bold;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Current Day
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Despite their tendency for cultural isolation, the trolls and their client races are one of Chimyrr’s more successful civilisations. While not as prolific as humanity, trollish kingdoms can be found in warm climates all across Chimyrr. Orcish mercenaries, goblin traders and hobgoblin agents are a regularly sight across the globe, in more societies than without.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.38;">A testament to the skills of trollish sorcerers, there have any been instances of primitive orc or goblin societies forming of their own accord, without trollish supervision. These proto-civilisations for the most part ape existing trollish settlements or those of their nearest neighbours, but as the centuries pass reports of troll-free orc or goblin communities become more common.