The Rock Trolls

The Rock Trolls are a dark, ancient race thought to be descended from the goblins and giants of Mediterranea and the north. Vile and brutish, they have long fought the dwarves for the Rhiphaen Mountains, and lately the war has gone against them, forcing them ever deeper underground.

They still covet the rich ore veins of the upper levels. Their armies have been idle for years, but small bands keep harrying the dwarven mines, killing work crews, causing cave-ins and undermining installations with crisscrossing tunnels, sometimes aided by their larger cousins the mountain trolls or by blind, bestial cave trolls. The Vanir hate them too, and clans sometimes join to drive off troll war-parties.

Little is known of their culture, but legends abound. They are said to have one king, huge and mighty, enthroned on a single block of obsidian in a vast cavern palace at the hub of an enormous tunnel network, some passages running under the sea to distant lands. Below the palace lie caverns of stolen treasure and giant forges that smelt metal for the trolls' siege engines, and armies of wretched slaves labor in maze-like mines under brutal troll overseers. No human or dwarf has ever seen this palace, so the tales may be exaggerated or false, but the dwarves have long believed them and expect the troll king one day to send his hordes to retake the upper levels.