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Description

When it comes to the range of a certain species, a lot of things get taken into factor. Temperature, moisture, altitude, seasonal changes and the sorts are what we think about when observing where a species can be found. Another one is diet, which I bring up because I have seen people overlook it before. A lot of folks not super invested into this field think what a species eats is simple and obvious, not necessary for deeper thought. If the land has plants, then herbivores will do just fine, and if there is meat then the carnivores can live there as well. Simple as that! Well, not really. Not every plant eater can graze on everything, and predators don't just devour every fleshy beast they can see. You can very much have situations where you take one herbivore from a certain region and plop them down in a vibrant forest and then watch them starve to death in front of what you assumed to be a buffet. There is just stuff they won't or can't eat, be it a digestive issue or that they don't have the tools to deal with them. Same for predators, as there can be situations where prey can be too small and fast, or too big and dangerous for them to take down. A manticore can be the top beast in its home forests and fields, but drop them into a savanna in front of a khalkotauroi and you will see your great hunter be reduced to paste. So food availability is important to where you can find certain species, as there has to be something that they are suited to find and eat. Some species can indeed just shovel anything into their mouth and be fine, and thus their ranges are quite large. Or, you have a species that eats the one food source that is untouched by almost every other creature in the world. If you got rocks, you can probably have trolls.

Of course, I am being hyperbolic here, as any pile of stones doesn't just generate trolls out of nowhere. With their size and how much they need to eat, you need a whole lot of rocks to satisfy them. That is why they are found in mountainous regions, cliffs, canyons and plateaus. However, all these land features don't just come in one flavor, which goes the same for stones. You can have different kinds of rocks and environments in which they sit in. I mentioned them living on mountains, well what if that stony peak was actually a volcano? It would be much hotter, that is for sure, but you would also find a much different menu there! Thus you attract a different crowd of trolls, who eventually tune themselves to this altered diet. Where there are volcanic rocks, you get volcanic trolls.

The difference between your more regular troll and a volcanic one should be obvious right off the bat. They have a darker coloration, and their armored growths are way more plentiful. Volcanic rock is incredibly jagged and sharp, so these trolls have sturdier plating and thicker skin to make up for it. Rather than the patches found mainly on the forearms of normal trolls, these have their entire forearms, hands, feet, head and even their hump completely armored. Not only good for smashing rocks into more convenient sizes for eating, but great as a defense against harsh weather and predators. Outside of these bony plates, their hide looks flabbier and wrinkled, much like the skin of a flab rat. If you were able to get a closer look at their mouth (advised only if you are dealing with a dead specimen), you would see that their teeth have a bit more of a point to them than other trolls. This is a good way to tell specimens apart if you are only looking at a cleaned skull, as the other tell tale signs are gone.

As their name suggests, these trolls live in volcanic regions, especially when said volcano is active. Lava flows and occasional belches from the mountain provide them with fresh stones to eat when it properly cools down. In areas where the lava is hardening to stone, you can often find a couple trolls fighting for first bite as they wait for it to reach a reasonable temperature. If the trolls are close to a source of water, they may try to hurry the process. Once it has formed a thick rocky shell, they may crack off a piece and hurry the piping hot stone to the water. Then just toss it, let it bubble and spit, then fish out the cooled chunk when everything settles down. Lava rock and similar stones in their region are rich in the minerals they like, but it does seem to have an excess of others they don't. We haven't fully figured out what they don't use from this diet, but the "sweating" of a thick black sludge from their skin folds appears to be some form of waste removal. That or it is some kind of secretion to help protect their skin, maybe from the incredible temperatures of the nearby volcano. We aren't really sure. We do know it is different from the regurgitated slag they feed their troglings, so it isn't for their young. Outside of that, they share a lot of behavioral and reproductive similarities with other trolls, so there isn't much new to share there.

I should mention that the name "volcanic troll" tends to make people think they can be found in volcanic deserts. While there is a volcano involved, they won't be wandering the obsidian sands like you would expect. Like I mentioned, they need rocks to eat, and a barren wasteland of storm swept sand doesn't offer a whole lot. Best for them to stick close to the volcano itself and forage there. So in truth, they live close to volcanic deserts, but not directly in them. Even then, their armored hide does well in protecting them from the powerful sandstorms and harsh weather that tears through that ecosystem. Wish I had something similar!

Thankfully, due to their preference for volcanic areas, the population of these trolls is doing much better than their regular counterparts. Habitat destruction and human encroachment doesn't happen a whole lot in those regions, so they are safe from these problems. However, hunting them for trophies or capturing them for underground fights still occurs, as people think them fiercer and cooler looking then normal trolls. You already know my stance on this. Maybe I should lie and say that these trolls totally live in volcanic deserts and send those knotheads out there to find them. Let them be food for the flab rats, or maybe a fuldruk...

Chlora Myron

Dryad Natural Historian

------------------------------------------------

Of all the subspecies I have introduced, I haven't done one for trolls yet, so here!

Also, a volcanic area troll may be something Lediblock2 and I discussed ages ago. I don't fully recall but it does sound familiar.

Description

When it comes to the range of a certain species, a lot of things get taken into factor. Temperature, moisture, altitude, seasonal changes and the sorts are what we think about when observing where a species can be found. Another one is diet, which I bring up because I have seen people overlook it before. A lot of folks not super invested into this field think what a species eats is simple and obvious, not necessary for deeper thought. If the land has plants, then herbivores will do just fine, and if there is meat then the carnivores can live there as well. Simple as that! Well, not really. Not every plant eater can graze on everything, and predators don't just devour every fleshy beast they can see. You can very much have situations where you take one herbivore from a certain region and plop them down in a vibrant forest and then watch them starve to death in front of what you assumed to be a buffet. There is just stuff they won't or can't eat, be it a digestive issue or that they don't have the tools to deal with them. Same for predators, as there can be situations where prey can be too small and fast, or too big and dangerous for them to take down. A manticore can be the top beast in its home forests and fields, but drop them into a savanna in front of a khalkotauroi and you will see your great hunter be reduced to paste. So food availability is important to where you can find certain species, as there has to be something that they are suited to find and eat. Some species can indeed just shovel anything into their mouth and be fine, and thus their ranges are quite large. Or, you have a species that eats the one food source that is untouched by almost every other creature in the world. If you got rocks, you can probably have trolls.

Of course, I am being hyperbolic here, as any pile of stones doesn't just generate trolls out of nowhere. With their size and how much they need to eat, you need a whole lot of rocks to satisfy them. That is why they are found in mountainous regions, cliffs, canyons and plateaus. However, all these land features don't just come in one flavor, which goes the same for stones. You can have different kinds of rocks and environments in which they sit in. I mentioned them living on mountains, well what if that stony peak was actually a volcano? It would be much hotter, that is for sure, but you would also find a much different menu there! Thus you attract a different crowd of trolls, who eventually tune themselves to this altered diet. Where there are volcanic rocks, you get volcanic trolls.

The difference between your more regular troll and a volcanic one should be obvious right off the bat. They have a darker coloration, and their armored growths are way more plentiful. Volcanic rock is incredibly jagged and sharp, so these trolls have sturdier plating and thicker skin to make up for it. Rather than the patches found mainly on the forearms of normal trolls, these have their entire forearms, hands, feet, head and even their hump completely armored. Not only good for smashing rocks into more convenient sizes for eating, but great as a defense against harsh weather and predators. Outside of these bony plates, their hide looks flabbier and wrinkled, much like the skin of a flab rat. If you were able to get a closer look at their mouth (advised only if you are dealing with a dead specimen), you would see that their teeth have a bit more of a point to them than other trolls. This is a good way to tell specimens apart if you are only looking at a cleaned skull, as the other tell tale signs are gone.

As their name suggests, these trolls live in volcanic regions, especially when said volcano is active. Lava flows and occasional belches from the mountain provide them with fresh stones to eat when it properly cools down. In areas where the lava is hardening to stone, you can often find a couple trolls fighting for first bite as they wait for it to reach a reasonable temperature. If the trolls are close to a source of water, they may try to hurry the process. Once it has formed a thick rocky shell, they may crack off a piece and hurry the piping hot stone to the water. Then just toss it, let it bubble and spit, then fish out the cooled chunk when everything settles down. Lava rock and similar stones in their region are rich in the minerals they like, but it does seem to have an excess of others they don't. We haven't fully figured out what they don't use from this diet, but the "sweating" of a thick black sludge from their skin folds appears to be some form of waste removal. That or it is some kind of secretion to help protect their skin, maybe from the incredible temperatures of the nearby volcano. We aren't really sure. We do know it is different from the regurgitated slag they feed their troglings, so it isn't for their young. Outside of that, they share a lot of behavioral and reproductive similarities with other trolls, so there isn't much new to share there.

I should mention that the name "volcanic troll" tends to make people think they can be found in volcanic deserts. While there is a volcano involved, they won't be wandering the obsidian sands like you would expect. Like I mentioned, they need rocks to eat, and a barren wasteland of storm swept sand doesn't offer a whole lot. Best for them to stick close to the volcano itself and forage there. So in truth, they live close to volcanic deserts, but not directly in them. Even then, their armored hide does well in protecting them from the powerful sandstorms and harsh weather that tears through that ecosystem. Wish I had something similar!

Thankfully, due to their preference for volcanic areas, the population of these trolls is doing much better than their regular counterparts. Habitat destruction and human encroachment doesn't happen a whole lot in those regions, so they are safe from these problems. However, hunting them for trophies or capturing them for underground fights still occurs, as people think them fiercer and cooler looking then normal trolls. You already know my stance on this. Maybe I should lie and say that these trolls totally live in volcanic deserts and send those knotheads out there to find them. Let them be food for the flab rats, or maybe a fuldruk...

Chlora Myron

Dryad Natural Historian

------------------------------------------------

Of all the subspecies I have introduced, I haven't done one for trolls yet, so here!

Also, a volcanic area troll may be something Lediblock2 and I discussed ages ago. I don't fully recall but it does sound familiar.