This is the kind of city you love, but you get the feeling it doesn’t love you. It’s not its fault--some cities are just...impersonal. A place like this is...neighborhoods, really, grouped together in a mass that somebody decided to call a city. You didn’t grow up in these neighborhoods, so you don’t know the city--not really. You probably never will. But it’s nice to visit!
Your stomach growls. Especially when you’re hungry.
There’s a ton of food stalls in this district--you’ve been here before, and you know where the good eats are. The delicious scents assault your nostrils--beef-tongue tacos, crepes, homemade grubloaf on a sandwich with copious gravy...the cuisines of Alternia are assembled before you in one convenient spot Your stomach growls even louder.
You have to choose! There are too many choices, and they’re all winners--you’re stuck. You spy a noodle stand and grin--bingo. Should be cheap, and it’ll fill you up for sure.
You saunter over and wait in line--these places always have a line. With your bandanna and dress you look a little out of place, but there are a couple other well-dressed trolls in line so you don’t feel self-conscious. You get a peek at the noodle girl--she’s cute, so at least you’ve got that to keep you occupied while you wait.
Finally it’s your turn, and you lean over the counter.
“Let me get a bowl with every vegetable you have,” you say, and your lips purse when a sauce jumps out at you. “With the sweet chili pepper seasoning, if you don’t mind?” You absently dip into your sylladex and rustle up the requisite caegars, listening to the coins clink together with some satisfaction.
I wanted to do a fancy height chart but it’s not coming out so great and I lost my tablet sooooo here’s a list. My personal headcanon is that troll heights are not determined/influenced by caste. From rust to Tyrian:
Hi all! I’ve been meaning to do this for a while, but here’s a list of all my current trolls and some things they might be famous or notorious for. This is to better facilitate character relationships, so that maybe our trolls know each other, or at least know OF each other, before they actually meet. Anyway, stuff below the cut!
KEANOR PROMET
Fame: She's a Tyrian in the Winterlands. If you're into royalty, or a suckup, or a particularly well-connected seadweller, you have probably heard of her.
Notoriety: She has abdicated the throne and is infamously reclusive. She's the head honcho of a group of like 24 trolls who are known all over the Winterlands as 1. dangerous and 2. weirdos. Probably spurned by other heiresses as a pacifist homebody loser, or maybe they respect her decision? Who knows!
Connections:
ASSEER:
Fame: Probably the highest-ranking Mirthful dude anywhere (as far as the hemospectrum goes). He's a fairly good and enthusiastic organizer and ringleader of dark carnivals across Alternia, and is the current acting leader of the Winterlands carnival. Very wealthy and good to clowns.
Notoriety: Clearly a subjug poser and a seadweller. Somewhat annoying, known for hitting on any and all clowns and acolytes. Asseer is also very enthusiastic about subjugglating, and is often cruel to those of lower castes.
ARTORI:
Fame: None. Was once fairly well-known as the ACTUAL ringleader of the Winterlands clowny activities but recently fell into obscurity.
Notoriety: He's an ex-subjugglator, but still fairly elusive.
MANDRA:
Fame: A frequent participant in Mirthful carnivals all over the world, Mandra is probably well-known amongst subjugglators as a very committed Pierrot-type clown. He takes the Carnival and the Messiahs very seriously--almost deathly seriously. He's also known by trolls of all castes as a very effective exorcist, and is often called upon to deal with troublesome ghosts and hauntings. He also deals with psionics who get out of control, but that's somewhat less often.
Notoriety: Kind of a huge downer! Even trolls that admire his commitment to the role may think he goes a bit TOO far, never smiling or expressing a positive emotion if he can help it. Also tends to be somewhat judgmental of clowns that he deems 'not serious' enough, or those he thinks are into subjugglating just for the perks and parties. Tends to categorize acolytes as either 'pitiful cullbait' or 'cruelty-prone hangers-on.' He holds any troll involved with the Carnival to his own very exacting standards.
WARTAG:
Fame: He's a respected cavalreaper who wields a complicated and difficult weapon. He challenges trolls to single combat to test his strength and is well-known for doing so. He also has a crazy suit of grub armor that's kind of a biotech marvel.
Notoriety: He's known to pick on lowbloods, and will challenge even unarmed or untrained trolls to combat. Also known for being kind of a sleaze and kind of a jerk to everyone, including people he wants to sleep with.
TIWANI:
Fame: Bounty hunter and organized crime queenpin (sort of), Tiwani is the definition of 'just business' when it comes to crime on Alternia. She'll work with trolls on a heist, only to turn them in for a bounty later on. She takes any job that pays, though more for the love of fulfilling a contract than any monetary reward; she will never betray trolls while completing a job. Her style is also rather distinctive, favoring a uniform, a face mask, and with only one hand--she almost never uses a prosthesis.
Notoriety: Has attempted to start an organized crime syndicate of her own with very little success; approaches any female troll she meets to join but is almost always rebuffed. Something of a flirt, she may have hit on your (female) troll in the past, with whatever degree of sucess. Is not super-hemoist, but is not swayed by lowblood sob stories either; she does whatever is required to see a job through to completion.
JERATH:
Fame: Translator and publisher of numerous ancient Alternian texts of history and poetry; if your troll is interested in any of these, they may know of him. A lot of these works feature ancestors--mainly his own, but those of other trolls are certainly present. Very active in online forums related to these subjects. Occasionally publishes poetry of his own; most often featuring romantic themes and borderline-erotic content. Borderline.
Notoriety: Raider. Jerath occasionally sails into poorly-defended settlements and 'barters' with the locals, mainly by threatening them until they give him food and, occasionally, other supplies. He doesn't actually attack, however, unless threatened or attacked first. Known to be a pretty ferocious fighter, and is actually rumored to have killed an entire clan of subugglators in his youth (actually it was mainly acolytes, but rumors favor the 'cult of subjugs' story).
DJAGOR:
Fame: Probably known in hemorebel sects as an outspoken, almost suicidally-zealous proponent of equality amongst castes.
Notoriety: Famously shuns contact with anyone, even if they happen to share his views. Tends to go on longwinded rants against any and all things he deems immoral, including the quadrants system. Known as a pest, especially among hemoloyals; has probaby called your troll a harlot if he's ever met them. A horrible nerd.
BRIONI:
Fame: The only guide for a treacherous mountain pass in the Winterlands. This is a popular tourist destination in the summer, and an impassible wilderness in the winter. If your troll is there for sightseeing, or trying to get from one side of the Winterlands to the other, they will probably have need of her services. She also runs rescue operations, so if a troll gets lost or caught in a blizzard she will be the one to rescue them. Trolls that she rescues get taken back to her hive to recover and treated very hospitably--plenty of brandy, hot cocoa, and board games. Known as a sweetheart.
Notoriety: Talks a lot; seems somewhat starved for company. Possibly seen as a pushover, despite her toughness.
OSLIAN:
Fame: Lowblooded psionic legislacerator. Tries any and all court cases, and usually works on the cheap. Specializes in inheritance law; making sure shit that your ancestor left goes to you, instead of someone claiming to be your signmate (or even your actual signmate). Verifies ancestral documents and notarizes any legal documents your troll might need drafted. He also frequents online forums about history and ancestors, giving advice and opinions. Sells handcrafted leatherbound books and things.
Notoriety: Not a particularly good or bad lawyer, if you're trying a case with him you have exactly a 50/50 shot of winning, no matter how good or bad your case is. Has possible mob affiliations. Argues with himself, and has a weird mutation that gives him two distinct brains. Kind of a big dork.
PERTHA:
Fame: Good hand-to-hand fighter, lots of fun at parties. Pertha runs a fairly highly-viewed Instagram page and maintains a presence across most popular social media sites. Highly gregarious, Pertha can be found pretty much anywhere a party is. Her distinct style of dress and loud, constant 'censor-beep' vocal tic are difficult to mistake or forget; if a troll has seen her before (and they likely may have), they will probably remember her.
Notoriety: Everything stated prior and then some. Rude, crude, and lewd, Pertha is not shy about insulting or denigrating others in the most humiliating or funny (to her, at least) manner. Used to FLARP, was incredibly belligerent and used a huge-ass gun. Definitely said 'GG EZ' a lot.
JUNIPA
Fame: Runs around in the daytime and fights the walking dead on a regular basis. Any dayrunner or undead-fighting trolls could have run into her; she roams far and wide in search of undead to fight, so trolls from any region are likely to have seen her. She also fights with a broken sword, so anyone who has noticed this has either probably been very impressed, very worried, or very confused.
Notoriety: RUNS AROUND IN THE DAYTIME AND FIGHTS SHADOW-DROPPERS ON A REGULAR BASIS. Also pretty ditzy, generally baffling to talk to.
FETTLE
Fame: Possibly my most famous troll, owns a large-and-growing chain of fast-food restaurants. Started as a ranch hand, eventually acquired most of the meatpacking industry in northern Alternia and then expanded into restaurants. Chances are your troll has eaten at one of her restaurants, though they may not know her name/what she looks like (though it's equally possible they do). The mascot of the restaurant looks like her, so they might realize the connection.
Notoriety: Ruthless Businesswoman. Known in the business/restaurant world as doing anything it takes to get ahead. Intimidatingly wealthy for a lowblood and not exactly deferential towards 'old-money' bluebloods--but will work with them to suit her own ends. As a result she isn't particularly well-liked by many of low or high castes.
BOTNIK
Fame: Makes a lot of weapons and robots. Like, constantly. The market is flooded with reliable but ugly pieces of technology stamped with his symbol. Definitely prefers function over form, it's said that anything he makes could be buried in a swamp for 5 sweeps, dug up, and used immediately. A strong proponent of lowblood solidarity and a hemorebel, he occasionally publishes pamphlets and attends rallies with this purpose.
Notoriety: Again: hemorebel and proponent of lowblood solidarity. Thought of as something of a recluse, but in reality is just too busy to do much socializing. Blunt and somewhat abrasive, not the friendliest sort either.
THURIN
Fame:
Notoriety: Fuck that guy
RAYLOX
Fame: Travels all over the world, renowned violinist and dancer. Widely considered a great talent by those who have heard her, and those who have seen her dance demand an encore. Her dancing is hypnotic-literally-and even though the effect is gone once she stops, trolls tend to remain enraptured (she is quite a good dancer, and very attractive besides). Also composes her own songs but tends not to write them down; as a wandering minstrel, she's actually thrilled when people copy or share her work.
Notoriety: Most trolls don't realize they've been hypnotized (it's a very subtle effect; Raylox has no direct control over trolls in her sway), but if a troll were to find out I can't imagine they'd be thrilled. Raylox also has a habit of not sticking around; given that a lot of trolls are infatuated with her, it's given her something of a bad reputation. She also tends to sleep around and couch surf, which doesn't help this perception. She, unfortunately, has a good amount of stalkers.
How does your character perceive themselves? Positive? Negative? Neutral?
This must be a really fun way to get asks when you have 3 (three) characters.
Below the cut because I have a hundred.
Keanor is a weird one, right? She’s a troll pretending to be another troll. Her opinion of Keanor (the original) is very high--whether that’s warranted or not is up for debate. Regardless, she sees Keanor as somebody important, powerful, and very very smart--somebody that her friends need to rely on. Her opinion of Laguna (her original identity), then, is either neutral or poor. My money is on neutral--she doesn’t actively dislike her original identity, she just thinks that Keanor is who her friends need her to be.
Asseer has a very high opinion of himself, tempered with an uneasy awareness of his position. He recognizes that he doesn’t belong to the subjug caste, but since he’s ABOVE that caste, he recognizes his own superiority and that they really don’t have much of a say in the matter. Asseer’s opinion of himself is quite high, to the extent that he feels privileged to the time and attention of others for basically no real reason.
Artori has a low opinion of himself which he tries to distract himself from at every opportunity. Outwardly he doesn’t show this; he presents to everyone the image of a laid-back guy who doesn’t have a care in the world, but the truth is he sees himself as kind of a failure since he declined to lead the Subjugglators in the Winterlands.
Mandra has a neutral opinion of himself, I guess. He sees himself as a consummate performer and one of the only true Subjugglators left, though his recent meetings with others have left him questioning his own place as the ‘pinnacle’ of his craft and the veracity of his performance. He may just beginning to suspect that he has a mood disorder: for someone as introspective as he is, Mandra is only just beginning to figure himself out.
Wartag has a very high opinion of himself in literally everything he does. He thinks he’s God’s gift to trolls and loves to abuse his position on the hemospectrum to bully people into agreeing with him.
Tiwani has a high or neutral opinion of herself. She sees herself as somebody who is honorable, respectable, and good at what she does. She loves to challenge herself and feels pride when she rises to her own challenges. Her own addiction to danger and to challenging herself may bite her in the ass when she gets in over her head.
Jerath, I suppose, has a neutral opinion of himself. He tends to display himself outwardly as somebody to be respected, admired, or feared, but only because this is how he wants people to feel about him; he is constantly disappointed when this turns out to not be the case. His ego is easily wounded, and he has many insecurities, and can very easily be put into a bad mood if these are played on. Because he vacillates wildly between this grandiose vision of himself as an expert lover, poet, fighter, etc. and the fear that he may simply be average or mediocre, I guess it balances out. At his core, Jerath is loyal, honest, and protective of the people he cares about, and he doesn’t think of himself as being especially ‘good’ because of this, so that remains neutral as well.
Djagor has a very low opinion of himself, though this manifests outwardly as judgmental sniping of everybody else. His statements about his own morality are clearly hollow, and though he’s not a hypocrite it’s clear that the things he judges other people for are things that he is mainly too cowardly or inexperienced to really know much about. He knows, very vividly, that he is a coward and that he is building himself a pedastal of lies to try and elevate himself, if even in his own eyes. He also has no friends and tends to lash out at anyone who attempts to lend a hand or offer any support, even if this contradicts things he’s said or done earlier. He’s something of a contrarian.
Brioni has a neutral opinion of herself; she prides herself on her strength and dependability, as well as her survival skills and knowledge of the natural world. She also acknowledges that there is a lot she doesn’t know, and a lot that other people have to offer; like Tiwani and Botnik, she’s very duty-bound, and has trouble conceiving of herself and her needs outside of her work or her place in the caste system. On the whole Brioni likes herself, though there are one or two things she would change if she could.
Oslian is another tricky one because there’s two of him, and they argue with each other constantly. They kind of can’t stand each other, but each admire’s the other’s intelligence and ingenuity (they are, after all, the same person). This leads to a neutral-low self-perception, since their feelings about one another balance out, though they’re acutely aware of the things that they lack in common, and they’re not very popular besides.
Pertha has gone through a radical self-realization recently. While she typically didn’t introspect at all, and had a very high opinion of herself, she has since been through something of a trauma and recognized certain parts of her that are lacking, and certain areas in which she, as a person, can improve--especially in her interpersonal relationships, which are something new to her. I’d say, currently, her opinion of herself is pretty low, but that this is unusual. I’d like to see her back at full confidence, but more because she has genuine faith in herself and in her clade, and not just because she’s too drunk and careless to think anything else.
Junipa sees herself as a brave warrior who faces down hordes of shadow-droppers, though what she hasn’t yet realized is that she really doesn’t have to do this. Moreover, her perception of herself as a knight-in-shining-armor doesn’t accurately reflect the reality that she’s frequently drinking and that her armor is kind of ramshackle. She’s delusional, and the only thing from her fantasies that really matches up with the reality is that she’s actually pretty good at swinging her broken sword around. Junipa’s opinion of herself is quite high, though it probably shouldn’t be as high as it is.
Fettle has an opinion of herself that is directly tied to her success. She has made it pretty far as a lowblood, and she’s very aware of how difficult and noteworthy that is--it fills her with pride. Material wealth is very important to her perception of herself, as well as a kind of detachment from emotions; she’s done a pretty good job of it so far, though she started to catch feelings with Kit and Sipara. The feeling of ‘losing’ that was accompanied by drifting apart from them has lowered her self-perception a little bit, but by and large she still considers herself an intelligent, savvy, rich troll and that isn’t likely to change anytime soon.
Botnik sees himself as a loyal charge, and has spent so much time caring for his lusus that he has a hard time seeing himself as anything else. This has also contributed to his self-image as a cog in a machine, seeing himself as merely an engine that powers machinery that creates useful things. He feels pride in creation, especially if what he has create is efficient and durable. His self-image is firmly neutral, to the extent that he probably won’t complain about being helmed when he gets ascended. All it will do is make him a more efficient engine, which is an exciting prospect.
Raylox, on the other hand, sees herself as an individual first and foremost. She tries to avoid cultivating relationships largely because she doesn’t like feeling beholden to anyone or tied to any person or place. She likes others to see her as mysterious and desirable, but shuns the idea of giving anyone control over her, no matter how nominal. This may make her seem somewhat callous, but she’s more concerned with music and doesn’t much care what other people think of her. She’s pleased with herself, and that’s all that really matters to her.
- Double-barrelled shotgun (over-under)/curling iron
- Extra shotgun shells
- 1 (one) tube red lipstick ( Bad Blood [of a Low-Caste Vagabond for Whom the Only Redeeming Quality is the Mercifully Short Lifespan They Inherit and Should Consider a Blessing])
