14 DAY TRIAL // Runemaster is a video game that’s inspired by Northern myths and lore and that means one of the races that gamers will be able to choose to play as in the new title from the Paradox Development Studio are the trolls, who are powerful and sinister creatures that do Loki’s bidding and try to bring about the end of the known world.
On the official forums, the company says that they drew their visual inspiration for the race from John Bauer, the creator of the illustrations for the book series "Bland Tomtar och Troll," aka Among Gnomes and Trolls.
The artists at Paradox have also added touches based on the work of Theodor Kittelsen, who has a darker take on the same core concepts.
The mythology of the game world says that they were created by a powerful goddess that’s the daughter of the giant Nott and is also rumored to have given birth to Thor.
The company states, “She has many names but the trolls only refer to her as the Goddess, the Mother or the Mother in the East. It is said that in the old days the trolls lived with her and she created them as the guardians of nature. Then one day she was gone. The trolls made it their quest to find her and that is why they wander from place to place and only stop for short times at their holy sites.”
This origin myth also makes some Trolls believe they should be allied to the race of the Giants.
In Runemaster, they are big, have long noses, wild hair, and ears that point straight up and they do not like to do anything during the day, with the oldest of them able to turn to stone after staying in the sun for too long, entering a so-called Long Slumber.
Trolls wills be both nomadic and settled and each tribe is led by a chief, who deals with war and other normal threats, and a shaman, who is capable of spiritual feats.
Paradox adds, “Trolls and Humans both dwell in Midgard and this has, time and again, led to conflict. The two races try to stay away from each other, but some Trolls study the Humans with great curiosity and have even started to trade with them. Other Trolls see Humans as nothing more than food.”
The heroes of the race include a male Berserker and a female Runamster and they can field three unique units, the Walking Mountains, the Beast Riders, and the Ancient Ones.