There are some 2500 trolls in the Big Rubble, making them the single most numerous community. There are some 500 adult dark trolls, over 1600 trollkin, and at least 100 great trolls, plus numerous cave trolls. The trolls are divided into many clans and gangs, with a third of all trolls belonging to the Kaggroka clan.
Trolls came into Pavis in force in 1237, led by Gerak Kag, a troll hero who engaged in combat with Balastor, last king of Pavis, and killed him. A whole army moved into the city then, sealed shut the mighty gates with magic and stone, and began the conquest of the interior of the walls. Within the walls there was much building by the trolls, and rock and lead were used to seal the ancient gates closed. The breaches were closely guarded, and it grew increasingly difficult and dangerous for nomads to penetrate the city. Trolls eventually built walls of questionable strength across the breaches.
Gerak Kag was a relentless Heroquester, and about the year 1250 attained immortality and was apotheosized as a troll hero. He removed himself from the mundane plane and his followers began to worship him as a demigod. This achievement was a disaster for troll unity. The troll warlords began a terrible competition which set troll against troll for years, and which probably gave harassed humans, dwarfs, and Aldryami much needed respite.
During the lifetime of Gerak Kag the humans were hard-pressed to survive at all. Some, legend says, were captured and totally enslaved. Others were captured and totally devoured. Some simply hid well, or fought valiantly but not well enough. The death of Gerak Kag was followed by the splintering of troll unity, but not of troll dominance. The demarcation of forces was never clear-cut. After many years of shifting fortunes, several human strongholds, a dozen powerful troll clans, and many trollkin gangs remained. Alliances were short-lived and constantly betrayed.
The factionalization of the trolls is well-attested. Gerak Kag, a male, had little official influence over his sisters and nieces who led the common folk. However, his military presence was enough to completely dominate the Karrg’s Sons (war leaders) and force a unification of their military force.
The failure of the trolls to wipe out all the other inhabitants within the walls may be due to inability to unify as a single force since the apotheosis of Gerak Kag, and their need to allow appropriate game animals to remain within their domain as future food.
The temple of Kyger Litor and Gerak Kag was the dominant unifying factor among trolls when danger threatened, but some clans never joined the hero cult and barely recognised the priestesses there.
In 1539, the unusual event called the Dragonewts’ Dream took place. Among other events forced by the Dragonewt’s Dream was the opening of Pavis. The magically-sealed doors hampered the easy passage of the Dragonewt ghosts, and when the defenses of the Wyvern Gate were breached by spectral Dragonewt magic, there was a terrible battle with the defensive spells and spirits, which destroyed the phantom Dragonewt procession. A second procession destroyed the gate’s remaining defenders, and the spooks continued on to the ruins of the ancient Dragonewt temple, built there during the heyday of the Empire of the Wyrm’s Friends. This event broke the vice-grip of the trolls on the Rubble, and once again movement into and out of the Rubble was fairly easy.
Although the trolls no longer rule the Rubble, they are still the most powerful faction within the Big Rubble, and at night the trolls do rule the Big Rubble. Gangs of trolls roam the Huntlands at night, looking for prey, and troll bands often operate in the Big Grazing. These gangs are typically groups of trollkin led by dark trolls.They are perfectly willing to ambush adventurers they think are weaker than them. The Troll Stronglands are far more dangerous, as the ruins are patrolled by many more trolls.
Now the trolls control Temple Hill, a major adventuring site. Temple Hill has a lot of different ancient temples atop it, of which only the troll temples are operative. A troll fort covers part of the hill, and must be avoided, but the temples are worthwhile areas. But Temple Hill itself covers only about 20 hectares, or about 6-7 times the area of the Acropolis of Athens. Which means your adventurers need to avoid the hive of trolls at the fort and beneath the hill, while sneaking around in the ruins of the temples.
The outskirts of Dagori Inkarth (Gash Land) is only about 80 km away, and so communications between the Big Rubble and Dagori Inkarth are frequent.
However, Trollville is the main way station between the Big Rubble and Shadows Dance. It is less than 60 km away, and has nearly 800 trolls. There’s even an inn and an Issaries market there!
The tie between Dagori Inkarth and the trolls of the Big Rubble is part of the reason no human ruler has tried to clear out the trolls of the Big Rubble. Even Sor-eel the Short, with some 2500 soldiers, treated the Big Rubble trolls gingerly. I’ve heard that he feared the trolls far more than the Orlanthi or the nomads.
As for Halcyon, he avoided stirring up the trolls as well. Besides, he had even fewer soldiers than Sor-eel.