The Trell Race
Physiology
The Trell are a race of large, treelike humanoids. A trell's skin resembles smoothed bark and the functions of bones and muscles are handled by by tightly intertwined branches. Their mouths contain a root-like tongue, which allows them to subsist mainly on rich soil and water.
A Trell's head sports a number of small branches, which sprout leaves during the same months as deciduous trees. In the summer they grow berries as well, but these are usually plucked as soon as they ripen due to their importance in Trell reproduction.
Mythology
The Trell were born late in the Dawning Age, given life by their creator deity, Namak-Thur.
Early on, Namak-Thur had created the trolls, a monstrous race that blended traits of plants with those of mortal races. After centuries of savagery, the brutish, misshapen trolls were deemed to be an embarrassing failure, so Namak-Thur set to work on correcting his mistake.
He completely eschewed the flesh-and-bone constructs that housed the souls of other races and decided to build his next creations from bark and wood. With the gift of the mortal spark, the Trell were born into the world.
Namak-Thur gave the Trell the following commands:
- Take root in the world and spread to every continent.
- Destroy the Trolls wherever you find them.
- Study the plants of the world and cultivate them as your own children.
Society
Trell society heavily revolves around farming. Although Trell don't require food in the way most races do, crops provide them with additional nutrients to supplement their core diet of soil and water. Crop rotation helps to keep the soil rich for consumption as well. Ultimately though, this is all practice for raising their young. Trell aren't born, but rather planted, tended, grown, and harvested like any other plant. The most skilled farmers in a Trell community are usually tasked with tending the sapling gardens and raising young Trell into adulthood.
Trell communities can usually count on good relations with other races, since they often produce a significant surplus of crops each year. This makes them valuable neighbors and trading partners for races that rely on crops as a food source. It's also not uncommon for Trell to make alliances with other races, where they offer an abundance of food in exchange for military protection.
Warfare
When forced to fight for themselves, the Trells' physical stature make them formidable foes. They often favor heavy axes as weapons due to familiarity, but won't hesitate to wield more effective weapons when available. Since Trell are rarely skilled in metal working, their armor tends to be either leather based, or made from specially-grown wood carved into plates. Fire is another favored weapon, despite the race's own vulnerability, as it's an essential tool in fulfilling their creator's command to exterminate trolls.