The Trollkin Economy

Trolls and trollkin are something all gloranthaphiles understand. Trolls find their smaller siblings embarassing, annoying and tasty. Trollkin have a typical life expectancy measured in hours - with the average troll eating them, basically, whenever he feels like it. As long as there are enough around to fetch and carry, and to play their (usually lethal) roles in the various rituals, who cares, right?

Unfortunatly, this is wrong. The economics of trollkin don't work like that, as I'll demonstrate here. To start with I'll talk about how trolls have come to rely on trollkin - both during their mundane life, and mythically. Then I'll follow up with some rough numbers to demonstrate their true value. Basically, though, the conclusion to be drawn is that trolls value the trollkin a lot more than they would like to admit...

Since the Curse of Kin occured, dark trolls have come to rely on their stunted relatives in a number of ways. As well as the obvious food, trollkin are also used as warriors (or at least, er, cannon fodder) servants, entertainers, and basically to do any simple, unpleasant jobs that the trolls don't want to do themselves. They also have important ritual roles - including the Kargg's Sons requirement to eat a relative annually, to the ritual slaughter on Zorak Zoran holy nights. While any troll will claim (and probably believe themselves) that breaking the curse would be a wonderful event, in truth the trolls will be in trouble. In all likelihood, troll society - especially ritually - would break down.

Okay, so there's some evidence that trollkin are important to trolls. Certainly important enough that they would not want to destroy them all - they will always keep a few around. How many trollkin are there, though?

There are a couple of figures we don't know for this calculation, so I'll be making a few assumptions here. However we do know that a female will remain celebate for a year after birthing a litter of trollkin. We also know that around half of all births are trollkin - the remainder appear to be single trolls. What we don't know is how often a female can conceive, or how long gestation is. However, a figure of one birth per year seems reasonable. (1) This means that, on average, a female will birth trollkin every three years. Assuming that male and female trolls are roughly equal in numbers - and indications are that if anything males out-number females - that gives a figure of one trollkin litter per six troll-years, on average. The second figure we don't know, is the average size of a trollkin litter. I'll do the maths twice - once assuming six 'kin per litter, and once twenty-four. (2)

At six trollkin per litter, the figures are simple - on average one trollkin will be born (each year) for each troll in the community. Given that many rituals need trollkin deaths, most of those will be lost to rituals. The average troll will never get to taste 'kin - except during rituals.

Even at twenty-four, the figure is only four 'kin per troll per year. At this, a few can be used in warfare, a few for personal servants, and still leave a few for food. However, the average troll will still only be able to eat trollkin once, maybe twice a year.

So, what impact does this have? Well, there a number of matters to bear in mind. Food trollkin probably occur in two classes. There are those so weak, so malformed that they serve no purpose - not even ritually. These will be available as general food trollkin - available for the powerful, important visitors, etc. to snack on as they fancy. The remainder of food trollkin will be reserved, kept back for important rituals. Snacking on them is a serious offense, and one which may weaken the community.

The impact on troll psychology is equally important. Most trolls will view eating trollkin as a rare event. Regularly or gratuitously eating 'kin is a sign of great wealth or power. Most trolls will only eat 'kin under special circumstances - for rituals, to impress someone important, or as an extreme form of discipline. Being given a trollkin to devour becomes a powerful bribe.

Of course, trolls don't rationalise this much. They eat 'kin when they want to. However, all 'kin are owned by someone, and being able to obtain them in the first place is difficult. In many cases, the balance of power within a clan will be maintained by the allocation of 'kin for rituals. It is especially easy to see whichever is dominant between the Kargg's Sons and Zorak Zorani denying access to large numbers of 'kin to their opponents, weakening their magic.

Notes

(1) Since I wrote this I found a hint in Trollpak as to troll gestation periods. It claims that trollkin are normally born after 35-40 weeks, and describes this as an early birth. Since 42 weeks is a Gloranthan year, this suggests that the one birth a year figure is an over-estimate. I don't think this significantly changes the conclusions I reach here.

(2) Mikko Rintasaari has pointed out that the 1988 version of Trollpak includes a clan generation system which indicates that litters are of 1d6 trollkin. This changes the assumptions here quite significantly, making trollkin much rarer than I've allowed for. The original Trollpak (which I was working from) doesn't seem to include these tables.

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