Waking groggily from his slumber, Ulfr yawned and stretched, the troll's large frame and long arms nearly scraping the ceiling of his humble hovel. He started on his morning routine, washing his face and hands in a small clay basin before stepping outside. The moment he did so, a murder of crows took flight from the edge of the nearby forest, their cawing catching his attention. Trolls had their superstitions and Ulfr was quick to interpret the birds' moments as an omen.
He went back inside the small wood and hide hut holding his few possessions and he fetched what he was looking for: a set of sheep knuckle-bones with runes carved into them. Muttering to himself, he rolled the bones and studied them closely, doing his best to interpret what the spirits were telling him. Three runes came up consistently. Something unexpected, a visitor, and an opportunity.
Ulfr rubbed his chin, his large dark green hands rough from many winters of working animal hides and tending his garden. Few visitors came by that he did not expect. The only ones that occasionally visited were another troll that lived fairly far away and a male dusk elf that sometimes sneaked away from his matriarch in order to trade and talk with the old troll. Neither of them were expected to visit soon though.
Puzzled, Ulfr put away the bones and took a strip of dried venison and the last of the moon wine that the dusk elf male had given him on a previous visit and stepped outside. It was a short trip to the nearby forest and the small shrine he maintained that honored the sun and the earth. He sacrificed the dried meat and the precious alcohol, whispering a small prayer to the sun and earth to keep their respect. With any luck they would even aid him with this supposed visitor, come what may.
With the gods properly respected, Ulfr set about his day as normal, tending to his garden and spending time hunting in the forest. Much of his time was devoted to finding and storing food, trolls had voracious appetites and their hulking bodies burned through energy quickly. He had just downed a stag with his small self bow and was skinning the beast, setting aside its heart for the gods when he heard a rustle in the trees nearby. Something had spooked a nearby bird, a familiar looking crow cawing loudly as it flew away.
Slowly, Ulfr stood and brought himself to his full height, his muscles rippling and flexing as he did his best to look intimidating.
"Come out now." He rumbled, his voice low and bestial. "I know you're there. Speak with me and we can part ways. Try to fight and you'll end up as nothing more than extra meat for my larder."
A lithe and fit figure strode out from behind a tree and Ulfr couldn't hide the surprise on his face as it drew closer to him and revealed itself. It was a dusk elf, a female! They rarely ever came out this far from their cities and it was almost unheard of for one to be alone. They knew trolls could easily overpower them one on one and cleverly worked in teams when the two races engaged in their frequent border conflicts.
"I am the Knight-Aspirant Zahra, troll." The dusk elf woman spoke, her tone headstrong and filled with contempt. "I've sworn to kill a great evil in combat to prove my worth to my order. A troll's head will easily guarantee my entry into the Sistership of the Moon Rose, even if it comes from the body of a pathetic male."
Ulfr studied the woman carefully, trying to assess the threat she posed. Her tone and posture were confident, her chain-mail and sword of good quality, but her stance was lacking. She was young and beautiful, the little of her dark skin that he could see unblemished by scars. He suspected she had trained a fair amount but had never truly fought before.
"Begone elf!" Ulfr waved his hand dismissively. "I doubt you've truly cut your teeth yet. Try to fight old Ulfr, and you'll end up dead. That is the truth, not a boast. You're lucky that the earth and sun allowed you to survive the forest unscathed."
"We will fight!" The elf shouted, stomping her foot angrily and drawing her sword. "I will leave with your head or I will die in battle!" Ulfr snorted and turned to leave for his hut before he suddenly screamed out in pain and shock. The elf woman had darted forward and slashed her sword across his back, the blade piercing his hide and spraying blood across the undergrowth.
Ulfr swung his frame around, lashing out with his hands and claws, only catching air as the elf woman dodged back, holding her sword at the ready. "Fight me you evil beast!" She taunted. "Face your death like a woman and have some honor before I kill you!" The old troll rushed her, his momentum fiendishly fast but the elf sidestepped him once more, just barely evading him and slashing another cut into his arm as he flew by.
The troll did not stop and turn however, he pushed onward into the forest and disappeared into the trees. Zahra loosed a cry of frustration and pursued him, sprinting into the forest intent on catching the beast before he could escape. She ran for only a moment before Ulfr sprang out from behind the massive trunk of a great oak and blindsided her, crashing into her so hard that she was launched a short way through the air into the trunk of another oak, its bark cracking as the elf's chain-mail slammed against it.
The lady knight slumped to the ground and Ulfr approached cautiously, wary of any tricks. Leaning down though, he discovered she was unconscious and out cold, the mighty blow having knocked her out. He was impressed, a blow like that would have flat out killed most other dusk elves. He reached out and touched the cuts on his back and arm, finding that the wounds had staunched themselves and were already beginning to heal.
Ulfr grunted, his body healed quickly but the energy expenditure was already making him hungry. He looked down at the unconscious woman and wondered what to do with her. He could let her go but he knew she would just return as soon as she had recovered, perhaps with a team of warriors even. He could kill her but the meat of a single dusk elf was hardly worth the effort. Remembering what the bones had told him earlier he shrugged and grabbed her by the foot, unceremoniously dragging her back to his hovel.
Once he was safely home he dropped the limp form of the elf knight on the wooden floor and fetched his knuckle-bones once more, asking them what he should do with the captured woman. The results made him laugh, softly at first then reaching a roaring bellow. The bones kept rolling a single rune, the one that stood for fertility.
