Fensir (used both as singular and plural), also commonly referred to by other creatures as Ysgardian trolls, were a humanoid species native to the plane of Ysgard.[2][6][7] Despite the second name they were known by, fensir were completely unrelated to trolls,[2][7] rather they were more related to giants.[7]
Description
Unlike trolls on the Material Plane, members of their varied widely in both their height and appearance.[2] All fensir were considered unattractive by other races, sporting huge heads and large noses. Most had warty skin and deep black eyes, often misaligned,[4] while some were nearly human-like in their appearance.[2] On average fensir grew to a height of 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.4 meters) tall,[2] these statures being equivalent to that of a human or hill giant respectively.[4]
Male and female fensir often resembled one another in the eyes of other creatures,[5] at least until a female fensir gave birth. At that point the female potentially underwent a hideous transformation, becoming what was known by fensir as rakka,[4][5] which translated as "devourers." They would begin to greatly gain weight and height, eventually outgrowing their home, reaching heights of 20 to 25 feet (6.1 to 7.6 meters) and weights of more than 6,000 pounds (2,700 kilograms).[4][5]
Also unlike prime trolls, the fensir did not dress in furs, but rather the civilized clothing common in Ysgard.[2] Both sexes typically dressed in fine leather armor and vests,[4] with big black hats made from rabbit fur[2][4] in varying styles.[4] Men in particular also favored helmets, leather boots, woolen hose, and woolen tunics. While women fensir favored simple woven dresses, leather shoes, and linen or woolen scarves.[2]
Personality
Another way that fensir were nothing like trolls on the Prime Material[8][7] was their mentality. They were far more intelligent[2][6][7] and cultured,[2][7] though the intelligence of a female would dwindle as they became a rakka.[4]
Fensir had a tendency to be shy,[6] especially among fensir of the opposite gender (who had little in common),[2] though certain conditions could drive them to rampage.[8] They were considered to be clumsy.[9] And they were a rather secretive people who tended to keep to themselves,[6] rarely interferring in the lives of others, the sole exception to this being a near-obsessive fascination they had with lillendi. In turn, they expected others to respect their privacy.[2]
Fensir twins tended to have similar personalities[2] and an almost psychic connection between them.[4] If one was killed, the other would stop at nothing to avenge their death.[2][4] Fighting in a frenzied state[2] and even finding a way to the Material Plane if necessary.[4]
Abilities
Both male and female fensir had innate sense of when the nearest sun was going to rise or set, up to an hour ahead of it occuring. They also possessed innate abilities similar to the transmute mud to rock and transmute rock to mud spells.[5][10] Additionally, male fensir could cast transmute earth to stones three times per day, transforming earth into boulder-sized stones.[5]
Due the psychic connection between them, fensir twins knew the status and location of their sibling at all times. This ability was much like the status spell, but without the range limit. If a twin's sibling ever died through malicious intent, they were capable of tracking the perpetrators down as if affected by locate person, but minus that spell's range limit.[4]
Whenever a rakka was killed they would issue a dying curse upon those responsible,[4][5] which functioned similarly to the geas/quest spell.[4] This could cause disease or madness in the afflicted,[5] but usually involved making them pay back or serve the rakka's family.[11]
Magic
Almost all fensir had the ability to cast spells and were potent diviners, able to brew almost any kind of magic potion.[4] Males especially tended to be adept in magic, particularly the rune magic of Ysgard, with around 75% of male fensir being mages.[5] And whenever a female fensir transformed into a rakka, they lost their ability to cast spells.[4]
The arcane spells that the average fensir knew how to cast included the following:[4]
- bull's strength, color spray, darkness, detect magic, ghost sound, lightning bolt, magic missile, obscuring mist, protection from law, ray of frost, and read magic.
Combat
When it came to weaponry, the fensir shared the proclivities of Ysgardian petitioners. Favoring battle axes, broadswords, spears,[2] and greataxes.[7] However, because of their shy nature, the average fensir preferred to remain at a distance instead of engaging in close quarters. Additionally, in a battle fensir would focus their attention upon any opponent they knew was able of casting sunbeam, sunburst, or some equivalent.[4]
When caught unarmed, which was often the case with foraging youth[2] and always the case with a rakka,[4] fensirs would cast spells or use their impressive strength to hurl boulders at their foes.[5][10] Like many giants, they were quite proficient when it came to hurling boulders and usually had a few on hand.[10] And fensir who were excellent herbalists, but unable to cast spells, would rely upon magic potions.[4]
Ecology
The eyes of fensir were well adapted to seeing in areas of low-light as well as total darkness.[1]
A unique vulnerability of the fensir was that their bodies could potentially petrify if caught in daylight[2][10] for more than a minute,[2] Some claimed their bodies had to be fully exposed[7] or that only mature fensir were affected.[5] This would similarly occur from the sunbeam[2][10] and sunburst spells.[10]
Once petrified by sunlight, a fensir could only be restored by means of a special restorative potion,[2] which had an effect similar to stone to flesh.[2][4] All fensirs were taught how to brew this potion.[4] However, brewing it was a complicated process involving the extract of mandrake root (and some speculated, the blood of a lillend) and it had to be done under a new moon. Additionally, some claimed it could reverse petrification upon any creature,[2] while others would say that it only worked on fensir.[4]
Lifespan
After the transformation into a rakka, the expected lifespan of a female fensir declined signicantly.[4][5] Living only one[4] to a few years after the transformation.[5]
Reproduction
Fensir women typically gave birth to litters of two to eight young.[2] The majority of such births were of fraternal twins,[4] though it wasn't uncommon for a litter to have as little as one set and having no twins was a possibility.[2] By the time a fensir mother or "rakka" dies they will likely have given birth to a second or even third litter.[5]
Society
Fensir were not a communal people,[4][5] preferring to live in isolated family units,[5] though some lived in villages.[10] On average, one would find only one rakka within a village.[4] Due to their innate weakness to sunlight, mature fensir were only seen outside of their homes well after dusk.[2][10] Fensir youths on the other hand were sometimes outside during the day in packs causing mischief by annoying animals, robbing travelers, and damaging small settlements.[5]
Twins — which almost always stayed together until they reached maturity — held a special place within fensir culture, one which they didn't consider unusual or often worth remarking upon. A litter without twins was considered to be very unlucky, the bond between twins was a recurring topic in their sagas, and siblings (even among the untwinned) having their weddings held together was quite common. This marriage practice came about due to fensir twins setting out after reaching maturity in search of another pair of twins to wed, rather than courting unrelated women. Once twins mated with their spouses the "twin-bond" between them was broken and replaced by a "pair-bond".[2]
In the rare cases when a fensir was not born with any gift for wielding magic,[4] but especially in the case of males, they were considered to be unlucky.[5] Thus their family would exile them,[4][5] perhaps abandoning them in a remote location,[5] forcing them to wander Ysgard.[4] The only exceptions to this were fensir that were exceptional herbalists.[5]
Gender Roles
When it came to men and women among the fensir, the two rarely spent time together. This was to such an extent that some outsiders would claim they lived seperate lives, but the fensir did not think their way of life as being unusual.[2]
In terms of roles, male fensir were the spiritual leaders and lawgivers of their household.[5] They tended to specialize in the craft of herbalism,[2] being quite excellent at it,[6] and a great degree of the magic known by their mages was tied to herbalism, allowing them to make both potions and poultices. They were also fair craftsmen, poor at hunting, and excellent at hunting. Preparing and blessing the foraged food brought to them.
Women among the fensir acted as the heads of households. Being the keepers of family treasure,[2] the primary protectors, and the providers. They foraged for food alongside their young.[5] They also provided for their families by specializing in being both brewmasters and weavers.[5]
Whenever the rakka of a fensir family died, its household would be seized by what their people called the "Long Walk,"[5][4] an instinctual sense of wanderlust.[5] They would leave their homes,[4][5] never to return to them,[5] roaming the wild wastes of Ysgard. Foraging[5] and pillaging the land out of anger, confusion, or spite.[4] Sometimes these families would gather with other into a horde and travel beyond the confines of Ysgard's wastes, pillaging the Ysgardian realms of Alfheim, Asgard, Vanaheim, and the Gates of the Moon.[5]
Diet
The fensir were an omnivorous people, dining upon anything that was even remotely edible. Besides scavenged meat, fensir were known to eat bark, grasses, roots, and even some forms of clay.[2] Gathered nuts and roots made up the bolk of a fensir diet. Meat broth was considered by them to be a delicacy, with the flesh of halflings being especially prized.[5]
Homelands
Fensir lived on the plane of Ysgard,[6][8][12] on its fringes[6] in remote areas of difficult terrain.[2][4] They particularly lived in the realm of Jotunheim.[3]
Fensir made their homes in such areas as deserted heaths, deep woods,[2] rocky sea-cliffs, high mountains,[2][4] and secluded swamps.[4] These homes were always sunken into the earth, for the sake of providing warmth during the winter, and usually roofed with sod so that they were difficult for others to find.[2] As a family's rakka grew in size they inevitably needed to create a larger home,[5] becoming equivalent to a small village.[4] Families often stripped the countryside surrounding their homes bare as they tried to appease and sustain their mother.[4][5] And due to the Long Walk, it was quite common throughout Ysgard to stumble upon an abandoned fensir lair.[5]
Languages
On average a fensir could speak Common,[2][4] Giant,[4] any number of the languages found throughout Ysgard, and the language of lillendi.[2]
Relationships
Fensir were on tolerable terms with the elves and dwarves of Ysgard,[2] the latter of whom they commonly traded with,[2][13] female fensir especially. Trading them the clothes they weaved in return for metal goods such as heads, cleavers, spears, stewpots, and tea kettles. Beyond the dwarves, female fensir sold the beer and mead they brewed to other fensir, giants, and Ysgardian petitioners.[2]
Humans were sometimes sought after by solitary fensir as a mate. The bariaurs that inhabited Ysgard considered the fensir to be wise elders, often consulting them on matters of herbalism as well as diagnosis and treatment of conditions. Finally, fensir were known to kidnap and enslave lillendi,[2] though they usually manage to avoid the fensir quite easily.[9]
Trivia
Casting monster summoning while on Nidavellir was liable to summon a fensir.[14]
Appendix
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Eric Cagle, Jesse Decker, James Jacobs, Erik Mona, Matthew Sernett, Chris Thomasson, and James Wyatt (April 2003). Fiend Folio. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 69–70. ISBN 0-7869-2780-1.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 2.31 2.32 2.33 2.34 2.35 2.36 2.37 2.38 2.39 2.40 2.41 2.42 2.43 Wolfgang Baur and Lester Smith (1994-07-01). “Monstrous Supplement”. In Michele Carter ed. Planes of Chaos (TSR, Inc), p. 12. ISBN 1560768746.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Richard Baker, James Wyatt (March 2004). Player's Guide to Faerûn. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 160. ISBN 0-7869-3134-5.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 4.22 4.23 4.24 4.25 4.26 4.27 4.28 4.29 4.30 4.31 4.32 4.33 4.34 4.35 4.36 4.37 4.38 4.39 4.40 4.41 4.42 4.43 4.44 Eric Cagle, Jesse Decker, James Jacobs, Erik Mona, Matthew Sernett, Chris Thomasson, and James Wyatt (April 2003). Fiend Folio. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 70. ISBN 0-7869-2780-1.
- ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18 5.19 5.20 5.21 5.22 5.23 5.24 5.25 5.26 5.27 5.28 5.29 5.30 5.31 5.32 5.33 5.34 5.35 5.36 Wolfgang Baur and Lester Smith (1994-07-01). “Monstrous Supplement”. In Michele Carter ed. Planes of Chaos (TSR, Inc), p. 13. ISBN 1560768746.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Wolfgang Baur and Lester Smith (1994-07-01). “The Travelogue”. In Michele Carter ed. Planes of Chaos (TSR, Inc), p. 40. ISBN 1560768746.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Eric Cagle, Jesse Decker, James Jacobs, Erik Mona, Matthew Sernett, Chris Thomasson, and James Wyatt (April 2003). Fiend Folio. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 68. ISBN 0-7869-2780-1.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Wolfgang Baur and Lester Smith (1994-07-01). “The Book of Chaos”. In Michele Carter ed. Planes of Chaos (TSR, Inc), p. 108. ISBN 1560768746.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Wolfgang Baur and Lester Smith (1994-07-01). “Monstrous Supplement”. In Michele Carter ed. Planes of Chaos (TSR, Inc), p. 17. ISBN 1560768746.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 Eric Cagle, Jesse Decker, James Jacobs, Erik Mona, Matthew Sernett, Chris Thomasson, and James Wyatt (April 2003). Fiend Folio. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 69. ISBN 0-7869-2780-1.
- ↑ Eric Cagle, Jesse Decker, James Jacobs, Erik Mona, Matthew Sernett, Chris Thomasson, and James Wyatt (April 2003). Fiend Folio. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 71. ISBN 0-7869-2780-1.
- ↑ Monte Cook (1996). The Planewalker's Handbook. Edited by Michele Carter. (TSR), p. 25. ISBN 978-0786904600.
- ↑ Wolfgang Baur, James Jacobs, George Strayton (September 2004). Frostburn. Edited by Greg Collins. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 125. ISBN 0-7869-2896-4.
- ↑ Wolfgang Baur and Lester Smith (1994-07-01). “The Book of Chaos”. In Michele Carter ed. Planes of Chaos (TSR, Inc), p. 104. ISBN 1560768746.