Day 1:

I have received permission and a small grant for my troll study. I was told that trolls were dangerous, and not to seek them out, but there is a significant gap in our academic canon where they are concerned. I must be careful but persistent. Trolls are rare creatures, so if I don’t extend any risk I believe I will have no luck in my query. I have traveled to a large river in the middle of Bokal, where hopefully I will find a troll.

Day 2:

I have not had any luck so far. I know to search for larger portions of river where a troll could live comfortably, but have still had no luck.

Day 3:

It is only today that I remembered that trolls also prefer shady sections of river, and realized that I have wasted the past two days searching without taking this fact into consideration. I will restart my query. I am very upset.

Day 4:

No troll.

Day 5:

Still no troll.

Day 6:

No troll

Day 7:

No troll

Day 8:

I met a fisherman today who told me that he had seen a troll recently! However, he refused to tell me where he spotted it, calling me a fool, but there is a nearby village whose inhabitants may be more revealing.

Day 9:

Last night I met a villager who told me everything I need to know! He said to travel South a ways until I find an overpass in the forest that stretches out over a river. This is apparently where rumor claims the troll inhabits.

Day 10:

I have located the hovel mentioned, but there is no troll. It may be out currently. It isn’t safe to sleep near a troll’s territory, so unfortunately I’ll have to travel back to the village to sleep. I will remain until dusk in the hopes of seeing the troll return.

Day 11:

I returned this morning and saw bright yellow eyes watching me! I believe it must be the troll, but I dare not get closer, at least not yet. I should grab some cans of salt when I return to the village.

Day 12:

Today, salt in hand, I went closer to the river’s edge, and the eyes came out to meet me. I could tell she was watching the salt in my hand. I believe that it truly is dangerous to them. She came close to the water’s edge, but when I moved closer myself, she pulled back. I tried leaving the salt behind but she still retreated from my advancing. Only when I turned to leave did she address me.

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I heard her invite me to come into her home, and to recover from the sun of the Warm Season in her river. However, trolls are known for trying to lure passersby into the water, so I politely declined and told her that I’d be back tomorrow. Although I could only see her eyes, she looked disappointed.

I’m leaving today earlier than I had anticipated, but hopefully my gamble will pay off and make her more curious about me.

Day 13:

I did keep my promise and returned today. This time she emerged from the water up to her stomach, but was still in the deep shade of the forest on her side of the river. There are conflicting accounts on how long a troll must be exposed to sunlight in order to be completely dehydrated, but she clearly wasn’t taking any chances. Coming as close to the river’s edge as I dared, I decided to ask her. She scoffed at me, telling me that would be like her asking me how much blood I’d need to lose before dying of blood loss. I will admit in retrospect that my question was morbid, but I jokingly replied probably not much. She laughed at my morbid humor, but before I could ask more questions she dived back into the river, presumably to hunt. I will need to return tomorrow.

Day 14:

I returned today to my usual spot, only to see the water greatly disturbed as the eyes rushed towards me. At first I feared that she was going to pounce out of the water, but instead she flung a deer up at me. She told me that it wasn’t always easy to catch land based prey, but that she liked their gamey taste. She went back to the edge of the shade and emerged once more up to the top of her stomach, giving me my first good look at her. She was large, and without knowing the length of her lower body I can’t answer adequately her height, but she was definitely larger than any fae. Her body was very pale, but on her shoulders and back of her arms she had very dark scales, which I would assume are meant to protect her from sunlight. Her face looked surprisingly fae like, but her forehead was short, her brow hardened, and her mouth and nose extended as a long snout. It was difficult to tell if she had hair on her head or if it was simply muck from the river.

Once again she invited me to enter the river with her, and once again I declined. She asked that I at least return her kill to her, which I complied with, rolling it back into the river where it was quickly snatched up.

Day 15:

I once again met with the troll this morning. This time she came to the river’s edge cradling her baby, a small, colorful grub like creature. It would appear to be some sort of larval stage, and it is here where I would like to state that it is difficult to assign a taxonomic class to trolls. The troll has scales and possibly hair, but a significant portion of the body is exposed with an amphibian like appearance to it. And the revelation that trolls have some sort of larval stage, although perhaps more similar to a tadpole, only complicates the matter.

According to her, the father was another troll that wandered into her territory. He left after the egg was laid, although apparently trolls sometimes fight over who gets the egg.

I told her that she had an adorable baby, and in a strange way it really was, which she seemed to beam at before taking the child back to her hovel. I waited for her to return, but she didn’t, so I headed back to the village.

Day 16:

Today the troll and I talked from sunrise straight through the day, and I have just now been able to pull myself away from the conversation as dusk settles.

I asked her today, somewhat embarrassed, what her name was, as I had somehow neglected to do so during our earlier conversations. She laughed, reminding me that she had never asked for my name either, and told me that names have little meaning to trolls in the wild, as they live almost entirely solitary lives where they meet few individuals.

I will return to the University soon, but I will say that this troll has proved surprisingly hospitable. Although in our earliest meeting she attempted to lure me into the water, presumably in order to eat me, I believe that over time we have come to trust each other. I have learned much about trolls from her, and she has told me that, although normally solitary, it is sometimes nice to have other sapient species to talk to. I would venture as far as to say that she has come to view me as a frie