Trow

The Trow are relics from a forgotten age. During the height of their golden age they were responsible for the creation of many complex megalithic structures... -Trow Description, Cast of Characters, Myth TFL Manual

The Age of the Trow
The Trow are a race of giants who have been around since the beginning of the world, creations of the Goddess Nyx.

What started off as a peaceful race, dedicated to their creator, soon turned into a race that would commit genocide and destruction for other races for untold millennia. When they were attacked by a bloodthirsty race known as the Sileh'hei, they beseeched Nyx for help and she revealed to them the secret of Iron. With this knowledge, they forged weapons and armour which made them all but invincible in battle. They fought off the Sileh'hei back to their mountain caves and in revenge, they hunted down and killed every last one of them.

However, that didn't end the bloodshed that was to come. They soon used iron to build great temple cities and monuments, dedicated to Nyx. When their mines ran out, they soon turned to other places in search of the metal and the fuel to smelt it. One such place was south of their lands, to a forest of ancient trees, home of the Forest Giants. The resulting conflict that arose forced the Forest Giants from their homes and reduced it into the poisoned and deadly Dire Marsh. The Forest Giants warned that the Trow had poisoned the soul of iron but were paid no heed.

The Trow then caught word that the Callieach had powerful magics derived from the Wyrd Runestones, they deemed them useful for constructing ever more splendid temples to Nyx. But instead of negotiating, they just took the stones by force, razing the Callieach's cities and killing any who got in their way. All the Runestones they took were taken to the city of Si'anwon. The Callieach warned the Trow to stop the attacks or face retaliation but the Trow, in their arrogance, paid no heed. The Callieach then invoked a powerful cataclysm that sank Si'anwon beneath the Great Sea, taking the Runestones and the powers they contained with it. Outraged that a 'lesser race' would defy them, the Trow initiated a systematic extermination of the entire Callieach race. Even with god-like magic at their disposal, the Callieach were being wiped out without mercy under the Trow's iron boots. The last survivors of the Callieach fled to the mountains in the east with an army of Trow behind them. Rather then let themselves be killed by the Trow, the Callieach invoked their most powerful magics and in one almighty cataclysm that tore through the very fabric of reality, they destroyed themselves along with their Trow pursuers. The Great Devoid was the end result.

The Axe Age
After the destruction of the Callieach, another race known as the Oghres emerged. When the Oghres saw the Trow and the many monuments and temples dedicated to Nyx, they called the Trow 'Consorts of Nyx'. The Trow were provoked, to put it lightly, by this jab to their pride and promptly battled against the Oghres, destroying their homes and enslaving those not killed. The Oghres had now become slaves to the Trow, forced to mine for iron and build temples for the goddess they once insulted.

With their lust for iron ever growing, the Trow had encroached on the forest dwelling fir'Bolg and forced them from their forest homeland, causing them to migrate first to the Downs of the Cath Bruig Empire and then over the Cloudspine and into the Ermine forest in the west.

The Wind Age
It was during the Wind Age that the Trow's hold over the world would be broken. The Orghres, tired and resentful of their enslavement to the Trow and with the help of the great hero Connacht, rebelled against the iron clad giants. The Trow responded, fighting the Oghres and at the Valley of the Red Seal wiped out the Oghres, their blood and bones permanently staining the valley walls. It was here that the Trow finally saw what they had been doing for thousand of years, realizing the cowardice with which they fought and only now understanding what the Forest giants told them when they were forced from their home forest.

The Trow that day rejected iron in disgust, swearing never to use it again and deciding that iron 'was a tool best left for the younger races'.

Following the genocide of the Oghres, Connacht struck against the weakened Trow. Using an artifact known as the Sun Hammer, he summoned magics powerful enough to melt the iron cities of the Trow, imprisoning the giants beneath molten iron so that they will never harm another race ever again.

The Light vs The Dark
The Trow would remain in this state until the next age when Connacht, now returned as Balor, freed them and gained their loyalty. The Trow were now leading Balor's armies and causing destruction as they had ages past. At the end of the war and Balor's defeat, their numbers had been reduced dangerously low and they now resolved to stay out of any more battles. They denied Soulblighter any assistance during his fight against the Light but agreed to aid the Light for one year after they were beaten in a fair game.

After Soulblighter's defeat it is assumed that the Trow had now withdrew from contact with other races to rebuild their once great civilization.

Myth TFL
"' ... or we will fell your people like a pine forest.' One Ghol asked why he had singled out pines. 'Once cut, pines never regrow.' spoke the Trow emissary, to which the Ghols had no answer save silence."

"Initially we thought the barn we were hiding in had been magicked away, but then we saw the unmistakable silhouette of a Trow becoming more and more distinct through the settling dust..."

Myth II
"...when Soulblighter confronted the Trow, demanding their continued servitude, they replied 'Set iron to rest and choose you one from our number. Ask of his name and what he owes you.'"

"...he spoke in a voice I felt as much as heard... his words slow and deliberate... each syllable the roaring of an ocean..."

Myth III
"...Arrogant? I think not. We are great thinkers and builders - our monuments will last until the world ends. We are ancient - we walked among the beasts that would become you 'younger races'. We are reverent - ever loyal and respectful to our creator. We are powerful - unbeaten in any battle. Why should we not be rulers of the world?"

"...late in the Age of Reason, Avatara made contact with the Trow to speak of peace. The Avatara told of human cities and castles built by their hand. The Trow stated, 'The first buildings on land were our creation'. The Avatara spoke of the powerful sorceries mastered by humans. The Trow said, 'The first magics were created by the Callieach. We slew them'..."

Notable Individuals:

 * Acerus Malum Magnus

Common Names
Myth: TFL & Myth II: Igne Ferroque, Tympanum Caput, Saxum Pugnus, Pugil Stultus, Tonitrus Femuf, Auris Morsus, Dolabra Index, Fractum Atrox, Muglio Potens, Acerus Malum, Hebes Ictus, Sanguis Ebriosus, Fustis Demens, Mons Latus, Lapicida Venenum, Luctari Furor, Filius Tofus Mola Saccus, Pernix Ultor, Quercus Invidia, Tegula Cutis, Terramotus Calcitrare, Pulvis Ira, Quassare Vis

Myth III: Acerbitas Viscus, Aegre Opulens, Algidus Abominor, Animus Concateno, Asper Plumbum, Auris Morsus, Basium Casus, Belligero Adamo, Caseus Stipes, Castor Sectator, Chalybs Corium, Conculco Plebs, Contero Protero, Culmen Valeo, Diligo Disrumpo, Diutinus Custos, Dominus Domno, Durus Suscitatio, Ensis Sanctus, Exsecror Fragilitas, Faber Cruris, Famulus Dominatus, Feliciter Crudelitas, Ferox Bellator, Ferrum Pugnus, Fletus Cruor, Foetidus Ala, Formidilosus, Fumulor Nyx, Furibundus Bos, Ignis Pneum, Labores Solis, Lacertus Avello, Loricatus Folliculus, Luculenta Occisor, Lupis Ululatus, Moles Securis, Oculus Pulverulentus, Oppugno-Dar, Piapium Secuutus, Piscis Labiosus, Praelior Mugio, Pumilius Contundo, Sanctus Fomeus, Saxum Vultus, Silex Vesco, Traba Pollex, Trunco Ictus, Vorax Vorago