“Died to the trolls again, did you, Glenn?” asked Don. The dark skinned man emerged from the shadowy corner of the Dancing Donkey, his boiled leather armor and long black cape making him nearly invisible in the dimly lit inn. His sword hung from his waist right next to a dagger the length of his forearm. Glenn wondered if he could grab the dagger and shove the pointy end through Don’s eye before anyone noticed.

Maybe later, though Glenn.

“They’re tougher than they look,” Glenn patted Don on the shoulder and forced a smile. “They nearly destroyed this world once. They could do it again.”

“Most of these people have never even seen a troll.” Don laughed, pushing his thumbs against his belt. “From what I’ve heard, they’re on the verge of extinction. I don’t know how you keep convincing so many NPCs to follow you to your death, but you can have your trolls, Glenn. I’ll stick to the dungeons and keep all the good loot for myself.”

Glenn found a table in the corner of the room, taking in the other players who were settling in for the night. To them this was a game, but to Glenn, this was everything he had ever dreamed of. An island where he could be anything he wanted to be and do anything he wanted to do. Sure, it was prison, but it was also paradise.

Glenn didn’t care about dungeons. They were only so useful in replenishing the gear he had lost each time he died to the trolls, along with a hard earned level. He was interested in survival. If he wanted to become anything in this world, he needed to make sure the trolls wouldn’t hold him back. He could influence people, bend them to his will even. He knew his Charisma was higher than most players and more than that, he knew how to use it to get things done. It didn’t work on trolls, though. Somehow they resisted his charm. It didn’t matter, though. With every death, he took more trolls with him. And they didn’t respawn.

He’d read the stories of old and talked to the townspeople. If there was anyone that would inhibit his rise to power, it would be the trolls, not the dwarves in the far north.

The trolls were the problem and they must be destroyed.