The Varumani are a people of troll-like half-giants settled around Ardis Vala for 2,300 years. They work the troll lifts, charge for passage and control all of Ardis Vala’s trade.
| Type | People |
| Other names | Barumanes; locally “trolks” |
| Spanish entry | Varumani |
Description
They descend from giants begotten by the watchers on human women. Guides “say troll, but they are quite serious”. They are “half giant, half hairy, but bald”: patchy fur, brownish skin, taut muscles, a bony brow and “sea-green eyes”. Huge greatswords are forged to their measure. The similar guanumanis are less bestial. A known automaton has a cylindrical body topped by a “baruari skull”.
Strata
- Workers. “Half bestial”, they pull the lifts’ tails and cranks by hand; vertical traffic depends on their muscle.
- Ambassadors. Armored and “especially regal”, they negotiate in the caverns, visit the house of Deino and supervise the Inn.
- The Strike and Hunt Roster. A hunting and war band with its own champion.
- The “true Barumani”. A pure-blood variety of troll.
Economy and customs
Controlling the road and the troll lifts, they control all the trade of Ardis Vala, where they keep their own market. Being “in league with the Barumani” is a recognized political position. They record each one’s deeds in data crystals, in the Varumani language. The skulls they wear are not trophies but “something that graces the few children they have”.
Conflicting accounts
- Height: “3 meters”; “3 meters, 2 and a half meters”; or “2.10, 2.20, 2.30 meters”.
Open questions
- The toll’s price and currency.
- Whether market and road are one administration; with whom they are “in league”.
- Who made the data crystals, where they are kept, who can read them.
- Whether the “true Barumani” are a lineage, caste or subspecies.
- Why children are few; who made the skull automaton.