Troll Reproductive & Early Life Cycle

Trolls are biologically intersex, capable of producing eggs and sperm thru an ovipositor stored internally when not in use. However, they cannot fertilize themselves, still only being able to produce half of a zygote (a gamete) just in both forms. In order to actually reproduce, the eggs and sperm from two different trolls must be mixed and subsequently be fertilized. This is typically done in an insulated receptacle produced specifically for this usage, often referred to as a bucket.  

However, the resulting fertilized zygote(s) cannot survive for very long outside of a sterilized protective container without the proper incubation conditions, of which the Mother Grub serves as the ultimate genetically engineered incubator created by the horrorterrors to artificially speed up troll social development. The Mother Grub is tended to by numerous true Mother Grub offspring known as Imperial drones. Imperial drones are produced when no troll zygotes are present in her womb. These drones protect the Mother Grub from harm and collect the needed product(s) to produce new generations of trolls every [REDACTED] years. 

The Mother Grub herself is a form of weakened hybrid horrorterror spliced with numerous other alien species that transverse known realities. Her true name is forbidden knowledge that drives the mortal mind mad. To her secret worshipers, she is called The Broodmother. The Mother Grub is also capable of producing miniature “princess/virgin” infertile versions of itself via parthenogenesis that sometimes rarely raise the troll blood type known as jadebloods. These virgin Grubs have a much more limited life span compared to the Mother Grub, and often die soon after troll adulthood at 20 Earth years. 

When a fertile Mother Grub dies, it lays one final egg that it has incubated most of its seemingly infinite lifespan, the next generation of a fertile Mother Grub. This egg & subsequent larva must be protected fiercely in its vulnerable state, otherwise only cloning the Mother Grub from a DNA sample would be able to save the troll race as it currently is from extinction...as far as the average troll knows.

Once the Mother Grub has incubated a batch of troll fetuses to maturity after being added in doses of zygotes by the Imperial Drones, the troll clutch is birthed encased in protective gooey egg sacs, taken to a hatching room, and left to hatch by themselves. Most troll grubs hatch within 2 months, and those that do crawl through further through the humid Brooding Caverns to not only cocoon and become adolescent trolls, but eventually meet their custodial lusii. Regrettably, some troll grubs never hatch, and these rotten eggs as is are devoured by Imperial drones in order to save resources.

The majority of young trolls meet their proper lusii during their adolescent stage of life. It is possible for them to meet their lusii in the grub stage, but the latter is much rarer and more likely to be fatal for the grub involved. As it is, many young grubs perish in the caverns due to gross negligence & ableism toward those perceived to be different or flawed, moreso by Imperial drones than the jadeblood caretakers.  

Cocooning is a crucial part of a troll's lifespan, as they take on the form that will stay with them for the rest of their natural lifespan. Once a troll grub reaches of age & stores up enough energy by feeding upon the various mosses & slime molds that grow in the Brooding Caverns, they must journey to a cocooning room & spin a cocoon to reside in using silk glands lost in pupation. The cocoon is soft, white, & squishy, being suspended most commonly from the ceiling by threads of silk. Once fully encased, the troll grub goes into a hibernation-like state, with most of the larval cells subsequently dying and being reabsorbed into the mass of the growing adolescent troll. This process is not perfect, however, & the reemerging adolescent troll will retain some former traces of its old body colloquially known as "grub scars" where the extra legs of the old grub body used to remain.

Once the adolescent troll emerges from the cocoon via tearing it apart, they will leave the Brooding Caverns with their bonded lusus & construction drones (Imperial drones dedicated to construction work) to find or be assigned a new home. Depending on their blood type's positions in the current caste based society the troll race finds themselves embroiled in, they will be assigned fewer or more construction drones in order to find a new place to live.

Imperial Drones are indifferent to the numerous offspring populating the caverns, but as jadebloods are more so tasked with defending the troll young then the Mother Grub, those more inclined away from the brutal societal norms forced upon them will tend to the grubs perceived weaker, insuring some survive at least to adolescence and/or lusii claiming, but not necessarily to adulthood.

Nonfatal disorders: 

(90% survival rate without other influences)

• Minor physical mutations (extra eyes, horns, etc.)*
• Certain disorders (color blindness*, vitiligo, etc.)

Possibly fatal disorders: 

(50% survival rate)

• Albinism (does not affect blood color)
• Disabilities (Deafness, blindness, missing a major limb, etc.)*

Usually fatal disorders:

(>25% survival rate)

• Major physical mutations (Extra limbs, heads, conjoined twins, etc.)
• Mutant blood colors (Candy red, etc.)