Story and characters in Among the Trolls
Anna is a 35-year-old forestry worker who returns from the United States to her grandfather's island and finds both him and her brother Jonas gone, with only a Crow willing to talk.
Among the Trolls is a story about a family that went missing and a place that stopped making sense. Anna arrives expecting her grandfather at the dock; she finds an abandoned cabin, no brother, and a talking Crow that knows more than it says.
Who Anna is
Anna is 35, a Finnish-American who spent years as a successful lawyer before her love of nature pulled her out of the courtroom and into forestry. She was raised in the United States, and every summer her Finnish roots brought her back to her grandfather's island with her brother Jonas. That is where she learned to navigate woods and where her interest in flora and fauna started.
Now something is calling her back. The place that felt like home looks different. The colours, the sounds and the creatures are not the ones she studied in dusty books about local wildlife. And the island itself may not be where it should be.
The people who are missing
| Character | Who they are | Status when the game opens |
|---|---|---|
| Anna | The protagonist; ex-lawyer turned forestry worker | Arrives from the United States |
| Jonas | Anna's brother | Missing |
| Grandfather | Anna's grandfather; a shaman | Missing; his cabin is abandoned |
| The Crow | A talking bird that guides Anna | Present, unwilling to tell the whole story |
The story material is blunt about the emotional weight: both her brother and her grandfather have gone, leaving Anna with a farewell letter and a choice. The Crow might be the only way to reach her goal, even though she has to trust something that is not being honest with her.
Grandfather the shaman
Without him, the archipelago feels different. Anna remembers his stories as a shaman, even though her memories of those summers have faded as if they were a dream. Grandfather's craft is where the game's magic and ritual systems come from, and the glyphs on her bracelet — an old, cherished gift from him — match the glyphs on the portals that have begun to appear.
How the story unfolds
The world is merging with the world of myths, and the balance between them is broken. Portals appear around the island. More islands rise around the archipelago, filled with creatures made of wood and stone as if straight out of the Kalevala. Some of those creatures will gladly help Anna rebuild the borders of the worlds; others will not be considerate about it.
Given all that, the shape of the story is straightforward to follow:
- Arrive, and read the cabin.
- Talk to the Crow, and take the first tasks.
- Survive long enough to learn the island.
- Follow grandfather's trail through portals and dungeons.
- Uncover the family truths the store page promises will reshape Anna's destiny.
Playing with the story rather than around it
The mechanics are deliberately fitted to the narrative: Lykky is the world's mood, the portals are thresholds that demand respect, and the Crow's withholding is the tutorial's voice. Reading dialogue and grandfather's notes is not optional content — it is where objectives and systems get explained.
Sources
- Store page (Anna's journey and the family mystery): Among the Trolls on Steam
- Devlog #2 "Meet Anna" and Devlog #11 "The Shaman's Role": Steam news archive
- "A New Path for Among the Trolls" (why Early Access was skipped): Steam news archive
Game imagery on this page is official promotional material, used for reference.
