Gnoll

Gnolls are an opportunistic race of humanoids who prefer to scavenge rather than actively hunt; they happily reap the rewards of others’ hard work. Much like the hyenas they resemble, gnolls prefer to wait for others to complete a task, and then the gnolls sweep in to benefit from the others’ labor. While they are physically powerful, gnolls are also lazy and cowardly, so they avoid entering melee with other creatures, unless the gnolls know they have some advantage over their foes. To many civilizations, gnolls are notorious slavers or despicable killers, and settlements neighboring gnoll territories have numerous tales of such gnoll exploits.Physical Description

Gnolls are impressively built creatures standing anywhere from 6 to 7 feet tall and typically weighing 250 pounds. They have coarse fur and coloration similar to that of either striped or spotted hyenas, depending on the gnoll tribe. Their legs have a hyena-like structure, with their high anklebones making their legs, which end in blunt, non-retractable claws, appear to have a weird bend. Gnolls’ upper body structures are similar to their apparent hyenidae relatives, which gives the bipedal gnolls a somewhat hunched appearance but also gives them their powerful build, which tapers down to their lithe lower bodies. Gnolls have forward-facing ears atop their heads and short, furry tails. A gnoll has sharp, piercing teeth that allow them to rip meat from the bone of their or other creatures’ kills, but their teeth and jaws are not strong enough to provide them a bite attack in combat. All gnolls have guttural voices when they normally speak, but, as gnolls become stressed or excited, their voices reach higher pitches and sound like manic laughter.

Gnolls wear whatever armor they scavenge, steal, or force slaves to fashion, so they often have mismatched pieces of varying quality they use for protection. Much like their armor, gnoll weapons are a mishmash of collected swords, spears, flails, and other weapons gnolls can easily wield.

Gnolls only lightly adorn themselves with jewelry and the like. They wear small earrings to differentiate themselves from other gnolls, but they do not wear anything overly large, as such objects could be a liability in a battle. The adults of certain tribes also brand themselves or use specific dyes from plants or berries to give their fur a peculiar shade. These adornments help identify their tribe members and outcasts— the latter’s brand being removed or obscured and/or their dye removed by shaving or painful abrasives.

Habitat

Gnolls can be found in Avistan, Garund and across Casmaron although they are most common in the hot deserts of Garund and Casmaron. Gnolls prefer hot deserts and warm plains although they can also be found in warm mountains, sunny forests and even sometimes underground. Gnolls are at their most numerous in the deserts and mountains of Katapesh which they consider their god given homeland and barely tolerate its other more civilised inhabitants. So numerous are the gnolls of Katapesh that an entire district of the capital, Dog Town, is devoted to them and the slave trade they bring in. Gnolls can also be found amongst the deserts of Osirion, Thuvia and Rahadoum. They used to be found in Nex, Geb and the deserts that are now the Mana Wastes; however centuries of magical warfare drove the gnolls that once dwelt there to seek safer pastures. In Avistan gnolls are less common, generally sticking to warm forests and plains rather than deserts, they can be found in small bands in the wilds of the River Kingdoms and similarly chaotic Galt but can also be found in more organised Razmiran and even in parts of Kyonin. Gnolls have been on the decline ever since the fall of ancient Thassilon, once the gnolls were citizens of Haruka, the domain of Krune, Runelord of Sloth. In ancient Haruka gnolls laziness was appreciated and their abilities as fearsome slave drivers valued, they also served as scout and forward observers in Krune's armies. With the Earthfall the gnolls' population was halved and most fled what would become Varisia in order to find easier hunting grounds.

Society

For gnolls the pack is everything, none would chose a life alone, gnolls always travel in packs, normally with a single male leader who takes on a lofty, often pretentious title like "Emperor", "Consort of Lamashtu" or "King of all Gnolls", the leader maintains their position through violence and their authority extends only as far as their claws can reach. Gnolls normally rove in small packs of a few hunters, though their definition of hunting is more like scavenging. Typically these tribes only grow as large as two hundred but they can get much larger when led by a truly exceptional leader like the Carrion King. Every region infested with gnolls has one larger, more successful band led by the strongest gnoll whose influence can be felt throughout the region. Despite their vicious natures, gnolls rarely war amongst themselves seeing little to be gained from it as gnolls never take other gnolls as slaves. Despite their chaotic nature, gnoll society has a strict set of laws that revolve around the group: from birth gnolls are taught that the good of the pack outweighs that of the individual. These laws are deeply skewed as there is no punishment for killing a non-gnoll (unless he was a pack mate's slave) while forcing another gnoll to work incurs the harshest penalty. In gnoll society one punishment is feared above all, exile, it is considered worse than death to be condemned to endless loneliness. Those exiled either seek new companions amongst non-gnolls like orcs or trolls or seek death swift and final. When exiled the gnoll is shaved and then scarred to forever mark him as banished, only the most heinous crimes are punished by exile; forcing a gnoll to work, betraying gnolls to their racial enemies, worshipping a deity not associated with Lamashtu or freeing a slave.