Gnoll
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Gnolls (aardian: atlacatl, elven: cinbin) are a humanoid race that most closely resemble hyenas that dwell in the western parts of Nora and are known for their savage culture and warlike ways.

Also known as Gnoles, named after the hills they build their compounds on.

History


Aardian Race

Vampire Kingdoms

Culture


Bloodsun Tribe



A race of hunter-gatherers, gnolls demonstrate exceptional skills at hunting, tracking and stealth, preferring tall grasslands or dense wooded areas. Gnolls tend to avoid people where they can, though their territories often overlap with human settlements. With their high stealth, gnolls are hard to spot, though they will frequently track intruders in their territory, not out of nefarious goals but rather because it's simply good sense to know what's going on in your neck of the woods. Sharp eyed rangers may spot pawprints, may see heads ducking behind trees or yellow eyes peering from bushes, but otherwise they are ghosts in the bushes.

Gnolls living near human settlements often attain an almost cryptid-like status. The eerie whoops and howls of a hunting pack coordinating in the night have given them their name, a corruption of "Nor-alles" or "ghost people" in the local tongue. At best, a gnoll might dump a lost child found wandering in their turf into the nearest chicken coop with a deers hoof to suck on, at worst they'll clean out the snares of the local trappers. Sometimes gnolls will steal from villages if they feel bold, but they tend to limit this to small items, favouring eggs. No-one notices a couple of eggs missing in the night. They will notice a missing chicken. People may swap stories of gnoll sightings, but generally the existence of a gnoll den nearby is something trappers and hunters are aware of, but not inclined to worry about.

Gnoll dens tend to be made in caves, or dug out of the earth. The outward appearance is rather vile, with scraps and bones lying about to attract flies, as well as a…midden. This is a deliberate choice, intended to discourage humans. Inside the den it is usually smelly (gnolls have a strong body odour) but clean, with little in the way of litter. And if you're inside the den, it will be empty of life too. All gnoll dens have bolt holes where they will flee to and wait until intruders have left.

Mostly, gnolls are happy to metal gear solid their way through life, taking what they need and generally being content with their lot in life.

Generally. Remember that loaded sentence?

Their habit of stealth is in fact born of their bone deep code of "survival above all else". In good times, when game is plenty, survival hinges on avoiding the attention and ire of humans, who gnolls consider savage and dangerous, with a tendency to attack first. But in times of famine and hardship? This changes.

Gnolls practice survival cannibalism when there is nothing to hunt, and the elders of the tribe will volunteer themselves to the knife. Sometimes this is enough. They emerge from their dens in spring a lot skinner and with a lot less in the clan, and life goes on. But what happens when the hunger continues and there are no more elders? Only the warriors and the young? (And a gnoll would rather die than eat one of their children)

They will descend upon the human settlement nearby. If it's small enough, they will destroy it, dragging away what isn't eaten there to be stored until the famine ends. They are aware this isn't the ideal option. Even if the starving gnolls aren't driven off, when the empty village is found they know full well they'll have knights sent after them. But if it earns them another day? They'll chance it. Once conditions begin to improve, if possible, they'll leave and find a new den somewhere. In stable, fertile lands these attacks may be considered practically myth. In more difficult areas gnolls and humans will have quite bloody and fraught histories together.

Society

Much like real life spotted hyenas, gnolls are matriarchal, one matriarch leading the clan and handing down the leadership to her daughter. If she has no female children she will select a promising looking girl child from her clan and train her as a successor. Social ranks are very rigid, and unless both matriarch and daughter get killed, upward mobility is rare. (and civil wars are bloody)

Matriarchs tend to be strict and quick to reinforce social rankings, but she must also be careful. If she becomes a tyrant resentment begins to foster. Gnolls may begin leaving, looking to join other clans in the hope of better leadership. And if this is not possible, the resentment builds into full-blown revolution once the clan reaches snapping point, leaving her torn, bloody and helpless outside what used to be her den. She may die, or may recover and limp away to join another clan, where she will be allowed in as the lowest ranking female.

Men have the lowest rung on the social ladder, and tend to remain at the den, caring for their children, tanning hides and generally housekeeping. Any gnoll you see hunting is very likely a woman, though on occasion gnoll men will leave to forage for wild food such as mushrooms. Courtship is a surprisingly delicate affair, initiated by the men. Tiny gifts of flowers and small animals are offered up, as well as interesting looking trinkets they may find. A gnoll woman may have a number of suitors, and she takes her time choosing who she likes.

Those who don't seem to fit either gender become priests or shamans, alongside any others that seem marked in some way, such as albinos or epileptics. Shamans are seen as so sacred they cannot be touched, and a report from a ranger recorded an incident in which a band of gnolls was travelling alongside a lake, and the shaman fell in. Their honour guard stood and watched, panicking, but refusing to dive in and save them. After the shaman drowned the other gnolls were seen consoling the honour guard, without any signs of anger or reproach.

Children are allowed to play and romp without any gender based restrictions, though the larger girls soon dominate the social hierarchy among the cubs. After successful hunts, cubs and pregnant women will always eat first, no matter their place in the social structure.

Hyenas occupy a significant role in their lives (see religion) and when the women are away hunting for long periods, they act as wet nurses for gnoll infants, as well as bodyguards and playmates when the men are busy.

Flinds are gnolls of superior power and wisdom, often spotted early on and removed from her playmates. She will be raised by the shaman and trained by the packs finest warriors. A clan with a flind is seen as blessed by Gorellik, and the iconic flail is their symbol, usually made by stealing morningstars from human soldiers (she must do this alone to prove her cunning) and blessed and enchanted by the shaman. Flinds look massive and dangerous, but, far from being mindless brutes, are cunning tacticians. She may sometimes be found leading the pack, but more often she will be a lieutenant to the matriarch.

Gnolls have their own version of written language in the form of gnollsign, small unobtrusive pictograms carved onto trees. These signs offer warnings, information on the layout of the land, and mark hidden caches. These are deliberately hard to spot, with a DC16 perception check required, and even then, they must be translated.

Diet

Although common myth says gnolls eat carrion, this is only partially true. Gnolls will only eat carrion if desperate, preferring their meat freshly hunted. Gnolls use fire, and greatly prefer cooked meat, though bones are generally eaten uncooked after the meal the same way one might enjoy an afterdinner mint. Raw meat does them no harm, though.

Gnolls are not complete carnivores, however, and a key to their adaptable nature is the way they can eat basically anything edible. They do require meat to be healthy, but if times are a little lean they can get by quite comfortably on nuts, mushrooms and roots, with the odd squirrel or rodent. Lower ranked gnolls often get less meat than others, unless its a truly bountiful season, so foraging is often a necessity.

It is considered deeply taboo to waste food ("Don't feed Yeenogu, finish your meal or give it to someone else!"), and every part of the animal will be eaten if it isn't used for something else. Even the hooves can be given to teething gnolls.

Religion

Gnolls are monotheistic, worshipping the hunter deity Gorellik, depicted as an androgynous gnoll with four arms and bright green eyes. They have a demon figure in the form of Yeenogu, seen as the embodiment of wasteful hunting, and their origin myth has the two as siblings, where one sibling ate well and rested, and the other let its hunger consume it until it had to be struck down by Gorellik before its hunger devoured the world. Shamans act as clerics, tending to their sick and blessing the hunters before they depart.

Gnolls view hyenas as sacred, with the rarer giant hyenas considered so holy it is an act of blasphemy to even gaze upon one. If a hyena dies it is deeply mourned, with its meat being divided evenly amongst the pack so all, from lowest to highest, may honour it by taking in its strength.

Necromancy and the undead are seen as abominations, and the word for undead translates in their tongue as "twice dead meat". Any hunters killing or otherwise coming into contact with the undead are quarantined by their pack for an entire moon change. When they must resort to cannibalism, emphasis is placed on making sure the bones are eaten or otherwise destroyed, to prevent any chance of them being used for foul purposes, such as being raised by Yeenogu worshippers as witherlings.

Yeenogu cults are rare but dangerous, often attracting gnolls who chafe at the rigid gender roles and social structure. These gnolls are carefully groomed into fanatical foes, led by a charismatic and dangerous leader, usually a warlock. They will seek to raise and summon dark forces, such as the leucrotta and maw demon. Some gnolls may even receive the blessing known as "Yeenogu's Fangs", learning a rite that infects their kills and gruesomely creates brainless and lethal gnolls from hyenas that feed on it. These gnolls are called Empty Ones and are the closest they get to the monster manuals version, with all stats unchanged (normal gnolls have an intelligence of 10). A cult allowed to grow can become a serious threat.

Gnolls and human interactions.

Although it's very difficult due to their elusive nature, on occasion contact has been made with tribal gnolls. They are reported as shy and softly spoken, uncomfortable in the presence of humanoids and seemingly desperate to be anywhere else. They very rarely lie, and as such are seen by those who have dealt with them as excellent guides.

While prone to quarreling amongst themselves, gnolls don't tend to take much offence by the blundering actions of humans. A hunter relieving himself on a sacred tree is an annoyance, but they don't start flinging spears. A boisterous bard shaking a shamans hand will be glowered at, but that's where it tends to end. They would prefer it if humans respected their customs, but they don't expect it, especially if they've gone to extreme lengths to stay hidden. If humans become more of an issue, gnolls favour guerilla tactics to try and drive them away, attempting to remain hidden at all times.

Very rarely, in well built up areas and cities far from sleepy country villages, gnolls may be found living among humans, especially if they've lost their forests. Alongside the usual discrimination shown to non-human species, gnolls are often perceived as alien due to their habits and language. A farm wife may vaguely hear the morning whoops of a gnoll clan carried on the breeze, but hearing them "reaffirm pack bonds" right next door when you have work that day can sour opinions somewhat. Gnolls also "giggle" when stressed or unhappy, leading some to think of them as cruel or callous. No one likes hearing someone laugh when you tell them your child was run over by a cart.

However, those who take the time to know them learn that gnolls are hard working and good at teamwork, and they can often be found in tough, blue collar jobs where they excel.

City gnoll society is somewhat fractured. First generation city gnolls are shy, quiet and tend to keep to themselves, but the key trait of gnolls is adaptability, and the next generations have more interest in the world around them. This can lead to strife as they pull against the cultural norms they now see as chains. A male gnoll who would have been content to raise his children in a tribal setting will chafe somewhat at the prospect when he sees adventurers coming and going, and a non-binary gnoll might crave the open sea rather than being forced into religion. The young and old generations frequently butt heads.


Since the days of Ancient Greece, Bone Gnawers tend to organize themselves in democratic communities. Experienced Bone Gnawers are elected to act as an "Elder" for a sept. This Elder is in no way obliged to listen to other sept members, but most do so, knowing that it is the support of the people that gave them their station. The most accomplished Elders are accepted as Tribal Elders, and usually addressed with the honorific "Father" or "Mother".
Camps

The Swarm: This pack focuses on the war-aspect of rat, concentrating on dirty fighting and exploiting every advantage they get over an enemy. They specialize in urban terrorism, striking against the Wyrm and instantly disappearing.

Frankweilers: This camp focuses on the protection of museums, libraries, and other places of culture within a city.

The Hood: This camp is dedicated on distributing the wealth from the rich to the poor, provided that the money they provide is used for useful things.

Rat Finks: The Garou of this camp are spies and information gatherers, a network of kinfolk and Garou who work low-end jobs that just so happen to give them access to high-end information.

Hillfolk: The Hillfolk are compromised of rural Bone Gnawers, who have eschewed the life within the city for the wilderness.

Deserters: The Deserters are a camp that searches for a sanctuary for the Apocalypse. Some seek a second Gaia, and others just a place far, far away, but either way, they do not want to stick around for what's about to happen.

Road Warders: This camp is compromised of nomads who guard the streets and travelways against incursions from the minions of the Wyrm.

One camp is ostracized and banned among the Tribe

The Man-eaters: This camp gains power by breaching the tenet of the Litany that forbids cannibalism of human flesh. They are few today and many of the remaining have allied with the similar Eaters of the Dead camp among the Silent Striders.

Freedom and practicality rule above all else when it comes to the Bone Gnawers. They care little for the supposed superiority of Garou and are content to remain in the alleys, gutters, and sewers of man as long as it means they can live on their own terms.

Most Bone Gnawers are extremely savvy when it comes to surviving in the streets of man. No other tribe is as accomplished at urban fighting as the Bone Gnawers, and surprise is considered their primary tactic. Many Bone Gnawers encourage the ideas of their lesser status, as it can be turned into an advantage when their enemies underestimate them.

Although rare, there are septs of rural Bone Gnawers. They tend to lead simple lives, but still hold strongly to the ideals of freedom that their urban cousins share.

Political Culture

Bone Gnawers tend to be the most democratic of the tribes, often giving everyone an equal voice at a moot. Though renown and rank can be important to Bone Gnawer septs and packs, respect is usually given to the oldest and/or most experienced member of the tribe present. Many Bone Gnawers share their resources with their tribesmen freely, but this is not always consistent, particularly with the Rabble.

Religious Culture

The rites and traditions of the Bone Gnawers are seen by other tribes as extremely strange and bizarre. Even though their rituals are unusual and rely strongly on human practices and pop culture, the Bone Gnawers take them as seriously as any of the more naturalistic rites of the other tribes, particularly as many of them grant advantages for survival as much as they do spiritual comfort.

Since 1540, the Bone Gnawers practice something called the "Ban of Man", in order to avoid becoming too entangled in humanity's affairs to successfully accomplish their task as Gaia's servants. The Ban is recited in the beginning of tribal moots, but its enforcement depends on the standards espoused by the local Elder.


Gnolls remind the world of the horrors posed by the
hordes of the Abyss, and the damage that even the briefest
demonic incursion can inflict on the world.
Whenever the demon lord Yeenoghu enters the Material
Plane and goes on a rampage, he leaves a great trail
of corpses in his wake. As the Lord of Savagery despoils
the land, packs of hyenas trail him and feast on the victims
until the dead flesh ofYeenoghu's prey leave them
bloated and unable to move. Then, in a shower of blood
and gristle, the hyenas transform into gnolls, which take
up Yeenoghu's awful mission to kill and destroy anything
in their path.

BUTCHER THE WEAK
Gnolls seek only to kill, and as such prefer to deal with
weak, easy targets. An enemy that can fight back is an
enemy to save for later. Gnolls have no sense of honor,
glory, or individual achievement. They care only for the
raw number of creatures they can slay. In the face of a
gnoll incursion, it is best for refugees to seek shelter in
castles and other fortified positions. Gnolls avoid protracted
battles if they can, much preferring to slaughter
those that can't defend themselves.
OVERWHELM THE STRONG
Gnolls attack intelligent prey that is capable of resisting
them only when the most powerful omens from Yeenoghu
compel them to do so. They cooperate to gang
up on each of the individuals in a group of explorers or
adventurers, or if the prey is more numerous they rush
forward in waves. The creatures will crawl over their
own dead to climb a castle's walls and kill all within it.
A commonly held belief is that a fortress besieged by
gnolls needs ten arrows for each one to keep the creatures
from scaling the walls.
SPREAD FAR AND WIDE
Gnolls never set up permanent camps, though they
might linger for a few days at the site of a particularly
great slaughter as they devour the corpses of both their
victims and the gnolls killed in battle. During this time,
the hyenas that follow a pack of gnolls feast until they
become bloated, then burst open to spawn more gnolls.
In this manner, gnolls replenish their ranks before wandering
off in ragged bands to continue their rampage.
KILL FROM A DISTANCE
Almost every gnoll carries a bow scavenged from a past
victim. Gnolls use ranged attacks mainly to prevent their
prey from fleeing, rather than softening up their targets
with an initial barrage of arrows before an assault. A
target wounded by a bow shot becomes easy prey for
any gnolls near it. Some particularly clever gnolls have
been known to use bur_ning arrows to spark fires, cutting
off their prey's escape routes and driving victims
into their jaws.
LEAVE No SURVIVORS
A band of gnolls lives in a state of eternal war with everything
it encounters, aside from fellow worshipers of
Yeenoghu. To keep from being detected between major
raids, the gnolls move through the wilderness with as
much stealth as they can marshal. They never leave survivors
in any group they set upon, and will pursue a fleeing
enemy for days to prevent it from getting to a town or
a city and raising an alarm.
If the area they hunt in becomes too well-defended,
the gnolls relocate in search of easier prey. Large tracts
along the fringe of civilization might be devastated before
the wider world becomes aware of a gnoll threat.

As befits creatures with a language that is little more
than whines, growls, and shrieks, most gnolls lack a
name and would have little use for one. Powerful gnolls,
usually fangs, pack lords, and flinds, receive names directly
from Yeenoghu. The same applies to Yeenoghu's
blessed followers among humans, ores, and other races.

A gnoll war band is likely to contain a variety of gnolls
and other creatures, and no two of these groups have
the same composition.
The gnolls that make up the rank and file have different
attributes and thus different roles in the war band's
assaults. Augmenting the warriors that comprise the
bulk of the force are the hunters, specialists in sneaking
and attacking at range, and the flesh gnawers, which
rely on natural savagery rather than weapons to tear
apart their foes. A pack of hyenas is always part of the
band, and sometimes these beasts are as numerous
as the gnolls themselves. A war band that has been
through hard times might contain a number of gnoll
witherlings, while one that enjoys Yeenoghu's favor
might be led by a flind-the scarcest and strongest of
all goolls. It's also possible, though quite rare, for a war

band to include cultists-other humanoids that have
dedicated themselves to Yeenoghu and attached themselves
to the war band to prove their loyalty.

GNOLL WITHERLINGS
A war band might go for weeks without coming across
the sort of prey it craves. Gnolls can eat wild animals
for sustenance, but only the flesh of intelligent humanoids
can calm the endless hunger bestowed upon them
by Yeenoghu.
When a war band grows desperate for food, its members
turn on each other. Those who succumb to the
violence are devoured, but their service to the war bandGHOULS
Ghoul packs emerge from graveyards and dungeons to
trail in the wake of a war band, feasting on the remains
of its victims and sometimes eventually merging with
the group. Although ghouls typically revere Orcus, their
endless hunger can prompt them to turn to Yeenoghu.
HYENAS
Large packs of hyenas follow gnoll war bands. For their
part, the gnolls largely ignore these animals. They tend
to gather around fangs in battle, eager to partake ofYeenoghu's
blessing and its horrid transformation.
LEUCROTTAS
Brought forth during Yeenoghu's ancient incursions into
the world, leucrottas are bigger, smarter, and faster than
gnolls. When one joins a war band, it doesn't strive to
lead the group (which would cause unneeded conflict)
but rather to serve and protect its leader. A leucrotta's
dedication to Yeenoghu is as fervent as that of any gnoll,

and its main goal is always to advance the cause of the
Lord of Savagery over its own.
For more information on leucrottas, see chapter 3 of
this book.
TROLLS
Of all the creatures encountered by gnolls, trolls are the
most likely to join them simply because the gnolls' way
of life appeals to them. As ravenous creatures with incredible
toughness, trolls fit well into the loose scheme
of a gnoll war band.


Gnolls are short, hyena-headed humanoids who dwell in warm grasslands, savannas, and arid hills. Given their appearance, their affinity for hyenas should not be surprising; gnolls share their homes, food, and even many of their own behaviors with these animals. Much like hyenas, gnolls have a notorious reputation—they are known as bloodthirsty gluttons and slavers who worship demons or other reprehensible powers. Though these rumors are often true, the behavior of gnoll clans varies widely. Some groups are composed of capable hunters who rarely clash with other humanoids unless there is a conflict over territory. Others hew closer to the unsavory stories, preferring to raid settlements and enslave innocents, snatching the fruits of others’ hard labor by strength of arms and forcing their victims to perform the hard, demeaning labor necessary to maintain the brutal clan.
Gnolls lack any particular reverence for the remains of the dead, which adds to their reputation as scavengers or even cannibals. They willingly eat nearly any other creature, including dead gnolls, which can evoke strong reactions from people and cultures with a strong taboo against cannibalism or desecrating the dead. To a gnoll, it is almost more offensive to not eat a dead body, no matter its origin; gnolls see no point in wasting precious meat in a harsh and challenging world. Worse still is the refusal to eat the flesh of a dead gnoll, which they consider an insult to that gnoll’s memory and sacrifice and an implication that the gnoll’s flesh is unworthy of consumption. In fact, they refuse to eat the bodies of particularly hated foes; particularly warmongering gnolls even spike the bodies or heads of such despised enemies on tall spears, which they place around their tribal holdings to dishonor the dead and intimidate would-be invaders.

Gnoll women are far stronger and more aggressive than gnoll men and are typically considered the leaders of their hunting packs and clans. Though gnolls tend to be disorganized when it comes to practical matters or negotiations, they are extremely efficient at working together to hunt down prey or overwhelm a group of foes. Much like hyenas, they prefer to hunt in packs, and are exceptionally skilled at setting up ambushes or separating individual targets from larger groups.
doesn't end at that point. The survivors preserve the
bones of their fallen comrades, so that a pack lord or a
flind can perform a ritual to Yeenoghu to turn them into
loyal, undead followers known as witherlings.
Even after death, gnoll witherlings serve the war band
much as their comrades do. Although not as formidable
in battle as warriors or hunters, they are just as
relentless.

The most commonly encountered gnoll clans are slavers, who travel far and wide to acquire chattel and auction off their living goods. Although not all clans engage in slavery, most are still violent toward other creatures in general. Some clans hunt people for food, others capture innocents to sacrifice to evil deities, and still others simply wish to wet their blades with blood.

Gnoll hunters serve their clans by hunting for food in the wilds, marauding along well-traveled roads, and tracking down escaped slaves.

Gnoll cultists serve as their clans’ spiritual guides and conduits to the divine. As often as not, their influence drives entire gnoll civilizations to commit atrocious acts of violence and enslavement. Lamashtu and Rovagug are favored deities of gnoll cultists, and many gnolls believe their kind was in fact birthed from the womb of the Mother of Monsters. Some gnoll clans worship lesser-known demon lords or entire pantheons of sinister patrons.

When gnolls band together to form hunting or raiding parties, the strongest among them is often designated the leader or sergeant. These gnolls train extensively in the art of war. Their skill at arms and the respect they command make them powerful adversaries. In smaller clans or single family units, a gnoll sergeant might also serve as the group’s leader in other affairs, such as sorting out domestic disputes or negotiating with rival gnoll clans.


A character knows the following information with a successful
Nature check.
DC 15: Gnolls are nomadic and rarely stay in one place for
long. When gnolls attack and pillage a settlement, they leave
nothing behind except razed buildings and gnawed corpses.
Gnolls often decorate their armor and encampments with the
bones of their victims. Impatient and unskilled artisans, they
wear patchwork armor and wield weapons stolen from their
victims.
DC 20: Gnolls don’t bargain or parley, and they can’t be
bribed or reasoned with. Gnolls are often encountered with
hyenas, which they keep as pets and hunting animals. They
also work with demons.
DC 25: Gnolls detest physical labor and often use slaves
to perform menial chores. The life of a slave in a gnoll camp
is brutal and short. That said, slaves who show strength and
savagery might be indoctrinated into the gnoll vanguard.
Such creatures are usually broken in mind and spirit, having
become as cruel and ruthless as their captors.
DC 30: As the mortal instruments of the demon lord
Yeenoghu, who is called the Beast of Butchery and Ruler of
Ruin, gnolls constantly perform atrocities. When not scouring
the land in Yeenoghu’s name, gnolls fight among themselves
and participate in rituals that involve acts of depravity and
self-mutilation.


Gnolls are hyena-headed, evil humanoids that wander in loose
tribes.
Most gnolls have dirty yellow or reddish-brown fur.
A gnoll is a nocturnal carnivore, preferring intelligent creatures
for food because they scream more. Gnolls tend to think with
their stomachs, and any alliances they make (usually with bugbears,
hobgoblins, ogres, orcs, or trolls) often fall apart when the
gnolls get hungry. They dislike giants and most other humanoids,
and they disdain manual labor.
A gnoll is about 7-1/2 feet tall and weighs 300 pounds.
Gnolls speak Gnoll.
COMBAT
Gnolls like to attack when they have the advantage of numbers,
using horde tactics and their physical strength to overwhelm and
knock down their opponents. They show little discipline when
fighting unless they have a strong leader; at such times, they can
maintain ranks and fight as a unit. While they do not usually prepare
traps, they do use ambushes and try to attack from
a flanking position. Because of its shield, a gnoll’s
modifier on Hide checks (untrained) is –2, which
means gnolls always take special care to seek
favorable conditions when laying ambushes
(such as darkness, cover, or some
other form of advantageous terrain).
GNOLL SOCIETY
A tribe of gnolls is ruled by its strongest
member, who uses fear, intimidation, and
strength to remain in power. If a chieftain
is killed, the stronger members of the tribe
fight to be the new chieftain; if these combats
take too long or several combatants
die, the tribe may break up into a number
of bands that go their separate ways. Gnolls
revere the phases of the moon, but most
tribes have no true clerics.
A band or tribe includes as many noncombatant
young as there are adults. Gnoll
lairs are fortified surface encampments or
underground complexes. Gnolls take prisoners
for use as slaves, and any lair will have
at least one slave for every ten adults. Slaves
(usually humans, orcs, or hobgoblins)
suffer a high attrition rate because
of the gnolls’ appetite.
Their special patron is the
demon lord Yeenoghu, who
looks like a gaunt gnoll.
Most gnolls serve and revere
Yeenoghu rather than worshiping a
deity.


P eyond the edge oftheir enemies' torchlight, the gnolls'
tittering growls and snickering vocalizations disrupt
the stillness. Occasionally, the light of reflective eyes
dances in the darkness, but it is never enough to give a clear
idea of the gnolls' number or plan of attack.
Like the hyenas that hunt with them, these pack humanoids
use misdirection, fear, and coordinated attacks to wear down
their prey. With a cackling and irksome confidence, they
murder at a leisurely pace, one spear strike at a time, ripping
flesh and drawing blood until their enemy is too weak to
resist their final onslaught.
Creatures primarily of the burning desert and arid plain,
gnolls know that survival relies on the pack. The matriarch
of the pack enforces simple rules of gnoll cohesion. The
struggle is not from within the pack, but outside ofit. That
which is weaker than the gnoll is food. Rest ensures sufficient
strength for the hunt. Bite off only what you can chew, saving
the rest for the survival of the pack-but always claim your
share. Raise whelps to be strong, and discard the weak.
Any creature that is not part of the pack is nothing more
than moving meat. Even when a gnoll pack serves a powerful
master from outside the pack, it does so with only its own
survival in mind, and it quickly abandons that master if
continued service would be suicidal. Other races might
look down on the gnolls as selfish, lazy, and ultimately
destructive, but gnolls merely cackle at such judgments.
For gnolls, survival is the only morality, and eating one's
enemies is the ultimate display of power.
It was once believed that gnolls were a scourge of savannas
and deserts alone, but while most gnolls prefer the regions
favored by hyenas, they live and hunt in nearly every climate.
Because gnolls' survival and pack cohesion rely on the hunt,
if a pack becomes too large, it splinters. The weaker group
is pushed beyond the borders ofits former pack's hunting
territory, often into regions with different ecologies and
prey. While gnolls are numerous in arid climates, smaller
and more desperate packs roam highlands, lowlands, forests,
taigas, and even the Darklands.
Gnolls are strictly carnivorous, even to the point of
resorting to cannibalism in times of great need, during
religious rituals, or to show their dominance after defeating
a rival. The majority of their meat, however, comes from
the hunt. Nearly any kind of meat can provide sustenance,
but they have a strong preference for the flesh of sentient
creatures. This preference is both practical (as sentient
creatures are a great threat to the pack's stability and
survival) and bound up with the common gnoll superstition
that consuming a creature allows one to absorb its power.
That said, there is a prevalent taboo among most gnolls
against eating the flesh of the pugwampi (Pathfinder RPG
Bestiary z 144). Their disdain for these fawning fey is so great
that most gnolls believe that eating pugwampi flesh weakens
gnolls and can even curse the entire pack. It is better to kill
them, weave their flesh into pu13wampi braids-which at least
have some use-and leave their meat to rot.
Gnoll packs are matriarchal because female gnolls tend to
be larger, more aggressive, and more cunning than males.
Gnolls see this gender disparity as proof of Lamashtu's
blessing of the gnoll race. Size aside, there are few physical
differences in the appearances offemale and male gnolls. On
the average, a gnoll male is around 6 feet in height while the
average gnoll female is closer to 6 -1/2 feet, though gnolls of
both genders appear shorter due to their stooping posture.
The gnoll pack is a multilayered structure based on
competing for dominance, with one alpha-typically
the largest and most powerful female gnoll-at its
apex. Rarely, a group of packs can mesh in an even more
complex and ever shifting hierarchy in order to create
a tribe or horde. This happens only when they're led by
an extremely powerful leader, be it an alpha gnoll or a
bullying outsider who can understand and manipulate
the ever-shifting sands of gnoll dominance.
Gnolls respect power and the ruthlessness to wield it
successfully more than they do birth or station. A gnoll
holds power over a pack because he or she is feared and
revered, and only as long as he or she remains so. Because of
this, when a pack leader dies, becomes infirm, or loses face,
authority changes hands after a brief and bloody scramble
for power between any gnolls with a thirst for power and the
ability to assert dominance. Such scrambles for ascension
often splinter a pack, as failed would-be alphas and their
supporters are chased from the pack. This can create
powerful rivalries between splintered packs, but often the
ejected gnolls leave their pasts behind and pursue the hunt
in new lands, attempting to build a new power base through
increased breeding and rampaging hunts for new prey.
Like hyenas, gnolls are nocturnal. During the day a gnoll
encampment would seem slothful to outside observers,
especially if they saw gnolls only during daylight hours.
Such sightings, along with the fact that gnolls see little
use in building permanent structures, have given gnolls
the reputation for being lazy brutes. At night, though, the
pack becomes a frenzy of murderous activity. Gnolls divide
themselves into raiding parties, each of which scouts prey
in the nighttime hours. When particularly powerful prey is
located, the scouts vocalize to the pack in order to regroup
and attack the prey in a swarming group. While the gnoll
pack is usually interested only in the kill, some packs will
take slaves for a time, using them as manual labor, and as a
stock of food when prey is scarce. More often than not, such
gnoll packs keep slaves while whelps are young, and when
the captives have been sufficiently weakened from abuse,
they're released as quarry so the whelps can engage in their
first hunt with prey that have lost the ability to fight.

These strange and often solitary witches have a strong
connection to curses, the evil eye, and hyenas.
Though she sees after the pack, a bouda is an unknowable
and cryptic being even to gnolls who grew up with her,
for arcane magic remains largely a mystery to gnolls, and
most avoid it. Because a bouda's expertise seems so alien
and odd, a witch must prove her toughness before she is
accepted as a revered bouda.

Barbarian rages can be a thing of savage beauty, exhibiting
a lethal grace. While such uncontrolled displays of carnage
often disregard group tactics, there are those barbarians
whose rages inspire and spur on their allies during the
ferocious dance of death.

Gnoll clerics, devoted to the goddess of monsters, serve the
pack by culling the weak and enforcing pack hierarchy.
The chosen of Lamashtu are seen as the living
representatives of the Mother of Monsters, and are both
feared and revered by their packmates. In many cases,
these powerful clerics are alphas, though even when
they're not, they still hold prominent positions, typically
as second-in-command.
Gnoll religion focuses on Lamashtu. Gnoll clerics,
who are almost always female, oversee gory rituals and
sacrifices in the goddess's name. They believe unholy
magic should not be wasted on everyday things, but that
warfare is worthy of such blessings. Clerics attend the
births of litters and other momentous events, as well as
passing down stories to the young, though a cleric ofhigh
position might force lesser clerics to perform such duties.

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