Gnolls

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## Race

### Locations

TBD

**Gnolls** are a race of Canine beings.

## Ecology

Gnolls come in many shapes and sizes, looking like a cross between a human and a canine being such as a Hyena, Dog, or Jackal.

They typically stand between 7' and 8' tall, and tend to have lanky but muscled builds.

Gnolls have a canid appearance with often spotted coats closely resembling that of a hyena. Their fingers end in a claw that is somewhat dull, but good for digging. Their legs and arms are longer than most humanoids proportional to their bodies, giving them a lanky appearance. Gnolls also have a slight curvature to their spines, giving them a bit of a crooked stance and a slight hunch.

Gnoll females tend to be slightly larger than males, and also tend to have darker coats, with males ranging in light browns and reds with females in dark browns to blacks.

Gnoll's eye colors range from black to amber, with most having shades of brown.

Gnolls are natural runners, moving at a significant speed, additionally they can sustain a running pace for many hours a day without any ill effects, crossing long distances much the same as a mounted humanoid. This has assisted them in both evading those who would do them harm, as well as spreading their peoples across Aedron.

Gnolls have extremely powerful jaws, much like those of the beings they were created from, and are renowned for their ability to eat everything from a kill, even the bones.

Gnolls have a shorter lifespan than humans, on average living between 45-55 years

## History

Akkidna, being a bit of a rulebreaker, decided to see if she could create more races for the world without being noticed. Her plan was to slowly add changes to various creatures, a little bit at a time, without anyone noticing. One such plan was slowly turning a population of wild dogs into the first Gnolls over many generations. There are perhaps other attempts at this that went unnoticed...

Whether she finished and created the race she intended, or was caught and had to leave them half-finished is a debate for scholars. The Gnolls themselves don't seem to care one way or the other. They simply ***are*** and will continue to be for as long as they can.

Gnolls slipped into the world quietly as Akkidna intended, and began doing what they do best, hunting. Over time they grew in population and now exist in small packs spread across the hinterlands of much of the world, never congregating in large numbers.

## Society

Gnolls tend to be a matriarchal pack-centric society, with leadership positions belonging solely to the most suitable female. Their population is broken down into small to medium sized packs of ten to thirty, each living their own lives independent of one another. Each pack is spread enough to have the resources to sustain themselves. Growth of packs is unusual, and typically never get higher than around thirty because they tend to fracture and split into two groups, with the lesser one leaving to find a new territory.

It is spoken among their packs that when the need is great enough, Akkidna herself puts on the skin of a Gnoll and comes to their aid.

In times of mutual defense, or the rise of a particularly powerful leader, the packs can be brought together to form a horde of Gnolls that often can sweep a countryside and reduce it to a despoiled wasteland. These leaders are rare, and typically seen as a living avatar of Akkidna. These such avatars are feared among settled societies, and rumors of their rise are spoken about in many rural areas, leading to preemptive attacks from local farmers and militia despite many of these rumors being invalid. This only further deepens the gulf between Gnolls and settled races, creating a cycle of violence that constantly deepens over time.

When a true avatar rises and manages to unite the packs, they do so with a goal in mind, such as seizing a city, or destroying an enemy completely.

## Behind the Curtain

#### **Raised from the Wild (5 RP)**

Gnolls were raised up from humble wild dogs, and retain many of their traits, and have advanced others to be more befitting, Gnolls all have a 60' darkvision and a +2 STR, CON, and DEX score. Their lack of 'refinement' also means they take a -2 to INT and CHA scores.

#### **Runners of the Hills (3 RP)**

Gnolls are extremely fast on their feet, and do not tire easily, gaining a 40ft move speed, as well as the Endurance feat.

#### **Digging Claws (3 RP)**

Gnolls have claws well adapted to digging in soil, and are able to craft a dugout burrow or den without the need of tools. Over time these burrows can become quite large and complex. housing entire gnoll packs, In addition these claws can be used in combat to make two claw attacks that deal 1d4 slashing damage each.

#### **Even the Bones (2 RP)**

Gnolls are able to use a natural bite attack that deals 1d6 piercing damage as a primary attack, as well as being able to eat and digest even the toughest of prey, gaining sustenance even from dry bones.