Gnoll

**Gnolls** are one of the sentient humanoid species living on Fayos. They resemble hyenas in appearance and are largely found in Kaiyados, where they originated.

## Appearance

Gnolls are the second largest of the humanoids, only shorter than the Cadanites. On average, female gnolls are larger than males, standing between 6'7" and 8'0", while males can be anywhere from 5'11" to 7'0". Most Gnolls are lean and muscled, weighing upwards to three-hundred pounds or more, though once again, the females often weigh more. Males are more likely to be malnourished or scrappy, as they make up the bottom rungs of Gnoll society.

In color, they can range from grey to brown, even black, with a darker colored topside than their bellies, which tend to be tawny. They have longer arms, necks, and hands than humans, with a tendency to hunch forward due to their top heavy physique. Gnolls are usually spotted or striped, with longer fur along their spine which they fashion in a variety of ways.

Civilized Gnolls tend to be much more well groomed, while the feral Gnoll garbs itself in anything it can find, such as the lost bits of armor of slaughtered foes. In Kaiyados, Gnolls are known to shave and tattoo parts of their bodies, though this practice seems to be reserved only for important females.

## Behavior

Gnolls are considered the most savage of the beast races; along the same lines as the Phraceans. Gnoll communities follow a matriarchal society, with males making up the bottom rungs of society and the toughest females gaining control of the group through violence. Many groups have been observed euthanizing young male pups or disabled members of society, as it is considered cruel by them to let such 'burdens' keep living.

Female Gnolls can gain three ranks: Matriarch, Witch, and Den Mother (Note: these are not the actual titles as referred to by Gnolls, but the translation of them into Caldosi.) Matriarchs are local leaders who organize hunting and raiding parties, while also guiding their small societies. Witches are the spiritual leaders, who practice divination, daemonic worship, and medicines. The Den Mother is the leader of the Gnolls, a female who sits in the capital and leads important raids and keeps order in the largest of Gnoll cities.

Gnolls are prone to violence, as they are always plagued by an infernal hunger that can only be satiated by blood and flesh. Because of this, they are constantly slaughtering others or each other. However, a few Gnolls have become 'civilized' members of several societies. Often these Gnolls are males raised by human parents, such as Iliana Bathroy, a member of the Fithali who was raised in Sikkud by merchants, and is considered a normal member of society in Uruk. However, her need for violence made her join a mercenary group, something of a pattern for such integrated Gnolls. Often, they are drawn to an outlet for their violent urges, lest they become like the Wolf Man of Sikkud.

### History

Around 5600 A.E. a group of Kaiyans had built a large temple to either a god or a daemonic entity. An enemy tribe from the north sacked the temple, raised it, and raped and murdered the builders until none remained but the broken and battered. As punishment, the divine of the temple, revealed itself to them and cursed them with his form and an insatiable hunger, then scattered them about the lands. These people became the first Gnolls, transforming under terrible pain into the malformed lycans seen today.

After this event, the Gnolls of Kaiyados became sectioned to the grasslands of the north where they were allowed to roam and wage war with each other. For thousands of years they stagnated as the cultures around them grew and flourished. It wasn't until 564 A.E. when the then Matriarch Shik-Za-No-Gra united the scattered tribes, becoming the first Den Mother to rally both the southern and northern tribes. She led an army south in 562 A.E. breaching the Dreadgate, a massive wall designed to keep the Gnolls north, and proceeded to sack Derongo and other Kaiyan settlements. For another year, her forced wrecked the countryside until the decisive Victory at Swn, where Den Mother Shik-Za-No-Gra was defeated by the humans there.

WIP