Gnolls

**Place of Origin**

Gnolls are generally known to live in warm plains, though they are highly adaptable and can be found living in most regions, sometimes even underground. They are less common in arid and arctic regions.

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**Rarity**

Uncommon

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**General Overview**

Gnolls are feral humanoids, closely resembling human-hyena hybrids within Aether. They are known to attack poorly defended settlements along the edges of civilisation without warning, slaughtering their victims and devouring their flesh.

Gnolls have a very short lifespan when compared with other sapient humanoids, living only 30 or so years on average and maturing to adulthood at a remarkable speed. Gnolls do not age particularly dramatically except at the end of their lifespans, at which point they decline quickly ending in death.

Gnolls are nomadic destroyers, wandering the land in search of new victims, rarely seen sleeping and never settling down. Only a large-scale assault, such as the massacre of an entire village, can satisfy their desire even temporarily.

Gnolls are dangerous because they strike at random. They emerge from the wilderness, plunder and slaughter, then move elsewhere. They attack like a plague of locusts, pillaging settlements and leaving little behind but razed buildings, gnawed corpses and befouled land. A sated Gnoll rests knowing it has pleased Hrana. Its relief is short, no more than a few days before once again the Gnoll becomes a slave to its desires.

Strength, hunger and fear are the three concepts that every Gnoll extols. Strength allows a Gnoll to go forth and slay in Hrana’s name. Fear is a weapon used against enemies to make them easy prey.

*"Trying to talk to a Gnoll is the quickest path to its stomach." - Bartholomew Horninglow.*

*Omens*

Hrana shows his support to his followers by sending them omens in the form of visions, dreams and signs. As such Gnolls instinctively look for such omens to guide their activities, and they find them in many places.

Among the signs that Gnolls rely on are the blood trails and splatters left behind after making a meal of humanoids. They attach significance to many other phenomena as well, including the sight of arrows in flight, the rush of the winds and sounds of howling or crackling laughter that have no discernible source.

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*Gnoll Tactics*

Gnolls might seem to throw themselves into battle mindlessly, driven only by fury and hunger, but they possess a rudimentary form of cunning that is proven by several tactics they use consistently.

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*Cull the Herd*

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 honour, glory or individual achievement. They care only for the raw number of creatures they can slay. In the face of a Gnoll incursion, refugees should seek shelter in fortified positions. Gnolls avoid protracted battles if they can, much preferring to slaughter those that can’t defend themselves.

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*Overwhelm the Strong*

Gnolls attack intelligent prey that is capable of resisting them only when the most powerful omens from Hrana compel them to do so. They cooperate to gang up on each of the individuals in a group, or if the group is more numerous they rush forward in waves. The Creatures will crawl over their 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 Gnoll to keep the creatures from scaling the walls.

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*Far and Wide*

Gnolls never settle, though they may linger for a few days at the site of 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 war band 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.

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*No Survivors*

A band of Gnolls live in a state of eternal war with everything it encounters, aside from fellow worshippers of Hrana. 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 civilisation might be devastated before the wider world becomes aware of a Gnoll threat.

*An excerpt from One Hundred Years of War, a famous manual of battle tactics:*

*Gnolls remain a threat across all seasons. Happily, Aramoor is too fortified for their tastes, but caravans, foraging expeditions, and patrols must deal with them. Gnolls take care to move quietly when they are on the hunt for prey. The events that presage their presence are easy to misinterpret as the results of other threats. A scout might go missing, a caravan fails to arrive on time, or a village is left deserted. Several kinds of creatures can cause such events, but the evidence that gnolls leave of their involvement is unmistakable. Their enemies aren’t merely killed, they are dismembered and devoured. The loot that other marauders would scoop up is left where it falls, of no use to a creature that requires only flesh to feed its urges.*

*If you suspect that Gnolls are encroaching on Aramoor’s territory, send reliable spies to humanoid settlements in the region, while pulling back as many of our people as you can manage. Instruct the spies to pass along updates each day, preferably by messenger bird. Do not tell the spies of your suspicions. Invent a story, such as a search for an outlaw or some other deception.*

*If a spy fails to report, you must strike quickly. Send your fastest warrior and strongest spellcasters to the spy’s location. If the Gnolls have struck a settlement, the will rest for up to a week, bloated on their kills. In this state, they are their most vulnerable. Surround the place in silence, and advance as one to catch them in a vice. Let none survive. A single Gnoll can, over time, create a new war band.*

*Some may argue for an approach that doesn’t rely on the loss of humanoid life to see it succeed. I would gladly suggest one if such existed. Your best strategy is to defend Aramoor and let the other settlements serve as bait.*

*Treasure*

A cautious and skilled group can follow in the tracks of a Gnoll war band, keeping hidden and waiting for the creatures to move on after ravaging a village or town. The Gnolls leave the town’s gold and gems and other durable goods battered and gnawed, but still intact, though they invariably ruin delicate or flammable objects in their fits of destruction.

Gnolls do possess a basic understanding of the value of weapons and armour, so one might decide to hold onto an object seen as useful. In this way, a Gnoll might come to possess a magical item, though it might not know exactly how to use it. Gnolls regard objects of ‘Treasure’ only in terms of their ability to cause harm or preserve a Gnoll’s life. Everything else is only fit for destruction.

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*Language*

The language of Gnolls, such as it is, consists of whines, cackles and howls mixed with gestures and expressions. Gnolls use it to communicate only basic concepts, such as an alert about approaching prey or a call to their allies to join the fray. When Gnolls fight among themselves, they rarely bother with threats or words before leaping at each other’s throats.

When Gnolls leaders must share complex concepts, they use a broken form of a demonic language, gifted to them by Hrana. The Gnoll language lacks a script or written form, though elite Gnolls can use their limited knowledge of their demonic language to leave messages. In most cases, though, a Gnoll war band has little use for written notes or signs. Gnolls simply wander, attack, kill and feed.

Anything more sophisticated is beyond the band’s concern.

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*Slaves*

When Gnolls attack a settlement their victims can expect no mercy, those not devoured would be taken as slaves to be brutalised and abused both physically and mentally. To ensure loyalty from their slaves, Gnolls have made torture an art form. For this most warbands will have specialised slavers, their business is to break the will of a slave through repetitive torture.

The process wreaked on a slave's mind is brutal and often irrevocable. Those who will not submit are eaten, often in front of the other sales as another form of torment. Those that accept their fate live short lives, which end by them being devoured. Few are lucky enough to be rescued, those that are, take months to shake the mental scars.

Even less find their minds so broken they embrace the Gnolls brutality becoming savage, following their masters into battle as thralls. Most are broken humanoids, little more conscious that the hyenas, but a few retain their intellect. These become Gnolls in all but form acting as infiltrators, performing sabotage and laying the ground for Gnoll raids, often undetected until it’s already too late.

*The Hunters Chant*

*This simple chant of Hrana’s power was devised by a small cult, discovered deep in the forest. A group of woodcutters, facing starvation, turned to cannibalism to survive and ultimately fell under Hrana’s sway. Gnolls sing a similar chant in their language while they hunt.*

*The first gift is hunger.*

*It is His blessing.*

*It is our call to bring death.*

*The second gift is death.*

*Death proves our strength.*

*Death purges our fear.*

*The third gift is fear.*

*We fear that we will fail him.*

*We fear the onset of hunger*

*Variant Culture*

Though most Gnoll war bands embrace their reputation for savagery, some have refrained from such depravity. These clans are also nomadic but unlike their kin, they rarely engage in violent raids except when seriously provoked. Likewise, though they retained the natural Gnoll bloodlust they took no joy in torture or unnecessary cruelty embracing hunting and tracking over outright slaughter.

In some cases, these warbands of Gnolls have come to befriend or at least peacefully interact with other races, offering their services as trappers or hunters. However, they generally prefer their kind and except when on business rarely visiting other settlements dominated by members of another race. Despite this nature, these Gnolls remain aggressive and quick to anger, meaning visitors should be careful not to offend.

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**Race Alignment**

Chaotic Evil

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**Natural Abilities/Affinities**

*Keep your 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 burning arrows to spark fires, cutting off their prey’s escape routes and driving victims into their jaws.

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*Hrana Cultists*

Hrana cultists are individuals who lack all hope and have descended into nihilism. One might have suffered a tremendous personal loss, been banished from its home, or been the victim of a terrible betrayal. Whatever the reason, the would-be cultist is left isolated and abandoned, making it vulnerable to Hrana’s teachings.

The humanoid's thoughts and dreams are plagued by visions sent by Hrana. The promise of ultimate power, fuelled by acts of brutality, tempt and torment. Most individuals ascribe these feelings to a fleeting bout of depression or madness and can resist the call to violence, but few can not.

For these rare cases, the true lure of Hrana’s promises lie not in the power they offer, but in the deep sense of belonging they create. Those swayed by this offer consider themselves Gnolls in mind and deed and soon set out to commit their first atrocities in Hranas name. Most are often quickly killed by guards or other authorities. Few escape into the wilderness and continue to rampage on their own, sometimes falling in with a Gnoll war band.

Those that fall in with a Warband are treated as they would other Gnolls, refraining from killing them as long as they join in the slaughter when the band finds prey. Almost all cultists are brutish individuals touched by insanity, one step above the hyenas. They aren’t Gnolls and don’t receive their inspiration directly from Hrana. Yet exceptions do occur, however, this is rare, but a Warband lead by a cultist elevated by Hrana will accomplish feats beyond a regular group of Gnolls.

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**Appearances**

Gnolls are extremely tall, on average between 7’0” - 7’6”. Though Gnolls are relatively lean for their heights, weighing in usually between 280 - 320 lb, they strike an impressive visage. Because of their height and musculature, Gnolls are compared with many other humanoid races. Gnoll's skin is greenish-grey and their furry hide is a light or dark brown, sometimes marked with sports or stripes. Many Gnolls have a dirty yellow to a reddish-grey crest-like mane that stands on end when they are angry.

Because of a Gnolls demonic origin, many believe their blood contains traces of demonic blood. This could be evident by some unusual features among some Gnolls. These may include talons, gleaming red eyes or black fur with fiery orange spots.

Female Gnolls are indistinguishable from males. So similar are male and female Gnolls in appearance they are often mistaken for one another. The only reliable way to tell, other than through a close physical examination, is if a female was pregnant or openly nursing.

**History**

A grim reminder of the horrors posed by the Blighted Gods of Vesix, and the damage that even the briefest influence can inflict on the world. Whenever Hrana enters the plane of Aether and goes on a rampage, he leaves a great trail of corpses in his wake. As the Blighted God of Excess despoils the land, packs of hyenas trail him and feast on the victims until the dead flesh leaves them bloated and unable to move. Then, in a shower of blood and gristle, the hyenas transform into Gnolls, which take up Hrana’s awful mission to kill and destroy anything in their path.

*Gift of Hrana*

Hrana imparts to the minds of those that follow in his wake an unquenchable, supernatural hunger, both for violence and the flesh of intelligent creatures. Gnolls feel a constant gnawing demand for blood and destruction that abates only when it kills and consumes.

*From a journal recovered from a slain Hrana cultist*

*Day 2: The subject continues to growl and struggle, despite the removal of its arms and legs. I will let it starve for a few days to weaken its mental fortitude. If the Gnoll does have some sort of tie to Vessix, I must keep my focus on exploiting that link, even though the creature’s mind might remain aware.*

*Day 6: No appreciable loss of vigour.*

*Day 11: Still no appreciable loss of vigour.*

*Day 13: Ritual must commence tomorrow despite the subject’s high level of mental activity.*

*Day 14: The ritual brought our minds together. I was assailed simultaneously by hunger and rage as if some great force from beyond had reached out and commanded me only to kill and eat. Though it lasted only a short time, it was a terrifying feeling to my human mind, but in a way, it was also comforting to feel myself a part of a much greater design. What I felt was not the hunger of one beast but the hunger of all of them.*

*Day 15: Used the ritual to join our minds again. This time I realized where the hunger began. I was consumed by the infinite hunger and boundless rage of great Hrana, and I knew it could never be sated. Yet I felt driven to feed my lord. I killed and devoured a goat while linked to the Gnoll’s mind. I had set aside a knife for the deed but killed it with my bare hands instead. The flesh was warm. I fed myself. I fed Hrana.*

*Day 16: Third use of ritual. As my connection to my lord deepens, I leave my old concerns behind. His hunger is all that matters. It is greater than me; it is greater than us all. It is his mark. He made us. He drives us. He eats what we eat. He kills what we kill. He will come if we eat well. HE will come if we kill well. We will kill and HE will eat, and we shall be **HE** and **HE** shall be we, never alone, never afraid, never hungry.*

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**Created by MrBiscuits**

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