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Gnolls


Description

All images and information linked from DnDBeyond and are used for reference purposes only.

Description

Gnoll Gnolls are feral, hyena-headed humanoids that attack without warning, slaughtering their victims and devouring their flesh.

Volo's Guide has a great introduction to Gnolls.

Gnolls in Tritan

Gnolls in Tritan are one of the most dangerous of the monstrous hordes that joined Baltatrax's army during the end of the First Age. Many smaller settlements were quickly devoured by Baltatrax's gnolls, further swelling the ranks of his hordes.

Despite their tentative alliance, gnolls true loyalty lies with the Demon Lord Yeenoghu. The gnoll mind knows only an insatiable hunger, and as their ranks grew, so did the gnolls' bloodlust. In the euphoria of the Great Sack, the gnolls turned on the demogorgon - a move that would prove to be the beginning of the end for Baltatrax.

For their betrayal, the gnolls were ruthlessly hunted down and slaughtered by Baltatrax's other followers. To this day, gnolls stand alone from the rest of the monstrous hordes and the civilized world. In the ruins of the First Age, gnoll packs and orc tribes frequently fight for control over hunting grounds. In the fringes of the Second Age, even the smallest sign of gnoll activity is met with overwhelming force from the Republic and the Kingdom of Dohlar.

Gnoll Social Structure

Gnolls, for all their savagery, are highly social creatures. All gnolls belong to a Pack, consisting of between 50 to 200 individuals. Gnoll Packs will roam the wilderness, ravaging and devouring anything they come across.

During their calmer periods, gnolls will form small hunting parties of a few dozen gnolls and hyenas. These hunting parties will spread out over a huge swath of land, which greatly reduces the strain on the ecosystem, but often brings the pack into conflict with surrounding creatures and settlements. These conflicts are generally small and self-contained, especially if the hunting party is quickly wiped out before it can regroup and reinforce. If sufficiently motivated by hunger or bloodlust, the hunting parties will reform a Gnoll Pack and begin a rampage.

For unknown reasons, Gnoll Packs will sometimes join forces to rampage as a single entity known as a Gnoll War Band. Although extremely rare, a Gnoll War Band is an existential threat to anything caught in its sights. War Bands can grow as large as a few thousand individuals. The most recent War Band, led by the Flind, Yh Grimemaw, numbered some 1,000 gnolls, and nearly destroyed the nascent Republic.

Gnoll Types

Gnoll

The basic gnoll is a medium sized, humanoid creatures resembling a hyena. While savage and utterly devoid of morality, gnolls are intelligent, social creatures that rely on pack tactics to overwhelm enemies in combat.

Gnoll Witherling

Witherlings are the reanimated remains of fallen Gnoll warriors. Brought back to a sort-of life by demonic powers, these skeletal gnolls are clumsy and comparatively weak, but in sufficient numbers can quickly overwhelm opponents. Being undead, Witherlings do not eat or sleep.

Gnoll Hunter

Gnoll Hunters are stealthy, nimble gnolls that often act as scouts and ambushers for a Gnoll Pack. Hunters tend to creep around the edges of a conflict, picking off any victims attempting to flee the greater Pack.

Gnoll Flesh Gnawer

Even more savage than a normal gnoll, Flesh Gnawers are capable of incredible bursts of speed. Gnawers are the gnoll equivalent of shock troops, specializing in brutal close range attacks.

Gnoll Pack Lord

The Pack Lord is the strongest and most intelligent gnoll within a Pack, having earned its position by taking down the previous Pack Lord in combat. Within a War Band, Pack Lords will fight for supremacy if no obvious leader emerges.

Gnoll Fang of Yeenoghu

Where a gnoll has distinguished itself in the service of Yeenoghu, it may be rewarded with a demonic spirit, which transforms the gnoll into a Fang of Yeenoghu. A Gnoll Fang is not to be trifled with, as the demonic spirit within makes it a formidable foe.

It is believed that Fangs are capble of creating new Gnolls from the hyenas that follow a pack, possibly due to their innate connection to the demon lord, though this duty is often left to a Gnoll Maw, if present.

Gnoll Maw of Yeenoghu

Gnoll Maws are Yeenoghu's representatives on the material plane. Although usually larger than a typical Pack Lord, Maws are above the petty disputes of leadership, and occupy an almost religious role within a Pack.

Gnoll Maws have two main duties: interpreting Yeenoghu's will, and creating more gnolls.

Maws will perform all manners of arcane rituals, from interpreting the stars to reading the cracks of bones, to interpret the will of their Demon Lord. A Maw is the only gnoll capable of culling a Pack's savagery, as the only thing a gnoll truly fears is falling out of favor with Yeenoghu.

With regards to their second role, Gnoll Maws are capable of channeling Yeenoghu's demonic spirit to breed new gnolls. After a hunt or battle, Maws will perform a ritual over the uneaten remains of a corpse, and throw it to the hyenas that follow a Pack. After consuming the corrupted flesh, these hyenas will sprout into new gnolls. This can quickly replenish any losses the Pack took, and can even cause the Pack to split in two should it grow too large.

Flind

A Flind is an exceptionally rare and powerful gnoll that has been blessed by Yeenoghu himself with a fraction of his power. If a Flind is present, it automatically becomes the Pack or War Band leader, and commands complete devotion from all other gnolls, including Pack Lords and Fangs.