Gnolls are a bestial carnivorous race, described in appearance as humanoid hyenas. Gnolls are primarily found within and around the Salahad, but large populations can be found across Sarhal and Bulwar, with disparate smaller groups found in southern Cannor.
History[]
Descriptions of and interactions with gnolls have been prevalent throughout early history, many human polities in Sarhal have made note of their interactions with this bestial race since the beginning of their civilizations. The earliest written references to the gnolls are drawn from a collection of texts retrieved from the ruins of Tarfeera, an ancient genie palace on the southeastern edge of the Salahad. The texts mention creatures they called Qanu’ul that bear a striking resemblance to gnolls.
While there are scattered references to gnolls and gnoll-like creatures, it was only in 1152 BA that gnolls entered the historical record prominently when the warlord Krah led his pack up the Mother's Sorrow to Kheterata to take advantage of their weakness during The Onslaught. There he raided settlements and took many slaves, entering gnollish folk history as the first professional slaver, his name later becoming synonymous with the slaving profession in the gnollish language. He would gain many riches enslaving the weak and helpless and selling to the rich across Kheterata and Bulwar - and soon other gnolls came to ply the burgeoning slave trade in those lands, often bringing enslaved humans from Sarhal.
From there gnolls became prominent figures in the histories of both Sarhal and Bulwar, particularly after the rise of the Xhazobkult under The Great Xhaz beginning in 654 BA, the horde that would sweep across Bulwar, Sarhal and into Cannor before finally meeting its end.
Mythological and Demonic Origins[]
In Regent Court mythology it is said that gnolls were one of the Spawn of Agrados, bestial races emerging from the rape of their earth goddess Halanna. It is said that gnolls came from the infernal plane of Hell from the domain known as the Pits of Grilax (named after their supposed god and progenitor, Grilax. It should be noted that no gnollish records make note of a “Grilax”) that is somewhere in the Salahadesi Desert. While this location has never been found or confirmed, it is said that Castan Beastbane led his legions in a futile attempt to invade and destroy the Pits of Grilax but no survivor ever returned from his campaign to confirm its success.
Some gnollish mythologies also appear to point to a potentially demonic origin, the Xhazobkult holds that gnolls are the descendents of entities known as Xhazob's, primal demonic spirits that can possess gnolls and empower them with their might, making them into the fearsome Xhazobine.
The Kvangahga faith meanwhile holds that in ancient times the goddess Kvanga battled malevolent bestial spirits and bound them to the bodies of hyenas, remaking the monstrous spirits into creatures capable of reason and virtue, the gnolls themselves.
While these mythologies support a somewhat sinister origin for the gnolls, the fact remains that they are not a supernatural race and despite the once widespread adherence to the demonic practices of the Xhazobkult, gnolls are clearly capable of following other less heinous moral systems, be that Kvangahga, The Jadd, Khetism, The Fangaulan Pantheon or the Cannorian faiths.
Social Behavior[]
Many historical gnollish societies displayed complex dominance based hierarchies, which while not always violent in nature, and often quite flexible, were nevertheless a key component of their social dynamics. Some scholars have attributed this dominance behaviour as to why gnolls showed a preference for enslaving other races, rather than outright destroying them as many of the other "monstrous" races have been wont to do.
Some speculate this inclination stems from their demonic origins, while others believe it is due to their relationship with hyenas, but almost all scholars recognize its existence. For many gnolls, slavery had certain aspects of both forced adoption and animal husbandry, with slaves valued below other gnolls but significantly above something like a sheep or goat; recognised as sentient creatures that are part of the pack, but still seen as property.
Importantly, while some gnolls ranked higher or lower than others, the enslavement of another gnoll was looked down upon as both a grave taboo and an effectively useless endeavour due to gnolls making for particularly surly and unmotivated slaves; many would rather die than perform manual labour for the benefit of someone else. As an alternative many gnollish packs practised forced adoption in the case of conflict with other gnolls, the losers adopted into the winning pack as low-ranking members but with full rights and freedoms.
In addition to the forced adoption of losing gnolls into the victorious pack, those killed in battle were usually cannibalised - how ritualistic this is differed by pack, with those more strongly aligned to the Xhazobkult consuming the dead on the battlefield itself while those packs belonging to the Kvangahga faith, or those with stronger animistic traditions, tending to be more respectful. This cannibalization was thought of in terms of consuming the strength of the slain, combined with a broad sentiment that not eating what you have killed is disrespectful.
Matriarchal Societies[]
Gnollish societies have often been categorised as being matriarchal, and while some have indeed appeared to prefer the rulership of physically female individuals, the reality is somewhat more complex. Gnolls display very little in the way of sexual dimorphism, with adults of both sexes being of similar size and build, indeed non-gnolls often struggle to identify which individuals are male or female.
The gnollish understanding of gender is often very different to that of species with more obvious physical differences, gnollish ideas of “femininity” are more associated with power and authority, drawing on the idea of the “mother” figure as a protector, one who is responsible for those weaker than them. The confusion around gnollish matriarchies appears to stem from a translation of the gnollish word “Golud”, which is a term for gnollish rulers both female and male, but that translates in a literal sense as “Mother”. Thus early human societies may have come to believe that all gnollish rulers are female.
While some gnollish cultures such as the Sandfang, Sorrowclaw and Hillthrone gnolls have historically shown a preference for female rulers, others like the Fieldstalkers, Windhowlers and Seascourge have been much more egalitarian in their approach to whether they are led by male or female individuals.