Gnoll

"Garnov puts brimstone, fire wine, and lamp oil together to make his special cocktail."

Gnolls are a humanoid race that most closely resemble human-hyena hybrids. They eat everything that's organic, and sometimes try to eat non-organic objects as well. Their culture is centred around religion and ruled by the female members of society.
They are powerful creatures, staying vital and combat ready for most of their lives. Their jaws can break through iron bars and they use them as effective weapons during combat, which they do with the excitement of a Gnome high of perma-snow.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Gnolls are tall and bulky build humanoids. Gnoll skin has a greenish-grey hue but is covered by a thick layer of fur. This fur can vary from light or dark brown to dirty yellow, sometimes marked with either spots or stripes. Many Gnolls also have a yellow to reddish-grey crest-like mane running from the their head to the back of their head. This hair can stand up on end when they get angry.

Growth Rate & Stages

Gnolls have very short lifespans when compared to other sapient humanoids, living just under thirty years at average and maturing at a remarkable speed. Pups are able to walk after only a few months and reach their adulthood at the age of six. After reaching adulthood a Gnoll don't seem to be bothered by their age at all until the end of their natural lifespans, at which point their health deteriorates quickly ending in their death. When a Gnoll dies the other Gnolls will collect its bones and use them in a great feast to celebrate the diseased's life.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Gnolls are omnivorous in the most literal sense of the word, eating nearly everything they can get their claws on. Their stomachs contain an acid that is strong enough to dissolve small metal objects. Because of this they are likely to put about anything that can fit into their mouth.
Gnolls, no matter how civilised they might be, still eat carrion, and prefer their meat to be fermented. Unlike other races, Gnolls have few, if any, qualms about eating the dead bodies of sentient creatures. There are several known incidents of hungry Gnolls raiding graveyards for fresh corpses to feast on.

Additional Information

Average Intelligence

The mind of a Gnoll is driven by their primal instincts more so than any other sentient creature. Almost all Gnolls preferred to live and stay in nature over the "civilised enclaves" that the other races favour. Those Gnolls that do decide to move into the city end up in small ghettos where they keep to themselves, only interacting with people outside of their communities for work and to trade.
Many other races have found the Gnoll's psyche to be confusing and animalistic, thou Gnolls see this as a mater of lacking perception. They see their own minds as the natural world itself. It is wild and ever changing. When you are hungry you look for food, and when you are curious you should investigate it, there is no need to pretend as if you don't have these impulses, they are natural. A Gnoll is more likely to demand answers than it is to actually ask someone a question. They do not see this as rudeness, but rather as an attempt at learning. Their curiosity, combined with a lacking sense of self preservation has allowed Gnolls to learn how objects interact with each other, making them masters of alchemy.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Gnoll eyes are adapted to a nocturnal lifestyle which allows them to need only the twinkle of stars to see in deep dark of nights and hunt their prey.
The nose of a Gnoll is almost as strong as the one of the hyenas it resembles. This heightened sense of smell allows them to trace scents across the open plains and can distinct between six million different types of smell. The smell of blood is beloved by the Gnolls, as it makes them reach a moment of true lucidity. This drives the Gnoll into a short rampage as they make an attempt to regain this state of mind.

Civilization and Culture

Gender Ideals

Female Gnolls are slightly bigger than the males, and they possess physical traits which allow them to appear slightly more masculine than the male gnomes to any outsider. Some male and female Gnolls are confused for the opposite sex because of these similarities. The only reliable way to tell for most none-Gnolls is when a female gets pregnant or openly nurses her young.
These physical tributes have resulted in the females becoming the dominant sex inside of Gnoll society. Many of the more prestigious positions are exclusive to woman, such as becoming a member of the priesthood and the role of chieftess. However the Gnolls don't seem to hold these views of genders on the males of other races. Any man coming to a gnoll village can expect to be treated as if they where a fellow female Gnoll.

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

Though Gnolls are not necessarily savages, their hunger for the hunt and instinctual behaviour has made many of the them lean towards a primitive lifestyle. Most Gnoll practices are seen as almost animalistic, such as their propensity for scavenging and their tendency to live as nomads, they also love collecting trophies that remind them of their journey. These items are sometimes morbid and grim, though just as often they are simple and mundane. A Gnoll chieftesses will usually keep a collection of rocks which she can use to recall the scent of places of high importance so she can lead her tribe back to the site.

Lifespan

30 years

Average Height

2.0 - 2.30 meters

Average Weight

95 - 145 kilograms

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