Gnolls

Basic Information

Anatomy

Gnolls resemble humanoid hyenas. They have more developed musculature than humans.

Ecology and Habitats

Gnolls evolved on the plains of Zahenni, but eventually had to move to a nautical lifestyle.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Gnolls are mostly carnivorous, but can and do eat plants. Although their meat consumption was much more diverse when the gnolls lived mostly on the mainland, most of their meat nowadays comes from raiding other ships and fishing.

Behaviour

Gnolls form complex societies together with many-tiered social structures, much as humans do.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Gnolls structure their close-knit communities in meritocratic hierarchies, where a crew (what gnolls call their communities) are led by a captain, who is slightly more likely to be female. Ranking beneath the captain are the first, second, and third mates, as well as the chief steward and the chief engineer, who is normally an artificer skilled in either arcanotechnology or Biotechnology.
Ranking beneath the first mate is the boatswain and the deck cadet. Ranking beneath the chief steward is the chief cook. Ranking beneath the chief engineer is the second engineer and the third engineer. The second engineer is responsible for fitters, motormen, oilers, and wipers.

Facial characteristics

Gnolls have hyena-like faces. Their eyes tend to be a very brown colour, to the point their eyes are easily mistaken for black.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Gnolls can be found all over the seas. Gnolls living on the mainland tend to still prefer being in coastal towns, but some do still venture elsewhere.

Average Intelligence

The intelligence of a gnoll is equal to that of a human.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Gnolls have more rods than humans do, granting them superior night vision.

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

Some gnolls have trained dolphins and sharks to help them fish.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Gnollish names frequently bear many vowels, palatalised consonants, and heavy usage of the phoneme. Gnolls don't have last names, but instead shipnames, which are often flexible and are based upon the name of the ship one is on.
Examples of Feminine Names: Aryeedi, Ehyuree, Karyee, Ryogotya, Sisee, Tyanee, Usisi
Examples of Masculine Names: Aryeen, Guryeen, Hyogyo, Nosyo, Omyo, Pyapyan, Uryan, Yeemo
Examples of Shipnames: Blackflag, Crossbones, Goldsniffer, Muttskipper
Pronunciation Notes: "ee" is pronounced as a long /i/ phoneme, while "i" is pronounced as a short /i/ phoneme and "e" is pronounced as a short /e/ phoneme.

Beauty Ideals

Jewelry and accessories are considered a sign of beauty and status in gnollish society, and can include earrings, rings, tooth casings, bracelets, anklets, glasses, monocles, armbands, necklaces, chokers, claw casings, noserings, belly button piercings, and jewelry upon the tail. Silver jewelry is considered more beautiful than adamantine jewelry, while both are considered more beautiful than gold jewelry.
Gnolls also have a peculiar love for hats and sometimes even wigs, the bigger and more extravagant the better. Prominent captains of major ships can be seen wearing giant electric blue beehive wigs with lime green streaks and massive glitter-covered tricornes buried in massive peacock plumes, while even lower-ranking gnolls will wear hats, albeit smaller and less extravagant ones, like plain brown ascot caps and grey beanies.
These beauty ideals remain consistent across all genders in gnollish society.

Gender Ideals

Gnollish society is pretty much egalitarian. Traditional gnolls don't especially care if a man, woman, or someone else entirely is doing the job so long as they are good at it and look the part.

Courtship Ideals

Marriage doesn't exist in a traditional gnoll society, although romantic love is still expressed openly and is appreciated. If a traditional gnoll wants to have children with someone and all people involved are consenting, they go for a roll in the hay.

Average Technological Level

Gnollish technology is on par with the rest of Zaldebrash's worlds, with access to ships, guns, cannons, and much more. The gnollish wizard Omyo Mermaid famously invented the piece of arcanotech known as the pressurised water weapon in 79 B.W., the first weapon being made in this way being a chainsaw.

Common Taboos

In gnoll society, betraying one's ship, one's crew, or a good captain is amongst the greatest of crimes.
However, overthrowing a corrupt captain is seen as virtuous; this act is known as a "muttiny," being a portmanteau of the Common word "mutiny" and the gnollish slang term "mutt," which basically means "bad person," and thus "muttiny" essentially means "rebellion against a bad person." Even to this day, many gnolls consider the term "muttiny" synonymous with the Common word "rebellion."

Common Myths and Legends

Gnolls believe they were created by their ancestral god Goldfur, and they believe that one day when they die they will join Goldfur's crew upon the biggest ship sailing across the biggest sea (the Plane of Deluges) under the flag of the greatest captain ever.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Gnolls have varying relationships with the other peoples of Zaldebrash. Although no one likes having their ships plundered, gnolls can become unlikely allies if they are hired as privateers to plunder enemy vessels.
As far as gnolls are concerned, they'll get along with anyone who has a sense of adventure, and many gnollish crews have been noted to have crewmates of other ancestries among their ranks.

Lifespan

70

Average Height

5' - 6'4" (about 1.5m - about 1.9m)

Average Weight

124 lb. - 280 lb. (about 56 kg - about 127 kg)

Average Physique

Gnolls are typically stronger than humans.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

A gnoll's fur can range from brown to green to dark yellow and can be any hue in between any of those three colours. Some gnolls also have spots on their fur.