Feast of Sands

Not a lot is fully understood about the....culture, to use a word that feels undeserved, of the feral beastkin known as gnolls, or more correctly Canins. However it would seem the tribes of the Bala do in fact have signs of social structure and societal development, barbaric and primative though it seems to us. For one horrific example, they in fact have myths and traditions tied unto those myths, none more infamous than the Feast of Sands, the only time gnoll raiding bands are known to take prisoners and not feed on them despite their insatiable hunger they carry as Gulagor's children. For they feel they must set the table such as it were, for the spirits of the sands themselves, making an offering to the desert in return for protection from Mannasurge storms.

An unnamed bounty hunter and mercenary within the Susma Sickles, an esteemed mercenary company that has offices and members spread across the desert kingdoms of Susma, speaking of their understanding of Canin tribes and the idea they are not as feral and beyond comprehension as one might think.

Not a lot is fully understood of this foul practice, but it does seem to embolden and offer comfort to the various tribes, called blood-packs, all across the Bala and the frontier regions of Susma. Every year in the weeks leading up to the transition between wet and dry season, or the inverse as well, the foul beastkin become far more active and bold, raiding not just caravans or merchants fool enough to skimp on their protection budget, but now even striking outlying villages and willing to even risk clashes with frontier forts and military patrols. Their behavior changes as well, their tactics change, as they bring weapons coated in various poisons from cacti, or harvested from scorpions or the like in the Bala, all with the intention to incapacite, not kill. This is not to say such clashes do not leave many dead or wounded in the field even when driven off, they definitely do, however their tactics shift from hunting beasts seeking to take a meal to something else. They take prisoners, an act normally unheard of. The reason for this however, is spiritual.

The Feast of the Sands by what rare bits we know from one or two whom were blessed by the Ascended themselves and rescued or escaped, is a tradition tied to the occurance of Mannasurge Sandstorms and the deep belief within these bestial tribes that the desert's hunger is something that must be sated to keep their tribes, their blood-packs safe. They seem to have a deeper almost instinctual sense and understanding of these storms in some way, their shamans able to almost predict their movements and when they would occur. The ritual itself is a complex one, with many layers, generally forcing prisoners to fight each other to the death, the pack getting to dine on the losers. The goal is to find anywhere from one to four worthy individuals, people whom are strong, fast, powerful, and able to find that animalistic need to survive. The number may vary depending on the shaman's guidance, however once they've collected the required prisoners, and the pack shaman vouches to their 'quality' as offerings, the pack will head into the desert, their prisoners forced along.

These prisoners will be decently well cared for, with proper cooked food prepared by the shaman, water provided in relative plenty, to insure they can make the grueling march. However at some point they arrive at a region of the desert rife with a strong breeze, and what the two supposed survivors both concur was a "strange, almost deathly ill feeling upon the breeze."

It is at this point, the gnolls will, with great care to as not risk it becoming a lethal injury, cripple the prisoners unexpectedly. Generally this is done by breaking both legs at the knee, though supposedly some tribes prefer to break a spine. Regardless of the means, they cripple the prisoners, and then bind them together. Sometimes they might use a special mix of nirvi nectar from a special cactus that grows wild in rare patches, and venom from the Atroph Scorpion, known for its paralytic qualities, to insure they are feverish and semi paralyzed but maintain their lucidity. Then they simply leave the victims there out in the desert, though the pack's shaman does often seem to cast some sort of foul magick upon them, likely to ward off predators or scavengers, and to help keep them conscious and alive.

In the hours before I was found, I remember despite our obvious predicament and injuries, despite the fact that we were obviously going to be carrion soon enough... no vultures or other scavenging birds gathered over head. Not a one was seen even far off the horizon. It was the oddest memory, and one I cannot get over knowing what came next. I know not what foul spell the corrupt and foul creature wove, but I know it must have been one to insure we did not fall prey to any other death but the one that was intended.

From the story of Aden Thistles, a survivor, rescued by his fellow mercenaries only hours after being left to die. They'd been tracking the tribe hoping against hope to rescue their companion.

Naturally of course what happens to these individuals is best left unsaid in great detail, however within hours of being left for dead, a Mannasurge Sandstorm will sweep over the area they were left, and at best they will never be seen again. At worst their skeletal remains will stalk the region with an impossible hatred of all living things, hunting and destroying any living creature until they themselves are destroyed.

The general belief and comfort this ritual seems to offer to the feral bestial kin in question does seem to be one of a spiritual nature, a deep seated belief that to offer up such sacrifices will satiate the storms and keep the tribe safe from such natural disaster and calamity. Of coure such ideas are poppy-cock, the primordial force of a natural disaster of such a type is not some beast or creature to be bribed, it is something of pure explosive energy of creation and destruction beyond the comprehension, or at the very least, beyond the needs and manipulation of mere mortal beings. We may be able to understand them at a studied and nuanced level, their causes, effects, perhaps even weather patterns and the like one day. However they have no soul, no drive, no desires. They are not living things and cannot be reasoned with. They simply just are. They exist, nothing more and nothing less.