Plague Dogs

Known colloquially as Plague Dogs, these fearsome creatures are the byproduct of Yeenoghu's evil. Tall, bipedal humanoids with canine features that resemble a hyena, they are known formally as gnoles, plural, or gnole, singular. This is often spelled as gnolls or gnoll.

Gnoles spawn by one of two methods. First is by an incursion of demonic energy on the Prime Material plane. Dead left behind by this intrusion are eaten by hyenas and those hyenas morph into gnoles. Often, but not always, this energy is a physical manifestation of Yeenoghu in this world. The other method is through a gnole gaining Yeenoghu's favor and becoming a gnole fang. Hyenas eating the dead left behind by a gnole fang will become gnoles. On rare occasions, other canines eat this tainted meat and become bipedal canine humanoids similar in appearance to gnoles, but lack their demonic mindset.

Gnoles exist only to destroy. Sages agree that the Lord of Dunsany, a warlock named Drax Plunkett, is responsible for the first gnoles. Working foul magicks, he summoned Yeenoghu's presence to earth but could not contain it. Drax did not live long enough to appreciate his mistake, but remnants of his blunder remain to this day.