Gnoll
"The sound of laughter filled the trees around them. The children among them didn't understand, but the men did, they ordered silence and drew their blades. They cursed their misfortune as they gathered the women children and formed a ring to protect them. The children didn't understand, and that only made them more afraid. The men knew, only because they had all once before been the children. They had all sat defenseless and afraid as their children were now. They too had learned the hard way what it was like to be prey.
The gnolls had taught them. Now was time for another such lesson."
Bearing a strong resemblance to canines, but in humanoid form, Gnolls are often called Wolfmen but this description is far from accurate. In reality, they are actually related to the Hyenas of the far off savannahs of the east, not the wolves and dogs of our own region.
Like their Hyena cousins, Gnolls have a strictly matriarchal society. Gnoll females are bigger and stronger than their male counterparts. Gnoll clans are usually lead by powerful matriarchs, that enjoy the loyalty and protection of the other clan females. Gnoll males, even the most remarkable of them, are always lower ranking than even the lowliest female. For this reason, many males will leave their clan and search for better status in another clan, but this doesn't often lead to them finding a better place in the world.
In some extreme occasions, gnoll males will instead strike off on their own entirely, forming entirely male communities, but these clans are often quite short-lived since they cannot breed on their own. Most gnoll matriarchs take great offense to these communities as well, and they find themselves quickly becoming targets of traditional gnoll clans.
Gnolls are experts of survival. Able to operate as deadly predators or scavengers as the situation demands. While they prefer fresh meat by far, gnolls are well adapted to eat even the most rotten meat, particularly in the case of males, who have to settle for it far more often.
Gnolls are extremely territorial and will kill intruders on what they view as their territory ruthlessly. This, coupled with their 'waste not, want not' attitude regarding the corpses of said intruders has given them a rather grim reputation.
Gnolls often count wood elves (and by ignorance elves in general) as their most hated enemies. Wood elves and gnolls have a long history of conflict, due mostly to the territorial nature of both groups causing them to often fight in brutal turf wars between gnoll and wood elven clans.
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