Ashguard Journal

Gnolls of the First Mother

Gnolls are known to embody the vicious will of Yeenoghu, the demon lord of slaughter and senseless destruction. Corpses spoiled by the demon lord are feasted upon by his followers, transforming into the gnolls the world knows, creatures bound to kill and destroy everything. A gnoll of Yeenoghu feels a constant, gnawing demand for blood and destruction. To kill and feast only quells the desire for but a short time, so they wander incessantly for their next victim.

My mother taught me, She knew the traditions. And I, as my wobbling steps had thinned and become more precise, learned nothing was above the Pack. To never let pride blind the soul of the pack.
She drilled into my curious grabbing fingers that to know ones Pack was to know ones soul.

The Great Pack is our model, traditions born from their sacrifice. Like how a blood bond is made. How to grind the fire sticks to make both the white and black pastes to mark our faces.

“One mark for the blood of family, two marks for the blood of the pack. One for those who have died in glory, one for those who have been lost and may redeem themselves yet. And lastly, one for your place here.” Every morning the words were repeated slowly, carefully as my small fingers sloppily mirrored the beautiful dots and lines on my mother’s face.

The First Mother

To resist the pull and power of Yeenoghu was unheard of among gnolls, even our own God conquered and slaughtered by the relentless demon lord. Yeenoghu offers a sense of balm for loneliness deep in one's soul, and for us gnolls this false salve is two fold. We are born from the engulfing hunger of Yeenoghu, knowing nothing but their corruption, and any who would even think to escape his hold have nothing but pain and loneliness to look forward to. To chose exile is to be chased and hunted down by our brethren, shunned by the world we escape to. It is no wonder many of our kind choose to stay blindly under hunger's embrace. The First Mother rose above our kind.

In the times when the screams and cries of the dead only fueled the desires and hungers of our darkness, the First Mother's ears were the first to feel dread and the sound of a gnoll dying. The first to see the pitiful crawling dying maws of desperate teeth and claws and ask, why? It is said, she was the first to feel the pang at the sight of children, to find herself barren and demand to know why. This why in her heart rooted and grew stronger, tearing at the mindless hold of Yeenoghu. And with this came the pain the mindless ones are free from, the despair of the world they lived in. A lesser gnoll would have listened to the whispers of the corrupter, to return to the comfort of hunger and death.

The First Mother vowed she would no longer be swayed by lies. No longer would she hide from the pain, she would open her eyes and cast off the blindness of Yeenoghu. The howl of a lifetime of sorrow, from her very soul, echoed through the ranks, shattering the hold of death on those around her. Their souls awakened to the first call of the pack, and their eyes were opened to their torment. A chorus soon joined, voices doubled, tripled. And Yeenoghu raged, feeling his hold scattering to the winds. The order was swift and absolute, slaughter all traitors, leave no survivors. Yeenoghu's will is a powerful thing. We know there is no good story to this escape. Many free gnolls died, so many lost to save a few. What emerged we know to be the Great Pack, the only survivors of those who dared defy Yeenoghu's demands. We today cannot imagine their strength, we are now a people who benefit from their sacrifice, free from our own nipping at our heels. They endured slaughter, and when free from maw and claws, they found a world ready to kill them. None to listen to their pleas, no refuge in their flight. And still, they persisted.

The First Mother is a wonder to every free gnoll, for she never faltered, leading gnolls far across anything they had ever known, further and further still even as her muzzle whitened, her joints hardened. Her vow to find a home for her pack sustained her well beyond the years of any known gnoll, blind and hunched she still led them. Humans have a lot of places long abandoned, labeled dangerous and inhospitable. It is there, the First Mother found a threshold for her kind. It is there she finally laid her head down for the last time, offering her body as the bridge to our first home.

It is here, under the watchful eyes of the First Mother, we live and prosper.

Pillars of the Free Gnolls

Free gnolls have a strong value for family and their pack. They will commonly fight among themselves for dominance, but those battles are easily forgotten after their resolution. Their loyalty really shines at combat, for they are selfless and will trust their lives for those in their pack. When a gnoll separates from their pack they will desperately try to form a new pack with any they find, including outsiders.

Soul of the Pack

“To know one's pack is to know one's soul.” Is the chant and lifeblood of the Free gnolls. We deeply believe that our continued survival is dependent on knowing our own, inside and out. When we come to understand those around us, we can also use that to understand ourselves, and where we want to fit in this world. gnolls never had a place, so we must work harder to find and make our own. Those around us, both equal and above give not only perspective and guidance, but also protection to be able to pursue our desires and curiosities.

Blood Bond

Even though we value the Pack as a whole, we have come to learn that some bonds are stronger than others. Personal bonds between gnolls was something that never existed to our kind, and as a Pack, our elders have worked to help figure them out as they revealed themselves to us. We learned of the bond between mates, how for the first time to produce our own young, free from the heel of Yeenoghu's scraps. We learned of bonds as deep as mates, but unique in their own way. And for it, we created a blood bond. From bone jewelry handmade, two gnolls will promise to live and bleed for each other, piercing their flesh with the bone. The blood anoints the jewelry, sealing their promise. They will wear the jewelry until they die, for a blood bond is never broken.

No Deed Above

For gnolls, our pride lies in what we have achieved as a whole, rather than by ourselves. Prideful and selfish actions are not only dangerous to the gnoll, but to the entire clan. No action taken, no deed won should be against the needs of the Pack. We are new, traitors to our own, and suspicious to all others, so we are cautious not to bring death upon us from either end. It is difficult, we are very prideful, excitable even, so we must always ask ourselves, “Is this good for the Pack, or just me?” We falter and fail many times, but we have also found a merit in learning from mistakes.

Law of Conservation

Mistakes happen, and in our Pack, we have a general guideline for how to deal with a broken rule. The fangs of the demon are gone from our necks, we do not have the fresh memories of those before us on what they endured. But we respect their wisdom and still keep true to their decision. Any punishment to a rule break must equal the transgression. Blood mates are allowed to take the punishment for the rule breaker for a good reason. An uncalled for bite can be met with a bite back without repercussion, but we do not escalate. That is the way of our hunters, we cannot ever become like them again.

Hardline Heart

A gnoll is born from the demon's corruption, and the pull to return will never leave us. Even after our ancestors learned how to reproduce without Yeenoghu, how to sever that dependence on them, it still runs in our blood. We watch carefully ourselves and others for any signs of wandering back to that path. Those that do must be killed, they know our secrets, our ways. Nothing can get back to the demon. But it not just a threat of death, we have gained other ways of drawing a hard line between what they are and who we are. Every Free gnoll is required to take up a craft, anything that is a labor of thoughtful love and time. It reminds us that we are not mindless killers, we have more to offer ourselves and the Pack, a gift that helps us stay in this world. We will not waste and discard the things of this world as our hunters do, everything is precious.

Anatomy of the Free Gnolls

The Council of Mothers

The Council of Mothers is made up of five elder female gnolls, they live together in their own pack. They are dedicated to leading us gnolls in the ways of the First Mother’s ideals. They do walk among the masses as a pack often, and any gnolls they come across dip their heads and chirp in deferred respect. They will nip at any who challenge their path. You do not gain an audience with them lightly, though if any outsiders suddenly show up, it is uncommon enough for an investigation from the Elders.

Pack of Artisans

Any gnoll who has become an expert in their chosen art can trial for the title of Master. Crafts that take advantage of what is scavenged from the jungle are more common, but we do even have merchants with the brave few who have learned we will not harm them. Masters from the pack take on apprentices and teach them the art of crafting as a meditation to create the non-violent distinction from their ancestors. Our wares forged an interesting alliance with locals though, which did allow for a sort of peace, and a chance to learn common.

Pack of Scouts

Gnolls that have mastered the art of hiding in the jungle, scouting to keep up on events around us, prey or not become scouts. Trained in stealth and speed, they also take on apprentices to pass down their knowledge and training. They prefer to be non-violent in their ways, as it is far more important to escape with learned knowledge than it is to die fighting. Their Intel is invaluable to our clan, especially the gnoll hunters. Scouts are usually better at common like our crafters, it helps with the job.

Pack of Hunters

We cannot live fully without violence, and gnolls that live for the fight, both in hunting and guarding their home become hunters. They believe in respect and balance above all else for the things they hunt and gather in the jungle. Meat is obviously our main focus, but we will collect roots and fruit during lean times. We hunt non-intelligent creatures by choice, but when it comes to scavenging; a dead body is a dead body. Hunters are our main source of food, but they also provide many of the supplies our crafters use too.

Pack of Health

It took a long time for us free gnolls to learn that care of our bodies greatly extended our lifespan. And even then, we were still to learn the world of babies, of raising children we never had before. From this, a pack of gnolls dedicated to keeping their fellow gnolls healthy and safe were created. Children are reared together under their watchful eye until the children choose their apprenticeship, and obtaining new medicine and techniques is their mission. Our healers work with the Council of Mothers the closest, but they also work closely with the other master packs to help patch up, gather supplies, or make necessities for life as they grow and learn. We have heard rumors of better healing and magic, and are eager to find a way to obtain them, no such luck yet though.