[hider= The Gnolls]

[center]
[u]Physical Description[/u]

[img]https://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/1/17/Gnoll-5e.png/revision/latest?cb=20161208204404[/img]

Gnolls are extremely tall, with the average member of the race standing on average between 7' and 7'6". Though gnolls are relatively lean for their height, weighing in usually between 280 to 320 lbs, the race cuts an impressive visage. In part because of their height and lean musculature, gnolls are very quick compared with many other races such as humans. Gnoll skin is a greenish-gray, and their furry hide is light or dark brown marked sometimes with spots or stripes. Many gnolls also have a dirty yellow to reddish-gray crest-like mane that stands on end when a gnoll is angry.

Female gnolls are indistinguishable from males by size, in spite of a reputation for being shorter. In fact, so similar are male and female gnolls in appearance that they are often mistaken for one another. The only reliable way to tell the difference, other than through a close physical examination, is if a female is pregnant or openly nursing.

Gnolls have very short lifespans when compared with other sapient humanoids, living only 30 or so years on average and maturing to adulthood at a remarkable speed. Gnolls do not, however, age particularly dramatically except at the end of their lifespans, at which point the decline is sharp and deadly, quickly ending in death.

[u]Psychology[/u]

Primal instinct remains a strong part of the gnoll psyche. Gnolls are natural predators and savor the thrills of the hunt. Almost all gnolls prefer the wilderness to the civilized enclaves favored by humans, dwarves, or other similar races and those that do take to cities usually think of them as just another kind of landscape.

Many other races find the gnoll psyche feral and aggressive, male and female equally, and the behavioral tendencies of the race can certainly give this impression. Gnolls start fighting among one another at a very early age and as soon as they can walk, many crawl into places away from the eyes of adults where they engage in vicious, often lethal battles. A gnoll is more likely to demand answers than it is to actually ask a question. Gnolls, however, do not see this as an act of hostility, but rather a basic demonstration of strength.

Some of the gnoll practices might seem strange, such as the gnoll propensity for scavenging. At its most basic level, this tendency leads many gnolls to collect trophies that remind them of past victories, items sometimes grisly though just as often simple and mundane,[4] Gnoll trackers sometimes use this to their benefit, keeping scraps of clothing or other objects with the scent of their prey on them, which they use to point them in the direction of their quarry.

This tendency can lead to the even more alien gnoll practice of carrion eating. Unlike most races, gnolls have few, if any, qualms about eating the dead of other races. When gnolls strike a village they do not only leave no survivors but no corpses, eating most of those whom they don't take as slaves. There are even indications that some gnolls take this practice a step further, actually raiding graveyards for fresh corpses on which to feed.

[u]Culture[/u]

In spite of the savage nature of the gnolls, there are some aspects to their culture that are not inherently repulsive. Gnolls place a very strong value on family for instance, respecting blood ties perhaps more than any other aspect of a relationship. Though gnolls within a pack commonly fight with each other for dominance, these battles are quickly forgotten after their resolution, and in most situations, gnolls of the same bloodline are loyal friends and allies to one another. These bloodlines are almost always traced maternally, through the female line.

This loyalty to family is particularly obvious during combat, either with rival gnoll packs or other races. Gnolls who fight side by side regularly throw away personal glory in order to help their brethren. Perhaps most surprisingly, when a gnoll is separated from clan and family their instinctive need for such blood ties may lead them to form a surrogate "pack" from those whom they choose to befriend. To these unlikely allies the gnoll is as loyal and faithful as they would their own brothers or sisters, embracing the outsiders as if they were family.

Though most gnoll packs embrace their reputation for savagery, others refrain from such utter depravity. These clans are also nomadic but unlike the others rarely engage in violent raids except when seriously provoked. Likewise, though they retain the natural gnoll bloodlust they take no joy in torture or unnecessary cruelty, embracing hunting and tracking over outright slaughter.

In some cases these gnolls might even come to befriend or at least peacefully interact with the members of other races, offering their services as trappers or hunters. Generally, however, gnolls prefer their own kind and except when on business rarely visit neighboring villages dominated by members of another race. Likewise, these gnolls remain aggressive and quick to anger, meaning visitors should be careful not to offend.[/center][/hider]

Is this good, or should I change anything?

Also, I'll get a sheet out later today if I can!