So I know that Curchanus' death at the hands of Lamshtu's traps is what shifted the domain of Beasts to her; my question is whether she was actually the hand that crafted Gnolls, or whether that is something she took credit for after the fact? It seems like Katapesh Gnolls are certain that Lamashtu was their creator, but that Southern Mwangi Gnolls have other ideas. Has there been an official comment or piece of lore upon it, or is it just a matter of faith for Gnolls?
We also know that Nex (or rather, the region before his conquest) was home to a number of Gnoll nations who seem to have been potent mages rather than the typical Lamashtan raiders. They’re survived by small Gnoll covens sworn to Mahathallah.
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From what I've seen, most of the actual lore we have on gnoll origin trace from the begginning of PF1, where it was pretty confirmed that they were indeed creation of lamashtu (which is why they were almost always evil cannibal slavers). But given that paizo have since moved on from the "evil sentient races" that characterised early PF1, I'm not sure that old piece of lore still hold.
Personally, I still consider them creation of lamashtu. It make them more interesting, the fact that their whole specie was created by one of the worse divinity of the setting give them an interesting problematic. It also help make lamashtu more interesting, because they would be her creation and yet not "inherently monstruous". It emphatised her whole "godess of life" thing rather than the usual godess of monster/nightmare/madness, and having an evil godess of life is interesting.
I mean, Curchanus original body was part hyena (we know that because now Daclau-Sar), while the possibility that it was altered by Lamashtu post-mortem, I could see them as a creation of Curchanus that was corrupted by Lamashtu.
Okay cool. I am working on a campaign in which some Mwangi Gnolls in the party discover in the ruins of Saventh-Yhi proof that Curchanus was their creator. It is basically a sequel to the Serpent's Skull AP from first edition, but with a focus on the heritage of Gnolls, and battling an attempted incursion by Lamashtu led by Daclau-Sar, seeking an artifact of Curchanus worship.
I just wanted to be sure I wasn't going against any hard lore, as everything I have read I remember to be fairly elusive about the creation of Gnolls, focusing mostly on the fact that it is a story that the Gnolls tell, of Lamashtu mating with a Hyena to create them.
Thanks for the input, and if any of ya'll do know of any hard lore, please point me in the right direction.
This might be wrong lore, my headcanon or possibly (gasp) d&d stuff, but I have a feeling that the gnolls ended up the way they did (read: insane evil irredeemable) because they ate the carcass of a dead god. Could easily be Curchanus.
But I also agree that this is unlikely to be the approach taken in Lost Omens, although the pragmatism that underlies them in Mwangi Expanse could still make it work. The "civilised" People see them as horrible monsters who consumed their own god, they understand that the real sin would be letting good meat go to waste.
Again though, it's possible I've made all this up.