Gnollish Martial Arts: Gnome Tossing
Though often viewed as truly bestial creatures the Gnollish art of Gnome tossing seems to incorporate many of the more brutish aspects of the hunger driven Gnoll clan structure with an air of finesse and some might even call elegance. Though not truly a martial art, and gnomes are never used, it is probably as close as a Gnoll bad will ever get to something more complicated than a straight hide and pounce ambush. As with the origins of most Gnollish can practices it is either obscure or lost. Mages and Sages theorize that it developed from the brutal practice of Gnollish males tossing hapless Halflings up into the air like popcorn and having the two winners attempt, through the process of distending their jaws, to break the Halfling in half by wedging the head of the Halfling against the front canines and “scooping up the legs”. In effect the Halfling is consumed partially chewed. Some where Gnolls discovered that much enjoyment could be had by tossing the Halfling from Gnoll to Gnoll in a circle using only their mouths. While this practice is still popular in many rudimentary Gnoll tribes, the more advanced tribes have discovered a way to transform the Halfling into a projectile weapon.
If the Halflings are raised as Gnoll slaves they can be trained to be thrown by a Gnoll at a ranged target. Gnoll’s ensure that the Halflings don’t escape by tying their legs to the Gnolls arm, this also allows them to pull their ballistic weapon back and toss again. Though this practice could develop into something actually useful, many of the most skilled Halflings end up as Gnoll bait, being poisoned and then tossed into the gapping jaws of a rival Gnoll. The foresight that the years of practice and skill need for the projectile is somehow lost upon the Gnolls when they repeatedly poison and train new Halflings to replace the fallen.