The Horde of Ghrull

Out on the wide plain, laughter rings at night that holds not a shred of joy, a shrill, hiccupping sound that sets the caravan drivers to praying. A horde of gnolls roams and plunders, driven by the hunger of their demon lord, the Famine Lord Ghrull, whose only creed reads: eat, always more, eat.

They leave nothing whole. Caravans, herds, entire hamlets vanish, and behind them remain only gnawed bones and the trail of their march. At their head walks Ghrull's Chosen, a giant gnoll, half beast, half demon, blessed by his lord with a hunger that never stills. The next stop on their route is a defenseless frontier village, and you know it.

You read tracks across the plain, relieve a surrounded caravan, gather survivors and allies, and choose your battlefield: an ambush at a narrow pass, a defended village, or a daring assault on the horde camp itself. Every night you lose, the horde grows with new followers.

The twist: the horde does not hunt at random, but follows a stolen altar stone that draws Ghrull's blessing toward itself, and as long as that stone burns, the gnolls keep coming. The climax breaks out during the night assault: kill Ghrull's Chosen who leads the ritual, or douse the altar fire that binds the horde, while the laughter swells from every side and the village behind you threatens to go up in flames.