That was...easier than I thought it would be.
To be fair the main issue with the Gnolls was that they moved about alot, raiding and murdering across the country side and then disappearing as soon as they came.
Luckily one of them was captured alive in their latest assault against the Westfall Brigade. At my request the hyena man was given to me, and I had Antheol use his blood to scry out their location
He was currently the subject of several ongoing expirements by the bloodmages and necromancers. I personally didn't think he would last very long.
I eventually decided to handle it myself as a bit of a personal test on my work with rituals. I had made some changes to the formula I used on the Defias for using their souls as energy.
I was using the gnolls own life force as a means of keeping them alive. The effect of the spell would be to make minions on par with their living counterparts pyhsically, if not mentally.
On Gnolls this might actually be an improvement. Its often said that gnolls would be in control of the world if they just worked together, and they werent so damned stupid.
The rising forms of two hundred Gnolls was an intimidating sight.
My new minions rose in silence with agility one wouldnt expect from the undead.
A blast of lightning at my side brought me out of my thoughts, and tossed me back a couple feet. I jumped up in an instant, crouching below the forms of my minions a moment later.
A look at the hillside revealed not all of my targets had entered the circle. A number of Gnolls were channeling magic at me from a distance.
The group had shamans. Interesting.
I didn't have any of the mixture on me, but this was still an opportunity.
None of the bolts were actually aimed at any of my minions, though some had hit the ones I was nearby. That meant they weren't aware their Friends weren't alive anymore.
Probably why they hadn't ran.
At a snap of my fingers the horde of Gnolls turned around, before charging up the hill after the forms of the shamans.
The return back to the Deadmines was uneventful, boring if I was honest, but I had a few more magic casters than I did earlier so that was a plus.
Shamans werent of much use aside from having fresh sets of eyes looking to the spirits of the lands, and aiding in powering rituals.
However that did free them up to help in the preparation of bodies, and eventually be taught other things.
The Gnolls had tried to run once they had an idea of what was going on, but they got chased down pretty quickly.
I had them restrained by their old fellows, and ferried them back with little struggle.
They even stopped snarling some time ago after I cut out one of their tongues.
I pulled up my hood, and the distance between me and any possible onlookers meant they would probably assume me to be Marcus, even if up close my current body didn't bare much resemblance.
I had us move at a fairly rapid pace in order to avoid any confusion.
I was confindent no one would see us in the middle of the night, and even if they did they would not assume the army marching in perfect unison, while in formation was anything but the Brigade itself.
When I took them back I had a plan for the Gnolls.
The average Gnoll was seven feet of muscle and rage,easily capable of matching the common footman, and that was with a particularly stupid mind leading them about.
Unlike their game counterparts they looked almost like a smaller worgen, or the Gnoll dnd equivalents.
Inside the mines they would each be examined and measured for armor, which I would eventually see either commisioned or made by my goblin workforce when the need for Harvest Golems grew less pressing.
Which without Hogger and his lot raiding the lands, would be soon.
While proper armor and weapons were prepared for them I would have each Gnoll embalmed and then carved with engravings to store power the magical power generated by a living beings death.
They would keep this power for either my own use, or if I was close enough to manipulate the engravings, use the energy to overcharge themselves and fight harder.
I was also adding another caveat to the creatures, an idea I had while I was overlooking the construction of a few Arcane guardians for Moonbrook.
While the Gnolls where being torn apart and put back together for the carvings I would be having their bodies at the center fitted with a makeshift golem core not unlike my guardians were.
The golem core would be connected to the armor they wore through carvings on the metal, granting them considerably more strength than a Gnoll would have.
The nature of armor, and its lack of weight meant the boost wouldn't be too much compared to the average golem, but it would still nearly double their physical capabilities if my math was correct.
These Gnoll would be my personal guard. Unthinking, fearless, and ever loyal monsters.
They would be the perfect example of where the Scourge went wrong.
It would take time for the armor to be made unless I commissioned it, but the preparation of the bodies themselves would be as soon as two months even with my mages distracted by their work on my whelp.
In the meantime I was planning on heading to Stormwind, and visiting Sentinel hill on the way with the news of my victory.
I would be searching among the cities market for whatever magical knowledge I could acquire, while my people officially declared their independence.