“Why did you join the city guard?” The gnole shrugged. “Burrow said to join. Guard not always good to gnoles. Blame gnoles for things. If a guard is a gnole, that guard can speak up.” He picked at a loose thread on one of his rags. “A gnole was a rag-and-bone gnoll, but she was good at human speaking.” His diction shifted noticeably, becoming more precise, taking care with each syllable. “Burrow said to become a guard-gnole. Become a job-gnole.” “Ah.” Galen knew enough about the gnole caste system to know that would be a step up for Earstripe. “If you became a guard, you’d be promoted.”
