Griffin

The order of the Griffin

Summary

Human legends told about a creature with the strength and nobility of a lion and the cunning and agility of a great eagle.
The humans describe this creatures with the body, the back legs and the tail of a lion; the head, the wings and the frontal talons of an eagle.
Moreover some humans in the southern region think this is more than a legends and they exist in an remote isle that cant be reached because the "black" ooze that live in those waters and corrode everything: metal, wood and flesh.

Historical Basis

Humans in the southern area of the continent have some text from an ancient time even before the The two four war even was a theme.
In this text is clear the methods to train, nurse and mount griffins.
Have other text with runes and a dialect that is impossible to read at the moment but some images are clearly griffins mounted by humans attacking some kind of monster with horns and red skin. They have even artifacts like horns, supposedly to call a griffin; amulets carved with talons of griffins and even some ancient griffin feathers.

Spread

The "order of the griffin" is a real order that train, with some sort of wooden/metallic contraptions to some day ride a griffin; but is a secret order because is against the current minotaur regimen.
This creatures and some tales about it are well know with humans and gnomes alike.

Variations & Mutation

This creature exist for real and was an original "griffin order"; they fought alongside other races against ancient evils that have the world under their domain: The cruel celestials. Once the war was won by the allied races and the "minos" gain control over a lot of regions, a general saw in the order a potential enemy and try to wiped out, but the order was really a great opponent and defeated the general. Other minotaurs, that don't believe in the general at first, understand that if they will be real empire they need this order out of the picture. They scheme against the order and the same humans mistrust them, cities forbidden all deals with the order eventually they were exiled from every community because were feared, the minotaurs machinations don't end here. They succeed in severe the bond between riders and mounts, some say with magic some say with poison, the later is more accurate: the griffins left the continent to settle in an island several kilometers into the black sea really to die and extinct because some sort of substances that mess with their mind and bodies.

Cultural Reception

Some cultures tend to tell histories about the "gryphon riders" like an epic battle to lift the spirit or during a tavern night tale. In the south they believe in the prophecy about the order of the griffin will rice again to fight again for all noble causes.