"The Flight of Zephone"

"The Flight of Zephone", sometimes entitled "Zephone and Priat," is a short legend told in the Mashiq region of the continent of Nioa. It is recorded in various sources, most prominently the Elenea Canon of the Celestial Heavenly Codex.
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Summary

Long ago, there was a woman named Zephone and she was married to a sailor called Priat. They lived on the shores of Lake Gannet in the Gennesaret Basin and though they had little, they were happy. One day, Zephone returned from her washing to find Priat coupling with another woman from the village. Distraught, Zephone fled into the wilderness. She climbed into the rough country of Harraken until she came upon a great cliff in the shadow of Mount Rehbo. Zephone made her way up to the great cliff and leapt from it, for the pain of her husband's infidelity was too much to bear. The Goddess Elenea looked down and saw this and felt great sorrow for Zephone. With a wave of her hand, the Goddess transformed the falling woman into a creature with the hindquarters of a horse and the front talons, the wings, and the head of an eagle. She became the first hippogriff, and she flew forth to Mount Rehbo. Here, Elenea made a second hippogriff from one of Zephone's feathers and the hair of a horse's tail. This one was named Iatathu¹, which means "faithful one." Elenea wed the hippogriffs and they lived happily for many years. One day, Zephone and Iatathu were flying across Lake Gannet, she spied her former lover Priat struggling in the water along with the woman he'd bedded in Zephone's house. Priat recognized Zephone and called up to her and begged her to rescue him. Zephone and her hippogriff husband flew down to Priat and plucked the woman out of the water. They brought her safely to the shore and told her to return home at once or face their terrible power. The woman did as she was told and fled back to her home. Zephone and her hippogriff husband then returned to Priat but instead of saving him, they lifted the sailor into the air and tore him apart for his crimes.

Cultural Reception

The Flight of Zephone has led many to speculate the location where the woman leapt and was transformed. Most agree on a particular rock formation found in the foothills of Mount Rehbo, which is now appropriately called Zephone's Leap.

^Footnotes
1 Iatathu appears to be neither High Celestial in origins or Old Temekanian. The closest etymology for it comes from ancient Shanindari runes, where the word "taethu" can be roughly translated as "loyal."