Gryphon

Courageous, bold, intelligent, powerful and crafty, is everything a gryphon should be. They are the fulfillment of everything that the Mage of Silence, the archmage called Urtho, intended to achieve when he created these magical beings to be his champions, the defenders of his realm—a verdant realm long coveted by the evil archmage Ma'ar.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Urtho and his hundreds of assistants and staff created the gryphons and eventually developed over fifty different type lines. Each line shares a wing structure and coloration that correlates to a type of bird-of-prey. Some examples include rufous broadwings (a hawk type), gos-type which had the blue coloration and red eyes of goshawks, compact body suntails, and eagle types, such as Skandranon. There was an unrealized falcon type in the works, the only successful example being the gryfalcon Zhaneel, with pointed wings, almost human-like hands, and malar markings similar to a falcon.
Subsequent generations show much more variation as the lines interbred, and are larger.
Much of gryphon biology and behavior is similar to the raptors from which they are derived. Certain traits, such as the females being larger than the males, keen eyesight, and shared parental care, are examples. Females are also more drably colored than males, and enjoy painting and dying their feathers, sometimes in very gaudy combinations.
Gryphons have a "naturally spicy musky scent" which most humans enjoy.
Due to their beaks, gryphons tend to speak sibilantly, and will often trill their r's and hiss their s's. This will become more apparent as a gryphon becomes more stressed or angry.

Genetics and Reproduction

When Urtho created the gryphons, he specifically designed them so it would be difficult for them to breed without his help, for he had seen too many parents have many miserable children and he didn't want his gryphons to have the same start in life as these wretched youngsters. He drew from snow tigers deep in the north when creating the male gryphons; only when they were in cold conditions did they become sexually active. The females had to be stuffed full of food before they became sexually receptive. Along with physical preparations, it came down to a simple spell that lowered the male's body temperature. This allowed the species to continue and prosper after Urtho's death.

Growth Rate & Stages

Young are born alive, "with a reasonable set of fluff-feathers and fur," usually as a set of twins. Their eyes open on the first or second day. Both gryphon parents participate in care of the young, like raptors. The young take several years to fledge and mature. They are fed meat, and may eat three times their body weight a day.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Like their raptorial ancestors, gryphons require large amounts of meat to survive, though due to the magics that infuse them, they only need to eat heavily once a week.

Behaviour

Gryphons, being the favored creations of Urtho, tend to be vain and very self-assured of themselves and their place in the world. Confidence is to be expected, bordering on arrogance. However, gryphons tend to be very caring and protective over those they consider friends and/or family.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Gryphons are social creatures by nature and co-existed alongside the elves and humans of Tantara from the time of their conception. While they do have individual family units and will often elect a strong leader to be the "face" of negotiations or political maneuverings, they do not otherwise observe any particular hierarchal structure.
Some gryphons have been seen live in the wild, especially around areas like north Valdemar and Lake Evendim. (Healer Devan told Talia that the "griffins" in northwest Valdemar could be deadly: "I've hunted them, once; they're hard to kill and impossible to catch, and dangerous.") Not much is known about them, and they do not seem to fit any set type. They tend to only form small family groups consisting of a mated pair and gryphlets, and abhor contact with humans.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Gryphons are sustained by magic, which they cannot live without. Their entire biology is dependent upon magic, and they have special organs that convert its energy into a form they can use. Magic is "collected" by the feathers and channeled into these organs--therefore, if a gryphon loses too many feathers, it will die. Their flight is partially facilitated by magic--after the Storms when magic was more evenly spread over Velgareth, many gryphons found it much easier to fly.

As with all magical constructs, gryphons are not perfectly made and therefore suffer some problems. One such problem is either the complete lack of a preening gland at the base of the tail, or the presence of a dysfunctional one. They are unable to produce the oils they need to keep their feathers in good condition and need outside help to oil their feathers-usually the help of a specialized caretaker called a trondi'irn.

Civilization and Culture

History

Gryphons are a race magically created by the legendary Archmage Urtho. They have the head and legs of a bird of prey, usually with characteristics of eagles, hawks or falcons, a body reminiscent of a great cat, and the wings of a raptor. They are known to be intelligent, clever, and brave. They also may possess Mind-magic, and some are mages in their own right.
They are also as good at detecting lies as vrondi, and do so instinctively, without need to resort to something like the Truth Spell.
Urtho considered gryphons to be both his children and his greatest accomplishment. When he was finished designing them, Urtho had vague plans to help them found small aeries in the wilder areas of the nearby mountains, allowing them to develop their own society. However, this notion was disrupted by the onset of the Mage Wars.

Origin/Ancestry

Crafted Species

Lifespan

60

Average Height

10-15 ft

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Coloring amongst gryphons is highly dependent on the raptorial line that is most dominate (in the case of cross-breeding sub-species). The dominate trait will not only affect general shape, but also wing colorations. 
Additionally, gryphons, vain as they are, love decoration and color. Many of their humanoid caretakers, trondi-irn, are skilled feather-painters as a matter of necessity.

Discovered by

Urtho