Diplomacy: Grivridge - Price of Loyalty Worldbuilding III · 6:02am Sep 22nd, 2014
Twilight Sparkle’s Study Notes
Volume XXIX
Hello. My name is Twilight Sparkle. You’re currently reading my notes from my third year here in the Royal Palace of Canterlot, studying magic under Princess Celestia. I’m trying to make these as academic as possible, so please be aware that this is not a journal; I don’t deliberately record my feelings or my deepest secrets here (though they do sometimes slip in). If you would like a more formal introduction, please see Volume I.
Today is September 1st, 1442. Three years ago, I started studying with Princess Celestia, and had my first classes. It was three years ago that Mortal Coil’s amulet disappeared… but I’ve already written on that subject extensively. My point, primarily, is to show the progression of time. Also, the example helps to illustrate that normally, I would be beginning a new year of classes at Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.
This year, however, Princess Celestia has decided that I should be advancing my studies, and has moved me up fully to the Royal Academy of Magic―which is less of a distinction than one might be inclined to believe, as both schools use the same building, and are taught by largely the same staff, and so on. The only real differences are the subject matter, the age ranges involved, and the start date: namely, the fifth of September, instead of the first. I’m a bit concerned, because on the one hoof, I’ll be having a class with Cadance, which could be distracting to my studies, and on the other hoof, I have a class with Cadance!
As a result of the earlier start, I get four extra days to spend all my time with Princess Celestia, and accompany her on her tasks. Case-in-point, today I got to sit in on her hosting of a diplomatic envoy.
Now, in the past, I’ve done my best to skip meetings like this. They’re always just boring nobleponies like Prince Blueblood demanding that Princess Celestia give them something they want. I prefer to spend these meetings with Spike (who I’m teaching to read and write), or in the Starswirl Hall, working on my Thaumic Circles (yesterday, I managed six!). This time, though, Princess Celestia said I should come, and that I might learn something interesting.
The first thing I noticed when I sat down on my cushion in Princess Celestia’s room was that the envoy wasn’t a noble. In fact, he wasn’t even a pony at all. Instead, I got to meet a griffon. He was huge; even taller than Princess Celestia, and when he talked, it sounded like his voice was coming from all around the room, instead of just his mouth.
His name was Emperor Magnus, and he’s the ruler of the griffons. I think he’s ‘immortal’, at least in the same sense that Princess Celestia is, but when I asked him how old he was, he just started laughing, and Princess Celestia turned sort of red.
Emperor Magnus tried to start talking about something that was supposed to happen five years from now, but then the Commander came in. He told Princess Celestia that he needed her help dealing with a military matter in Stalliongrad, and she left with him.
That’s what they actually said, but I’m beginning to suspect this is another case of Princess Celestia doing an awful lot more than what she says. In this case, I was left alone with Emperor Magnus. Given that Princess Celestia asked me to be present to this meeting, and that she specifically said it would be a “unique educational experience”, I think she must have had this planned, at least a little.
Emperor Magnus and I introduced ourselves, and he shook my hoof very gently, given how big his claws are. He asked me what happened to ‘the orange filly’ who I can only assume was Princess Celestia’s student before me. He didn’t know much more on the subject because he only met her once, twenty years ago, so my best guess is that she must be a professional wizard or a mage somewhere else in Equestria.
I decided that I’d use the opportunity to learn more about griffons. Emperor Magnus seemed more than happy to talk about his own species, and I knew very little. Summarized below are my learnings:
The Griffon Empire
Population: 114 Million Griffons.
There are roughly four ponies in Equestria for every griffon in ‘The Griffon Empire’, which even Emperor Magnus himself colloquially referred to as ‘Grivridge’ (more on that below). The emperor attributed this to two primary causes.
The first is that griffons both breed and grow more slowly than ponies. Because of their magic, a griffon’s lifespan is nearly two-hundred and fifty years, far beyond any unicorn or pegasus, and competing with the hardiest of earth ponies. Then Emperor Magnus told me that a griffon also doesn’t reach reproductive age until he or she is about fifty-five.
I asked Emperor Magnus to define ‘reproductive age’; I’d heard the term once or twice, but never really heard a good definition. He acted sort of funny at first, but eventually explained it to me, in some degree of great detail.
Apparently, when a stallion loves a mare very, very much (question for Princess Celestia: can love be quantified? If so, is there a limit?), that stallion ‘mounts’ the mare, and ‘rides’ her, which is for some reason comfortable to both ponies, and even “feels good”. However (Emperor Magnus emphasized this point very intensely) a pony has to be of a certain age before this can take place. I asked him what age, and he answered that he wasn’t sure about ponies, but probably something like twenty. That raised some questions for me, because Shiny seemed to love ‘riding’ Cadance when I was still living at home, and he was only nineteen then. Perhaps there is a wide standard deviation to Emperor Magnus’ statistic.
Unlike earth ponies, a griffon does not reach reproductive age until it is nearly fifty-five. (Magnus proudly commented that without the temptation to breed young, the most able-bodied and ambitious of his kind were better able to focus their talents on other pursuits). Further, the gestation period for a griffon is eighteen months, and nearly always produces a single child. Twins are all-but unheard of in Grivridge.
The second reason he provided is a “holy war” between the griffons and the Empire of the Claw to the east and south. I hadn’t heard of the Empire of the Claw before, except in the rare footnote of my texts. Emperor Magnus explained that it is populated by giant cats: lions, tigers, panthers, etc. Apparently, they see griffons as some sort of abomination for their hybrid nature.
As an aside, do not use the term ‘hybrid’ with a griffon. According to Emperor Magnus, griffons are a naturally occurring race, despite their seemingly magical union of bird and feline body parts. To insinuate that a griffon is a “mishmash of random animals” is an insult. Thankfully, the Emperor was forgiving of my ignorance, hence my explanation here.
Returning to my original point, the Empire of the Claw has been continuously at war with the griffons for going on seven-hundred years. Emperor Magnus explained that these wars ebb and flow over the years, most notably whenever one of the feline Empresses dies off, but that he nevertheless is nearly constantly engaging in some military action or other. Casualties amount for the rest of the limitation on the griffon population (see military, below).
Geography:
The griffons hail from the eastern half of the Zebrican continent, which Magnus called Dioda. Specifically, most griffon settlements are in an enormous canyon called Grivridge, which varies in places from as ‘narrow’ as half a mile across to as wide as five miles. There, the griffons build their homes carved into the cliff walls, with wide openings in place of doors that end in a sheer drop to the canyon. The griffon capital is a city called Angenholt, built on the eastern-most part of the ridge, where it cuts through a naturally mountainous area. Emperor Magnus described its forums and aeries, and then started talking to me about the slave markets. On one hoof, I was interested in an academic sense. On the other hoof, I’m not as good at keeping a straight face toward things I don’t like as grown-ups seem to be (see: brussel sprouts). I must have made some sort of face, because Emperor Magnus started laughing (which literally shook the room) and then changed the subject.
He talked about the other griffon cities, like Hengstead and Nimbus, and about how his favorite cities were the ones he had conquered, and not the ones he had built. It was… more than a little bit unnerving. One particular ‘prize’ he brought up was his own home, the Palace of the Winds. Apparently, it’s some sort of ancient pegasus marble that he suspended in midair over the canyon.
I changed the topic, and asked him about the bottom of the canyon. Was there a river in it, since it connected to the ocean on both sides? Did the griffon cities go all the way to the bottom? He explained that for griffons, the bottom of the ridge is a sacred place, and that when a griffon grows too old to fly, he or she leaps off into the depths of Grivridge and travels to their afterlife, a place called Valhalla.
Religion:
With the obvious segueway, I asked Emperor Magnus about griffon religion. Did he judge souls the way Princess Celestia did? Was Valhalla like the Summer Lands? Apparently, the answer revolves a lot around Emperor Magnus himself. In contrast to Princess Celestia’s staunch denial, the emperor was more than willing to declare that he was a god, and for that matter, that Princess Celestia was too. Unlike Princess Celestia, however, Emperor Magnus apparently has temples built in his honor. He explained that he delivers all faithful, obedient souls to Valhalla, and that sending a griffon soul to Tartarus was an extremely rare event… which seems to be implying that Princess Celestia frequently sends souls to Tartarus? I’m not certain I believe that, but I’ll have to ask Princess Celestia soon.
In any case, Emperor Magnus also judges a soul based on its honor―a more-or-less undefined concept that seemed to amount mostly to that griffon’s achievements in life. He used more than a few war examples, but also described feats of engineering or even philosophy as acts worthy of honor. The more honorable a soul, the better a station he awards them in Valhalla. And Valhalla itself, he told me, is essentially a massive continent, much like Dioda, where the griffon dead are allowed to war against one another, and feast, without the concerns or pains of physical life. When one side finally does win the war, Valhalla itself rearranges the teams, and the battle starts anew. He seemed to think it was far better than the Summer Lands, though I don’t exactly see the appeal.
Military
I don’t know much about battle, but I do know enough history and military organization to understand ranks and those sorts of things. I asked Emperor Magnus about how he laid out his army. The griffon army (which doesn’t have a formal name) has three ‘Commanders’ who serve as active military leaders under the emperor directly. Beneath them are a few dozen Legates, some of whom serve as governors of cities or districts, in addition to field commanders. When he mentioned his elite Praetorian guard, I stopped him, and asked if his army used the same structure as the Storm Guard, or ancient Cirra.
Emperor Magnus’ seemed shocked, but he told me that he used the same military structure as Cirra. In his own words, which I had the foresight to write down in the margins of my notepad:
“I detest days when mortals are my betters, Twilight Sparkle, but I am not foolish enough to pretend that I am infallible. When I went to war with Cirra, they were logistically my superiors. Unfortunately, that was not enough to save them. I bested the ‘mighty’ Cirran Empire, and I took their titles and their structure as spoils of war. They are some of my favorite prizes.”
I’ve only heard of ‘the Cirran Empire’ from what Princess Celestia told me of Mortal Coil’s story, but I’ll have to ask more. I considered pressing Emperor Magnus, but I was starting to get uncomfortable talking about war.
Diplomacy:
To change the topic, I asked what he had come to Canterlot for. He told me that every ten years, he and Princess Celestia renegotiate a number of trade agreements. The griffons mostly import skysteel (which they can’t manufacture as efficiently as the foundries in Cloudsdale), and sell us salt and raw metals that they mine from the sides of their canyon. Our trade has broken down a few times in the past, because of wars and border conflicts relating to Zebrica and the zebras, but for the most part, our relationship is stable.
The griffons also trade the same resources with the elk, who don’t practice any sort of large scale mining. Though Grivridge has no formal exchange with the dragons east of Stalliongrad, the two races have been on good terms for almost a thousand years, since Lord Krenn (the dragon ruler, I think) used his magic to make the actual canyon that we now call Grivridge.
The griffons other major diplomatic partner, or rather rival, is the Empire of the Claw. As explained above, it isn’t a very friendly relationship.
After that explanation, Princess Celestia returned, and started talking about trade with Emperor Magnus. As I don’t know the significance of the numbers they were using, I won’t comment on them. What I did notice was the way Emperor Magnus frowned when Princess Celestia asked him how the cattle farms in Nimbus were growing, and the fact that Emperor Magnus ended up offering what he seemed to think was a lot of iron ore in exchange for our corn. He didn’t seem very happy when he left, though he did smile at me.
Princess Celestia asked me what I had learned, and when I told her about the griffon population, she turned very red again. Tomorrow, I’ll have to remember to ask her why.
From Loyal:
Sorry, folks, Twilight won't be answering your questions this time; just me. Apologies for the quality of the map scan. I may be fixing it (or perhaps getting it fixed) in the near future.
I dislike Magnus, a lot. He's just a general pain in the ass, not to mention that the lack of growth in the griffin civilization is probably mostly because he likes war and blood and all that. It's a pity that Hurricane didn't off him (or did he and he came back? I forget). He's also disquietingly polite in some situations, probably because he doesn't want Celestia offing him or at least glassing his race/nation.
Mortal Coil has an amulet somehow associated with him, and it has been missing for approximately the same amount of time that Twilight has been studying with Celestia? Interesting.
Hmn, Luna's return, perhaps? It stands to reason that the other former Bearers might know the time limit on her little vacation.
Oooo, Sunset.
Alright, Shining, just how did Twilight know that you've been 'riding' Cadance? Someone or someones have been a little less secretive than they should have.
I definitely have to wonder why regarding the canyon. What happened a thousand years ago that caused Magnus to get Krenn to make it? Something related to Luna's fall?
Interesting source for the Palace of the Winds, and that Nimbus is still around.
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I'm glad the subtleties of his personality are coming across.
2474364
Morty's amulet also showed up in GotP, if you recall. More than a bit of this segment is a teaser for my upcoming less gruesome and less depressing PoL story, The Faithful Student.
Your guess about Luna's return has quite a bit of merit. Remember from last week that Magnus fought on Celestia's side, while Krenn and Valdria joined Nightmare Moon.
Nimbus isn't exactly "still around". Magnus owns the land it sat on, and it amused him to keep the name when he built a new city. The original Cirran city was quite thoroughly dismantled following the Red Cloud War.
2474731 That's a good point regarding Nimbus, thinking back on the original story we saw it in I seem to recall it getting literally blown out of the sky.
So if the canyon is related to Luna and Krenn and Magnus were on different sides, that makes me wonder if it was more "Hah, have a canyon to the face!" and less "Here, free canyon."
I like the sound of The Faithful Student.
2474282
I share your opinion on Mangus probably for all the same reasons, however there is one thing about him that just drives me up the wall more than the genocide and his eternal quest for war and conquest. As strange as it is I just cant stand how he describes his defeat of Cirra, the way he talks about it, it was like he was just that much smarter than the Cirrans but, and someone can correct me if I'm wrong, he had to essential have a volcano god blow up the bulk of the Cirran army to get the job done. Its such a minor thing compared to everything else he has done but it just grates on me.
I like Magnus, Valdria creeps me out though.
I wonder if we'll ever get a flashback or something to when they were all together on the valley Krenn mentions.
Looking forward to The Faithful Student, any other teasers about that? Who'll be featured and such?
2479031
Who'll be in The Faithful Student, hmm?
38.media.tumblr.com/6f8f74d381e4de834e56ab61e542ad6b/tumblr_n4zm11z8NV1rj0g5ao1_1280.jpg
I want to write a Price of Loyalty story that in no way resembled Game of Thrones. Ideally, it would have an 'Everyone' rating, but still capture that 'big world' feel and the sense of adventure and discovery that I've tried my best to cultivate through Where Loyalties Lie. I also wanted to use a different focal character and "focus group" than Rainbow and the collective guardsponies of Equestria.
So The Faithful Student is sort of two stories. One arc is Twilight's, picking up on her first day studying at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns and living in the castle, adjusting to her new life. It's a bit "Harry Potter"-ish, one might suppose, though it's likely to head off in a very different direction simply because of the way Twilight works as a character: rather than focusing on friends and the social element of 'wizard school', you're likely to see much more actual 'wizarding' going on, because that's simply what Twilight as a character pursues.
The other story arc, as my picture above alludes, follows a young Mortal Coil. He has what I consider to be a very interesting role in Equestrian history, and to be frank, I've fallen a bit in love with writing his character. Much like Ink, or Image, or Rainbow when she gets into one of her determined, moral-stance moods that are so much fun to write, I guess he's just a guilty pleasure for me, independent of reading.
Anyway, I also chose Morty because he's a very interesting foil for Twilight's character and her approach to magic and life in general. He's very social, though not necessarily in a way that's good for his general well-being. I don't want to go into too many details about him when I could let them come across in the story. Anyway, his story arc includes a much more geographic adventure.
Despite the way I may have presented things above, these two 'story arcs' do play off one-another. Well, sort of. It isn't a time-travel story, so it's hard for Twilight's actions to affect Morty.
The unfortunate truth, though, is that I'm barely finding time for these blog posts and a few words of Ghost of the Past these days, because I'm working on a major version release at my office (for non-programmers, that would be analogous to the launch of a new version of the Windows OS, if I worked for Microsoft), and I'm also finishing my degree online. And, to be honest, I would much rather be spending that time writing, but I'm doing my darndest to be a "responsible adult", or whatever that means.
All that is to say that, as much as I desperately want to write The Faithful Student, you may be waiting a bit for it.
I'm also working on a sequel to Hello, My Name Is, in case anybody cares about that. It's titled You Know My Name, and the only clue you get about it's contents beyond the title is this:
"Limited Liability ish likely to find himshelf in sherious danger. He'd better call hish shtunt double."
(Edited in after the fact:) Wow, look at me rant. You ask one question, and off I go. Maybe someday I'll learn not to do this...
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Hey, I don't mind when the rambling is interesting.