From the Griffon Imperial Library

by Wages of Sin


Griffonstone: Where it came from and why.

From “A Brief History of Griffon Civilization”
Section 201, subsection A1, shelf 4.

Collection number:127,645,371
Copies:2
Condition: Pristine

“...and it was in that decision, to declare his son the next Emperor rather than passing the title to high general Alrek, that we find the roots of what would grow into an insurrection and conflict that would force hundreds of griffons from the Empire, never to return.

That is getting ahead of events though, as for the next decade, the Empire was ruled in relative peace. The child, Acredmore, was Emperor in name only, as High General Alrek would administer the Nation, as should have been his right.

Of course, Alrek could have seized control at any time. Not only was he one of the greatest warriors of his age, not only did he have the loyalty of the armies of the Empire and the loyalty of its citizens, but his rightful enemy was but a cub.

Alrek was a being of honor though, who greatly respected the Previous Emperor. It was out of respect for him, that he allowed his son to hold the title he did not deserve, knowing what the alternative meant for the beloved child of the Emperor he respected.

Little did he know the strife he would cause with this mercy. But ultimately, the decision to allow this folly was his to make, and the armies and citizenry uneasily accepted, trusting Alrek to do what was needed.

It was no surprise to many then, when the cub grew, and pondered his impotent position. He was Emperor, was he not? Why should he not be the true leader and not just the sham he was?

It was on the turning of his fifteenth year when these feelings reached their head, and by the turning of his sixteenth when he felt the time was right to assume his due power.

A coup, the likes of which had never been seen was sprung at a gathering of the generals, which happened to coincide with a day of celebration for the defeat of some minor brigands who had been harassing trade from the north.

The coup was as ruthless as it was misguided. Targets were seemingly chosen at random, outdoors it was chaos as griffons donning cloakes leapt into the parade and began slashing at minor officers and even foot soldiers, all while high-officers and close confidents of Alrek were evacuated. Reports from inside the palace paint an even stranger picture, as some staff witnessed similarly cloaked figures asking for directions from staff and even guards where certain figures would be. It is even said that one such figure was questioned by a guard why he wanted such information, and that the response was “So that I may kill him.”

The guard's response was swift decapitation.

Almost as soon as the chaos began to roar, Alrek was made aware of the situation, and commanded his personal battalion to restore order.

Within an hour over a hundred and twenty cloaked bodies had been piled into the street that had been a parade ground steeped in celebration only hours before. Interrogations of those captured alive began immediately and before nightfall the current Emperor was undeniably identified as the mastermind.

To this day no one truly understands what the intentions of the coup were. None of the council of generals were harmed, Alrek himself was even ignored by infiltrators, some of whom passed him in the halls of the palace before swiftly being tracked down and captured.

By the end of it, two hundred and twenty griffons would lose their lives during or immediately after these events; one hundred and twenty seven members of the coup, eighteen civilians from the crowd around the parade, forty two military-parade participants, enlisted and officers alike, three individuals sitting in the parade VIP box (all of whom were retired officers), nineteen castle staff, and one castle guard.

The Empire-spanning hunt for the child emperor forced him and his band of remaining conspirators to flee for their lives, eventually facing the decision of capture or leaving the empire all together.

Eventually, seeing no other option, he appealed to the Equestrians, claiming that Alrek had been the instigator of the coup and had seized power from him. He requested the aid of the Equestrians to forcibly re-instate him as Emperor, but the Equestrians denied him, but in misguided compassion they did allow him and those with him perch upon the Griffonstone mountain. Political asylum secured, it is said that the foolish child emperor sought to build up his forces and triumphantly return to seize his claim to the throne.

By the end of the next year, under his guidance, more than half of those who had defected with him had either died or been driven away. By the second season the child emperor had been found poisoned, and a former Imperial soldier named Grover had claimed Kingship on the basis of possessing the “treasured” Idol of Boreas which had been stolen from the imperial palace during the coup.

Years passed, and the group persisted, becoming a settlement, and that is how a mountaintop refugee camp within the borders of Equestria became known as a kingdom.