Ink Blot's Unassorted Encyclopedia of Absolutely Everything

by Nevlamas

Griffons

In the history of the last few hundred years, the windswept realms of Griffonia in the east have undergone a greater change than any other country in the world. With the Equestrian lifestyle seeping heavily into every aspect of griffon society, few of the old ways which determined their lives for centuries have survived into the modern age. This article will attempt to give an outline of what these old ways entailed - the cultural heritage that runs through the veins of every griffon today.

First and foremost, it is required to speak against an old and woefully common rumour: the unique physical appearance of the griffons is most certainly not the result of some discordant magic, nor are they descendants of pegasi who mated with lions. The author understands that their appearance may be unsettling to the Equestrian eye: instead of hair, they sport a crest of feathers sprouting from their heads that spreads down their backs and arms and over their prominent, powerful wings. Their hands are formed much like the talons of eagles and their features are usually sharp, haggard and bird-like. Their yellow eyes and hunchbacked posture complete the image that has misled countless laymen into considering them relatives of either pegasi or wild birds. At the same time, a griffon’s lower body is clearly catlike, with paws for feet and a layer of golden fur covering their legs and hips. Reproductive organs and major parts of the digestive system clearly resemble those of lions. Still, there is no scientifical proof that griffons are actually related to either species – especially since there are no lions in Griffonia. Their origins are unknown even to the greatest experts on the subject and their historiography is incomplete at best; jumping to conclusions is uncalled for.

Like the zebras, griffons have long since lived in a large number of independent factions, called the clans. Unlike the zebras, they never pursued a nomadic lifestyle, nor were they a peaceful race. Griffonia is a rocky island, its towering mountain ranges and abyssal canyons bordered by sharp cliffs and the sea in every direction. The griffons, creatures of breath and air, have made their homes in the tallest spires of the highest mountains, where the wind howls without rest and pause and where the snows never melt. Their eyries, half carved into the peaks, half rising from them like nests, often reach the size of entire cities and shield their inhabitants with walls of solid stone against any danger, be it an army of hostiles or just the bitter cold.

The smallest clans consist of a few hundred members, the largest of up to tens of thousands. They are ruled by an immensely complex hierarchy of lords and lords of lords. Titles like duke, count or baron are bestowed upon venerable elders or promising young heroes who by the right of that title are then given command over a few dozen other griffons. A baron will be allowed to rule over a handful of citizens, a count over a handful of barons, a duke over a handful of counts and so on. As a result, a considerable amount of griffons is in some way involved in their clan’s pyramid of power and all the political scheming that comes along with it.

At the head of that pyramid stands a king or a queen, the greatest hunter, fiercest warrior and most cunning politician of their clan. They are expected to continuously prove their strength and courage to anyone beneath them, and entire clan wars have been provoked by lesser nobles with no other intention but to force a king or queen to risk their lives in battle.

In contrary to almost every other civilized species, griffons are strictly carnivorous. Almost every adult member of a clan spends their days hunting for food in the ranges around their mountain, with the exception of a number of crafters and caretakers – art in all of its forms is unknown to them. Miners carve the iron from the mountain’s depths; blacksmiths forge it into weapons and tools. Leatherworkers turn the skin and fur of slain animals into thick pieces of clothing meant to cover a griffon’s entire body but their face and wings, shielding them against the biting winter winds. Since griffon cubs are not raised by their parents but in a nursery together with the rest of a clan’s younglings, foster mothers are needed to take care of them instead.

Like the dragons, griffons have always been a warring people. Their ideal of the survival of the strongest extends beyond their own clan onto others: the strongest eyrie, the strongest clan, the strongest people shall rule. It is completely acceptable for a griffon leader to declare war on another hold for no other reason but to force its people into submission; defeated griffons will not hate their attackers, but willingly submit to the display of greater force and will integrate themselves into the victor’s own clan hierarchy.

Clan wars are more likely to break out the more clans there are to threaten each other’s territory; at the same time, when a young griffon feels underappreciated by his own superiors but does not dare to challenge them openly, they will break apart from their clan to found their own – an effect that grows more common there more vagrant space there is for them to occupy. This way, the number of factions inhabiting the peaks of Griffonia has stayed roughly the same for a long time.

With their vivid commercial and cultural interaction with modern Equestria however, all these structures have long begun to crumble. Generations of young griffons have questioned the ways of their forefathers, pursuing art, practicing kindness and discovering their love for their natural families. Bounds of blood and bounds of friendship have often overwritten the more ancient laws of clan loyalty and many griffons have abandoned the old ways completely – sometimes forming small communities along the lines of Equestrian hierarchy, sometimes simply emigrating to Equestria to find a new home there. While most griffons remain notably harsh, proud and easy to anger, their culture is quickly turning into a variation of their western neighbour – a worrisome development in the eyes of their old ones.

Comments

[hornwire]

much like the claws of eagles

talons, not claws

[Nevlamas]

3378156 Corrected, thank you.