Old Griffon's Aerie
| Griffon's Aerie | |
|---|---|
| Country Information | |
| Capital: | Neskegow |
| Ethnic Groups: | Griffons, humans |
| Religion: | Lilism |
| Government: | Monarchy |
| Current Ruler: | Karos Neskibi V |
| Currency: | Sequin, Asper, Deng, Kip, Karos, Rewop |
Griffon's Aerie was once the kingdom of Vallaria, an ancient human empire that once encompassed all of present day Griffon's Aerie, Leturia, Secca, and some parts of southern Zul Kiras. A race of sentient Griffons came to dominate the kingdom, and today, humans in Griffon's Aerie are serfs, bound to the land and the service of Griffons with few legal rights.
Griffons of the Aerie are known for their druidic magic, which spiritually links each individual to a separate sacred tree and its attendant dryad. Despite its large urban centers, Aerie civilization lives in a state of great harmony with nature.
The Aerie is one of the nations that adheres to The Lil, a philosophy of the ideal personal and social life.
History
Main Article: History of Griffon's Aerie
When King Arakatos V of Vallaria was deposed by a revolt and murdered along with most of the royal family in the year 558 BT, his son Relandos fled north into the mountains. Seeking aid or refuge, he encountered a race of sentient Griffons with the ability to transform into a humanoid form. They were sympathetic to his plight, and with their help, he became King Relandos V in the year 554 BT. The Griffons settled in Vallaria permanently under King Adrovos V, who married a Griffon princess and granted Griffons the right to own land after they helped secure his throne from a rebellion in the year 470 BT. The Griffons came to dominate the Vallarian Diet, the ancient assembly of nobles which elected Kings, had to approve taxation, and so forth.
Over time, the kings of Vallaria became powerless puppets of the Griffons, and in 312 BT, the Griffons staged a coup d'etat in which they seized control of southern Vallaria, renaming it Griffon's Aerie, and driving the human dynasty their adherents north. For the next two centuries South Vallaria was ruled by a council of several (between five and eight) Griffon warlords. The human kingdom held out for another two centuries, but it too disappeared in 110 BT when the Griffon hero Neskos conquered the last remnants of Vallaria and had himself crowned King of all Griffon's Aerie--with the same crown once worn by the human monarchs. Indeed, the Griffons have adopted much of the old Vallarian culture, including its infamously complex and rigid court protocol, and the Vallarian religion of Lilism. After a human uprising in the years 8-7 BT, humans in Griffon's Aerie were reduced to a state of serfdom, bound to the land and the service of Griffons with few legal rights. This state of affairs is upheld by a quotation from the Griffon language translation of the Lil, which states that "the winged shall rule over the unwinged."
In the year 443, King Karos IV of Griffon's Aerie was deposed by the evil wizard Rewop, who never managed to subject the entire kingdom to his rule. He was finally driven out and Karos restored to power in the year 466, but he lived as a virtual prisoner of the Griffon nobles who overthrew the usurper and effectively ruled the kingdom in his absence. Karos IV was assassinated in the year 468, and his young successor Karos V is similarly constrained by the same coterie of aristocrats, now acting as regents.
Notable Historical Figures
Adrovos I: the Unifier, or the Great (1090-1038? BT). A warrior-king, he brought about the union of Vallaria by force of arms.
Relandos I: the Great (790-778 BT), founder of the royal dynasty of the Svalastribi
Relandos V: (554-523 BT), son of Arakatos V., restored to power by the Griffons
Adrovos V: (479-433 BT) First made it legal for Griffons to own land in Vallaria and granted estates to several Griffons. This meant Griffon presence in the Vallarian Diet for the first time. Married a Griffon Princess.
Neskos: (ca. 135 BT-86 BT) The great national hero of the Griffons who conquered the northern Vallarian kingdom. First King of Griffon's Aerie and founder of the Neskibi Dynasty. The capital was renamed Neskegow in his honor. His exploits are recounted in the epic poem the Neskiad.
Sintos the Black: (242-261) Secured peace with Leturia and reached a settlement with the Merchant's Council of Secca.
Geographical Features
Griffon's Aerie is bordered on the east by Elvendeep, on the southwest by Secca, on the west Leturia, and on the north by the Kuelenestra forest. It stretches from the coast of the Southern Sea to the tail end of the Lunit Mountains in the North. The mighty River Thunder forms the eastern border of Griffon's Aerie. Neskegow is the capital, largest city and principal port of the nation, located on the western bank of the River Thunder. It contains the royal palace, the seat of the Diet, and the infamous Seven Towers prison. Alamarkand is the kingdom's second largest city, and is famous for its covered market. It was the winter residence of the Vallarian royal court, and later the capital of the Northern Vallarian Kingdom after the Griffon coup in the south. Randegow in the northwest is the center of trade with Leturia. The University of Randegow is also an important cultural and religious center, and the chief center of Lilist scholarship in the Aerie.
Government and Politics
Griffon's Aerie has a monarchial form of government ruled by a king who is the highest arbiter of the Lil in the kingdom, and thus the apex of legal and religious authority. The Neskibi Dynasty has held the throne since the Griffon conquest over five centuries ago.
The Diet is an ancient institution that carried over from the Vallarian kingdom because the Griffons controlled a majority of the seats in the Diet before they seized power. The Diet is assembly of land owners who have the power to approve taxation and confirm the royal succession by "electing" the new king. Though this is a mere formality in most cases, the Diet has used its powers in the past to wring concessions out of kings and curb their excesses.
Currency
- sequin = A small square molded brick recently introduced to replace strings of cowrie shells. Many inhabitants of the Aerie are leery about accepting these coins. A single sequin = paid to the keeper of an outhouse. A few sequins = used in playing cards, or for a cup of tea.
- asper = 7 sequins. A small silver coin, shoddily produced, usually oval or roundish. A single asper = a drink of ale. 2 aspers = whiskey. A meal would be paid for in aspers, as would a simple article of clothing.
- deng = 7 aspers. A larger silver coin. A deng = one night at an inn. Or might be used in buying dressy clothes.
- kip = 7 dengs. Either a very large silver coin or a small gold coin; both circulate side by side. A kip = one week at an inn, or one night with a good prostitute.
- karos = 7 kips. A fairly large round gold coin bearing the portrait of King Karos. A karos might buy a fine purebred horse; several of them might buy a shoe carved from a single sapphire.
- rewop = 7 karos. A gold bar issued under Rewop. These were used principally for the delivery of taxes to Rewop's Castle; those that somehow entered private possession (i.e. through theft) have mostly been melted down into counterfeit kips. A rewop might purchase a village with an adjoining manor.
Notable Government Officials
King Karos V: Current monarch of the Aerie. Karos V is the nephew of Karos IV and succeeded to the throne after his assassination in the year 468. At first, a coalition of nobles ruled as Regents before Karos came of age. They are beginning to discover that the young King is neither as foolish or as easily controlled as they initially believed.
Nikea of the Sainted Maple: The Restara and Queen of the Aerie.
Military
Thanks to its policy of conscription, the Aerie boasts an impressive military presently in service to King Karos V. Members of the military are generally referred to as Griffonguards (informally: Griffguards). A griffon salutes by raising his wings. One special rank in the Griffonguard is that of "Sqaqraa," a position which involves an odd mixture of military and administrative duties in the eastern borderlands. The Sqaqraa commands five thousand troops.
Religion
Main Article: Lilism
The leading center of Lil interpretation is the University of Randegow, founded in 376. This establishment resembles a cross between a law school and a theological seminary. The Lil is thus used as a basis for both moral guidance and secular administration of justice, and an enormous secondary body of literature has grown up around its proper analysis. Libraries of these meticulous studies exist in all the major cities in buildings known as the Halls of Justice, which function both as courts of law and as places where citizens may ask trained Lilists for advice on personal problems. The Lil has therefore a total sort of power over the inhabitants of the Aerie: its authority extends from punishing high treason to encouraging young griffonettes to eat their peas, from hearing murder cases to advising those with marital or financial problems. The king is the highest authority regarding interpretation of the Lil but rarely exercises this power.
The Lil is also supplemented by a number of cults -- groups which have certain regular rituals and rites of passage, usually performed by their priests. A griffon who does not follow a cult in addition to the Lil is known as a Pempid.
The most important cult is the Rastra, whose current head priest is an arrogant figure named Salinost. This is the group to which King Karos belongs, and it enjoys special privileges as a result. Membership in the Rastra is bestowed by a ritual known as the Junco Celebration while the initiate is still in the egg. Priests of this cult sport a silver-tipped beak.
Griffons are incredibly superstitious creatures, and as such, great superstition also surrounds the semi-mythical figure of the White Griffon. Known as the Restara, one is born once every two hundred years to commune with the Restara's dryad counterpart, the Sainted Maple. The egg of the Holy One is thought to be specially marked with a pattern of crescents, alerting the parents of the great gift they are to expect. The Restara is deemed a fount of wisdom, second only to the words of the sacred Lil. There is in fact a white griffonette alive at present; she is Nikea of the Sainted Maple, and her sympathy for humans is an embarrassing issue the nobles of the Griffon Court spend a great deal of time attempting to cover up.
Society and Peoples
On Griffons
"Griffon" technically refers to the male of the species; a "griffoness" is a female, and a "griffonkit" is a child. The griffons of Griffon's Aerie are sentient creatures with plumage that comes in a wide variety of (sometimes mixed) colors. Naturally, they have the head, talons, wings and breast of an eagle and the hindquarters of a lion. A griffon's tail is feather-tipped; griffons sometimes treat the feathers to be razor-sharp for use in whipping. Griffons generally stand six to eight feet at the shoulder, with a ten to fifteen foot wingspan; griffonesses are slightly smaller. Their vision is piercing and they are formidable in combat. However, this is not the only form they will take, thanks to their relationships with dryads.
Griffons and Magic
Griffons are highly resistant to magic of any sort, although they are vulnerable to psionics, and magic may be used indirectly upon griffons (for example, in flinging objects at them). Only the most formidable of spell casters stand a chance of their arcana affecting a griffon. With their extreme magic resistance, griffon mages are unheard of. Instead, griffons enjoy scientific pursuits; indeed, griffon engineering is extremely advanced, and their medicine is also quite sophisticated. This is how the foul wizard Rewop was able to temporarily seize power in Griffon's Aerie in the year 443. He used his study of the black arts to find ways of bypassing the ordinary Griffon resistance to magic. He was able to kidnap the King and Queen and in the initial panic and confusion caused by his surprise attack on the royal entourage.
Griffons and Dryads
Each griffon is bound to a tree, or, more accurately, a dryad, from hatching. The relationship between griffon and dryad is somewhat, but not totally, symbiotic. To keep their health and the health of their dryads, griffons commune with their trees frequently (no fewer times than once a month) and protect them with their lives. In the relative peace of the kingdom of Griffon's Aerie, dryads and their trees have little to fear.
The most striking effect of this relationship is the ability the dryad confers on the griffon to change forms. By calling upon his dryad, a griffon is able to change shape into a "half" or "mixed" form -- he will appear as an eagle-eyed human graced with a large pair of wings. Griffons can also take a completely human form, although they do not do this often; they cannot hold full human form for long, continuous periods of time. Naturally, each transformation is somewhat taxing for a dryad in poor health.
Were his dryad to die, a griffon would not die himself, but become rather ill and demonstrate advanced aging. He would also be trapped, temporarily, in whatever form he held at the time of the dryad's death. Dryads are, however, regenerating creatures. Once one is killed, it is replanted in the Grove and eventually grows back. The new dryad would not be completely the same as her previous incarnation, but she would retain some of the memories that all of her predecessors had. Thus the knowledge of the dryads can be quite vast.
The period of time from a dryad's death to the time that she was once again able to step from her tree could be quite considerable -- anywhere from one to five years. As the sapling grows, the griffon gains very limited powers to change, but taxes the sapling and impedes her growth every time he does so, as well as taxing himself.
A griffon learns to transform as a kit with a great deal of training.
The Grove
The Aerie dryads are mainly confined to a large grove in the foothills of the Lunit Mountains. Its precise location is not widely known outside of Griffon's Aerie; indeed, the Griffguard patrols the entire region, and trespassers tend to find themselves apprehended and incarcerated at the Seven Towers.
Oaks are not the only magic trees in the Grove; the dryads here come in all flavors of tree, from willow and birch to ash and cedar. The diversity of magic woods is rare and enticing to any woodcutter. It is important to note that the maple tree is the most important in griffon culture for its ritual and holy significance. Those bound to maple trees tend to be regarded as especially strong of character.
The Grove is the cradle of the symbiotic union between griffons and dryads. A migration of griffons, mere beasts from the Keulenesta Forest, settled here to nest over a thousand years ago and inadvertently protected the mystical trees from early Orcish and Leturian logging operations. Realizing the advantages of griffon guardianship, the dryads gifted the animals with sentience and the ability to change form.
Somewhere in the midst of this forest stands the Sainted Maple, a queer ancient tree with a trunk and branches of milky white, blossoms like jewels in the spring, and bright green leaves with soft silver undersides in the summer. This is the dryads' emissary to the griffons, a tree that sleeps for two hundred years until her counterpart is hatched in the Aerie. The Sainted Maple and the Restara confer, more symbolically than anything, to keep griffon-dryad relations sound.
Any but the Restara who venture into the Grove seeking the Sainted Maple will find himself confused and lost in short order. Occasionally, a griffon will come upon it unexpectedly. This is considered a sign of unfathomable luck.
Griffons and their "Human" Forms
Between hundreds of years possessing the ability to change forms and hundreds of years of exposure to human cultures, Aerie griffons are exceedingly comfortable in their more human skins. Indeed, griffonesses are known to amass great collections of fancy clothing to suit their "angel" forms (with well-concealed slits in the back for wings, of course). This also makes griffon-human romantic relations rather commonplace.
Conversely, some griffons have contended in recent years that true griffons would never parade about in a groundling's shape. And it is not uncommon for the humans who make their homes in Griffon's Aerie to treat with distrust and even disdain the non-griffon winged beings they may encounter outside the Aerie.
Griffon Culture and Society
The traditional griffon home is built in the branches of a tree, and this architecture is reflected in the Aerie Inn located in the woods to the north of the capital. But many griffons have adopted houses similar to those of the humans of the Aerie. Of course, griffons sleep in carefully crafted nests wherever they build their homes.
Griffons are known for eating horse meat. The most damning insult you can hurl at a griffon is "hippogriff" -- that is, a cross between a griffon and a horse. Their customary drink is grifola, which does have intoxicating qualities. They are also known to make wine from the saps of trees, especially (but not limited to) elm and maple. Presenting wine distilled from the sap of one's own tree is one of the most valued gifts in griffon society.
Griffon courtship is initiated by the male; if he is successful, his conquest will invite him into her nest. A male invited to share a griffoness' nest becomes indelibly marked with the griffoness' scent. Human-griffon matings are not unusual; half-griffons can still adopt griffon form, but quarter-griffons cannot.
Griffons are hatched from eggs. Not only are they naturally fiercely protective of their young, but griffon law has extraordinarily strict penalties for those who abandon their kits. As etiquette and cultural history are of eminent importance, a kit will be thoroughly educated in these matters in his early years, no matter his social status. Following this, a fledgling kit pursues education as far as his connections allow, per religion, social class, and cult. Griffonkits at play engage in such games as "winged willow."
Griffon funerals involve the Song of the Matria and the Dance of the Arbor, through which the deceased is returned "to the roots of life" and fused with his or her dryad. The dryad of the deceased is herself present at these events and conducts many of the proceedings.
The Vigilant Talon
A more radical organization which has come to light in recent years is a (no longer so) secret society known as the Vigilant Talon. Its goal is to remove, in one way or another, the human population from the Aerie and place the griffons in their rightful status -- that of world rulers. Proponents of this cult were once recognized by a black band worn upon their talons, which bore the red image of a laurel wreath gripped in a griffon's talons. Members still recognize each other by a number of secret gestures and counter-signals.
The Talon saw strong leadership several years ago, but a number of its activities incurred powerful counter-measures by the government: a plot by its incipient to bring the Restara under his control; violent uprisings and butcherings of the Aerie humans, to which they refer as "Prey;" the degradation of diplomatic relations with the Independent City of Secca; and, most egregiously, the murder of King Karos IV. Today, the Talon has been driven into hiding, but the sentiments fueling the group remain a palpable undercurrent in the kingdom.
Pre-Vallarian Civilization
Small settlements of griffons descended from those who wanted nothing to do with the Vallarian kingdom and its human ways still exist in the Lunit Mountains. Willfully unacquainted with the Lil, these populations, known as the Sqree, are viewed by the Aerie at large as frightening, aboriginal, unenlightened shaman-warriors. Little is known about their culture beyond the understanding that they are accomplished hunters, and a rumor that Sqreeish homes are still bare nests in the treetops.
Along with the Orcs, the Sqree are favored villains in spooky stories. More than one griffonkit has been frightened into good behavior by the belief that Sqree tribes descend from the mountains to kit-nap the recalcitrant young and boil them alive. This is based on the fact that Lilist missionaries who venture into the mountains never return.
Recent years have seen an invigoration of interest in the Sqree, however, and a handful of griffons with university connections have been brave enough to live among them. Papers on these tribes are pending publication.
Griffon Sayings
- "I pray the sun has lit your wings and graced your face." (common greeting)
- "The sun has been good to bring me to this happy place and time." (acceptable response)
- "May you wing your way with grace upon the winds of the world." (common farewell)
- "May the sky always remain your home." (acceptable response)
- "By the Lil!" or "By the branch!" or "By the holy Maple!" (utterances of surprise)
Language
Two systems of writing exist in Griffon's Aerie: pictographic griffon glyphs and a phonetic script based on the earlier written language of the human population. Similarly, the Griffons have two languages, one an ancient language of bird cries spoken in their natural form which is almost impossible for humans to reproduce without magical aid, and another that is a blend of Vallarian and the language that the dryads taught the first sentient Griffons. This language is used for all government and religious business. Common is spoken in most parts of Griffon's Aerie, and the ancient griffon language proper is used very rarely (generally between soldiers for battlefield communication). It might almost qualify as a near-dead language.
Naming Conventions
Naming conventions in Griffon's Aerie are a legacy of the ancient kingdom of Vallaria, and Aerie humans and griffons alike follow them. Vallarian families follow paternal lines. As such, it is customary for males to use their family name. In the case of griffonesses, who belong ultimately to the family into which they've mated, they usually identify themselves by their tree. (Examples: Plessea of the Strong Willow; Selena of the Blue Spruce; Seriesha of the Juniper's Jounce.) This is not so for Aerie human women, who obviously have no trees by which to name themselves.
Male given names usually end with the suffix "-os" or "-ost" (Wylcros; Larkos; Salinost). The names of females invariably end with "-a" (Moira; Katrina; Nikea).
Family names tend to be two- or three-syllable affairs, the last of which is "-ibi," denoting "descended from." (Examples: Taltibi; Gagibi; Neskibi.) This form is derived by taking the name of the line's founding father, removing the "-os," and applying an "-ibi."