Griffon Clan
From FiranMUX
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Quick Facts
Clan Leader: Luna
Religion: Polytheistic
Clan Colors: red and white
Traditional coloring: light eyes, hair, skin tone
Overview
The Clan of the Griffon once held all the land between the Ani and Uell Rivers, including the city of Anarinuell. Led by charismatic leaders like Corista, this Clan was large and powerful. However, a series of brutal wars with the Clan of the Gold Dragon resulted in the Clan of the Griffon losing half of its cities (Anarinuell was one of them) and nearly half of its territory. The surrender was humiliating, and the Clan of the Griffon has long held a grudge against the Clan of the Gold Dragon because of it.
History
Griffon-Gold Dragon Relations
The Gold Dragon Clan has been the historical enemy of the Griffon Clan for as long as anyone alive can remember, and long before that. According to scholars, the two clans were one people long ago, ruled by the House of Firgarus.
The Shamibelians destroyed the Great Libraries when they invaded during the Great War, so almost all actual historical records of what actually happened to make the one clan split into halves have been destroyed. The rest is up for conjecture.
According to Griffon Lore, when the Clan Leader died, various branches of the family began fighting over the throne. A brave warrior named Firalon was favored to be Clan Leader, but he was betrothed to the fair haired Lady Juni, an independent minded girl who was skilled in all manner of arts.
There were some in the clan, however, who feared the influence of such a powerful woman, so they insisted that Lord Firalon marry his cousin, the Lady Nestra, a more traditional woman. This was to guarantee him the throne, and to bring peace to the realm.
But according to Griffon lore, the nobles and priests double-crossed him once he had married Lady Nestra as they demanded. Moreover, the Lady Nestra herself was untrue, taking illicit lovers. Some say she even bedded with a common bastard in the royal palace itself.
It was only after Lord Firalon caught Lady Nestra trying to poison him that he demanded a divorce, even though he knew it was certain to cause civil war. He did not like the oppression, the greed and the petty warfare of the traditional lords, and he reconciled with his betrothed, Lady Juni.
Together, they founded the Griffon Clan, taking a sizable portion of the population with them, and seizing prime lands, such as Anarinuell, Ellish and Scirlut.
Gold Dragon-Griffon Wars
The Gold Dragon Clan never accepted that Lord Firalon and Lady Juni's secession and they viewed the formation of the new clan as a breach of unity and treason. As such, they considered all lands conquered by the Griffon Clan to be their own, and they were particularly bitter about the acquisition of Anarinuell, which had always been a Gold Dragon City before it gave its loyalty to Lord Firalon.
As such, the two clans continually made war. Both clans were militaristic, so the fighting could sometimes be brutal, but the Griffons usually had the advantage of being the defenders, except in Firalut which had served as a staging ground for Gold Dragon troops to launch attacks on Griffon cities, so the Griffons felt justified in taking it from the Dragons early in their history.
Unfortunately, the tide began to turn against the Griffons with the rise to power of Firgalas of the Gold Dragons. Firgalas was no mere warrior, he was a crafty leader with a gift for using religious propaganda to solidify his Gold Dragons into a fighting force who believed they were favored by only one true god.
Firgalas believed that he could use religion to not only subdue the Griffon Clans but to control the Firan Realms under a united banner of his invented "monotheism." Many people say that the wars between the Griffons and Gold Dragons were over territory, but when it came to Firgalas, he wanted much more.
You see, at the time, the Staff of the High Priest/Priestess was held by Clan Leader Corista of the Griffon Clan who was a priest of Uf. Firgalas knew that the only way to get the staff and convert the Firan Realms to monotheism was to defeat Corista in battle, and demand it as a prize of war.
Using that rallying cry, he was able to mount a frontal assault on Griffon Cities. First Anarinuell, but most tragically, Scirlut, where Firgalas earned the title the "Butcher of Scirlut" for the mass genocide that he ordered there.
So how is it that the Gold Dragons were able to defeat the Griffons? Some say that it was their religious zeal, their barbarism, and their butchery. But military scholars attribute the defeats to one single element. Elianos Firgalik. The son of Firgalas was a military prodigy who was leading troops at the age of thirteen. It was his tactical brilliance that led the Gold Dragons to devastating victories time and time again, and many say that it was Elianos himself that carried out his father's genocidal orders in Scirlut.
Recent Political History
This bears great significance when considering the reaction of the Griffons when Clan Leader Jalil Firgalik took the medallion from his brother Judanarius in late 24 A.U., leading both Griffons and Gold Dragons. A year later, he handed the reins and the medallion back to his brother Judanarius, so that Griffons were led by their previous Clan Leader again, until the pregnancy and subsequent birth of a child by then-wife Lady Lucretia Corinala (nee Firgalik) caused Griffon citizens to riot. Judanarius was forced to step down, divorce Lucretia, and abdicate any rights to his child with her and the Griffon throne. The Clan Council gave the Griffon medallion over to Lady High Priestess Nalia Iberik, who now sat as Regent for the future Griffon heirs until 35 A.U. The recency and medallion then passed to Lady Pia Teranzik, who ruled the Griffon Clan until Luna Corinala was chosen to lead.
Militarism
The Clan of the Griffon became a highly militaristic society under the leadership of Corista's daughter, Nala. The people of the Clan took on much of Nala's personality: a desire for honor, reclaimed glory, and self-reliance. Children born into the Clan are taught to defend themselves at a very young age, and the clan people exhibit very little tendency towards distinguishing between men and women -- they are highly egalitarian.
Points of Pride
The Griffons are very proud of the fact that they were the buffer between the other clans and the Shamibelians. They could have all fled, but they didn't. Nala stayed and fought, with her army, and the Griffons got almost annihilated to save the Firan people as a whole. They are not proud of getting slaughtered, but they take immense pride for their sacrifice, their honor, and the way that they destroyed all their belongings, all their lands, booby-trapped their cities, salted their fields, to deny Shamibelians. They are very proud of that, understanding it is their extraordinary bravery which bought the other Clans their freedom. -- they are a strong clan and embrace that strength, especially when the Shamibelian threat comes up!
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