Justinaryn'

[Justinaryn]

Name: Justinaryn’herrgrawkkraw ken Dragkorkkraw (full griffin name, doesn’t sound nearly as long in griffin-speak); Justin or Naryn (for short)

Age: somewhere around 50 griffinic years, 25’ish maturity scale in human years

Race: Griffin

Description: A griffin is a rare beast, but most would be able to give the base description of the species; beaked head, feathered wings and scaly forelegs of a predatory raptor meshed onto the body and hindquarters of a feline creature. There are actually as many shades and shapes of griffins as there are of alley cats, however and Justin is one of the more rare.
With powerful red-brown leonine haunches, immense white feathers with black tips, dangerous golden eyes, Justinaryn stands at just under 7 feet (2.1 m) to his tufted ear tips. He is very thick in the chest, having a very large keel bone to which his 10.5 foot (3.2 m) wings are attached. The wings are slender and long, allowing for extreme agility in the air, but detracting from airborne endurance since they are not the broader, flatter wings that allow for easier gliding on thermals. His tail ends in a tuft, but at the base, his rump sprouts a feathered fantail as well to aid as a rudder while airborne. He sports long, black talons and his hind feet have retractable claws, all of which are weapons the wiry muscled creature knows very well how to use. Despite his large appearance (which he can actually appear 30% larger by partially furling his wings and fluffing his neck feathers), he only weighs in at 175 lbs (80 kg)- in no way could he ever be “ridden” like a horse by anything larger than a very small child as his bone structure is very light, nearly hollow and not meant to bear that kind of burden.

Strengths:
Feral Strength: Justin was born with the incredible strength all griffins are endowed. Constant travel has kept him lean and fit.

Experienced Fighter: He is a seasoned fighter, having been pitted against other griffins in matches of strength and endurance as part of the training and culling process his Master created for his griffins.

Flexible: For a griffin, he is very adaptable to situations outside his natural order of life- griffins typically have a very strict hierarchy in their aeries, a patriarchal society structure akin to a pride of lions; however, he is mentally flexible and has adapted to life away from the social structure, situation that could cause others to waste away.

Intelligent: Generations of careful breeding have left Justinaryn with above average intelligence for a griffin. In many respects he is as intelligent as the average human. He can count and has no difficulty understanding simple concepts. It's only when affairs become too complex or intertwined with the social aspects of society that he fails to understand things.

Speech: As above, Justinaryn is capable of speaking, albeit with some difficulty.

Beast of Flight: A griffin can fly, but Naryn can't carry any more than the weight of a human child on his back when he does.

Excellent Vision: Justinaryn has the eyes of a hawk, and can see clearly at extreme distances.

Sense Magic: Justinaryn is keenly attuned to magic and can sense when magic is being used, or when an individual has a lot of magical potential.

Weaknesses:
Illiterate: Although intelligent enough to follow a conversation, Justinaryn is unable to read and is generally uneducated about things the average person might know, such as politics. He does not feel inclined to investigate most things further.

Lead: The griffin is duty-driven and loyal, but unlike most griffins, especially those of his lineage, he is not loyal to a fault. He is losing sight of the difference between doing his duty and doing what he enjoys, and while most rational humans consider that kind of loyalty a weakness, it is part of the griffin persona and has been worrying him to distraction.

Alienated: He has spent the last 2 1/2 years more or less in Lo’en’s company, and the distance he’s spent away from his clan and his Master is starting to alienate him from his family. He is likely to say what is on his mind, and although very respectful toward his Master, his request to be released from his duty was seen as a weakness of spirit and lack of dedication.

Not a tank: Being a beast of physical war, Justin has no resistance to magik other than a griffin’s inborn resistance to slashing and piercing damage. Because of his light skeletal structure, direct, heavy blows would easily shatter his bones.

Temperamental: When his moods strike, for reasons only a griffin can know, Justinaryn has trouble controlling himself. He is also overconfident and brash about his physical abilities with a temper not unlike stereotypical human red-heads.

History:
Along the western border of Tian Xia, a few miles away from the city of Odbijani and well out of the way of the busy southern trade route, is a large plot of land claimed by a rich wizard named Dupranj Brah. This land has been used by Dupranj for the past century as a breeding and training ground for the creature that has made the wizard his fortune as well as much of his power - griffins.

Dupranj's magical powers revolve around the ability to communicate with and gradually manipulate the minds and bodies of other creatures, however human minds are usually too difficult for him to control in any significant way. As a young man, he discovered that his talents were best suited for communicating and dealing with creatures about as intelligent, but not quite as human as himself. This discovery was made by a chance encounter with a wild griffin, a regal bestial species revered by the local populations as spiritually significant and regal creatures. Dupranj captured several baby griffins and used his abilities to raise them believing that he was the patriarch of their pride which, in essence, made him their god.

These griffins were raised, bred, and eventually sold to royalty and wealthy aristocrats as regal guards or pets, and this netted Dupranj a hefty profit which he further invested in his breeding program. As the generations progressed, the animals became intelligent enough to speak with humans without needing the aid of spells. He pitted the strongest of the griffins against eachother in an arena to aid breeding as well as training.

This is the environment into which Justinaryn' was born. Son of the reigning champion in Durpanj's arena, Justinaryn' was destined for greatness. His father, a noble and wise griffin who Durpanj kept as a personal bodyguard as well as for breeding, raised him with the traditional griffinic opinion that creatures who walked on two legs were inferior and dim witted, but that somehow Durpanj was the only exception this stereotype.

He learned primarily to fight, to speak, and to serve Durpanj. Contact with wild griffins was unheard of, and Justinaryn's strange, deranged family of slaves, breeders, fighters, and servants waiting to be sold to the next prince, would have left him with doubts about their true nature and origins if not for Durpanj's constant presence and influence, which kept all of them tightly knit and loyal. He lived up to expectations, and worked hard to uphold the image of his father.

Durpanj's private affairs, which often dealt with politics and magic, were kept away from all the griffins. A task made easier by the fact that none of them could read. So, when Justinaryn' was told that he was to go out on a special, long-term task away from home to watch over a two-legger, it came as a complete surprise.

No further information was given, other than the fact that he was to fly hundreds of miles west, into a relatively isolated and unknown place known as Thar Shaddin, to watch over some female half-elf named Lo'en. Given detailed instructions on how to reach the destination, even an image of what she and the place she lived looked like (shown through a scrying mirror, a device Justinaryn' had never seen before), he left his home of over four decades under the impression that he was being banished for a trivial task which he did not want to do.

Whoever this two-legger was, she could not possibly be worth his time, or this effort.