Hippogriff

The hippogriff, sometimes spelled "hyppogryph," is a clade of monstrous, hybrid creatures with derived traits from avian and equid ancestors. Hippogriffs are relatively rare animals that live in nomadic family groups. They have been seen for centuries as symbols of strength, swiftness, loyalty, pride, and monarchy.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Hippogriffs, like many hybrid creatures, share both avian and equid anatomical traits. While most heraldic images of hippogriffs depict them as having the head, forelimbs and wings of an eagle or gryphon and the body, tail and hindlimbs of a horse, true hippogriff morphology is far more integrated.
For example, hippogriffs have large predatory, forward facing eyes. This is a trait found in many predatory animals, including birds of prey. However, they also have large rotating ears, a feature unknown to birds but common in land mammals such as horses.
Hippogriff legs and feet are also not easily dividing to the talons of an eagle and the hooves of a horse. While their forelimbs do possess scales and some manual dexterity, they are as designed for running as their hindquarters. In fact, their feet bear more resemblance to those of large terrestrial bird than they do to aerial raptors or to hoofed beasts like horses or cattle.
Due to their size, hippogriffs require an incredible amount of musculature in order to get airborn. Like other large flying creatures in Holos, hippogriffs have an extensive vascular system which allows them to efficiently oxygenate their blood. Additionally, much of their skeleton is made of hollow bones which helps support their bulk while also making it easier for them to take to the skies.

Genetics and Reproduction

Unlike most species of known animals, hippogriffs aren't just monogamous—they mate for life. During winter, the hippogriff mating season, the thunder will collectively relocate to a secluded area to construct their nests and raise their young for the next few months. Each bonded pair will construct their own nest on the ground out of dirt and fallen plant matter.
After three weeks, females lay between one and three eggs. The number of eggs depends both on environmental factors and stress levels. Hippogriff eggs are famed for their shimmering silver appearance, which has caused many to believe that the creatures are in fact born of riches. In truth, hippogriff eggs are silver to help regulate the fetus's body temperature if exposed to warm temperatures.

Growth Rate & Stages

Females are capable of producing offspring every year, with one clutch per year being the average. Eggs incubate for a period of between 70-90 days, and typically hatch in spring or early summer, depending on the climate. Upon hatching, a newborn hippogriff is capable of running at a full gallop. However, it takes an additional two to three weeks before they are capable of flight. By autumn, young hippogriffs are fully capable of participating in hunts with their parents and are fully integrated into the group. 
Hippogriffs are considered juveniles after a full year. During this time, they travel and hunt with the rest of the thunder. However, as juveniles much of their time is spent play fighting and establishing their place within the thunder hierarchy. While the matured members of the thunder are watching their clutches in late winter and early spring, juveniles are expected to hunt for the adults, allowing them to prove their station.
Juvenile hippogriffs achieve sexual maturity after about four years. At this point, they disperse from their parent's thunder to create or join another one. Adult hippogriffs will stay with their thunder until they or their partner dies. Upon witnessing the death of their mate, hippogriffs go into a state of shock which usually culminates in cardiac arrest. Few hippogriffs recover from such an event and often leave their thunder to become lone scavengers.

Ecology and Habitats

Hippogriffs are found across Holos in a variety of habitats. In general, hippogriffs prefer open spaces where they can charge down prey and are not hampered in flight by trees or dense foliage. They also are well adapted to alpine regions thanks to their dense feathers and aerated bloodstream. Moreover, each of the known hippogriff subspecies is specially adapted to their particular habitat.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Though classically thought of as obligate carnivores, hippogriffs are actually omnivorous. Hippogriffs hunt insects, birds, and small mammals such as ferrets but also forage for fruits, berries, nuts and other plants high in calories and fat. Due to their size and the caloric intake needed to maintain their athletic frames, hippogriffs are nearly constantly hunting or foraging.
When searching for larger prey hippogriffs will usually charge their prey into the open. While most predators would see their prey escape before they are able to catch it, while in the open, hippogriffs are able to take to the sky and use their aerial movement to outspeed and run down their meal.
However, most of the hippogriff diet consists of smaller creatures. In order to catch these more nimble creatures, hippogriffs employ a variety of strategies, from group hunting to actually digging out their prey with their massive claws.

Many stories claim the favorite food of the hippogriff are mustelids, such as the common weasel or the crimson fire ferret. When hunting these arboreal carnivores, hippogriffs typically work in a group, with one hippogriff shaking the tree while another buffets the tree with its wings. This forces the small creature onto the ground where it is stamped to death.

Biological Cycle

Many hippogriff species are transitory, moving with their thunder around their territory on a regular basis in search of food. In areas with a high degree of seasonality, hippogriffs typically mate in mid-winter and settle into a secluded area to construct their nests. They will remain at these nesting sites until after their foals have hatched and gained the ability to fly some three weeks later.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Hippogriffs live in small multi-family groups called thunders. These thunders generally consist of a family of eight hippogriffs (two adults, juveniles, and foals), or sometimes two or three such families, with examples of exceptionally large thunders consisting of upwards of thirty being reported prior to the The Palladian Era.
Upon reaching sexual maturity, young hippogriffs will leave the thunder either alone or with a mate from one of the other families to start their own group. Dispersal distances vary greatly depending on the habitat and species. Territory is marked through scratching in logs or dirt and the placement of dung piles and urine markings.

Domestication

Hippogriffs have been tamed and domesticated in the past, most notably during the Palladian Era. Sources from that era claim that they are far easier to train than wyverns or gryphons, though many whom have tried after hearing these words have run afoul of a bull hippogriff's hooves. 
What little is known about the domestication process claims that a hippogriff can only be ridden if it is trained from birth. Hippogriffs are fiercely loyal to their riders, developing a strong bond and unwavering commitment. If a hippogriff's rider is killed in combat, it is said that the hippogriff will fight to the death to avenge its rider.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Hippogriffs were once captured alive to be used in gladiatorial games. Others hunted their eggs, believing their sparkling shells to be made of pure silver and endowed with magical powers. Later monster hunters captured and managed to breed hippogriffs to be used as war mounts for the Palladian Empire. In this role, the hippogriff became a symbol of imperial power and kingship throughout Nioa, Iroa, and Auloa.
As a result of this, Sundered Era kings and queens began adopting the hippogriff as a symbol of their right to rule. This caused the hunting of hippogriffs to become extremely immoral and considered a crime not just against the creature itself but against the crown. Today, the hunting of hippogriffs is restricted only to high ranking members of the court and those of royal blood themselves.
Still, poaching of hippogriffs remains a pressing concern. Many believe hippogriffs guard hordes of silver treasure and that their eggs contain vast magical powers. Their eggs along with their feathers, hooves, scales, bones, and even eyes are highly prized by alchemists for their associative magical properties. Some of these properties have been substantiated, while others remain held in the whispers of crones and other dubious healers for hire.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Hippogriffs have exceptional sight and hearing. Their large eyes can spot a weasel even while soaring high above the treeline and their ears are hyper attuned to other predators such as wyverns that could threaten it.

Civilization and Culture

Common Etiquette Rules

One pervasive legend surrounding the hippogriffs claims that they are extremely proud creatures. As such, it is said that one must bow deeply before approaching a hippogriff.
This legend likely owes more to the hippogriff's symbolic association with royalty than with its actual behavior. However, this claim may have been given further life due to individuals recklessly approaching a hippogriff's nest who were then brutally attacked by the protective creatures.

History

Hippogriffs are believed to have been first tamed during the Mithril Era by the Temekanian Empire. However, little information remains of the Temekanian' efforts. It is widely believed that the craft was forgotten until the Palladian Era when the Palladian Empire began to expand and integrate various monsters and beasts into their society.
It is believed that the Palladians first captured hippogriffs along with many other species to be fought in their extravagant gladiatorial games. However, after several decades the Palladian chivalric order known as the Order of the Radiant Dawn began taming and domesticating hippogriffs to serve as mounts. They became highly skilled and feared throughout the provinces for their ability to strike across and behind enemy lines and their tactics proved instrumental in the Placidian and Czeršian campaigns of the Middle Palladian. The Order of the Radiant Dawn continued to use hippogriffs for several centuries but also worked intensely to keep the secrets of hippogriff domestication out of the hands of citizens and even other branches of the Palladian military.
By the time of the Late Palladian, however, the Order of the Radiant Dawn had become mired in corruption and their leadership associated with totalitarian rule. The Order was disbanded shortly before the Sundering Arcana and many of their secrets lost to the subsequent uprisings. Even Iskendra, the last bastion of Palladian rule seemed to have lost the ability to breed and train hippogriffs to serve as beasts of burden.

Common Myths and Legends

Hippogriffs are the subjects of many legends. Some of them derive from the animal's biology and behavior while others have more to do with their cultural associations.
Many stories tell of hippogriffs hording large amounts of treasure within their nests. These claims are based on the sparkling color of the hippogriff's eggs, which many have long believed are made of solid silver. Others tell of hippogriffs stealing shiny objects from mortals to add to their collections. This too, is likely a misinterpretation of events, stemming from when a hippogriff attacked a mortal only to tear loose the mortal's trinket. It may also derive from the behavior of some birds that are known to collect dropped objects for their mating rituals.
A few poems from Tamory claim that hippogriffs are so swift they can fly around the world and back, an obvious dramatic exaggeration. Another tells of hippogriffs being the offspring of mares and gryphons. While this is clearly a biological impossibility, it does fit with the hippogriff's other symbolic role: that of lovers overcoming great obstacles.
Some stories espoused by monarchs and their supporters claim that hippogriffs are proud creatures. They speak of hippogriffs rebuking those unworthy to be in their presence with violent attacks. In these accounts, only by bowing and showing the proper respect, can a mortal ever hope to treat with a hippogriff. This is, again, an instance of monarchs imposing their own ideology on the behavior of a territorial and protective animal. Many of these folktales come from chivalric romances, where a rightful ruler manages to prove his birthright by approaching a hippogriff without bowing. In those instances, the hippogriff bows to the mortal, thus acting as an acknowledgement of the hero's pedigree.
But perhaps the most famous hippogriff myth is the story of Zephone and Priat from the Mashiq region of Nioa. This is by far the oldest of the hippogriff legends, likely dating back to the Mithril Era. The tale is a metamorphic myth that explains the origins of the hippogriff and their monogamous behavior as well as serving as an example of proper martial behavior in the eyes of the goddess Elenea, the Ever Devoted.

by April Schumacher

A Late Palladian mural of Zephone, the first hippogriff

Collective Noun

A thunder of hippogriffs

Scientific Name

Aequis

Origin/Ancestry

Divine monstrosity

Conservation Status

Endangered

Average Length

1.82 m (6 feet) long 5.1 m (17 foot) wingspan

Geographic Distribution

• Basceron
• Harraken Ridge
• Marrow Desert
• Mashiq

Related Myths

• "The Flight of Zephone"

by Behnam Zeighami

A hippogriff's foot. Note the hoof like toe and the avian scales.