Thorny griffult

A rare sight in its native lands of Fethil, the thorny griffult is a medium-sized scavenger with a bad reputation. Their nature as scavengers and their fearsome appearance leads many people to regard them as monstrous creatures, unholy or evil or abominations. Even dragons tend to view thorny griffults in unfavorable light, seeing their resemblance as an intentional blight, or disliking how negative views on thorny griffults are sometimes carried over onto dragons.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Thorny griffults are moderately sized quadrupedal animals, with a long tail and broad feathered wings. Their backs and tips of tails are also feathered, with the remainder of their bodies scaled, with some tufts of fur-like feathers scattered across. Their scales are rough, however, ridged and littered with conical spikes. These spikes continue even underneath their feathers, with the larger spikes on their backs visibly poking through their feathers. The only parts of their bodies lacking these spikes are their wings.
Long-necked, thorny griffults really do look like monstrous dragons, with angular heads and long tails. They even possess small horns, though theirs are located above the eyes, and always point backwards. Their long-toed feet are clawed, but the talons are typically dull, as they don't need them to catch prey.
Female thorny griffults tend to be larger and heavier than males, but not by much.

Base animals

Thorny devil (Moloch horridus) & Eurasian griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus)

Geographic Distribution

• Fethil