Griffons and Culture
 
Griffons, being avian creatures, tend to find close spaces rather confining.
The abuse they have often received from other races in their cities has only
strengthened the sentiment.  Thus the race has largely turned its talents
toward life in the wilderness, banding together into small clans with widely
varying customs.  Centuries of such have done much to shape their social
structure, and wild griffons have enjoyed a history somewhat obscured to man-
kind for some time.
 
While the sight of a griffon within city walls has become more common in
recent days, this is less true in some places than in others.  Many generations
of men have gone by since the Empire of the Bright Star kept griffons as 
slaves, yet they are still viewed there as nothing more than beasts.  In the
Northern Wastes, as in parts of Uxmal, griffon meat is considered a delicacy.
Southern culture has been perhaps the most welcoming - many griffons serve
openly in the Zhensh military, and enjoy the same respect as Zhenshi's 
humanoid citizens.
 
By nature, griffons are relatively unselfish, having strong desires to help
others.  However, exactly who they help - and how - can vary greatly.  While
they are inherently-good creatures, griffons need not be principled, and they
certainly are not faultless.  A strong taboo exists against attacking others
of their race, although griffon sports can get quite rough.
 
Griffon cubs mature quickly, becoming full-grown only 3 years after hatching.
Younger griffons can thus be painfully naive, despite their innate
intelligence  -  slightly greater than a human's, on the average.
 
Most griffons actively deny the popular "Legend of the Cauldron," and many
disavow their race's purported magical origins altogether.  While most Clans
have alternate origin stories of their own, these tales have not won over the
bulk of Pyrathia's people - many still consider griffons to be an aberration
of nature.
But if persecution has taught the race caution, it has not changed griffons'
fierce adherence to doing good.
 
See also:  griffon-clans