GriffinClanHistory

Griffin Clan is amongst the most senior of all the clans of the Votanki?, having been created by Votank himself.

The clan totem spirit is King Griffin, the air god of Land Of Balazar and this has made the clan a powerful clan throughout its history.

The traditional clan hearth is Firepoint?, in the Bear Hills?, the place where Hearthmother? first taught women to make fire, and the possession of this most sacred of hearths as its clan hearth has also made Griffin Clan powerful beyond other clans. In the days before Balazar The Hero, Griffin Clan was regarded as the senior war-clan of the Votanki and dominated the Griffin Plains. The clan was traditionally accorded the right to lead the Votanki in war against the trolls and the elves of the Elder Wilds, and its warriors defended the Bear Hills?, Brother Hills? and Rodi's Gap? between them. Possession of Firepoint? means that the fertility of the clan is enhanced, enabling it to devote more time to war and making the clan militarily very powerful.

Griffin Clan led the clans against Balazar the Hero and refused to submit to him, even having been beaten, preferring instead to move into exile in Dangerground. When Balazar threatened to take Firepoint? from them, they fought again, and were defeated, both in battle and on the spirit plane where Balazar defeated King Griffin and took his hunger for horses, forcing him to allow followers of Balazar to ride horses within his domain. After this, GriffinClan were much reduced and their traditional lands on Griffin Plain? were taken by other cults. When Balazar was killed with the True Golden Horde? in Dragon Pass?, GriffinClan would not co-operate with his children as they built the three citadels of Elkoi?, Trilus? and Dykene?. They sought to re-establish the old ways of the Votanki kings, before Balazar, but they failed, for the other clans preferred the new ways and many of them worshipped the new god Yelmalio?. Since then Griffin Clan has come to an uneasy accommodation with the new order of things and is even now part of the Tribe Of Dykene?. It remains a very traditional clan however, conscious of its place in history and of its stewardship of the shrine of Hearthmother? at Firepoint?.

Griffin Clan hunters and warriors still use the short spears and bows of their ancestors and eschew the long spears and great shields that the other plains clans now use in war, as well as the chariots that Balazar introduced and the citadel kings still use. The news that some clans have even started mounting Balazar initiates on horseback to use as scouts is even more horrifying to the clan elders. Life for Griffin Clan continues much as it always has. They are still a warlike clan, as they must be for they live on the edge of Dangerground and their neighbours are the trolls and elves of the Elder Wilds. Despite this, their hunting grounds are large, if disputed by others.