Griffons

These half lion, half eagle creatures are beautiful to behold, as well as deadly. Living in flocks of three to twenty, with the matron and patron usually being the parent/grandparents of all the adults, they tend to nest in high, inaccessible cliffs where they lay one to three eggs each nesting period. The hatchlings take two months to mature enough to fly and about three years to mature enough to have eggs of their own. In the wild they live up to fifty years, though the ones bonded with the Ancient Elves live quite a bit longer.

They are the size of large warhorses, their wing span twice the length of their body. They bare feathers on their head, neck and around the base of their feet, as well as their wings. Fur covers the rest of their body and they have a lion's tail. They attack with claws and beak, usually raking with their back claws if they get a good hold with their front claws.

The griffins don't usually allow humanoids of any type to capture them as pets, let alone mounts, but they have a relationship with the winged elves and work as partners with them. The griffins that live with the winged elves are bigger then their wild cousins and smarter. All griffins can understand languages (if exposed to them), but the griffins of the winged elves know many languages, though they can not speak any because of their beaks.

Griffins are found mostly in high, mountain terrain as well as high, rocky cliff sides (such as near the coast of Weatherworn). They will protect their territory vigorously and will not take well to any of their numbers (even those not of their flock) being captured.