Old Griffon's Aerie

Griffon's Aerie
Country Information
Capital:	Neskegow
Ethnic Groups:	Griffons, humans
Religion:	Lilism
Government:	Monarchy
Current Ruler:	Karos Neskibi V
Currency:	Sequin, Asper, Deng, Kip, Karos, Rewop

Griffon's Aerie was once the kingdom of Vallaria, an ancient human empire that once encompassed all of present day Griffon's Aerie, Leturia, Secca, and some parts of southern Zul Kiras. A race of sentient Griffons came to dominate the kingdom, and today, humans in Griffon's Aerie are serfs, bound to the land and the service of Griffons with few legal rights.

History

Main Article: History of Griffon's Aerie

When King Arakatos V of Vallaria was deposed by a revolt and murdered along with most of the royal family in the year 558 BT, his son Relandos fled north into the mountains. Seeking aid or refuge, he encountered a race of sentient Griffons with the ability to transform into a humanoid form. They were sympathetic to his plight, and with their help, he became King Relandos V in the year 554 BT. The Griffons settled in Vallaria permanently under King Adrovos V, who married a Griffon princess and granted Griffons the right to own land after they helped secure his throne from a rebellion in the year 470 BT. The Griffons came to dominate the Vallarian Diet, the ancient assembly of nobles which elected Kings, had to approve taxation, and so forth.

Over time, the kings of Vallaria became powerless puppets of the Griffons, and in 312 BT, the Griffons staged a coup d'etat in which they seized control of southern Vallaria, renaming it Griffon's Aerie, and driving the human dynasty their adherents north. For the next two centuries South Vallaria was ruled by a council of several (between five and eight) Griffon warlords. The human kingdom held out for another two centuries, but it too disappeared in 110 BT when the Griffon hero Neskos conquered the last remnants of Vallaria and had himself crowned King of all Griffon's Aerie--with the same crown once worn by the human monarchs. Indeed, the Griffons have adopted much of the old Vallarian culture, including its infamously complex and rigid court protocol, and the Vallarian religion of Lilism. After a human uprising in the years 8-7 BT, humans in Griffon's Aerie were reduced to a state of serfdom, bound to the land and the service of Griffons with few legal rights. This state of affairs is upheld by a quotation from the Griffon language translation of the Lil, which states that "the winged shall rule over the unwinged."

In the year 443, King Karos IV of Griffon's Aerie was deposed by the evil wizard Rewop, who never managed to subject the entire kingdom to his rule. He was finally driven out and Karos restored to power in the year 466, but he lived as a virtual prisoner of the Griffon nobles who overthrew the usurper and effectively ruled the kingdom in his absence. Karos IV was assassinated in the year 468, and his young successor Karos V is similarly constrained by the same coterie of aristocrats, now acting as regents.

Government and Politics

Currency

• sequin = A small square molded brick recently introduced to replace strings of cowrie shells. Many inhabitants of the Aerie are leery about accepting these coins. A single sequin = paid to the keeper of an outhouse. A few sequins = used in playing cards, or for a cup of tea.
• asper = 7 sequins. A small silver coin, shoddily produced, usually oval or roundish. A single asper = a drink of ale. 2 aspers = whiskey. A meal would be paid for in aspers, as would a simple article of clothing.
• deng = 7 aspers. A larger silver coin. A deng = one night at an inn. Or might be used in buying dressy clothes.
• kip = 7 dengs. Either a very large silver coin or a small gold coin; both circulate side by side. A kip = one week at an inn, or one night with a good prostitute.
• karos = 7 kips. A fairly large round gold coin bearing the portrait of King Karos. A karos might buy a fine purebred horse; several of them might buy a shoe carved from a single sapphire.
• rewop = 7 karos. A gold bar issued under Rewop. These were used principally for the delivery of taxes to Rewop's Castle; those that somehow entered private possession (i.e. through theft) have mostly been melted down into counterfeit kips. A rewop might purchase a village with an adjoining manor.

Religion

Main Article: Lilism