Just like centaurs are people with horse bits below the waist, and merfolk are people with fish bits below the waist, and lamias were people with snake bits below the waist - and NOT the other way around, griffin are birds with cat bits below the waist.
The above statement is true for all the four species listed. Including their reproductive habits. This meant that centaurs, merfolk, lamias all had babies just like their two-legged sentients. And that griffins laid eggs. Totally made sense. Even if it didn't, that was reality. Griffins were oviparous.
I spent the four years needed to put Fulgen back on track researching and preparing for this moment. Our expedition to secure griffin eggs and tame adult griffins in enough quantity to have a good gene pool from which breed more. The future steeds of the still inexistent elven elite cavalry.
I had Taeral and Velora with me, along with my two ladies-in-waiting, Ikeshia and Lixiss. As I suspected, they weren't [Ladies] or [Maids]. Their Class was the ubiquitous [Ranger] and the spellcasting [Druid]. They were assigned to work for me by the council but even after I was forced to murder all of them the two ladies decided to stay with me.
There were also five level fifty-something knights with enough Experience accumulated to get twelve or more levels in their ranked up Classes. They ranked up their race normally but were holding up on ranking up the Class on my request. I wanted them to unlock [Griffin Rider]. We brought a supply wagon and servants, along with extra guards for the camp. A large entourage was a given as the needed support structure for the Queen's expedition.
I had no idea if the Class existed, but given that the System and Wyxnos appear to make up new entries to the System out of their arses, I knew that if we bonded the chick to the knight, the option would appear. Otherwise, I'd give the God of Logic an earful until he made it for me. But Yznera got our backs.
We came to the Stormtalon Mountains, several hundred miles away from Fulgen. After setting up our base camp and preparing the field around us, which included setting traps and wards to alert against intruders, we were ready to climb the mountain and find us some eggs.
I would love to go alone. I could fly up and save days of climbing but the elves would not let her Queen go alone. I settled for taking the three rangers and the druid with me. They were all people I could trust and people that knew my abilities so they wouldn't try to get in the way during a fight.
"Remember, you elves. If you die, I'm going to {Assassinate} you. But if you have to die, do me the favor of dying next to me. Don't go falling off a chasm or get carried away to feed some chicks in a high nest."
They all chuckled. The spirits were high as the six of us climbed the mountain. Well, five. Because Nenandil was flitting around, scouting, and just playing.
We climbed the foothills for two days before starting on the mountain proper. I broke the secret around my clinging power and abused it to overcome the flat cliff faces. Along with my ability to weave silk ropes, we left our escape route well charted.
"These undergarments are awesome, Your Majesty," Ikeshia cheered. "We would be sore from all this exercise in armor if it weren't for them."
"I still feel weird for wearing something that's worth a medium fiefdom," Taeral snorted.
"No. That's way less that each of you is worth to me. That's a {Royal Order}!" I said in jest with a grin. "I command you to wear these suits with pride."
We laughed. Velora was the first one to kneel and say between her chuckles, "As you command, Your Majesty."
I made fae silk bodysuits for all of us. With Yznera's perk {Living Threads}, these silk meshes were bodysuits, gambesons because of their layers superposed at odd angles. More importantly, they could level up and grow stronger. I felt I had the option of steering the development of these suits as they gained perks every fourth level like a common Class. Level four meant the wearer had to earn eight hundred thousand Exp. The first thing I decided that they should have was a bond with the wearer. This way the suit would be worthless if stolen as anyone else that attempted to wear it would be drained until they died. The bond also improved the growth rate of the suit, effectively paying off for itself after a while.
Three days after we started climbing, we had our first major encounter.
We were climbing one side of a chasm, with a strong wind blowing from inland to the ocean side, threatening to push us away from our path.
"Giants!" Taeral shouted. We were climbing a cliff when the hill giants came from behind a bend in a path on the other side of a gorge. Partially true to their D&D statistics block, they picked up rocks to throw at us. Not boulders, they messed up on that one. Just like a human would toss pebbles and not bowling-ball sized rocks at their enemies, the rocks they were throwing were the size of a normal person's fist.
They threw with great strength and precision. The first few missed were because of the wind howling through the chasm.
"Wind Wall!" Silverstreak gained {Natural Spellcaster} that allowed me to cast without a chant or gestures. I shouted the effect out loud to let my allies know.
I worked with the already existing wind, forcing it to speed up. Eddies of dust formed on the edges and paths of the chasm. My elven allies were tossed and rolled along the cliff face as if they were pendulums.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Ikeshia managed a chant and stone foot and handholds formed. The experienced trio of rangers quickly grabbed those and stabilized themselves.
The fairy was having trouble stabilizing herself in the wind, a first in my experience. She summoned and rained ice shards on the giants, missing by a mile as the wind drove them far away along the gorge. She adjusted her spell and made the shards appear ahead so they would hit the giants from their side.
The brutes stopped tossing rocks, seeing that they weren't getting past my barrier. But the first missed volley gave them the chance to take cover against the glittering shards. Some scratches and cuts, but nothing serious.
After pumping enough mana to make the wind wall last for a few minutes, I cut my concentration on the spell and started another. "Call Lightning!"
The bolts fell down from the meager clouds covering the mountain and shocked the giants near where it fell. I kept the magic going and the bolts raining on them. The giants pointed at me and they started to track my sight to get a chance at avoiding the lightning.
That's when the whole bank where they were slid free off the cliff, bringing all of them down into the bottom of the gorge. I looked to my side and saw a cheeky Ikeshia.
"Landslide, I guess," She shrugged.
The Exp notifications popped up. The headcount was right, so the giants had all perished. You know how the saying goes. The bigger they are...
----------------------------------------
The mountain range was bloody huge. And the griffins liked to nest in hard-to-reach places. We hiked for a week after the giants when we glimpsed the majestic beasts for the first time. Three griffins were flying around, one of them carrying a goat without any difficulty. That was important because they would have to be able to carry a fully equipped knight along with some barding.
"This is where things will get really stupid," I told my party. I'm going to tame these griffins. Nenandil, come back inside. I'll need your help and can't risk losing you to a stray beak."
"What shall we do, Your Majesty?" Taeral asked.
"Bear witness and chronicle. How the Elf Queen tamed the first griffin. I swear to you, we are going to descend this place flying."
Thank providence this was not one of those stupid worlds where a person's vows were binding. I was beholden to nobody. Hooray for tyranny!
"Lixiss, create a stone shelter for the four of you. Whatever happens, do not leave it. I'll be fine. Let's see how long these guys take to shave two million HP."
Me and my big mouth. I bet one of them just gained {Vorpal Claws}. My neck was armored with five layers of magical silk anyway.
I focused on my voice-amplifying wind spell and let loose. "Noble griffins of Stormtalon Mountains, I am Alloralla, Queen of the elven realm of Fulgen. I come before you to offer a covenant that will strengthen us both."
I had no idea if they understood language. They looked at me, my fluttering pink hair standing like a clown in a funeral and dove.
"Now keep quiet," I said to the elves hiding in an artificial depression behind me.
The lead griffin descended. I became incorporeal. Its claws swoop through and past me.
"I desire no conflict. I wish to become your friend," I said. With those furry balls tucked behind its rear paws, there was no doubt.
The other griffins were circling high above. The leader turned and dove and again passed through me as I phased at the last moment. The griffin was about three meters long from tail to neck. Would the added weight of a rider compromise its mobility? I hoped not.
it readied another attack and I used a light/darkness hybrid spell. "Mirage Double!" The light around me distorted, leaving an illusion where I was standing while I took a step to the side.
This time the griffin landed and pecked the image. I quickly moved around and jumped on its back. From there I climbed next to its neck and held. I knew these eagle heads could do more than a half-turn to peck me behind it.
Startled by the extra load, the griffin took to the air. I laughed as the wind cut around us These powerful wings had no trouble carrying me in the air and I was comfortably seated. Maybe We could put the saddle here, between its shoulder blades. Yes, they had a good gap between the insertion points...
"SKREEEE!" The griffin protested.
I started to use my [Bard] perk, {Song of Peace}. It tumbled, cartwheeled, and did several airborne maneuvers, but nothing could dislodge me when I used {Absolute Clinging}. I was the perfect yandere. I patted its neck and spoke softly to him, using wind magic to make sure he could hear me. The griffin turned his head around and tried to peck me but he didn't have leverage. The beak rustled past my vambraces.
I summoned a chunk of raw meat. Fresh and still warm from the kill and shoved it in the beak. Some meat red juice - not blood - leaked as the sharp cut a bite whether the creature wanted or not. It swallowed by reflex.
"Good, yes? Meat! If you ally with us, we'll feed you. Protect your clutch. Help you hunt. Heal your wounds." I used {Spiritual Healing} on him. Even if he had no wounds, the feeling was a good one.
"KYAAAA!" The griffin was a bit confused. I waved the meat in front of him. The glutton pecked it. Then I used {Divine Negotiator}.
"Make a covenant with us. We'll be allies. We'll be of the same flock, your people and mine, Sky Lord."
It swallowed the chunk of meat in one go. I took another one from storage. The other griffins flew close, trying to steal the meat. Sky Lord - that was totally going to be his name - pushed them away, screeching angrily. He took the other chunk of meat.
> You learned the Griffin Riding (very rare) Skill. Increase stability, control, and maneuverability when riding griffins.
Hell yeah.
He tried to peck me while I was busy with the notification. He hit a block of ice that formed in front of me.
I fed him a third chunk of meat. He ate and kept flying in circles. The other griffins were curious and kept trying to approach. Feeling whimsical, I tossed another chunk of meat away and behind us. A female griffin - no balls - dove and snatched it from the air.
"Kree?" Sky Lord asked for more meat.
I giggled and patted his neck. "Covenant. Friendship. Partnership. Then meat."
"KYAAA!" He protested.
I brushed its feathers. The griffin's eyes were the size of my fist.
That's when I heard a commotion. The flying griffins were agitated. Sky Lord looked to a distant peak and I saw something flying. I imagined a telescope in front of me and used a combination of wind and light magic to amplify my sight.
Yeah. Fantasy, mountains. Griffins weren't the only thing that flew around these parts. Speaking of which, they flock was already flying away from the rapidly approaching newcomer.
Some hothead awoke with a bad temper and decided to play "fetch the flying meat" too.
Do I have to say out loud who?