Gryphon

From Changeling Venue

Seeming	Fairest Draconic
Court	Summer Court ••••
Freehold	The Diamond Path
Player	Jen Kuiper

"...Griffins are beasts like Lions, with the wings and beak of an Eagle. Sometimes the vigilant are guardians of treasure and of Kings, sometimes a fierce beast. I have also heard that the griffins have spots like the leopard, and that the Tritons speak with a human voice... Those who like to listen to the miraculous are themselves apt to add to the marvel, and so they ruin the truth by mixing it with falsehood."
- Pausanias, Description of Greece, c. 150AD

    "As when a Gryfon through the Wilderness
     With winged course ore Hill or moarie Dale,
     Pursues the Arimaspian, who by stealth
     Had from his wakeful custody purloined
     The guarded Gold: So eagerly the fiend
     Ore bog or steep, through strait, rough, dense, or rare,
     With head, hands, wings, or feet pursues his way,"
     - John Milton - Paradise Lost Book II - c. 1608-1674

Character Information

Alias(es): Gryphon, Gryph
Real Name: Fran Griffith
Location: The Diamond Path Washington, D.C.
Age: 20/35
Occupation: Police Detective
Seeming: Fairest
Kith: Draconic
Court: Summer
Freehold: Summer Queen of The Diamond Path since 1996.
Keeper: Baron Strega the Elder
Virtue: Charity (defender of the weak/children)
Vice: Greed (the gold and gem hoards of the mythical animal)
Concept: Inquisitive Defender
Motto: Fortes et liber - Strong and free
Hollow: The Gryphon's Eyrie

Mask: A tall, broad-shouldered and muscular framed woman with short easily cared for hair. Her attire is casual for varied working environments and she favors coats. Not stunningly attractive, but there is a strength of presence and determined confidence that has its own stark charm.

Mein: A long dark elegant nose you wouldn't dare call a beak, eyes of flame, and thick eyebrows of fur. She's a contradiction of creation, something never meant to be and it shows her namesake from the feathers in her hair, the vestigial wings on her back and the claws on her hands and feet. The wrathful grace of the lion and the fierce nobility of the eagle come together into entirely something else in the person of Gryphon.

Relevant Mechanics: New Identity ••••, Striking Looks ••••, Mantle •••• (pending)
Character Livejournal: lost-gryphon

History

THIS SECTION UNDER HEAVY CONSTRUCTION

"What are memories for us? Lies, deception, a glimmer of hope or a gallon of despair. Same with reality really; when you landed here you were what they made you. Now though, you'd best turn that around, and make of yourself something more. Embrace all they left within you and aim to throw it back at them. Because they will be back. And they'll find you easier than I ever could.

Does that scare you? It should. Be ready. I am. But... can you ever be ready enough?"

The Molding

• Police, A good Irish immigrant occupation.
• Brought up by Parents on bedtime stories of the mystical and magical.
• Single Mother with a grade school aged little boy, Jason. Not a comfortable thing to be in the late 70s and early 80s.

The Tearing

Taken when she rushed in to protect a child in the process of being snatched by the Gentry, she was taken too for her bravery. She's never sure whether he was impressed at her attempt to stop him or just annoyed. At first she was a gladiatorial toy, slowly formed into a more warlike tool, until they tired of her performance or had shinier combatants. Then, as if in a fit of pique or irony, she was set to 'police' for her Keeper against his other toys.

The Breaking

Not hunting, no. He had Beasts and Dogs for that. She wandered the eternal parties, the opulent orgies the palatial performances, she charmed, she investigated, she caught them plotting before they ran. She learned to do it well. And she hated every minute of it. But it was a kind of hunting, and in that Other place of giant living myths and legends one chose her for its own.

Her Keeper took pleasure in her swearing and railing at having to turn one of her fellows in. Sometimes, if she was able, she would apologize and tell them how to avoid her the next time. Sometimes it helped. At lot of the time it didn't. She wasn't the only thing watching, and she certainly wasn't the worst.

The Enduring

Now she does whatever she can to insure neither she or anyone else is taken. She patrols the other side of the hedge, she got herself bumped to the special investigations unit just to be able to be assigned the sort of oddities that might be an Other or something dangerous to changelings. She'll try to get a changeling out of noticeable trouble with the police, or hide large incidents that might come to more public notice. She can even help with IDs and other things, when you try to keep the underworld in line, you make a few contacts here and there.

Basic Timeline Summary

• Born 1952
• Abducted early 1980s
• Escaped in 2002 to Washington, D.C.

Associations & Associates

  Heroes take journeys, confront dragons,
  and discover the treasure of their true selves.
        — Carol Pearson

Societies

• The Praesidium
• The Bridge Club - Dedicated to finding the escaping in the Washington area Hedge, they continue Vincent's work either in his honor or for their own reasons.

The Friends & The Foes

• Edria Meredith: Common cause, completely different methods, mostly.
• Gaius Arctorus: Common cause, common methods, mostly.
• Tinker: If its broke, she can fix it. If not improve upon it. Super Ogre is not getting out of those handcuffs.
• Tommy Blue: They really need to be shown the way. Before they are a danger to themselves and others. That, and they need to return the $%^!#$@~$ gun.
• Lalita Das: Ahh, the Twins. What more can be said, really?
• Manjunatha "Manju" Das: Ahh, the Twins. Except whose turn is it tonight?
• Althea Sexton
• Capricious: If the Cheshire Cat can't explain to Alice where to go, perhaps she'll let the Gryphon have its chance.
• Ae Lament: Sometimes pulling strings doesn't work, and you need to bail them out.
• Horace "Race" Ardent:
• Ed Clerogen: Neutral ground is a good thing for warriors. Can he keep it?
• Jack Sprat: Someday, she'll make her point. Perhaps with the lecture the next time she gets his sorry ass out of jail.
• Laurel Thorn: Everyone has a unexplainable vice, this is Gryphon's. She's an evil nasty bitch, but damn is she hot, and damn am I a sucker.
• Thorn
• Stephen Daedalus: Rivals, yes. The question is of what nature?
• Minos: To the victor go the spoils. Dexterity won over Strength last time, who will win next.
• The Colonel: A fellow Centurion
• Dane: A similar fairest hunter of escapees. Unlike most other Lost, he knows.
• David "Gilded" Manning A summer court ally, and one of the few she trusts at her back.
• Zoe Edwards: There is something between Gryphon and the reclusive thriller author. Partner in crime? Not likely. Damsel in distress? Perhaps, thankfully she doesn't squeal like the ones in the movies.
• Salom, The Summer King: "The seer of the flame will risk everything to prevent another from being taken. More than anything else, it is why he is welcome in my home."

Character Inspirations

     "At once discovering many an unknowne Coast:
      In the swift Ranke of these fell Rovers, flies
      The Indian Griffin with the glistring eyes,
      Beake Eagle-like, backe sable, Sanguine brest,
      White (Swan-like) wings, fierce tallents, alwaies prest
      For bloody Battailes; for, with these he teares
      Boares, Lyons, Horses, Tigres, Bulls, and Beares:
      With these, our Grandames fruitfull panch he pulls,
      Whence many an Ingot of pure Gold he culls,
      To floore his proud nest, builded strong and steepe
      On a high Rock better his thefts to keepe:
      With these, he guards against an Armie bold,
      The hollow Mines where first he findeth gold,
      As wroath, that men upon his right should rove.
      Or theevish hands usurp his Tresor-trove.
      O! ever may'st thou fight so (valiant Foule)
      For this dire bane of our seduced soule,
      And (with thee) may the Dardane ants, so ward
      The Gold committed to their carefull Guard,
      That hence-forth hope-less, mans fraile mind may rest-her
      From seeking that, which doth it's Maisters maister..."
        - Guilliaume de Salluste du Bartas - The Divine Weeks - c. 1544-1590

Fictional Characters, Setting & Mood Inspirations

• American McGee's Alice - A video game whose Gryphon is a brave and trusted friend of Alice and The Mock Turtle, and the strongest of the Wonderlandian rebels. He is locked in a cage by the Mad Hatter, but is later freed by Alice, allowing him to lead the rebel forces against the Queen. However, he is defeated in an epic battle with the Jabberwock, and dies from his wounds.
• Detective Karrin Murphy - The Dresden Files and the books by Jim Butcher
• Skandranon from The White Gryphon, The Black Gryphon and The Silver Gryphon by Mercedes Lackey
• Diana Tregarde from Burning Water
• The Meredith "Merry" Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton
• Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton
• Sir Galahad poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Literary References

These are more for the nature and tales behind Gryphons and their mythical behavioral stereotypes. To break things up, some of these quotes have been scattered about the page.

     "They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care;
      They pursued it with forks and hope;
      They threatened its life with a railway-share;
      They charmed it with smiles and soap."
        - The Hunting of the Snark, Lewis Carroll

• Jabberwocky and The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll
• The Dreadful Gryphon, by Michael Fairless from the The Grey Brethren and other Fragments in Prose and Verse - This is an amusing off the wall fairy tale. A princess accidentally hits the Dreadful Gryphon with a ball one day, and the Gryphon employs many ways to try and eat the princess, who is guarded by 40 white cats, which the Gryphon cannot come near, for the sight of white cats gives him the shakes. There is a Wicked Witch, a Grumpy Giant, an Amiable Answerer, a Fat Frog, and the Society for the Suppression of Superfluous Salamanders!
• The Griffin and the Minor Canon by Frank Stockton, with the print edition illustrated by Where the Wild Things Are's Maurice Sendak.

    "I have heard that the Indian animal the Gryphon is a quadruped like a lion; that it 
     has claws of enormous strength and that they resemble those of a lion. Men commonly 
     report that it is winged and that the feathers along its back are black, and those 
     on its front are red, while the actual wings are neither but are white. And Ctesias 
     records that its neck is variegated with feathers of a dark blue; that it has a beak 
     like an eagle's, and a head too, just as artists portray it in pictures and sculpture.
     Its eyes, he says, are like fire. It builds its lair among the mountains, and although
     it is not possible to capture the full-grown animal, they do take the young ones. And 
     the people of Bactria, who are neighbors of the Indians, say that the Gryphons guard 
     the gold in those parts; that they dig it up and build their nests with it, and that 
     the Indians carry off any that falls from them... If however they are caught in the 
     act, they are lost. And they return home, I am told, after an interval of three or 
     four years."
       - Aelian - De Natura Animalium (On Animals) - c. 170-235 AD

Soundtrack

• Heroes and Friends - Melissa Etheridge
• American McGee's Alice Soundtrack, composed by Chris Vrenna. All of it.
• The Fairy Queen libretto by Henry Purcell which includes a Fairy dance and pieces for each season.
• "It's Not Safe" - Aimee Mann - I'm With Stupid
• "Deceptively Yours" - The Peter Malick Group( Feat. Norah Jones) - New York City
• "Things You Don't Have To Do" - The Peter Malick Group (Feat. N. Jones) - New York City
• "Everybody Knows" - Concrete Blonde
• "Fire in the Head" - Emerald Rose - Bending Tradition
• "Temper of Revenge" - Julia Ecklar - Divine Intervention
• "Survivor's Song" - Julia Ecklar - Divine Intervention
• "Lost in Space" - Aimee Mann - Lost in Space
• "Cartoon Music for Super Heroes" - Albert Hammond Jr. - Yours to Keep
• "Fall From Grace" - Amanda Marshall - Amanda Marshall
• "Stronger Than Me" - Amy Winehouse - Frank

Quotes

    "One of the cycle of Charlemagne romances, the Huon tale begins with court treachery 
     that leads to Huon's murder of the Emperor's son and Huon being sent on a mission to 
     Babylon, from which he is not expected to return. Often aided by Oberon, the dwarf 
     king of the fairies, Huon survives a series of adventures in the East and triumphantly 
     returns to the court of Charlemagne. ... After battling and killing five young birds 
     in the griffin's eyrie, Huon is attacked by the vengeful mother. Later in the romance, 
     Huon presents to the King of France a foot of one of the griffins he slew, and it is 
     hung for prosperity in the holy chapel." 

      - Sir John Bourchier - The Boke of Duke Huon of Burdeux - c. 1469-1533

• "Call me 'Francis' again, and I will bite your nose off."
• "Release that child or you will make my day." (Sound of a gun safety being flicked off.)
• “Neener neener stole your gun! Can’t have it back, it’s mine now I hid it and you can’t find it and you’re never gonna know where it is! Neener neener! I’m sorry. You’re my friend. Here, wanna lollipop? I promise it’s not poisoned.” -- Tommy Blue
• "Flutter of feather, flex of paw. Falcon's beak and lion's maw. Talks with out end, never shuts her trap. She cleared ol' Jack of his fiendish rap. Click-click goes the gun, snick-snick goes the claw. Don't fuck with the bitch or she eats you raw." - Jack Sprat
• "I wouldn't like her so much if she wasn't so good hearted. That's almost all of the fun." - Laurel Thorn
• "Gryphon is really smart. Its like she knows what you're thinking when you do. Wait...can she read my mind? What if I got my hat on? Anyone got some tinfoil?" - Gilded

• (Open to additions)

Rumors

     "The wildest hath not such a heart as you.
      Run when you will, the story shall be chang'd;
      Apollo flies, and Daphne holds the chase;
      The dove pursues the griffin; the mild hind
      Makes speed to catch the tiger,--bootless speed,
      When cowardice pursues and valour flies."
      - William Shakespeare - Act II, Scene I: A Midsummer Night's Dream - c. 1564 -1616

• Why exactly does she seem far less stoic when Lalita Das or her identical twin Manjunatha "Manju" Das are around. Whatever it is, it must be very... athletic.
• Tommy Blue once stole her favorite firearm from the other side.
• If Laurel is such a black hat, why does she always seem to have a smile for Gryphon? And, worse, why does Gryphon smile back?
  
• (Open to additions)

OOC

Played by Jen Kuiper

Looking for connections and background ties of all kinds! Did I stop one of your escape attempts? Do you hate me for it? Did I apologize and send you back with the knowledge of how to avoid me the next time? Did you recognize the tear of guilt in my eye? Have I used police contacts to keep you out of trouble? No matter how richly you deserved it? Have I guarded, protected or pulled you out of the Hedge? Are you a sneaky smarmy bugger I won't like? Do you harm children so I really want to take your head off?