The Lion King
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To provide Thurion Heavenshield with an animal companion in times of peace, and a powerful war mount in times of war.
- Image Credit: HardcoreGamer.com
- Role: War Mount
- Links:
Winds of Winter: Thurion's first encounter with Skywalker, and subsequent befriending. - Family, Duty, Honour: Thurion reuniting with Skywalker and his family.
PHYSICAL INFORMATION
- Age: 25
- Species: Gryphon
- Height: 3 metres
- Length: 5 metres (head to tail), 8 metres (wingspan)
- Weight: 250 kg (unarmored); 300 kg (armored)
- Appearance:
Feathers in various brown hues - Red fur with black stripes across the back
- Yellow beak and forelegs, black talons
- Amber eyes
SOCIAL INFORMATION
- Name: Skywalker
- Loyalties: Thurion Heavenshield and family.
- Notable Possessions: Specially-designed plate armor for chest, head, forelegs and hind legs, and back; forged from phrik.
- Personality: Majestic and awe-inspiring to behold; kind and playful to his loved ones, fierce and merciless to his enemies.
- Training: Capable of flight and carrying several people on his back, and can attack specific targets at his rider's indication.
- Combat Function: Specialises in airborne strikes. Extremely powerful when swooping in from above, able to take out grouped enemies with ease before flying off. If forced to ground combat he will use his sharp claws and powerful beak to tear his enemies apart with great sweeping attacks. Could become frenzied if backed into a corner, having trouble distinguishing friend from foe.
The gryphons of Midvinter were thought to have vanished into myth after the last ones seen by the Valkyri were killed in battle millennias ago. When first discovered they were tamed and ridden into battle by the mightiest warriors, before becoming taken from their homes atop the mountains and bred for war from birth. Soon every warrior wanted one as they became more of a status symbol than a treasured companion, and when war would break out between rival houses few were left alive as they made for quite the big target during battle. Eventually all known nests were picked clean and the great beasts of war were thought extinct.
Thurion and his wife Coci first encountered this mighty half-avian/half-feline creature while spending time at Dawnbringer Temple, atop the Blessed Peak situation in the eastern mountain ranges. Thurion and the gryphon bonded when he healed an injured wing, and named him 'Skywalker' after his childhood hero. Together they took to the skies, and after a meeting with Skywalker's family consisting of a mate and their litter of cubs they parted ways with both of them having made new friends.
Recently, following the Heavenshields' founding the city of Fridheim in the west, Skywalker and his family journeyed across Midvinter so they may be reunited and pledge themselves to House Heavenshield.
