Gryphons and Other Playable Species

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Gryphons - we will not be calling them griffons for consistency - are mythical creatures that originate from various cultures in different forms. For Noctus, gryphons are considered a hybrid between a bird and a large cat.

The lifespan of a gryphon is 200 moons. They typically retire around 160 moons. Gryphons reach adulthood at 12 moons.

Gryphons are obligate carnivores, which means at least 70% of their diet is meat. The last 30% are not required for gryphons to survive but do not harm them. This includes plants and fungi.

Intelligence-wise, comparing a gryphon to another cat you'd see in a Warrior Cats server is a fine estimation. Thanks to their claws, gryphons are also able to craft items, jewelry, and armor, which you can see on the "Crafting and Armor" page. However, gryphons are not (yet) capable of written language or creating fire. Like real birds, gryphons are very musical and can sing and keep a beat.

The size of gryphons is measured in hands. The height of a gryphon is measured to the shoulder. One hand is four inches/10 centimeters tall. The smallest gryphons are around 9 hands tall while the tallest can reach 21 hands tall. To put it into perspective:

Great Danes can be 9 hands tall (3 feet)

This is a 20 hand tall horse (6 1/2 feet)

Genetics

A gryphon's gestation period is 2 moons in and out of roleplay. When two gryphons have cubs via live-birth (the cubs have soft talons and beaks when they are born that develop over the next few weeks), the following will occur:

Staff will roll for the amount of cubs in the litter.
Their assigned genders at birth will be rolled for.
The parents will decide whether they want their cubs to be one or the other's species or a hybrid. For an explanation, refer to the diagram. If they choose a hybrid, then the staff will select what species of bird is a good "inbetween" for them. If they choose one or the other, the parent that the cub takes from will be rolled for.
The cub(s) will be put up for adoption. This is detailed further in the server.
The height, weight, eye color, wingspan, tail length, etc. can be decided upon by the person who adopts the cub alongside the parents.

Gryphons and Bird Species

When a gryphon refers to themselves, they will not say they are a Canadian goose gryphon or a yellow-throated bush sparrow gryphon. Instead, they will just say they are a waterfowl gryphon or a sparrow gryphon. If they are a hybrid, like the diagram in the genetics tab above, they will say they are whatever they look like more. The white hawk gryphon will say they are a hawk gryphon, and the greylag goose gryphon will say they are a waterfowl gryphon; they will say their parents were a hawk and waterfowl gryphon.

Gryphons are not usually "prejudiced" against other gryphon species. Some human stereotypes for birds may apply to gryphons in Noctus, but not to an extreme extent. A thieving crow gryphon, a mean goose gryphon, or an elegant swan gryphon is not unheard of.

Certain mating rituals and other species-specific behaviors are also permitted to an extent.

This isn't a hard guide for every bird species ever, but here's a list of bird species and their general height ranges. Basically, just scale the gryphon depending on how big the real bird is. Something like a vulture gryphon might be 20 hands tall while a finch gryphon would be 10. Our minimum size is 9 hands and our maximum is 21 hands at the shoulder.

Common

Owl - from 9 to 20 hands tall

Eagle - from 16 to 21 hands tall

Falcon/Kite - from 12 to 18 hands tall

Hawk/Osprey - from 13 to 17 hands tall

Waterfowl - from 12 to 17 hands tall

Corvidae - from 11 to 17 hands tall

Thrush - from 9 to 13 hands tall

Uncommon

Woodpecker - from 12 to 16 hands tall

Dove/Pigeon - from 12 to 16 hands tall

Parrot - from 14 to 20 hands tall

Finch - from 9 to 12 hands tall

Rare

Hippogriff* - from 17 to 21 hands tall

Sphinx* - from 10 to 15 hands tall

Hummingbird - from 9 to 10 hands tall

Emu/Ostrich - from 19 to 21 hands tall

Hippogriffs and Sphinx

Gryphons aren't the only creatures someone can play in Noctus. Below are species detailed for grabs for those interested in spicing things up a little. When the time comes for application periods, a Tumblr post or Discord announcement will be made to let people know how to apply for either a hippogriff or a sphinx.

In the Noctus world, hippogriffs are not typically from the North. However, hippogriffs have been introduced to the North thanks to twoleg migration. They have bird heads and wings like gryphons, but their front legs are longer and their back legs are a horse's haunches rather than a feline's. The few herds of hippogriffs that exist in the North are domesticated; twolegs value them for their easy-to-tame nature and strong method of transport.

This does not mean all hippogriffs are happy with their lives, however, and the chance of a hippogriff following the Noctus group to the new territories is non-zero. This is a very rare occurrence. There will only be one or two hippogriffs in the server at a time. If they reproduce with gryphons, their hybrid child will be infertile and may have complications.

Noctus takes inspiration from Greek mythology for their appearance and nature but from Egyptian mythology for their origin. Sphinx in Noctus have feline bodies, wings, and humanoid-cat faces. They have thumbs that are capable of crafting and have developed a written language using hieroglyphs comparable to the toki pona language, suggesting concepts and words rather than letters. The sphinx spoken language is the same as the gryphon language with minor dialect differences.

The sphinx helped the SunKin clan move into their oasis, hauling trees with them and building the original nests. In exchange, the SunKin promised to leave them alone. The sphinx live in a temple in the dunes called the Temple of Ra, named after the god of the sun and their Andromeda equivalent. Not much is known about their culture, seeing they live most of their lives in the temple and only leave to hunt. It is estimated there is 50 of them living in a clan. Like hippogriff, a sphinx wanting to join the clans - especially the SunKin - is not out of the picture, though it is very rare and only one or two will be in the server at a time. Sphinx can not reproduce with gryphons.

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