The RainKin

The rainforest is an unforgiving place for gryphons. Still, the RainKin gryphons have found it to be the perfect blend with food aplenty and security in the canopies. The RainKin gryphons are typically distrusted, though the stereotype stems from the Conflict of Noctus when Rainstar's was forced to unleash the worst of her clan.

The RainKin camp is over a tributary that stems from the Moonplace's river. The trees that the gryphons claimed as their own are sturdy and dozens of feet high, out of reach of ground-dwelling critters. The area was cleaned up by early members of the RainKin to make for a tidy safe haven from the rest of the rainforest.

Appearance

When a tyro completes six moons of training, they will be eligible to try to graduate from tyroship into their role. The tyro trials vary from clan to clan and role to role. Below are the RainKin trials for each role.

Below are the descriptions of SOME OF the roleplay channels you will find in the RainKin category.

more channels to be found in the server

One mention of Rainstar is enough to send chills down the spine. Though her tactics did well for the survival of her Kin, they were deceitful and unfair. However, many RainKin believe she was never at fault. She told the truth as she always did and Sunstar overreacted. Rainstar promised her that day that she would not hold back, and those who saw her in battle knew she was true to her words. If it wasn’t obvious from the way she threw her lives to the wind, it was obvious in the way her clan spilled blood without hesitation to keep their lands under their control.

– excerpt from The Conflict of the Gryphons of Noctus by Djehutimes “Ibisdance”

Rainstar founded the second gryphon clan of Noctus, the RainKin. She was born as Rain during Moon 26 P.N. to two motmot gryphon parents. They thrived together in the jungle; there, her parents taught her the ins and outs of surviving against the dozens of predators that prowled within. She followed Sun with her parents, but lost both of them along the way. Regardless of her loss, memories of her are those of a gryphon with the most colorful stories, a loud personality, and a determined heart that beat for her Kin. Even as things changed for the worst, Rainstar’s smile never left her face. Any fight was a good fight as long as Rainstar could get involved.

The RainKin were a tight-knit community, if not the most tight-knit in Noctus. Rainstar was partially responsible for this, as she got to know every one of her clanmates like they were her blood family. The RainKin had exciting celebrations and ceremonies that called for the attention of every gryphon. Other clans would be forgiven for being suspicious of the RainKin, seeing how almost every word they said was some kind of inside joke, secret codeword, or hint to something personal. As the generations have passed, the RainKin have distanced from one another thanks to the loss of Rainstar.

In the Noctus jungle, Rainstar focused on training her warriors intensely as if every battle they faced would be their last. She would urge them to stay as quiet as possible while they moved and to surprise attack, going for the vitals first. This makes older RainKin gryphons incredibly dirty fighters. After the Conflict of Noctus, it was an unspoken rule that gryphons could not be taught to kill enemy gryphons on sight in the way the RainKin used to. 

The moment she alluded that the RainKin had their eyes on Sunstar’s territory is the moment that everything changed. Maybe she should’ve kept her beak shut…

The RainKin are a colorful bunch of gryphons. They need accessories to match! The RainKin gryphons have recently learned a unique skill: floriculture. RainKin gryphons are well-trained in the art of raising plants, flowers, and herbs with delicate care.  Many of the plants and herbs you can find in the clans are mass-grown in the RainKin camp, woven into nests, canopies, and the ground beneath the gryphons themselves.

A lot of gryphons also use these flowers as decorations, lacing them into their fur, feathers, and armor. Other clans might trade for these decorative flowers, but neither the SunKin nor the SkyKin can grow flowers of their own.

With so many dark corners of the jungle, there’s bound to be some rumors floating around the RainKin clan. Who’s to say whether they’re true or not?

One of these stories is of the Howling Pit, which is located in the Ravine. While most of the Ravine is shallow with a few crags leading into dens and small tunnel systems, one entrance at the bottom of the southern end is suspiciously deep. A couple of tyros many moons ago dared one another to enter it while their mentors were distracted. When they emerged from it a couple of hours later, both tyros claimed that it was endless, winding into pitch black tunnels that varied from a gryphon’s wing-length to a dragon’s wingspan. The younger of the two, who had dared to travel further, was shaken for hours. When he started speaking again, he fearfully told the clan that he heard “howling” coming from within. No teams have been sent to find the source thanks to the Howling Pit being too dark to safely explore. 

One folk song comes from a long-since-passed gryphon who would stay for hours at the southernmost tip of Noctus writing songs. In the final moons of his life, he wrote a small tune that went like this:

Cast your eyes beyond the waves,
and there she will gleam:
a flickering flame who beckons you,
like something from a dream
Chase her light, and you will find
she shudders, and she dies
In this game of hide-and-seek
she you will never find!

When asked to explain, the gryphon had said it was written after he saw a distant light in the South and flew towards it. The moment he came to realize it was a small flame in a forest, however, it was extinguished. The gryphon turned back to Noctus in fear of getting lost, then died a few moons later. Nobody has seen it since.

Tyros beware, the southern beaches of Noctus are inhabited by deadly creatures of lore called sirens. While they prefer twoleg flesh over anything else, luring them close with mimicking music, the sirens will not hesitate to go after gryphons that are immune to their song. While younger gryphons are the primary target, this doesn’t mean older gryphons are safe – when they group up, the sirens can quickly overwhelm a clan’s worth of gryphons. These winged creatures travel in flocks numbering between ten and two-hundred sirens. Thanks to population control done by the RainKin, these numbers have dwindled cycle by cycle.

The Gulf of Shards is the sirens’ camp of choice with many of them making nests on the jagged boulders that rise above the waters. Some can be found on the sandy beaches. Their large eggs are a delicacy to those who dare snag one.

While all Kin have a connection to Andromeda, the RainKin are the closest to her thanks to their history. Though Fenmoon, her first moonspeaker, betrayed her trust, the rest of the RainKin did nothing wrong and have been assured that they have been forgiven; during the Conflict, they had no choice but to follow Fenmoon’s deceit. Many RainKin “repay her kindness” with examples being:

• The Moonlight Festival. On the first full moon of greenleaf, the RainKin gather flowers in the center of the clearing and celebrate. While most RainKin gryphons use this as an excuse to mingle, show off their collection, and gorge on food, more dedicated gryphons will spend this time in silence. Very dedicated gryphons will have their eyes closed or blindfolded for the entire festival. This is to symbolize the opposite of moonblinking and show dedication to Andromeda.

• Altars. A RainKin gryphon might have a small altar somewhere near or in their nest that contains items connected to Andromeda, including white flowers, stones, pearls, or other light-colored objects.

• Jewelry. Some gryphons will carve jewelry from wood or bone to look like a star or the moon, both symbols of Andromeda.

These acts don’t necessarily give the RainKin favoritism over the rest of the Kin - in fact, other gryphons from other Kin might do an altar or wear Andromeda jewelry themselves. It’s obvious, however, that the RainKin are the most dedicated to Andromeda.