Taylor's Past
During the second half of his life, he was known to the humans as Seirket, literally: One Who Knows. His first name, his birth name, was a shrill shriek followed by a low churr and a short whistle. As there is no written or spoken equivalent, the name Seirket will be used throughout the background.
Seirket was born in a mountain aerie, among a thriving community of gryphons. The mountain range formed the border between two very different and warring civilizations, but most of the gryphons took very little note of this. They called the humans to the west People of Dreams, and the people to the east People of Thought.
The People of Dreams was a civilization ruled by mages. Magic was available for any who dared practice it. Human sacrifices were not uncommon, and the rule of law was weak. Mage battles in the streets were not uncommon, and innocents were often killed in the crossfire.
The People of Thought was a civilization ruled by clergy. Though magic did exist, it was a highly structured, and ritualistic type of magic. Apprentices were selected by existing mages, and all magic was monitored by the church which had very specific guidelines for acceptable and unacceptable magic. Slavery was common, the slaves always from 'lesser races', in short any sentient non-human.
Seirket was a fairly ordinary gryphon, of the osprey/albino lion variety. He spoke the languages of birds and beasts, he was a skilled hunter, and he liked shiny things. Most gryphons stole from crafting races and gathered hoards of bright baubles, and Seirket was no exception.
He was, however, somewhat unique in what he hoarded. Though he collected the usual gold and other bright metals, Seirket had a love for books. Any books. Cookbooks, kid's books, spell books, history books. It took time to learn to read, but the language of the People of Dreams was known among the Gryphons. With the aid of good eyesight, and a lot of spying, he picked up their written language. He also learned elvish and troll by befriending a member of the species and begging to be taught.
Needless to say, Seirket became somewhat of an encyclopedia of useless, and occasionally useful information.
Around the age of fifty, he found his mate, and they had three children, a twin boy and girl, and later a younger male. The youngest had a habit of getting into trouble, but was doted on by both parents, and got away with most of it. He also shared his father's love of books.
Tragedy hit Seirket while he was off visiting elvish friends (and attempting to get his claws on some new texts). His mate had taken their newly fledged youngest out hunting, in the territory of the People of Thought. The gryphons, after all, thought all the boundaries were people things, having little to do with them. And Seirket, who had never learned to read their language, didn't know that gryphons were one of the churches 'abominations'. A party of knights, on the way back from a border raid, shot down both his mate and his youngest child. Both were killed.
It should be noted here that gryphons mate for life, and they are a very long lived species. Not as long lived as dragons or elves, but significantly longer than say, humans. Faced with the idea of spending centuries alone, it could be said that Seirket went a bit mad.
He took to spending most of his time alone with his books, not visiting old friends, and neglecting his two surviving children. He muttered to himself, and rarely spoke.
And then he took to hunting humans. The People of Thought made regular raids on their neighbors, usually with only small units of men. And Seirket was already adept in spying on humans. Killing them came easily, and while he'd never killed sapient beings before, he felt very little guilt. They'd destroyed his life.
It happened, years into his new habits, that the humans he'd been stalking found prey of their own. A mage of the People of Dreams, out alone on a quest. The man, also an abomination by the standards of the church, was surrounded and out numbered. Despite his magical skills, he would have certainly died if Seirket hadn't intervened. But he did.
After killing the knights Seirket decided to speak to the young mage. Though a bit insane, he was still as curious as ever. They spoke at length, and he learned the mage was still young, and only just reaching the point in his powers where he needed a familiar. His name was Ileth.
Ileth reminded Seirket of his lost son. He had the same easy likeability, and spark of mischief too him. He announced, after some consideration, that he would be Ileth's familiar.
Ileth was understandably shocked, but overjoyed. He'd been expecting to attract, if he got lucky, a wolf or a mountain cat. Certainly not a fellow sentient with considerable knowledge. The bonding was performed, and Seirket gained a new marking, a stylized sun with a quill in the center, on his left leg.
The bonding allowed Seirket a portion of Ileth's power, and granted Ileth the ability to understand the speech of beasts. Seirket gained the ability to channel and augment Ileth's power, improving the mage's standing among his peers.
Seirket spent thirty two years working with Ileth. He never quite understood human society, but he fought in the wars at Ileth's side, because he loved the mage, if not everything he stood for. Besides, it allowed him to kill some of the People of Thought, and he was always willing to continue to avenge his mate.
Their bond ended in battle, as it had started. Out patrolling the borders, and just about to end their shift, they were ambushed by a group of twelve soldiers, with a mage in their ranks. Ileth was already worn out from the days fighting and Seirket not much better.
He took down five men in the protection of his mage, but was caught by a spell the opposing mage cast. He died by magefire, stunned and unable to do anything but burn. The knowledge that he'd lost, that there still seven men left to take Ileth down, was clear in his mind as he burned. He'd lost again, as he'd lost his mate and his youngest.
Seirket died in guilt.
((This will be edited to fit with certain necissary meta plot related changes.))
