Lore:Wing of the Gryphon

Wing of the Gryphon
Type	Plane
Realm	Aurbis
Appears in	ESO

Wing of the Gryphon

The Wing of the Gryphon is a pocket realm belonging to the Luminary Gryphon. It was shaped and hewn into being in the same way he chose his form. The reason for the realm's formation was unknown, though the Luminary Indrik theorized that the realms of the Luminaries had formed due to the wisdom of Aetherius, which did not wish for the Luminaries to be both alone and wandering.

The realm resembles a snowy mountaintop, with an imposing castle looming in the background. As with the realms of all Luminaries, it had a warded door and a key which one had to use to enter it.

History

Creation

The realm is as old as the Gryphon, created at the time of his birth. It was formed at some point after the creation of the Wing of the Indrik, but before the creation of the Wing of the Netch.

Birth of Scribing

The door to the Wing of the Gryphon

At some point after 1E 2250, when Ulfsild had already located the Wing of the Indrik, she'd also encounter the Gryphon. Ulfsild was studying in the Scholarium, beneath the island of Eyevea. As she was reflecting on a childhood memory, a fox stole her faerite gem and darted through a wall, leading her to stumble into a snow drift and into the realm of the Gryphon. Saved by the Gryphon's protective instincts, Ulfsild came to understand that both the Fox and Gryphon were playful and nurturing creatures, akin to a mischievous child and its protective parent. She observed the fox playing with her faerite and later found herself waking up warmly sheltered under the gryphon's wings.

Before the doors to their wings were sealed, the Luminaries, including the Gryphon, fed the altar their strength. With their strength fueling it, the altar could achieve incredible feats of magic, allowing it to "shape the very heart of magic itself" and translate its very essence into mortal hands with the Luminary as the intermediary, thereby changing, or rewriting, both the magic and the mortal, as the practicioner scrawled their soul upon the page. The power of the Gryphon himself caused new Ley Line activity across Tamriel, causing new Focus Scripts to appear across the land. Eventually, the Scholarium was lost along with Eyevea, transported to the Shivering Isles due to a bargain Shalidor made with the Daedric Prince Sheogorath in exchange for the Folium Discognitum. Enraged at the loss of the island, the Gryphon prepared himself to challenge Sheogorath himself for it. However, Ulfsild, knowing that even the power of a Luminary was no match for that of a Daedric Prince and that the discovery of the Luminaries by Sheogorath would be disastrous, confronted the Gryphon first. Ulfsild froze the Gryphon in a tempest of frost and ice and tied the magic to a ward she left behind, preventing him from confronting Sheogorath. Despite his imprisonment, the Fox would speak to him daily..

With the doors closed, the altar became dormant. Without that beating heart, the mastery of Scribing was believed to stagnate. The Scholarium itself was not discovered, however, for it had been warded against mages, Princes, and powers, long ago, and those defenses held strong even in the Shivering Isles.

Rediscovery of Scribing

The Gryphon, sealed by Ulfsild's magic

The Gryphon and the Fox

In 2E 582, either before or after Eyevea was returned to Tamriel by Shalidor and the Mages Guild, the Scholarium was rediscovered by a group of knights from the Order of the Lamp. During their arrival, complications arose, necessitating the sealing of the doors to prevent a catastrophe, as the once dormant altar became unstable, threatening the lives of everyone present. The disaster was prevented due to the intervention of the Vestige, who replaced the unstable focusing crystal. This also prevented the discovery of the Scholarium by Sheogorath, an event which would've been catastrophic.

After the magic was calmed, the Scholarium's caretaker, the Luminary Crow, directed the Vestige to seek out the other Luminaries and gain their support in order to return their strength to the altar. An act equated to inheriting Ulfsild's legacy and leaving a mark on spellcraft itself.

The Inheritor of the Scholarium retraced Ulfsild's footsteps, discovering the fable and keys, breaking the wards, and entering the Wing of the Gryphon to reconnect the Scholarium with it. Upon being freed, the Gryphon gave the Inheritor a series of trials meant to make them contemplate what it takes to protect, to shield those who do not have the strength to defend themselves, right what has gone wrong, and stand against injustice. The Gryphon tasked the Inheritor to combat the Worm Cult and powerful liches such as the Mad Architect, Caluurion and Nerien'eth, retrieve shards of Aetherius that could prove dangerous in the wrong hands, and achieve clever redistribution of wealth by carrying out Thieves Guild heists.

With these tasks completed, the Gryphon gave the Inheritor their final trial. The Vestige was tasked to steal Chaotic Creatia from Evergloam, the Deadlands, and Apocrypha with the aid of the Fox and the True Sight Lens left by Ulfsild. The Gryphon used this untamed power of the Daedric Princes to finally bring to life the construct guardians he'd planned to create with Ulfsild, ensuring the Scholarium would always be guarded even when his own gaze was not upon it. The animated constructs were a success, so powerful that magicka practically radiated off of them, it was said that even Vanus Galerion would be jealous of such creations.

With his trials completed, the Gryphon granted the Sigil of the Gryphon to the Inheritor. Placed at the altar, the Sigil restored the connection between the realm of the Gryphon and the Scholarium, and the Gryphon's strength flowed into the altar once more. This reconnection led to the great power of the Gryphon causing new Ley Line activity across Tamriel, thus making new Focus Scripts appear across the land. With the Scholarium now protected, the Gryphon was eager to resume his patrol of the skies.

Fable of the Gryphon

The Fable of the Gryphon

The Fable of the Gryphon tells the story of Zariah and the talking fox Gray, who sought to steal the treasure of the Luminary Gryphon and blame the theft on Nocturnal. Their scheme was overheard by Crow Daedra, messengers of Nocturnal, who hunted the thieves. Zariah and Gray evaded the crows and Nocturnal's shadows and gathered the three pieces of the Gryphon's treasure from Riften, from beneath Forelhost and from a tomb in the shadow of Hrothgar. Finally the duo were confronted by the Gryphon, who was doubtful that Nocturnal would steal his treasure as she didn't know him. As the shadows and crows closed in and Zariah attempted futilely to fight them off, a desperate Gray revealed the truth. He was originally Nocturnal's pet who had escaped, and she sought to take him back to the Evergloam. They'd sought the Gryphon's treasure only as the means to live a life where they no longer had to run ,and would return it and more in exchange for protection.

The Gryphon deemed Zariah, courageous and loyal, worthy of his power, he raked his claws through the shadows, and granted her powerful magic. The Gryphon opened the gate to his realm and moved to allow the duo through, but it was too late for both to be saved. As the shadows closed in Zariah used the power the Gryphon had granted her to conjure a tunnel of starlight that pushed back the dark so Gray could slip through, and to than seal the gate behind him. Though safe in the Gryphon's domain, Gray keened and clawed at the door for his friend until his paws bled.

See Also

• For game-specific information, see the Elder Scrolls Online article.