rulers of riches
Early Griffins were a fierce and uncivilized race. They would live in the mountians, preying on all who passed. They would eat horses, and their riders. Their nests were lined with many golden treasures. Griffins loved gold, but they protected it most fiercly. The only ones that would venture to try and get the gold were the frail One-eyed people of the mountains, they would all have a grissly death.
Later in History they somehow aquired the power of speech and set up a entire Griffin kingdom underground. No one knows the language they spoke, or where they learned it from.
Griffin feathers have the power to cure blindness. The claw of an Griffin were thought to be effective medicine for just about any disease. They were made into cups, which would protect the drinker from poison.
To get a Griffin's claw?
A holy man must find a Griffin who is ill or hurt. He could cure the Griffin by his prayers and in return would be rewarded with a claw so that suffering human beings might likewise be cured.
