Gryph

A gryph was a species of small parasitoid bird with four legs, deadly beaks, and low animalistic intelligence.
==Description==
Gryphs were small eagle-sized birds with four legs. Occasionally, specimens with six or eight legs had been encountered. Gryphs had powerful jaws and razor-sharp beaks.
==Combat==
Gryphs usually attacked by biting, darting with high speed from up high, usually from shaded cavern ceilings. Egg-bearing female gryphs attempted to grapple their prey with their legs when attacking in order to inject their eggs into the wounds. These egg-laying attacks were not made with the gryph's beak but via a thin tube that darted out of its abdomen, penetrating the skin but being virtually painless.
==Ecology==
These birds were often solitary creatures, with packs of three or more being more rare. In groups, one gryph was usually a female, with a one-in-three chance of that female being of egg-laying age. When a female successfully bit into a victim, she injected them with the eggs. The eggs were tiny in size and were introduced into the prey's bloodstream to be incubated. The eggs hatched within one to three days, killing the host in the process. While a single clutch consisted of many eggs, only between one and four survived to new birds.
Victims who were infected with the birds' eggs felt minor discomfort and swelling of the abdomen. Eventually, the discomfort grew into pain and turned into agony as the birds were ready to be hatched.
The victim's life could be saved though the cure disease or dispel evil spells, which must be cast before the hatching.
==History==
In the second part of the 14 century DR, a single six-legged gryph was found inhabiting the abandoned Hinton Ampner mansion that stood upriver from the city of Ravens Bluff. The creature inhabited the manse's guest room, having flown in through an open window.
==Appendix==
===See Also===
*Stirge
===Appearances===
===References===
Category:Creatures with animal intelligence
Category:Birds
Category:Carnivorous creatures
Category:Parasites
Category:Year of Manuscripts