Kingdom of Phryconia

The Kingdom of Phryconia is one of the great nations of Ceal, and the undisputed home of the Gryphs. Though the Gryphs openly welcome all other species, this country is clearly made by Gryphs for Gryphs, which is especially noticeable in the infrastructure. Since all Gryphs are capable of flight, Phryconia has virtually no roads and no forms of transportation other than flight. As such, earthbound creatures may find it difficult to travel in Phryconia.

## Geography and History

Phryconia is located on the mountainous continent of Eknaria, which was left largely unsettled prior to the emergence of the Gryphs due to its poor accessibility and harsh conditions. However, when the Gryphs emerged, they soon found that Eknaria provided the ideal conditions for their adventurous and fast-living dispositions, and were only to happy to live there. The high mountain peaks were ideal for the Stormwinds, the jagged coastal cliffs with their treacherous waters full of fish were a paradise to the Islefliers, the Charcliffs found ideal homes in the volcanic reaches of Eknaria, and the Earthcradles were drawn to the spacious caverns gaping at the sides of mountains.

As a result, more and more Gryphs flocked to Eknaria over the decades, forming larger and larger flocks that occasionally got into conflicts. However, it was not until over a thousand years later that the Kingdom of Phryconia was formed. Until that time, the Gryphs had been mostly content with their dynamic way of living, which included flocks forming and disbanding every couple of years or so.

All of that, however, ended with the Genocide War. It was in this bloody conflict that the Gryphs at first took a stand with the Wel in order to overthrow the dominance of the Dragons and Draykin. However, eventually, and just like the Dragons, they got appalled by the increasingly violent turn the conflict was taking, and decided to withdraw from it as an united front. This was the first time in the history of Ceal that a significant majority of Gryphs agreed to one thing, and feeling the need to present an united front, they officially founded the Kingdom of Phryconia.

## Society

Society in the Kingdom of Phryconia is pretty loosely organized and not at all formal. The entire Kingdom is more or less a playground for adventurers and people doing whatever they like, so long as what they're doing is not bad enough to cause others to band together and put a stop to it. It's pretty much a giant, rocky playground of "play rough" types, each trying to enjoy life to their fullest. It works to the Gryphs' advantage that all of them are, essentially, good natured and won't beat up others more than they need to, but all in all, Phryconia is not exactly the most peaceful place to live in.

## Government

Officially, Phryconia is a hereditary monarchy.

However, in effect, any Gryph who has managed to make a name for him or herself can challenge the current ruler for the crown, and take over the office with minimal formalities. Depending on the personalities of ruler and challenger, these fights may or may not be to the death. The effect of this is that the ruler of Phryconia changes every few years or so.

Once in office, the king's or queen's authority is supreme, and they can do more or less whatever they like. However, most rulers are actually quite reasonable with their powers and dedicate a significant amount of time to training rather to ruling, both in order to extend the duration of their reign as long as possible. After all, unhappy subjects are more likely to challenge their current ruler than happy ones.

In the unlikely case that a ruler actually dies prior to being overthrown, one of their children takes over the crown. Which one is naturally determined by battle.