A Game of Flight

Long ago, the land of Gryphonia was changed forever by the God of Chaos, Discord. He placed upon it an affliction of Seasons. Ever since that time, summers and winters became longer, some lasting a decade, and autumn and spring became almost non-existent, even as the rest of the world changed around it.

The gryphons that live in this cursed land have learned to adapt. In the North, where even summers bring snow; castles, keeps, and aeries are built over hot springs and volcanic vents, and great swathes are cut into the forests for firewood that is traded all over the Five Kingdoms. In the South furs are collected, traded, and hoarded during the summer years.

For the South, summers a hot and humid, and ice is imported from the North to cool baths and keep food from rotting. In the North, summers are still relatively cold, with summer snows not being uncommon.

Gryphons in the East and West are treated with temperate winters and summers, almost like spring or an autumn, but not quite. They still require the commodities provided by the North and South, but in their state of transience they have things neither of the others have, including rare herbs, spices, and flowers which are shipped both within the Gryphonian borders and out into Equestria and the rest of the world.

Gryphonia is split into four distinct kingdoms, each one led by it’s own royal family. The four kingdoms divide the land in the four cardinal directions, North, South, East, and West, leaving space in the middle for another kingdom, the Seat of the Emperor. The Seat is the central government of Gryphonia, from which the Emperor rules the four kingdoms. While the Seat is the body of the government, where universal laws for all five of the kingdoms are made and passed, each of the other four kingdoms are self-reliant and rarely receive interference from the Seat. However, when a time of war is upon the kingdoms, the Seat calls upon the four kingdoms to put up a unified front of defense. Conversely, for inter-kingdom warfare, the Seat acts as an independent party, never interfering unless it is directly attacked.

The role of Emperor is held by one gryphon for life. However, the children of the Emperor do not take over when he or she dies, except under special circumstances. When an Emperor dies, Gryphonia falls into a period of anarchy, with one or more family trying to take control of the Seat while the current ruling family tries to fight them off. During these times a lesser family may try to make a name for itself by expanding it's territory and influence while other families may be at war. Success in either endeavor will earn the family great wealth and prestige, while failure may result in complete extermination of the offending family. Sometimes it can take up to a year for a new Emperor to be chosen. In some very rare cases, the transition is more peaceful, and the greater houses vote for a new Emperor from the candidates put forth by the current ruling family.

The role of the Equestrian government in present-day Gryphonia is that of an older brother, keeping an eye on it’s younger sibling but not getting involved in its affairs in order to save face with it’s friends and to keep the younger one independent. The Seat’s position on the matters of the Equestrian government is the same as any neighboring governments'; they keep the peace through negotiations, and the Emperor sits on the Council of Nations led by Equestria's crown-princess Celestia.

Our story starts in the dead of winter, in the North, during a time of peace and prosperity for the five kingdoms.