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Description

No matter how graceful a name gryphons can have, there is always a bad apple lurking among them. The worst as well as the best can be found in them, and for the devilish one known as Druet, there is nothing better to him than showing his dark side.

Behind Druet’s beautiful plumage lies a secret, that being his former existence as a young human wizard attending a magic academy. Unable to take being constantly outclassed and bullied by other students any longer, he ran off into the night to cast himself far away from society. So far away, and taking such an outlandish route that no subsequent search party would ever find him.

Years of misanthropy and living in a ramshackle hut passed, causing Druet to become increasingly erratic and paranoid. Any and all people venturing in the woods steered clear of this strange man. One day, whilst taking his frustrations out on a tree, a pine cone fell and struck his head, giving him a clear outlook on two parts of himself; his madness was making him miserable, and he could not let go of his strong prejudice against creatures besides humans; the gryphons and dragons he saw in the sky every day, living the free-spirited lives he could never truly have. Feeling like he is wasting his life away in his current state, Druet decided to craft his first potion in a long time to keep himself young for a few years to try and get some of that life back, and to feel human again. Part of the potion involved blood from a gryphon he managed to kill, believing that by consuming its blood, his resentment towards them would be neutralised. Druet drank the potion, but due to the strength of gryphon blood, it overrode everything in the potion and transformed the wizard into a gryphon, permanently. The same one that he ambushed whilst it was feeding, no less.

Outraged at first, and demolishing his hut in the process, Druet began to come to terms with his new life as a gryphon when he realised his newfound capabilities. His red and black feathers and fur did have an attractive looking flair, after all. Perhaps people would admire them? Maybe even the same people who tormented him? The thought of that made him lick his mandibles...

Druet lives his life as a charmer, and a highly cunning one at that. While he is certainly capable of preying on usual gryphon prey, he most enjoys his encounters with humans in remote locations far from society. Once belittled by them, Druet relishes being able to devour people with his sharp beak now that he's stronger, in revenge for how he was treated as a wizard. People become enthralled by his plumage, enticed to have a closer look when Druet employs his slick and seductive personality, carefully acted so as not to arouse suspicion. As handsome as one may find him, that’s all part of his plan for an all too easily-gained meal. God save you if he ever finds you out in the open and all by yourself, for none of his victims live to spread the word of his doings.

He has even attacked other gryphons in the past, wounding them to taste their blood or eating their feathers to add to his shapeshifting ability. This lingering magical property allows for Druet to temporarily alter his appearance as a disguise after consuming humans.

A lot of people wonder about the same legend: "Whatever came of him? The old man in the forest who mysteriously disappeared one day? His hut was in pieces, yet he was never found.” The legend of him will live on for as long as Druet never gives his name away…

Artwork © Clownya (posted with permission)
Original character © Regno_Works

Description

No matter how graceful a name gryphons can have, there is always a bad apple lurking among them. The worst as well as the best can be found in them, and for the devilish one known as Druet, there is nothing better to him than showing his dark side.

Behind Druet’s beautiful plumage lies a secret, that being his former existence as a young human wizard attending a magic academy. Unable to take being constantly outclassed and bullied by other students any longer, he ran off into the night to cast himself far away from society. So far away, and taking such an outlandish route that no subsequent search party would ever find him.

Years of misanthropy and living in a ramshackle hut passed, causing Druet to become increasingly erratic and paranoid. Any and all people venturing in the woods steered clear of this strange man. One day, whilst taking his frustrations out on a tree, a pine cone fell and struck his head, giving him a clear outlook on two parts of himself; his madness was making him miserable, and he could not let go of his strong prejudice against creatures besides humans; the gryphons and dragons he saw in the sky every day, living the free-spirited lives he could never truly have. Feeling like he is wasting his life away in his current state, Druet decided to craft his first potion in a long time to keep himself young for a few years to try and get some of that life back, and to feel human again. Part of the potion involved blood from a gryphon he managed to kill, believing that by consuming its blood, his resentment towards them would be neutralised. Druet drank the potion, but due to the strength of gryphon blood, it overrode everything in the potion and transformed the wizard into a gryphon, permanently. The same one that he ambushed whilst it was feeding, no less.

Outraged at first, and demolishing his hut in the process, Druet began to come to terms with his new life as a gryphon when he realised his newfound capabilities. His red and black feathers and fur did have an attractive looking flair, after all. Perhaps people would admire them? Maybe even the same people who tormented him? The thought of that made him lick his mandibles...

Druet lives his life as a charmer, and a highly cunning one at that. While he is certainly capable of preying on usual gryphon prey, he most enjoys his encounters with humans in remote locations far from society. Once belittled by them, Druet relishes being able to devour people with his sharp beak now that he's stronger, in revenge for how he was treated as a wizard. People become enthralled by his plumage, enticed to have a closer look when Druet employs his slick and seductive personality, carefully acted so as not to arouse suspicion. As handsome as one may find him, that’s all part of his plan for an all too easily-gained meal. God save you if he ever finds you out in the open and all by yourself, for none of his victims live to spread the word of his doings.

He has even attacked other gryphons in the past, wounding them to taste their blood or eating their feathers to add to his shapeshifting ability. This lingering magical property allows for Druet to temporarily alter his appearance as a disguise after consuming humans.

A lot of people wonder about the same legend: "Whatever came of him? The old man in the forest who mysteriously disappeared one day? His hut was in pieces, yet he was never found.” The legend of him will live on for as long as Druet never gives his name away…

Artwork © Clownya (posted with permission)
Original character © Regno_Works