Hippogriff's Avenging Daughter

As we all know, King Griffin feuded with his fellow light gods over the treatment of his favourite child, Hippogriff. She had been an ally to Splendid Yamsur, eldest son of Yelm, who used to be called "The Victorious." Now, Splendid Yamsur and Hippogriff had sworn solemn oaths of friendship, but in several great battles of Godtime, Hippogriff was abandoned by her so-called friend, who was not called "The Victorious" afterwards.

Hippogriff underwent a series of painful and humiliating experiences during the War of the Gods and the Great Darkness. First she met Storm Bull in raging battle and her proud fangs were broken out of her mouth so she could no longer bite. In a fight with Maran Gor, the Earthshaker, Hippogriff's legs were broken and her bronze claws were ripped from her feet, but Yamsur was able to replace her feet with hooves. The greatest sore was when Zorak Zoran tore off her golden wings, laughing as he robbed her of ever returning to the sky. But most humiliating was when this once great godling was taken and broken by a mortal, Hyalor Horsebreaker.

He claimed to be freeing Hippogriff's crippled spirit from death, and said he wished to make an alliance with her. He rescued her by changing her name and her identity. Even so, man got the better of the bargain. She was called Hippoi, or simply horse. Ever since then her descendants have worked far more for man than man has worked for the horse.

But very few people know the story of Hippogriff's Avenging Daughter. This goddess was born in the Great Darkness, before Hippogriff had encountered Hyalor Horsebreaker. She suffered all the wounds of her divine mother, and was born fangless and hooved and wingless, but she had not yet been tamed. The Avenging Daughter set forth to confront and defeat those opponents who had torn and mutilated her mother, bringing divine vengeance and retribution upon them. As reparations for the wounds her mother had suffered, she wrested away the most prized powers of her assailants.

When the Avenging Daughter encountered Storm Bull, she stole away a part of his hot, foul-stinking breath. When she confronted Maran Gor, she partook of that goddess's earth-shaking bulk. And when she wrestled with Zorak Zoran, she robbed him of his thick, black troll-hide that was impervious to harm. And by doing this she became a different manner of creature altogether: one thick-skinned and ponderous, able to hold its breath, with massive teeth and feet, adapted not for the air but for the water. The Avenging Daughter of Hippogriff took on a new name: thenceforth she was called Hippo, though the priests of her cult know her secret name of "Hippo Potamus." And her descendants have never been broken or made to work for man: they frolic freely in the muddy rivers of Esrolia, children of the Avenging Daughter of Hippogriff.

The first three paragraphs of this story are copied directly from Greg Stafford's "The Tale of the Horse", which you can find in Wyrms Footprints, p.61.

Glorantha, HeroQuest, Hero Wars, and Issaries are trademarks of Issaries, Inc. The contents of this page are copyright by Nick Brooke , 2001; any material derived from Greg Stafford's world of Glorantha is also copyright by Greg Stafford. Glorantha is the creation of Greg Stafford, and is used with his permission.