Hippogriff

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Hippogriff

(Creature)

Common

Large

Animal

Level

2

Adjective

Hippogriff

Images of hippogriffs

Source: Monster Core, pg(s). 197

Legacy 2E: Bestiary 2 143 additionally had

N

.

Type

Magical beast

CR

2

Environment

Temperate hills or plains

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Images of hippogriffs

Source: Bestiary 2, pg(s). 156

Ⅰ

Ⅱ

A hippogriff is a generally aggressive flying creature with the hindquarters of a horse and the clawed forelegs, wings, and head of a large raptor bird.

Appearance

Most hippogriffs' feathers have the coloration of hawks or eagles, while others have been bred to be all white or coal-black. Their hindquarters are generally bay, chestnut, or gray, although palamino or pinto hippogriffs are not uncommon. Hippogriffs tend to be around 11 feet in length and weigh upwards of 1,500 pounds.

Ecology and habitat

Horses are ironically (because they are part-horse themselves) among hippogriff's preferred foods, which has led to speculation that they were intentionally designed this way via magic. Also like horses, hippogriff must keep an eye on the skies above them as they are the preferred prey of griffons and wyverns, with only their superior speeds saving them from attacks.

Hippogriffs typically prefer living in sweeping grasslands, rolling hills, and prairies, though some tougher specimens nest in niches on canyon walls and hunt the nearby rocky deserts for prey of coyotes, deer, and sometimes humanoids. Hippogriffs are very territorial and protective of their claimed land.

Hippogriff prefer eating mammals, and graze after every meal to help with the digestion.

Hippogriff lay clutches of a single egg, which is sought after by both would-be trainers and opportunists

On Golarion

A hippogriff-mounted Sable Company marine.

The hippogriff is the mascot of Korvosa and they are employed as mounts for the city's Sable Company, where they are stabled in an aerie located on the top three floors of Castle Korvosa's Great Tower. The Galloping Ghost shop in Korvosa, and its leathersmith Patch, crafts and sells hippogriff tack and barding.

Wild hippogriffs, some of them escaped or stolen from the Sable Company's stables, also roost in parts of the city. Wild hippogriffs also live in and near the Kortos Mounts of the Isle of Kortos. The Shriikirri-Quah Shoanti venerate hippogriffs as one of their totems.

Other communities have trained them from hatchlings as mounts of elite soldiers. The difficulty of training adult hippogriffs in the same way is higher so egg snatching is commonly practiced. Hippogriff riders require special saddles and combat riding techniques as to work together in sync and not interfere with their mount's flapping.

Further south in Absalom, the Blakros Museum's Hall of Legendary Beasts exhibit includes a taxidermied hippogriff. The Pashman region of the desert kingdom of Qadira is also home to numerous hippogriffs.

As hippogriffs are dangerous to ranchers and livestock, communities often put up bounties on the animal, resulting in preserved remains being commonly displayed at frontier taverns and outposts like other commonly taxidermied game animals.

A Hippogriff Feather spell catalyst, is tawny-colored and can be up to 2 feet long. It is used to modify the ghostly carrier spell, granting its semicorporeal wings, increasing it range and maneuverability.

Beyond Golarion

The celestial hippogriff Cobblehoof serves Abadar. Priests of Abadar can also summon hippogriffs.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.