Who Needs Harmony?: An MLP Empire Quest

[jwolfe_beta]

Well this should be an interesting quest. A nation of (comparatively considering they can somehow fly under their own power etc) muggles amidst nations of magic users.
Though:

Muggles: Griffons are one of the only races that are utterly incapable of using magic in any way. They can use objects that have been enchanted by others, but that's about it.

Click to shrink...

In regards to this, as I recall in the MLP-verse there are numerous magical plants, animals and even minerals. Could griffins use them as a basis for alchemy, potion-making etc etc since while the griffins don't have magic, the ingredients do?

As a tax/bonus here are some images that I ran across that could be useful:

Spoiler: Lightly armored griffin

Link

Spoiler: MLP-style griffin swordswoman

Link

Spoiler: Imperial Griffin

Link

Spoiler: Battle aftermath

Link

 

[Star]

Some Griffin pictures.

Spoiler: Griffin warriors

 

[Questor]

Map of Griffon Lands

A rather simplistic map that will give you a general idea of the three major factions. Feathersian city-states are not marked for simplicity's sake and due to software limitations. I used Azgaar's Fantasy Map Generator, if you're curious.

 

[Star]

More Griffon pics!

Spoiler: Griffon family

Spoiler: Griffons at the bar

Spoiler: Ponies vs Griffons

Spoiler: Griffons vs Dragons

 

[Coshiua]

Who Needs Harmony?: Fan Art
Garrick Golden-Feather

 

[Fullyautomagic]

Some more fanart from me. This time of Garrick in armor. ^-^

Spoiler

 

[ChaosTheVoid]

I made this. I incorporated elements of Richard the Lionheart's crusading crown helmet and elements of the Royal Armor pic on the profile. Tell me if you want any changes such as his face feather colors. I left it default white because i wasn't sure how Garrick is colored.

Spoiler: Picture

 

[Questor]

I reworked the map a little. Combined the provinces, tweaked the shape of the land masses, added some rivers, tried to make it look a little more "lifelike". Let me know what you think.
Map of Griffon Lands Turn 8

 

[Easter]

So I got bored and made some flag variations for our little kingdom if anyone wants to look at them.

Spoiler: Flags

Just to note I made these with an app and am no artist so I cant really make changes out of changing the color, using a selection of symbols, and some other things




Symbolism(based on the griffins point of view)
Grey- Our races practicality and durability
Red-The sacrifices made by our people to get to this point
Black-The death and disaster that surrounds our people and the determination to see through it to the end.
Gold-The hope that Griffins had always for a better future, Ingenuity, (future) wealth, and the heroism that occurred to get to this point.

 

[Firebringer2077]

Ok... Now I preface this by saying the following. The flag is indicative of the times it is found in, while technologically we are pushing in parts the early 19th century, our flags and political structures we encounter are usually from the 15th century. Also it's important to note that we are a young reforged Empire, which unified... with most of the blood shed being Brochard's. As such... a Flag in this sense is probably closer to a very complicated heraldric banner...

Spoiler: First Flag of the Gryphus Empire

The Left third is indicative of the contributions of the Feathrisian League, and more importantly the work of our father in law. The fact that the banner wound up more emulating his domain than others is entirely coincidental and has nothing to do with a bet between himself and the Emperor.

The middle third is indicative of the Kingdom of Griffonia, our home kingdom. I took some elements from the earlier flag design and expanded them for this (Those flags could very well have been Griffonia's flag). The Griffon on top is probably in our character's royal arms indicating his House ruling as Emperor, but I added the paw prints to indicate that the Diamond Dogs consider us Alpha. Also a not so unsubtle reminder that the Dogs consider US alpha not necessarily the other two components of the empire.

The last one gave me pause but I figured simple was better. Brochard was our evil king... well evil Griffin King. So his flag was Black and Red. The fact that the victorious armies stamped a bright Gold "X" on the middle, indicates just how much the Empire has invested and put into bringing them up to the rest of the Empire's standards.

I imagine that until Sombra was found, the armies carried all three banners into battle. With Imperial soldiers, three of them always standing at attention holding them in the proper arrangement.

Ultimately... This is a flag made by a young Empire compromising, a young one that has not yet been tested in the crucible of war, where a unified Griffon Identity is forged against an external threat.

I do have an idea for a Post-War flag but I'll sit on it for now I think. But it will be a unified banner, and not segmented like the current banner

EDIT: keep forgetting this @Questor