Arimispia

Ruler: The island is administered by the An-Mainya of the Gryphons, from the ancient Eyrie of Tysteres on Desnia.

Capital: The largest eyrie is Gemar on the southern sweep of the island.

Population: 18,000

Races: Gryphons (100%). No others are known to live here.

Government: The island is a protectorate of the An-Mainya of the Gryphons. The An-Mainyas of the two Eyries owe fealty to the Mainya of the ancient Desnian Eyrie of Tysteres.

Religion: The Island's Gryphons are animists.

Major Towns: Piremor is the other major Eyrie, on the north sweep of the island.

Provinces: For administrative reasons, the island is divided into two provinces, known as the protectorate of Gemar (south) and the protectorate of Piremor (north)

Enemies/Allies: The island is a safe haven for the Gryphons. The southernmost of the eastern isles, Arimispia is closed to the Elves. A few small fishermen's havens are allowed, and the occasional elvish mystic seeking solitude for contemplation is sometimes tolerated. But this land belongs to the Gryphons, and the Gryphons will not accept any challenge here.

The isle of Arimispia is in actuality almost two smaller isles. It is formed of two larger landmasses linked by a long peninsula. The waters around the peninsula are very shallow, and at low tide a traveler can walk out across the bay on foot and look on the sunken fields and forests, lost under the water.

The isle is similar to the other isles; it is mountainous wild and unkempt and prone to extremes of temperature found nowhere else on Cyradon. The isle is pristine, primeval and wild. Wild herds of deer, boards and bison roam the pasturelands on the west, leeward, side of the isle. The circle of life is well balanced: the herds are regulated to prevent them overgrazing, or over breeding. The Gryphons only hunt the food they need. Other predators, including wolves, are left alone to hunt naturally.

The western part of the isle is a plain, broken only by low granite hills, and small forests. The prevailing wind is from the east, so the mountains shelter the western lands from the worst of the weather. The eastern side is also a plain, but it is far rockier and more broken. Gales howl constantly out of the ocean and blast against the rocky shore. The land here is heavily forested, with oak and beech in the lowlands, and pines further inland on the mountainsides. The wind is so strong that the shoreline is covered in crippled, stunted oaks, no more than a dozen feet high, at most, which form an almost impenetrable maze of branches and brambles.

Curiously, though the isle is the ancestral home of the royal Arimispian line of the Gryphons, the Tysteres Eyrie, the Gryphon High King's throne eyrie is not on this isle; it is on Desnia. But to the Gryphons, Desnia and Arimispia are but one territory, ruled by the High King. Gryphons wishing to approach their high king must make the long and arduous journey across the straits and request and audience. Though the Arimispians are more likely to indulge in pomp and ceremony than any other tribe, the mere fact that a Gryphon would take the trouble to brave the winds of the straits is enough to make the High King grant an audience. Behind the formality, Gryphon egalitarianism remains intact.

The isle is home to the Gryphon Eyrie of Piremor, a smaller town than the Ancient Eyrie, but still impressive. The Eyrie overlooks the sheltered western forest, and is home to the Whitewings, the sea eagle featured Gryphons who hunt and fish the wild seas of the ocean.

Further south, on the southernmost shore (said to be the southernmost place in Cyradon). Gemar is the place where the Gryphons farmers and vintners make much of the wine, juice and produce which the Gryphons of the other eyries consume (and indeed, trade with the elvish realms such as Desnia and Janieal). The eyrie sits in a sheltered river valley, a few miles from the southern shore. In the valley, the Gryphons grow vines for their wines and trees for their apples. Further inland, to the northeast, the Gryphons maintain vast fields under cultivation.

#4300 Cyradon, pages 56-57