You climb the steep rock steps, noticing their smoothness from many feet climbing them in the past. A cool breeze blows and you hear a grumbling up ahead. Voices!

"Move over Dathien!"

There is much scrambling over small pebbles as a creature ahead shifts. You climb as few steps more and here a sigh and more low words, heavily accented with sleep. "If onl' you two 'ould stop fi-ighting!"

The first voice, one that you decide is female, returns, sounding almost sleepy. "We'd be asleep by now if you'd stop complaining about us complaining."

You round a corner of rock and at last view the scene. Three gryphons lay in front of three caves, sprawled out across the rock. You don't even stand as high as the humps of their backs - and they're laying down! The huge creatures wriggle down into the rock, trying to get comfortable. A black and white one bucks slightly in its sleep, unknowingly clawing the large yellow one beside it. The yellow one screeches and jumps, slamming head on into the side of the thrid, red gryphon. The pile of sleepy cretures just stops, dazed, staring directly at you as if you'd caused the sudden melee. You swallow hard and feel you heart start to pick up speed.

"Little one?" A large red male approaches slowly, sniffing at you from a distance. "What are you doing here? We were told we'd be left alone! 'Tis all but hybernating time." He sniffs deeply, now right overtop of you and 50 times you size. You start to shake. and he notices. "Oh! Little one, I'm sorry to scare you! We just weren't expecting anyone." You haven't been able to get a word in edge-wise, and start to speak, but the yellow female cuts you off.

"Move out of the way Dao! Hello, little Human. *I* am Nydialla, the prime female of our tiny clan." She extends a claw bigger than your arm and you shake it warily, still stunned. "We are very new here, recently grown to adulthood and discovered by Azrielen on a trip in the mountains of the Gatathla Hudansta Range. She brought us here and had these lovely cliffs huen for us from the rock of this mountain! We've dubbed them the Hudansta Cliffs for obvious reasons. Allow me to introdce you to us all, formally, and so then you can be on your way and we can begin our hybernation cycle. I wouldn't want to be rude, after all!" She stares pointedly at the two males behind her...

...first introduncing, the large, sleep black and white male. "This is Jerigorien. He's the secondary male in the herd - *not* my mate, though he pines constantly...how degrading." The gryphon just rolls his eyes and snuggles into a ball, asleep again. "The loaf of a red gryphon over there is Daothien, my mate. Don't tell him, but I kinda like him..." Doathien is oblivious to the conversation and Nydialla gives an evil grin. "We are the Hudansta gryphons...very new to this place. We hope you come back, maybe after we've had our hybernation for several weeks. By then, *these* two will be far less grumpy! Bye, now!" She settles back, closer to Daothien than Jerigorien, and promptly snores alongside the other two. How rude, you think, as you head back down the rough stairs...