Keythong (kee-thaw-ng)

Keythong

Keythongs were male griffins. Only the females were technically “Griffins.” Females were required to mate with a keythong in order to deliver a litter. A keythong’s body was covered with spikes it could retract at will. Keythongs had no wings. All those on the ground were male griffins. They led solitary lives, walking the jungle floor in search of prey. Nocturnal in nature, their days were spent lazily sleeping on the ground. Some didn’t drink water as they preferred to drink blood instead. Keythongs were so incredibly vicious they would kill out of spite because they felt offended by something an innocent creature did. A keythong would only eat about 3/4 of any kill they made. Scavengers were always following keythongs around to pick scraps of meat off their prey. Smart keythongs even used their half eaten kills as traps to kill more creatures.

Keythongs made up for their lack of wings with lethal retractable spikes. True to all creatures in the griffin family the head was very eagle-like while the rest was more like a jaguar. Their claws were sharp enough to rip into the thickest of animal hides. It didn’t matter how lethal a keythong’s body was though, they were always looked down upon in the griffin family because they didn’t have wings.