There is a griffin that takes advantage of a castle's lack of manpower and takes it as a new roost, killing some of the remaining occupants and keeping the castle's lord prisoner in his own home. While living there it incorporates some of the tower tops into nests and treasure holdings and keeps the castle gates shut at all times. How can a griffin hold the castle from potential invaders while running a one man (griffin) show? Obviously it has the walls to hide and take shelter behind. The griffin cannot speak but it is intelligent. Thank you.
Wow. Define your universe's griffin in terms of size, power, and vulnerability and maybe we can help you.
If Griffins exist, so would anti-Griffin tactics. Given whole garrisons find it hard to defend castles, I wouldn't put much faith in a single beast being able to hold out against a determined invader, or even a sneaky thief, no matter the beast's size. It would also need to sleep, I assume.
Hi, @Syphoenix, and welcome to the forum. I see you just joined today, and obviously have a story underway. A griffin is a make-believe beast, so you can design the beast yourself, to some extent. If it were me, I would make a list. Or rather two lists. What are the griffin's inherent strengths? And what are its weaknesses? I don't mean beak power, etc, but in terms of where it has chosen to roost. What's good about that location, from the griffen's point of view? And what is maybe not such a good idea? I'd also do the same for your castle, the occupants who are still alive, etc. You need to think more deeply about the circumstances here. Because this is a make-believe world, you hold all the strings. But the story needs to be believable, once the reader accepts that the fantasy world exists for the duration of the story. Ask yourself why the griffen would want to take over a castle, which it then has to guard night and day? Obviously, as @Selbbin said, it will probably need to sleep. And eat. Unless some other entity is feeding it, it will need to leave the castle every now and then and go hunting for food. (And maybe water?) Think of all the fairy tale stories where the monster/witch/giant has to leave their house in order to do something. That's usually when the fairy tale hero/heroine is able to set up the creature's downfall. Think: Jack and the Beanstalk. When the giant leaves for the day, Jack sneaks in, etc. It would be more difficult to retake the castle if there are two griffens in residence. Because one could guard the place while the other one is away.
The phrasing of the title and your avatar made my morning, honestly. Made me laugh so much. It sounds to me like it's a significant part of your plot that you are at liberty to create - it's your question to answer.
Like what’s been said above, where does a Griffin fit in the overall food chain? You imply it has very high intelligence with treasure hording and knows to keep the castle gates shut. And taking a prisoner? Reminds me a lot of Smeg in LOTR. It knows the structure is a castle. So, why would it occupy such a place instead of its natural habitat? What advantage does this dangerous man-made structure have? Needs more than safety, possibly a source of food that’s been depleted from its original nest? Or it’s a staging point... why is it there? Research Castles, why were they used and are now obsolete. Line of sight, the Griffin can see an attack coming early on. To take a castle effectively is to lay siege to it. Starve the occupants out. Griffin as a prisoner and can fly... Its main worry would be a stealth assault by a small crew to get inside the walls. Take the prisoner and or kill the Griffin... Griffin’s main problem will be sleep deprivation. Once it falls asleep its dead... MartinM
Assuming the would-be besiegers would care, hostages. Dangle the castle's lord in a gibbet over the ravine and threaten to drop him if anyone gets too close. Boobytraps, to demoralize attackers and convince them that the wealth inside isn't worth the casualties. Convince attackers that there are many more defenders than one, using decoys, mirrors, sound projection, etc. A bad reputation. Drop mutilated remains of people in nearby villages to remind folks what you're capable of.
How can a griffin hold a castle while running a one man show? He can hold onto the castle with one hand while directing the man with the other. Um... if this was not a riddle, then I apologize. And now I feel that I must offer something constructive. How about telepathy? Rather than kill all human occupants (or whatever species they may be) the griffin could organize and tyrannize them.
I vote that or something similar. The easiest way to defend anything is to convince would-be attackers it isn't in their best interest to attack it at all.
