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INTRODUCTION
In the distant past of the Uncharted Seas two great races vied for power: the Dragon Lords and the Ancients. At the head of the Ancients army was a people called the Griffons, a proud race of warriors from a region known as Sancerac, or what is now known as The Shifting Shores.

Several hundred years ago the Ancients decided to finish the Dragon Lords once and for all. They assembled a massive fleet of transport ships, and recruited hundreds of thousands of auxiliaries from among the various allies they had. At the head of this force was the Griffons and they had one objective: march into the nesting grounds of the Ancestor Dragons, and with the assistance of the Ancients sorcerers, slay them all.

It was hoped that the loss of these highly revered creatures would dismay the Dragon Lords, and even put fear into the small minds of the lesser dragons that their enemies were famed for riding. The Griffons were not convinced of this outcome, but they accepted the task regardless, in order to make the Dragon Lords suffer.

The Dragon Lords recovered quickly from their initial defeats and were not dismayed or cowed by the death of the Ancestor Dragons. Instead, their mages summoned forth a torrent of raw magical energy, within which they sealed the foul air of wasting sickness, disease and plague, and spread it on the winds to infect their enemies. This foul torrent washed across all the lands of the region, infecting friends and enemies alike. It was a dark time for all.

This magical sickness came to be known as the Withering, as its victims became weak, their bones atrophied and their flesh rotted. Those who were closest to the nesting grounds suffered the worst effects, and all of the Griffons became sick and disheartened. They fled to Sancerac where all of their people were also infected, some died horrible deaths, and others slowly became undead, unable to pass over into the land of the spirits.

What little magic that the nobles of Sancerac had was used to halt the effects of the Withering, but they could not save their mortal lives. The magic of the Griffons melded with the energy of the Withering, creating a new energy that stabilised its effects and killed its host in the process. The victims of this process lived on in undeath, so that the people of Sancerac became the Bone Griffons.

LAWS OF THE BONE
The Bone Griffons are organised into regiments which they call Claws, each of which is named after its leader. The most famous of the Bone Griffon warriors is Barus the Stricken, who lost all of his family to the Withering, and has drawn the largest number of followers to his banner, the Rotting Griffon. He is thought to be responsible for bringing the undead back to the sunlight after their long exile, even if it is only temporary while their cities rise above the waters of The Shifting Shores.

Every Claw is independent of the other, but their objectives are the same, to take their revenge on the Dragon Lords, beyond that they each follow their own motives. They often assemble in great numbers to spend a season pillaging settlements and hunting down enemy fleets, though they reserve these Musters as they are called for their sworn enemies. Since the arrival of the ‘New Souls’ to the Uncharted Seas the Bone Griffons have widened their attacks, and now any fleet is mauled on sight.

The Bone Griffons still sail galleys, as the technology of ship construction has moved on while the undead were exiled. The Bone Griffons are warriors first and sailors second, and value the ability to control a ship with muscle power. It is a matter of pride to most of the undead warriors that their unflagging stamina allows them to row their galleys all day, and still fight for hours without rest.

That is not to say that the Bone Griffons do not appreciate a little help, as some of their war galleys are crippled from the ravages of the sea and cannot be rowed efficiently. The undead have used their magic to raise the corpses of whales (the Orcus) and various serpents from the sea bed, to instil in them the same elements of the Withering that keeps the Bone Griffons from dying normally. These carrion creatures drag their war galleys through the sea, and are a terrible sight to behold.

RULE BOOK ERRATA
On Page 74 of our rule book we have missed the C off the Sea Wraith Cruiser Statistic Card which helps denote the vessel as a Capital Ship. Also on Page 74 of the book there is a typo in the Battleship card. You can download a corrected page HERE

PUTTING YOUR FLEETS TOGETHER
The Bone Griffon fleet comes with multiple pewter parts, allowing a Battleship to configure itself with gun decks or trebuchet decks. A box also has 3 spare trebuchets and with a little bit of snipping you can make these fit into a Cruiser sail's hole. Inside a box you should have 6 x trebuchets, 3 x gun decks, 3 x trebuchet decks and 3 x cruiser sails in pewter. The rules download explains how the mixing of decks on a Battleship affects its firepower in the game.

FINAL RULES UPLOADED
The recently updated rules for the Bone Griffons are now complete and can be downloaded HERE

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