Midpoint Guard Station

The Midpoint Station is a griffon cavalry guard station that sits atop the roof of @JournalEntry[ldh3JI7pVn7yaGnN]{the Plinth}, the Temple to All Faiths.

The Plinth sits at a convergence point of three city wards and is at close proximity to the Trade Gate, where trouble may arise from the influx of travelers entering the city. Griffon riders have quick access from Midpoint Station to any trouble nearby and that trouble usually dissolves once a flight of griffon riders arrives.

Truth be told, Midpoint Station is one of the better assignments for a griffon rider and assignments here are usually granted as a reward for a guard’s exceptional service. It is a far more comfortable assignment than the wind-buffeted Guard stations along the city and palace walls, or the cold and damp eyries high atop mount Waterdeep. The clerical residents of the Plinth are welcoming to the guards here and most visitors feel comforted by their presence. The regular flow of visitors to the Plinth is considered a welcome change of pace for most of the guards and the neighboring community keeps the guards at Midpoint Station well provisioned with food, drink and entertaining distractions.

Midpoint Station is garrisoned by four guards and a flight captain, each riding a griffon mount. Two griffon riders are usually on aerial patrol while the other guards keep watch from their vantage atop the Plinth. The station provides gear, supplies, and shelter for the guards and their griffon mounts. A weapon locker stores crossbows, ammunition, swords, and a special weapon called a capture pole. This is a polearm with a twopronged, barbed head that is designed to capture and control an opponent. It is always carried by griffon riders on patrol. A griffon rider will land and dismount near a threat and attack it with a capture pole to restrain and control its movements. A griffon rider using a capture pole is defended by its griffon mount, which waits nearby with a readied action to attack any threats that approach the guard.

The griffons used by the riders are equipped with leather barding and are trained in a special combat tactic called a “swoop and grab” by City Guards. When this tactic is employed, the griffon rider directs its mount to drop from the sky and swoop and grab its opponent in a flyby attack. Once an enemy is brought high in the air, the griffon rider can usually convince it to yield once it realizes that continued struggling will lead to a fatal fall.