Valdemar: Mage Wars

This series is set in an age when magic was a wild force and Valdemar was yet unfounded. It follows the creation of magical gryphons by a sorcerer named Urtho and their role as champions defending his realm from an evil mage. The books are connected by the ongoing struggles of Urtho's people and his gryphons following a magical cataclysm that destroyed their original strongholds.