Halflight Semaphore — Signal Flag Gryphons Reference Sheet
Six winged gryphons in navy and red coats hold yellow-and-red semaphore flags. Lanterns and rope hang from their belts.
AI-generated character concept · Original fictional lore
The story of Halflight Semaphore
A fictional story inspired by the artwork.
The signal arrived upside down. From the Halflight tower, Pip watched two yellow flags rise from a boat stranded in the outer harbor. They spelled a word she knew perfectly well, provided she stood on her head. She spread her wings, leaned over the parapet and read it again. Kettle.
Why would a stranded crew send for a kettle? Five gryphons consulted the signal book while Pip watched the dark water beneath the boat. The flags had appeared only when the sun broke through the clouds. Whatever she was seeing came from the reflection in the water. The boat itself had nobody aboard.
Pip took a lantern down to the slipway. Behind the stranded vessel stood a smaller boat with a family huddled under its bow. A boy had been signaling with two scraps from a picnic blanket. He had learned his letters by copying his father in a mirror and consequently knew every signal backward.
The gryphons brought blankets, dry boots and a kettle. They hung a mirror beside the signal book for the boy, who came up to the tower after tea. Before he left, he taught them a sign they had never seen before. Two elbows tucked close, two flags straight out: my hands are finally warm.
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