[written] Gargoyles

From the Journals of Kordek Anon

~*~


After our warriors encountered the Stone-Winged creatures of the north caves, I spent many moons putting together the following notes. This is what I have learned.

The Basics

Gargoyles are huge stone-like reptiles with large leathery wings. They are humanoid, in that they have two arms and two legs, but their similarities seem to stop there. They have large lizard like mouths with two rows of sharp teeth on the top and bottom. Their jaws are muscled thickly, to tear at flesh.

The Gargoyles are sentient clannish reptiles. They are born from eggs hatched in cold, damp places. The eggs lain soft and leathery harden over the course of 12-14 months, and then the young are born and consume vast amounts of flesh, living or dead. They will consume nearly their body weight every 4 hours, and nearly double in size every 12 hours until they reach their juvenile to adult weight. I postulate that the chances of survival of a weak gargoyle are slim, so their bodies grow fast in order to survive.

They eat the weak, even of their own kind. Of a clutch, only 10% seem to survive at any given time. They have thick claws on their legs and hands, that I have seen tear apart a human with ease. Some warriors have indicated that their claws are in fact retractable, allowing them to use weapons such as pole-arms to their advantage. They do not seem to use shields with their claws, preferring to get up close and rend the target with all their formidable strength. One of my associates escaped almost certain death with a miraculous blow to one of their knuckles, and by pained reflex retracting the beast’s claw. Buying him a moment to leap from the cliff face into the river below.

It has been noticed that there seem to be three castes of gargoyle. The Largest of them are about 800 lbs when fully grown. They have thick short wings, and seem to only fly when necessary. They are the “Soldier�? caste and are usually in the front of all battles that we have seen. They are horrific to be hold, using their weight to advantage by dropping on opponents from above. They love the smell of blood and battle. They can also be distinguished by their long curved horns. These seem to be developed to protect the skull from frontal blows. They are not the smartest of the creatures, but their sheer ferocity more than makes up for that.

The smallest caste weighs up to 600 lbs fully grown. While for us, the difference seems minor, there seems to be a major difference in the gargoyles. These are the “Scout�? caste. They can be identified by their unusual wing structure. They have long wide wings that stand nearly as tall as them. This is to provide maximum lift. Their legs and arms are much less thickly muscled than the Soldier caste. They seem to be capable of far more flight than the Soldier cast as well. They have excellent day vision and even better night vision. They have short, flat horns that seem to provide them with a sort of rudder control while flying. In battle they can be seen fluttering above, dropping rocks, or even shooting arrows down from above.

The most important caste to mention would the Leader Caste. They have a powerful build at 700lbs. They have wings that are large, but not quite as large as the Scouts. Their horns are small and straight, but razor sharp. Their eyes cast an unnatural glow in the dark. They have the best medium of the castes. They are also far more intelligent than their cousins. They have a dark cunning and the capacity to plan in advance. Some even seem to have rudimentary talent with channeling and weaving magic. The others in battle always protect leaders, this seems to be more instinct than social. Leaders rule by might. Younger Leaders often must battle the elder leader to the death for a place. As such tribes rarely have more than one or two leaders at a time.

Their basic over riding nature is the hunt for food. Purely carnivores, these creatures will attack, and devour, anything that violates their territory, and they will continually raid the area around them. Should they find a weakness in their prey, they will exploit it. They are not picky eaters. They will consume dead, dying, rotten, and even downed gargoyles.

One of the most notable gargoyle characteristics is the stone-like state, which they seem to be able to enter will. Their flight requires vast amounts of energy, and as such fuel for this can some times be hard to find. As such, they enter a stone-like state where their bodies seem to slow down. They are aware of their surroundings however, and often use this to lure prey into their grasp. They are incredibly difficult to damage in this state, but I have heard that some of the older Empaths have had some luck breaking through.

After watching the creatures in the darkness, I noticed something peculiar. The Gargoyles must be taught to fly within days of their hatching. Otherwise they seem to never pick it up, and become lame. The few Gargoyles we have seen that could not fly were quickly beaten killed by their fellows, soon to be feasted upon.

Their culture is barbaric at the best. They fight among themselves for everything, food, roosting space, resources, etc.. They often fight over the best trophies that can be claimed in battle. They do not have music, poetry or art, save the disemboweling of one’s enemy. They steal what they can find. There are no craftsman to be seen, but they are capable of identifying useful tools for their own purposes. Should they find an area to raid, they will happily do so. However, except for the Leaders, they never consider the future. The leaders can mobilize them to commit planned attacks such as kidnappings, and theft, but it almost always ends in death.

In short, the gargoyles that we’ve seen are a group of clannish voracious predators, bent on killing interlopers into their territories. I highly advise caution when encountering such creatures.