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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shades of Eternity" data-source="post: 9806149" data-attributes="member: 10869">ty kindlyedited.now doing two thingsfirstly the next section<h2>Appearance</h2>Gargoyles share a common silhouette recognizable across cultures and continents, yet no two are ever truly alike. Their base anatomy reflects a blend of living stone biology, architectural design logic, and the emotional or mystical purpose that brought them into being. Every gargoyle begins with the same fundamental “template”—a hunched, winged, stone-bodied creature—but the details are sculpted by heritage, environment, and the stones that birthed them.<h3>Base Gargoyle Form</h3>All gargoyles, regardless of origin, share the following traits:<h4>Living Stone Physiology</h4>A gargoyle’s body is composed of stone strata arranged like muscles, with flexible seams that mimic tendons and joints. Their flesh-stone can be rough like volcanic basalt, polished like marble, or riddled with gravel inclusions. When they enter Stone Sleep, their bodies become denser, heavier, and indistinguishable from an architectural statue—even to magical detection unless specifically tuned.<h4>Predator’s Silhouette</h4>Even benevolent gargoyles retain unmistakably predatory lines:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Raptorial forelimbs capable of grasping or rending</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Digitigrade or taloned feet, depending on species</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Long tails for counterbalance while gliding or perched</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Wide, manta-like wings that fold flush along the back, appearing at rest like ornamental masonry</li> </ul><h4>The Mask-Face</h4>A gargoyle’s face is its most expressive and variable feature. It generally resembles a hybrid of humanoid, beast, and structural motif:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Heavy brow ridges</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Horns, spines, or crenellations</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Leering or mournful expressions</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Cracks or seams that channel emotional humors as faint light</li> </ul>Some resemble animals; some echo cherubs; others imitate figures from the structure that birthed them. Expressions tend to “reset” to a neutral grotesque during Stone Sleep.<h4>Coloration</h4>Gargoyle color depends directly on the stone of their parent structure.Common hues include:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Granite greys and limestone creams</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Sandstone siennas</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Basalt blacks</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Stained-glass luminescence in cathedral-born</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Oxidized copper greens in medical-college grotesques due to alchemical patina</li> </ul>These pigments shift subtly as the gargoyle absorbs new experiences or environmental conditions.<h3>Subspecies & Regional Variants</h3>Gargoyles do not merely come from a place—they inherit its purpose. Their forms, abilities, and personalities reflect the architecture (and its emotions) that shaped their metamorphosis.<h4>Cathedral-Born (“Wardens”)</h4>Appearance:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tall, elegant, almost angelic silhouettes</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Veins of glowing stained glass or mica</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Wing membranes reminiscent of lead-framed church windows</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Faces shaped like saints, penitents, or mourning figures</li> </ul>Signature Details:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Soft inner radiance</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Incense-like scent</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Halos formed from dust motes when emerging from Stone Sleep</li> </ul><h4>Medical Grotesques (“Anatomists”)</h4>Appearance:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Semi-translucent stone showing anatomical motifs</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Carved ribs, visible “organs,” spiraling humors under the surface</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Surgical-tool claws (scalpel-sharp)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Faces sculpted in exaggerated medical illustration expressions</li> </ul>Signature Details:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Copper-green oxidized veins</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Breathing vents that hiss like old bellows</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Alchemical runes or anatomical labels etched across limbs</li> </ul><h4>Fortress-Born (“Bulwarks”)</h4>Appearance:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Massive, overbuilt, blocky bodies resembling ramparts</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Angular, crenellated skulls</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Spiked, shield-like shoulders</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Wings resembling heavy buttresses or siege mantlet folds</li> </ul>Signature Details:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Armored plating like layered stone blocks</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Eyes that burn like signal fires</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Their footsteps echo like distant artillery</li> </ul><h4>Ruin-Born (“Ferals”)</h4>Appearance:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Fragmented, asymmetrical, patchwork stone bodies</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Moss, creeping vines, fungal growth in their cracks</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Claws resembling shattered masonry</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Jagged, hyena-like faces</li> </ul>Signature Details:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Dust clouds when they emerge from stone</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Stone fragments flaking constantly</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Eyes like glowing coals in cavernous sockets</li> </ul><h4>Scholar-Carved (“Mnemonics”)</h4>Appearance:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Surfaces engraved with scripture, arcane glyphs, or historical records</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Quill-shaped horns or stylus-like tails</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Facial features resembling monks, sages, or librarians</li> </ul>Signature Details:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Ink-like humors that leak from joints</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Glowing runes when thinking, fighting, or reading memories</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Wings resembling book pages or architectural friezes</li> </ul><h4>Amphitheater/Emotion-Born (“Masques”)</h4>(Inspired by the Iymrith examples from Storm King’s Thunder)Appearance:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Faces sculpted into exaggerated emotional masks (joy, rage, sorrow)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Flexible stone expressions</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Limbs decorated with theatrical grotesques</li> </ul>Signature Details:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Voices that echo as if in a vast chamber</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Masks shift depending on mood</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Wing membranes etched with comedy/tragedy iconography</li> </ul><h4>Statue-Embodying</h4>These are the most dangerous.Appearance:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Perfectly still, mundane statues in Stone Sleep</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Smooth faces devoid of features or carved in sorrow</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Limbs proportioned subtly wrong—too long, too strong, joints too flexible</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Wings like shrouds</li> </ul>Signature Details:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Movement only when unobserved</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Crackling whispers in photonic resonance</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Eyes entirely black or absent during Stone Sleep, but gleaming like obsidian razors when active</li> </ul>These are favored by liches, cursed temples, and places where grief curdles into something hungry.<h3>Bestial Carvings</h3>Though most gargoyles resemble warped humanoids or architectural grotesques, scholars know that animal-shaped gargoyles are not merely decorative variants — they are a distinct and ancient inheritance.Across castles, temples, colleges, and forgotten ruins, masons carved beasts not only for symbolism but for function: lions for courage, hounds for vigilance, owls for wisdom, boars for ferocity. When a structure becomes saturated with emotional or magical pressure, these carvings awaken first. They embody the purest, simplest instinct of the place.These gargoyles are called Bestial Carvings, “Stonebeasts,” or simply the Animates.Unlike their humanoid cousins:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They rarely speak, though they understand perfectly.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Their instincts are sharper and less conflicted.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They act as sentinels, scouts, hunters, and companions for their clan.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Their shapes may vary wildly — wolves with chiseled fangs, owls with stained-glass eyes, bulls with cathedral-ribbed horns, even fish-like guardians lurking by docks or fountains.</li> </ul>Every gargoyle clan claims at least one Totem Beast, the oldest of their kind, often a lion or dragon-shaped elder carved into the structure before the first gargoyle ever “precipitated.” Totem Beasts serve as:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Rookery guardians</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Judges of disputes</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Memory-keepers, holding impressions far older than humanoid gargoyles</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Martial exemplars, teaching younglings how to stalk, pounce, soar, or defend</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Spiritual symbols, embodying the building’s purpose (a lion for a king’s hall, a stag for a druidic college, a serpent for a place of forbidden lore)</li> </ul>Some clans even believe that the first gargoyle of their lineage was an animal, and that humanoid gargoyles only develop later as the building’s emotional complexity grows.The Animates also act as buffers between the physical and spiritual worlds. Their humours are more primal — thick, glowing, and filled with instinctive magic. They can sense:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Bad omens</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Hidden corruption</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Distant intruders</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Shifts in the “pulse” of their parent structure</li> </ul>To adventurers, animal gargoyles are often the first warning that something deeper is watching. A pair of stone wolves tracking your footsteps, an impassive stone owl turning its head as you pass, or a fountain-lion quietly rumbling when you lie — these are all signs that the clan has noticed you.Yet these Bestial Carvings can also bond with outsiders. A gargoyle hound may grow loyal to a party that defends its home. A gargoyle owl may perch on a wizard’s shoulder if their research aligns with the building’s purpose. And a lion gargoyle will fight to the last shard for a cleric who repairs its temple.They are, in essence, stone instincts made flesh, the echoes of mythic animals reflected in the living rock.Now the immature version for companion purposes.Gargoyle RooklingSmall elemental (gargoyle), neutralArmor Class: 13 (natural armor)Hit Points: 10 (3d6)Speed: 20 ft., climb 20 ft.; glide (see below)STR 10 (+0)DEX 12 (+1)CON 12 (+1)INT 6 (−2)WIS 11 (+0)CHA 7 (−2)Saving Throws: Wis +2Skills: Perception +2, Stealth +3Damage Resistances: bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacksDamage Immunities: poisonCondition Immunities: exhaustion, petrified, poisonedSenses: darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12Languages: understands Terran and the language of its clan, but cannot speakChallenge: 1/4 (50 XP)Proficiency Bonus: +2TraitsStone Sleep.During a short or long rest, the rookling becomes inert stone. While in this state it gains resistance to all damage except thunder and force. If attacked, it awakens instantly.False Appearance (Statue).While the rookling remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from an inanimate stone statue or architectural ornament. Creatures have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) or Intelligence (Investigation) checks to discern its true nature. A character with Stonecunning automatically succeeds.Glide.The rookling cannot fly, but when it falls or jumps from a height of at least 10 feet, it can glide. For every 1 foot it descends, it can move up to 2 feet horizontally and takes no falling damage.Rookery-Bound.Rooklings imprint on the first creature or group that cares for them. A rookling will not willingly move more than 1 mile from its rookery unless bonded to a companion. If bonded to a PC (DM’s discretion), the rookling treats them as clan and follows simple commands.Fragile Build.Though made of stone, rooklings are still developing. They have vulnerability to thunder damage, which can crack their forming frames.ActionsStone Talons. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) slashing damage.Shard Toss. Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d4 + 1) piercing damage.The rookling breaks off a small, regrowable chip of stone to throw; this causes it no harm.ReactionsCrag-Scuttle.When a creature misses the rookling with a melee attack, the rookling may move up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks by skittering along vertical surfaces.Companion Rules (Optional)A DM may allow a rookling to be a companion creature, similar to a homunculus or pseudodragon:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It acts on the PC’s initiative</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">PC uses a bonus action to command it</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Gains +1 HP per level the PC gains</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">At level 5, it develops Winglets, granting a 30-ft gliding descent and short vertical leaps</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">At level 9, it can begin learning Subspecies Traits (one minor ability from a template)</li> </ul>Role in the Gargoyle EcologyRooklings represent:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The adolescent form of gargoyles</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Curious, impulsive scouts</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Messengers between clans</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Helpers to priests, archivists, or wizards who maintain the gargoyle’s parent structure</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A way to show players that gargoyles are more than monsters</li> </ul>And they give a gateway experience to PC gargoyles—players bond with the rookling, then later play a full gargoyle themselves.</blockquote>

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