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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shades of Eternity" data-source="post: 9806316" data-attributes="member: 10869">[USER=7052492]@Brendan Byrd[/USER] ty kindly. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />[USER=1125]@Tonguez[/USER] I like it, I particularly like the stone stance.[USER=7033886]@Corinnguard[/USER], you just reminded me of one of my favorite "guilty pleasure" movies.  Gargoyle angels really do have their own feel, and it would really add a fun option to the upper planes (which is sorely needed).  Between these and the already-built monster manuals, expect both to be added. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />and what the hey<h2>Life Cycle of the Gargoyle</h2>Gargoyles do not adhere to the biological rhythms of fleshly creatures. Their existence is more akin to a metamorphic geologic process accelerated by magic, emotion, and intention. They are neither immortal nor strictly alive in the mortal sense—they are the living memory of a place, given form, wit, and teeth.<h3>1. Ignition: The First Stirring</h3>A gargoyle begins as a still statue, but one under duress—social, emotional, arcane, or historic. A structure becomes a cradle for gargoyle genesis when:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Strong emotions are repeatedly expressed nearby (fear, worship, grief, hope).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Long-term magical seepage saturates the stone (ley lines, necromantic residue, divine blessing).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A crisis or defining moment imprints itself upon the building (sieges, martyrdom, triumphs).</li> </ul>Scholars refer to this as the Stone Awakening Threshold: when a building has experienced enough life that a piece of it must move to bear witness.This stage is silent. No cracks, no shifting. The statue remains inert—but the first awareness begins.<h3>2. Quickening: Inward Heat, Outward Cold</h3>Over days or centuries, the nascent gargoyle begins to exhibit “micro-movements”—invisible shifts within its mineral matrix:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Veins of quartz or colored stone subtly realign.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Crystalline “humors” begin circulating in microscopic channels.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tiny shifts in the statue’s expression appear when unobserved.</li> </ul>During this phase, priests and mages sometimes report:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A sense of being watched.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Whispered stone-on-stone murmurs at dusk.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The statue appearing in slightly different poses.</li> </ul>Observation collapses motion—a light, harmless echo of Weeping Angel logic. They never move while watched, but they always move.At this point the gargoyle is alive in a larval sense, yet still rooted.<h3>3. Emergence: The First Stone Breath</h3>A true birth occurs during one of three triggers:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A dramatic shift in light (sunset, eclipse, lantern snuffed).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A significant emotional event (a funeral, a riot, a wedding, a great fear).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A direct touch from a living creature bearing strong sentiment.</li> </ul>Stone grain flexes like muscle. Wings unfurl in a slow, grinding scrape. A stone mouth takes its first breath—cold, dusty, and heavy with centuries.A newly emerged gargoyle is clumsy, stiff, and intensely territorial. It has instincts but not yet a personality.<h3>4. Rookery Period: Adolescent Anchoring</h3>Young gargoyles typically remain within 60–300 feet of their birthplace for months or years (sometimes decades). During this period they:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Develop their unique voice, mannerisms, and humor‐cores (Fire/Glass/Mortar/Ink).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Learn to glide, stalk, and read the emotional currents of their home.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Form bonds with other local gargoyles, creating a clan around a structure.</li> </ul>They rarely leave their home for long; it is both nourishment and comfort.A gargoyle separated from its rookery too early becomes emotionally stunted—brooding, feral, or dangerously literal.<h3>5. Maturity: The Guardian’s Paradox</h3>A mature gargoyle lives in a paradox:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They are protectors by instinct—of people, or of places.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Yet they are feared, hunted, or misinterpreted by mortals.</li> </ul>This mix creates the classic gargoyle personality:stern, proud, sarcastic, hungry for connection, deeply loyal, but somewhat isolated.Some mature gargoyles wander, joining adventuring parties or becoming sages, mercenaries, or boundary wardens. These “Freewing” gargoyles become the source of PC gargoyle stories.<h3>6. Dormancy and Stone Sleep</h3>Every gargoyle undergoes daily or cyclical Stone Sleep:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Sun-triggered for cathedral and sky-born gargoyles.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Moon-triggered for magical, arcane, or haunted ones.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Voluntary for experienced gargoyles as a way to heal or avoid harm.</li> </ul>While in Stone Sleep:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They heal at unnatural speeds.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They absorb emotional imprints from their surroundings.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They are nearly impossible to destroy without specialized tools.</li> </ul>Important ecological note:During Stone Sleep, gargoyles can subtly alter their pose when unobserved—allowing them to reposition overnight like chess pieces.<h3>7. Aging and Geological Drift</h3>Gargoyles do age, but not like mortals. Instead:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Their bodies slow and densify.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Their wings widen or become more ornate.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Their humor-cores crystallize and purify.</li> </ul>A gargoyle of a thousand years may weigh three times its original mass, and its voice resonates like a cathedral bell.Near the end of their life they become increasingly still. Their dreams grow deeper. They begin “sinking” magically into their birthplace.<h3>8. Death: Returning to the Stone</h3>Gargoyle death is not destruction—it is reabsorption.When a gargoyle feels its time approaching:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It climbs to a meaningful height (roof, cliff, battlement).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Enters a final permanent Stone Sleep.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Its body slowly fuses back into the architecture, leaving behind a faint outline or impression.</li> </ul>This spot becomes fertile ground for the next gargoyle generation.<h3>9. Legacy: Humors and Heirs</h3>Sometimes, before death, a gargoyle chooses to split off a shard:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A fang, a talon, a piece of horn or wing.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It is placed somewhere meaningful: under a cornerstone, atop a lintel, beside a grave.</li> </ul>This shard acts as a seed crystal for a new gargoyle centuries later.Some clans trace their lineage through these relics, giving rise to gargoyle heraldry:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">“The Broken Horn Line”</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">“The Quartz-Eye Brotherhood”</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">“The Clutch of the Four Humors”</li> </ul></blockquote>

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