Gargoyles

Often labeled monstrous and truly demonic, the gargoyles are indeed a sight to behold. Seemingly crafted of stone these dangerous looking beings are not exactly as their physical appearance depicts them. Gargoyles are by far one of the most populated races in Israidius, and thus the reason for such wide sightings of them in Calamia.

Being humanoid in shape is about as far as their linking to the human form goes. Their body is constructed of tightly knit muscle fibers, strongly defined in any body, thin or large. Over the muscle is their ‘stone skin’, which is extremely durable and hard to penetrate by normal means, which gives them all a form of natural armor. It seems to be structured like scales, yet these are more like stone plates that are jointed for ease of movement. This stone skin plating can range in hue from just about any opaque shade of stone, commonly dark hues that can be lined, multi hued, sparkly or speckled. Their skin is never crystalline, metallic, transparent or opalescent. Where the jointing is visible a vibrant red, orange or blue glow shines through, that looks like veins of molten lava under the stone plates.

Growing along their spine are dangerous looking stone barbs, some Gargoyles having a single row of these sharp stalactite-like protrusions, while others have several large defined rows, starting from the crown of their head and ending at the tip of their large thick tail. Some will have a thickly barbed tail tip, others will have slight barbs. Apparently they possess no form of hair, and are often defined in look by the spikes on their heads and backs. These spikes are also often seen at the elbow joint and the ankle, and sometimes in odd spots along the tail. These stony spikes do grow back so they can be sanded down or broken, but many Gargoyles prefer not to and only do so for armor fitting.

Each hand possesses five digits, but their fingers possess no nails. Instead their finger tips extend into long points. Their feet are large and they tend to walk on the pad, almost seeming like they walk with their toes, their heel and ankle joint being elevated much like a lizard’s hind legs. Their feet possess three large long toes ending in a sharp point like their fingers.

Their faces are angular and often triangle or oval shaped, with long chins, defined cheek bones, sharp or hooked noses, thin shaped eyes and large long pointed ears. Their eyes have no pupil or iris, and are white with some form of accent hue around the edges.

Their mouths house sharp and dangerous looking teeth, which they use to feed on their favorite foods. Meat. Gargoyles enjoy a hearty died of fish, their favorite being squid, and are capable of eating these meats raw. They also like red meats, being fond of Calamia’s cattle, but have not taken a liking to human flesh as many believe.

Gargoyles can reach a maximum height of 8’ and shortest at 6’, towering well over the average height of men. Females are often slighter in build than the males and also possess no ‘breasts’, instead they have a narrower chest frame than the males. The Gargoyles have no external genitals, so it isn’t uncommon to see them walking around in what we’d call the ‘nude’. Some do wear metal armors, chain linking, steel plates and girths. However they cannot wear any form of cloth or leather material for it wears too quickly and tends to catch on their barbs or skin.

This is an egg laying race and they possess an extremely high reproductive rate. The females usually lay a clutch of four to six eggs and the eggs hatch within a period of two years. The eggs look like ovular stones and are as hard as such. Children are born in the toddler stage and take on learning from the society immediately. They reach adulthood at thirty years of age. All eggs within the Gargoyle community are cared for by the entire group, and so parents can be absent while the child is raised by the community. Often gargoyles of weaker stature or older generations keep watch over the eggs. Yet all gargoyles are protective of the eggs and hatchlings. Their lairs are under ground and are designed as mazes, so travelers seeking a gargoyle egg will not only have the risk of getting lost within the winding tunnels; they also risk running into guards and the egg tenders.

For some reason they cannot use magite, and so are mainly fighter classes, making up nearly thirty percent of the Valdharian Empire’s military. Gargoyles can live up to two hundred years of age.

A strong, hearty and intelligent race, they worked the earth and were at one point a handsome looking species. Yet when the terrible Corruption took place they were devastated. Being that they are so closely linked to the earth their bodies changed dramatically, mutated into the demonic visage they possess today. The entire race was nearly lost to the Corruption, and would have been if Jeremas and Gornaz hadn’t stopped it. They served under Jeremas during the war of Daishevar, and were also the second race to rejoin the Valdharian Empire when Gornaz took the throne.

Association: Valdharian Empire