Soul Merger

Monsterpedia

Gargoyle

Monster Level - II

Soul Type - Composite

Intelligence - Humanoid

Strength - Strong

Magic - Weak

Rarity - Common

Appearing as grey skinned humanoids with monstrous features, Gargolyes are common monsters in heavily 'constructed' labyrinths. The creatures lurk in groups waiting for delvers to get close before lashing out suddenly. While comics and plays usually have them lurking out in the open, that's rare except in graveyard labyrinths where there's enough carved gargoyles and grotesques to hide among. Usually they seek out dark corners or wall niches to ambush from.

The creatures are fast and strong, but generally comparable to a human. Their main advantage is their stony skin, which resists blows almost as well as a layer of mail despite being just as flexible as normal human skin. Once pierced however their internal flesh is just as squishy as a humans, and there's less bones to get in the way. Powerful blows or heavy magical attacks should eliminate these annoyances quickly.

Gargoyles have a variety of appearances, but strangely don't have as many distinct variants as other humanoid monsters. A gargoyle with four arms or two heads merely possesses those features, without gaining any extra power. While many gargoyles have wings, they lack the strength to actually fly (or even glide far). Still a wing punch can be quite dangerous, so it's advised to keep them in mind while fighting up close.

"Isn't the difference between a gargoyle and a grotesque whether or not they have a waterspout?" Yes! And since these monsters can drink water and spit it out, they qualify as gargoyles!

Merge

Benefits : Stone skin

Weaknesses : Weight increase

Gargoyle merges tend to go in and out of fashion as their abilities are useful with little downside, but not that useful. All merges get more earthy and dulled skin and hair colors, usually ending up with decently dark skin. They tend to gain a bit of bulk and muscle as well. Slightly more than can be placed entirely at the feet of generic merge benefits.

The primary boost is they gain a much weaker version of the gargoyles stone skin ability. However, while a gargoyles skin can't be scratched by steel, only broken, the merge doesn't give quite as much protection. Still skin that will just scratch when you miss a cut with a knife has some value. And while it's annoying to have pieces of outer skin fall off when you bang your hand on something or walk into a doorknob, it beats getting a bruise. Especially since the damaged outer skin areas grow back in a day or two depending on the lost patch size.

Gargoyle and gargoyle merge skin also has an interesting property after falling off. Apparently the lichen that attaches to it is incredibly sweet! This makes it an excellent replacement for sugar in many recipes. Given the difficulties of getting sugar cane, most sweets use this lichen extract instead.