Gargoyles and the virtue system of Singularity

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Gargoyles and the virtue system of Singularity - A roleplay hints and suggestions guide by Mithaniel

Contents

Foreword

I'd like to make it know that this writeup will not be 100% to Ultima Online or the Ultima series at all. I read through resources regarding gargoyles in the Ultimas and in Ultima Online, and many of them conflicted badly. Therefore, I am taking what is most likely and utilizing it for the purpose of this writeup. Also, I am not writing a set of 'rules and regulations'. I am simply writing a compiled work of the things that I have learned about the Gargoyle race and the virtue system of Singularity. If you choose to use it, you have my respect for attempting to learn something new, make it your own, and be creative with it. I will also try, wherever possible, to offer the 'alternative' or 'conflicting' view that I discovered.

Appearance¹

Gargoyles are slender and about a foot taller than humans, with piercing eyes and a wide variety of skin hues, ranging from deep purples, to blues, to reds. On their hands and feet are sharp, talon-like claws, and grown gargoyles boast large bat-like wings. They cannot fly, but use their wings and tails to ensure a keen sense of balance while fighting. Gargoyles have no hair on their bodies, but will often decorate their skin with painted runes, and their horns are often unique, appearing in various shapes and sizes.

Just a note, due to the limitations of the Polymorph spell, I reccomend sticking to red skin hue, as the gargoyle we can polymorph into is reddish.

I would also like to make note that, according to many of the old ultimas, Gargoyles reproduce asexually and have no gender. However, I heard much mention of one of the later ultimas (though still pre-UO) had lore about gargoyles that were being gender defined and reproducing like humans. I also heard mention of gargoyle females being extremely rare (In Ultima IX, there was a gargoyle queen). I would recommend roleplaying that gargoyles do indeed have defined genders, and due to the fact that half-breeds are not mentioned anywhere, I would recommend roleplaying that gargoyles cannot inter-breed with any other race in britannia.

Another note. Gargoyles, as we are given in Polymorph, look completely naked. The ones in the gargoyle city are much nicer looking, AND they are clothed. I would recommend roleplaying that gargoyles are indeed clothed, as they wear at least a loincloth, generally.

garg3_s.jpg

Personality

Personality: Gargoyles have been called stoic, but a more accurate description would likely be single-minded. Thanks to a legendary work ethic, gargoyles will focus intently on the task at hand, rarely smiling or laughing until their task or duty is complete.

At other times, gargoyles have been known to have a healthy sense of humor, although the ability to laugh at themselves typically does not extend to their devotion to the Principles of Singularity. This system of beliefs is considered quite sacred, and not something to be desecrated through jokes.

Language

Language: "Gargoyle" is a Britannian corruption of gargl, the gargoyles' name for themselves and their language, also informally referred to as "Gargish.”

Spoken Gargish is grammatically rather flexible. Distinctions between nouns, adjectives, and verbs are indicated by gestures and intonations. This flexibility is also apparent in the names of magic spells derived from Gargish phrases. "Vas Sanct Lor,” for instance, is derived from the Gargish “vas saengkt lor,” but it is equally correct to say “saengkt vas lor” or even “lor saengkt vas.” Gargoyles tend to omit words they consider to be unnecessary complications, like pronouns, and often speak in infinitives. While a human attempting to speak Gargish might come up with something like “í est ker í le vid ú prae,” (or "I'm certain that I've seen you before”), a gargoyle would simply say “ker le vid prae” (or more idiomatically, “ker prae vid le”), or "to be certain having seen before.” With practice, it's possible to deduce the implied pronouns in a Gargoyle sentence, but it's not always easy.

In all honesty, gargish is too confusing a language to speak or translate fluently in game. I would reccomend not typing out a line of gargish and throwing it at someone via paste in game, as they will have a hell of a time translating. Also, I am afraid that we will have a repeat problem of what happened with drowish. For those not familiar with it, drowish translators are easy to find, and many non-drow in game roleplayed having an 'english to drowish book' in game. Drow would not write their language down for pitiful humans to learn and read and defile, and gargoyles are exactly the same. If you really wish to speak gargish, it would be common courtesey to party all in the area that would understand it, paste it, then instantly translate to english in party, to give the effect of them instantly understanding the meaning of the words.

I have also read many gargoyle dialogue scripts from the old ultimas. They can learn english but they tend to speak in infinitives as mentioned above. Here is a good example of a gargoyle speaking english words, with the sentence structure of gargl:

"To have oft been called Daemons by humans. To be somewhat correct. Gargoyles were descended from the Daemons of Rhiannon, creatures of evil. To have become different in that we opposed the rule of the Guardians, the four most powerful Daemons. To have escaped Rhiannon. To settle on a world safe from the Daemons. To have chosen Sosaria, for it had not attracted even the Wisps' attention yet. "To have known of the Guardians' threat. To have created the Virtues of Truth, Love, and Courage as opposites of Falsehood, Hatred, and Cowardice. To know that a hero would use these to stop the Guardians. "The wisest of the Gargoyles was my mentor, referred to as the In-Vas-Wis-Kodeks. To have written the Codex and inscribed your virtues within it, False Prophet.

However, it would not be unheardof for a gargoyle to learn the proper sentence structure of the common tongue. With much exposure to humans, the language, and perhaps a good teacher, a gargoyle could easily speak common (english) fluently.

Example Names

Names: Beh-Lem, Desbet, Draxinusom, For-Lem, Lap-Lem, Naxatilor, Palos, Sin Vraal, Vasagralem, Wis-Lem

Also, run around the gargoyle city. Lots of ideas there.

The gargoyle virtue system of Singularity Singularity, also known as the gargoyle virtues, was derived from the same Codex of Ultimate Wisdom. In fact, the gargoyles did it first, and it was humans that stole the codex from gargoyles to make the virtue system we have today. Here is a chart of comparison between the two virtue sets:

VirtueComparison.gif

here is an important summary from The Book of Circles, one of the books that tempered gargoyle culture into what it is:

All begins with the three principles: Control, Passion and Diligence. From Control springs Direction. From Passion springs Feeling. From Diligence springs Persistence. But these three virtues are no more important than the other five: Control combines with Passion to give Balance. Passion combines with Diligence to yield Achievement. And Diligence joins with Control to provide Precision. The absence of Control, Passion and Diligence is Chaos. Thus the absence of the principles points toward the seventh virtue, Order. The three principles unify to form Singularity. This is the eighth virtue, but it is also the first, because within Singularity can be found all the principles, and thus all the virtues. A circle has no end. It continues forever, with all parts equally important in the success of the whole. Our society is the same. It too continues forever, with all members (and all virtues) equal parts of the unified whole.

Virtue interpretation

I can only speculate, but these are my educated speculations. Use them or do not, I hope you enjoy the read. I covered only the slightly confusing virtues; the rest are rather self explanatory.

Balance

One of the things that is asked a lot about this... "Isn't Order lawful, Balance neutral, and Chaos chaotic? How can this system have both balance and order in it?" Think of "Balance" being the balance between Good and Evil, not Law and Chaos. Gargoyles are drawn to evil as equally as good. More or less, neither side can get out of hand, or there will be disruption of the prosperous whole. Now it makes a bit more sense why "Balance" (whos mantra is Mis-tas, take a guess where you've seen that before!) is the equivalent of Justice. The gargoyles take a bit less interest into who is at fault and punishing those that do Wrong than those that follow the virtues of Infinity.

Singularity

As you can see from the circle reference in the quote far above and all that follows, Singularity is almost 'all of the other virtues' instead of its own virtue. It speaks of the importance of all virtues equally, with none being more or less important than the rest. Thus the gargoyle society is modeled after it. Gargoyles would likely refer to themselves in the plural (if not speaking in the typical infinitives, that is) due to the 'equal part of the larger whole' concept. We, instead of us, etc.

Order

Just like the British virtues... The absence of virtue is Pride, thus the virtue needed there is Humility. With gargoyles, the absence of virtue is Chaos, thus, Order is needed. The codex, to the gargoyles, is the path to ultimate prosperity. Naturally, ultimate prosperity cannot be attained if all is in chaos.

In Closing

I hope you enjoyed my writeup, I put a lot of time and effort into it with hope that others can better understand what I am shooting for with my own roleplay, and the hope that anyone wishing to try something new might find that something new right here. I am indeed starting a Singularity guild that will not nessicarily require your character to be a gargoyle. Information will be available soon enough. Thanks for reading. Any questions, feel free to message me.


¹Just a note, I went with the UXO gargoyle on this one. The other resource had everything revolving around a wingless 'worker' breed of gargoyles, which do not exist in Ultima Online.

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