Gargiya

Gargiya

(Creature)

Type

Magical beast
(aquatic)

CR

10

Environment

Warm oceans

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Source: From Hell's Heart, pg(s). 84

Gargiyas, also know as boiler beasts by sailors, are relatives of sea serpents with close ties to volcanic activity.

Appearance

Gargiyas resemble sea serpents with reddish-orange scales, spine frills running down their heads and necks, and hundreds of wriggling, leg-like appendages lining the sides of their bellies. Their eyes and mouths glow like coals. Adult gargiyas can reach thirty feet in length and weigh up to five tons.

Ecology

Gargiyas are sustained by the heat given off by magma vents and volcanic hotspots, and are highly protective of these areas. Gargiyas are notoriously territorial as a result, and will attack any creature or vessel approaching their lairs.

Gargiyas are solitary creatures and do not share their lairs with others of their kind. However, they are sometimes reported to attack ships after these have slain another gargiya, as if coming to the aid of their kin.

Gargiyas mate at roughly decade-long intervals; the male and female do not remain together after copulating. The impregnated female returns to her lair and consumes large quantities of lava while her single offspring gestates, before birthing it directly into a volcanic fissure. Unlike other reptiles, gargiyas give live birth. The infant gargiya remains in its fissure until strong enough to live by itself, at which point it departs its mother's lair to find its own. Gargiyas are believed to live for about 300 years, although some are rumored to have lived far longer and to even predate modern civilization.

In Golarion

Gargiyas can be found in any warm seas where areas of volcanic activity exist, but are most common around the Shackles. The largest concentrations of these creatures can be found near the Smoker and in a stretch of water north of Shark Island, where dozens of gargiyas are rumored to lair. Large numbers of gargiyas are also said to live in the Eye of Abendego, where they are whipped into a constant frenzy by the storm and patrol the waters ceaselessly, boiling any crew they come across and using their bones to decorate their lair.