Achaieral

**Achaierals** are gargoyle-like daemon who make nests in abandoned churches and become petrified when coming into physical contact with sunlight.

## Overview

The **gargoyle** is a fantasy and horror monster inspired by the gargoyle architectural element. While they were believed in mythology to frighten away evil spirits, the idea of such statues physically coming to life is a more recent notion.

Like golems, they are usually made of magically animated or transformed stone, but have animal or chimera traits and are often guardians of a place such as a cathedral or castle. They can also be depicted as vessels for demonic possession or as a living species resembling statues.

## Summary

Like many other demonic creatures, achaierals were the creations of the original demons who used them to wreak havoc in the mortal world, especially on Earth, and bring misery upon mankind. They, in particular, are considered anomalies among other daemon as they were created long after the Great War had ended and most of the demons imprisoned in the Underworld.

While it was unknown exactly *when* they were created, the earliest accounts of them was in the early 8th-century by the shadowhunters' Clave with the mysterious disappearances of many priests, monks, nuns, and other religious figures across Europe, and became a serious problem for pious devotees.

It wasn't until the late 9th-century when the Vatican was finally able to have the situation under control and had the exorcists eradicated nearly all achaierals, with only a handful of them survived the purge by escaping into the Netherworld and became a favorite familiar among pureblood devils. During the Devil Civil War, hundreds of them were released into the battle and caused tremendous damage to the Netherworld, to the point where they became "pests and grumpkins and snarks".

## Appearance

Achaierals are grosteque and hideous beasts, with razor-sharp teeth, blade-like talons, and wide and leathery bat-like wings so black that they seem to blot out the night. When hit with light, its skin will darken and harden and become ugly stone gargoyles.

## Characteristics

Achaierals are known for their ferocious yet simple minded nature, which combined with its immense strength and endurance makes these daemon dangerous enemies that only highly-trained exorcists, hunters, and shadowhunters can deal with. Their natural habitats are dark and cold places, with abandoned religious sites such as churches and monasteries being an achaieral's ideal habitations.

It is an omnivorous beast who would eat any living thing it can get its deadly claws upon, even cannibalizing its own offspring if it considers them to be frail and weak. However, much like many monsters and daemon, it has a natural taste for humans, especially those who are pious, faithful, or hold religious importance such as priests or pastors. Because of this, it'd actively venture out at night to hunt down the faithful and bring them back to its nest, in which it would tear their flest off their bones before using said bones to build a nest to lay eggs in.

It is a territorial beast who would attack and kill anything that enters its territory, regardless if it is other demonic creatures or even other achaierals. It doesn't need another achaieral or human to be its mate, being capable of asexual reproduction, provided that it has stored enough demonic power and consumed enough human flesh, afterward, it would push out dozens of eggs the size of a child's head. For a short amount of time, the achaieral would remain in the nest, only going out to hunt for humans to bath its eggs in their blood, though when the eggs hatch, if the born achaierals are considered "weak" in the parent's eyes, the whole patch would be immediately killed and eaten.

Despite popular belief, achaierals are neither immortal or having longevity like other daemon, but instead lengthening its lifespan by killing and devouring humans and through cyclical periods of petrifactive hibernation, in which it would petrify itself and transform into a stone gargoyle to slow down its aging process, thus allowing it to live for potentially hundreds of years. However, this process requires the achaieral to concentrate all of its demonic power to do so, leaving the achaieral vulnerable to all attacks from outside enemies.

## Trivia

* Their average lifespan is around 125-200 years.
* According to Sona, based on statistics, there is an average of 27 deaths via achaierals happening in the Netherworld each year.
* While **Gargouille**, the Evil Dragon defeated by St. Romanus of Rouen, is the namesake of the gargoyle-like stone statues the achaierals transform into when petrified, it is *not* the Alpha Achaieral despite popular beliefs.