Gargoyles were astral spirits, called Celestines, which lived isolated lives. They were discovered by the mystical cult called the Servants of the Flame, which captured many of the spirits and bound them as their servants through words and symbols of power. The Gargoyles were given a physical form of great strength and were appointed as guardians and watchers over the cult's interests.

The Gargoyles are called the Sin Eaters, as they are attracted to evildoers like moths to a flame. Part of the curse imposed upon them by the Servants of the Flame is that they must touch people, gaining the memories of their evil deeds, and passing on to them the Curse of Absolution. Sometimes the gargoyles will be driven by the curse they impose upon a "sinner" to carry out the punishment themselves' this often involves maiming or killing the evildoer. The punishment imposed by the curse is chosen by some higher power and the gargoyles are forced by their very nature to do as is required of them. Often they do not have to do anything, as the curse often takes the form of backlash or some specific tragedy in the sinners' lives.

Gargoyles are ancient and mysterious in nature and very secretive. Their feeding on sin usually happens at night, when sinners walk the streets. Some gargoyles become especially good at sin-eating and actually enjoy it for the sensual experience it brings to their cold, unfeeling bodies through the absorbed memories. Some gargoyles even associate with depraved individuals, encouraging them to become more and more reckless, cruel, and evil in their actions until the time the gargoyles feed upon them, often killing them as a result. This dark side of the gargoyle nature warps their physical and mental nature. Gargoyles suffer what they call the Horrification, the transformation of mind and body from agent of good into a monster of darkness. Their Taint of Evil, as they call it, grows over time as they gain more and more dark memories and experience more physical sensations from it. Eventually they develop senses of touch and taste themselves, allowing themselves to experience the world. They also develop evil personality qualities and hideous physical characteristics. For gargoyles, monstrosity and sensuality are one in the same. Some try to remain bastions of hope and cold purity, but most eventually succumb to the darkness.

Gargoyles are a physical race of living stone creatures, though they are also spirits. They have their own personal outlooks on earthly life and their own existence. They have feelings, memories, distinct tastes, personalities, moral codes, desires, fears, hungers, obsessions, and personal goals. They are similar to humans in many respects, but they have no sense of touch and cannot feel the world they live in, often making them seem cold-hearted and distant. Many lust for the horrification the taint of evil brings, as it frees them from the prisons of their own bodies, letting them truly experience the world in which they live. For most, the only time they feel anything is during their sin-eating. The memories of sinners bear the ghosts of sensations they felt while committing their "sins". As their horrification overtakes them, they become killers, rapists, thieves, and monsters that must be hunted down and destroyed by their own kind, freeing their spirits so that they can take on new uncorrupted bodies.

Gargoyles are still spirits and are capable of traveling the Astra freely, even though they animate stone bodies called their Simulacra. They cannot, however, permanently return to their spirit homes, as they have experienced too much darkness. Many gargoyles can temporarily occupy other forms aside from their own simulacra. They are limited to alternate temporary forms made of stone, wood, ivory, horn, gold, lead, wax, and glass. Marble, alabaster, obsidian, jade, and granite are the most favored stones used as simulacra. Their bodies become flexible allowing them to move and even speak like humans. Some gargoyles in recent times have taken to creating granite skeletons from single pieces of stone, then they use modern special effects techniques to cover them with simulated muscle and flesh so that they can pass for humans. Long ago the gargoyles would simply take on statues carved into human forms, and during the 17th through 19th centuries wax-coated stone bodies were used. They would paint their false flesh in skin tone and wear wigs and heavy clothing.

Gargoyles not only animate their bodies, they can shapechange them. Their bodies, when uncorrupted by the horrification, typically are very beautiful and often human-like. They can consciously will the Darkness within the Light inside themselves to come out for short periods of time, transforming themselves into the creatures of legend with bat wings, demonic features, and lust for blood.