According to some legends, it is possible to create a golem by writing the word "truth" in Hebrew on its forehead and inserting a parchment with the name of the venerated deity into its mouth. This animates the clay amalgam. To destroy it, simply erase the first letter written on the forehead, passing from "truth" to "death".

Based on this method, it was possible to create a charm that metamorphoses a subject made of flesh and blood into a stone gargoyle, with a different language of course. However, this does require a basic knowledge of magic, as it involves engraving runes through flesh. Runes are literally glyphs for “heart” and “stone”. Where they are inscribed is up to the magician, although selecting a location that is easily accessible to the magician and less so to the future gargoyle is an effective submission strategy. More on this below.

Once the runes have impregnated the flesh, it turns to stone. It is possible to shape the subject before it regains consciousness. The type of stone varies from subject to subject, and it is difficult to specify the material at the time of metamorphosis. However, this can be changed later with an appropriate incantation.

This other language also seems to have an interesting side-effect on the test subjects. It seems that the eons of age of these runes is reflected in the subject's accelerated ageing. However, the gargoyle does not take on an extra wrinkle once it has acquired its final form. Despite looking like an aged creature, its reflexes and strength are in no way diminished.

Let's get back to the runes themselves. By inscribing the Heart and Stone runes in this way, the gargoyle is not subject to solar cycles. It will only petrify when the Heart rune is erased. Despite being made of stone, the Heart rune is still very malleable, like a kind of clay. Simply retrace the rune to bring the gargoyle back to life. The place where the rune was inscribed remains strangely malleable, even if the creature remains asleep for centuries. The Stone rune, on the other hand, is immutable. One would need a hammer to destroy it, and doing so would destroy the gargoyle. The transformation is therefore permanent, even if the petrification is not.

Petrification can even be voluntary on the part of the gargoyle, if it feels safe or if it is obeying a master's order: it can erase its own Heart rune itself, even if it is impossible to trace it afterwards without outside help. This is why some gargoyle owners place the runes in places that are difficult to access.