Brownstone gargoyles choose a building or area in a city where the poor and exploited dwell, and they bind to it. They then spend their lives protecting those who live there as best they can. They are often viewed as a nuissance by the rich, the authorities, or the bosses, but the poor, the workers, the oppressed love them.

Brownstone gargoyles raise new gargoyles and teach them how to serve others, then when they are about 100, they bid them to go find their own territories. They have great meetings every few years where they congregate to socialize, trade, and discuss problems. Sometimes they work together on a territory, forming a small family unit, if the territory is too big (size or population) for one gargoyle to handle.