A Correction
As The Bladed Dragon pointed out in the comments for this article, I was mistaken in a comment I made about Beh Lem, the recruitable gargoyle character in Ultima 6. Specifically, I forgot that Beh Lem was an immature winged gargoyle, rather than a wingless. Indeed, the very fact that he could be recruited should have been evidence enough of this, since wingless gargoyles are said to be incapable of speaking (as Sergorn Dragon recently reminded me) in Ultima 6.
So, uh, yeah…my bad. There’s no harm at all in assuming that Beh Lem, in the 200 intervening years between Ultima 6 and Ultima 7, would have “grown up” and sprouted wings. As I should darn well have known.
Now the only question is: what became of his pet lizard?
Hrmm, I think part of the problem is Origins inability to create a consistent history. Weren’t there a few wingless gargoyles that could speak in U7, like in Vesper?
Yes, that is also an issue. And I don’t recall if U7 ever offered an explanation for why/how wingless gargoyles could speak. Though to be fair, two centuries is a long time.