Category:Ascended Mantis

Credit: Vluharqih

Native to: Frost Lake Woods (North of Etzos)

Quick Facts: Five foot tall Praying Mantis

Height: 5’

Length: 2’

Weight: 150-200lbs

Appearance: These mantises are visually very similar to their much smaller cousins. Their body is made up of several segments, but their bright green colouring has been mottled, resulting in an odd camouflage pattern of dark and light green across their whole body. Their shells are different, however. While their smaller cousins have hard exoskeletons, the Ascended Mantis has a shell that reacts to force.

When the shell is struck, whether by blade or hammer, the material around the strike becomes near impenetrable. The rest of the time, the shell is soft and pliable, allowing the Mantis incredible speed and flexibility. They have a limited amount of locations they can protect simultaneously, and the best strategy is to attack from multiple sides at once.

They were named as a joke; the praying mantis finally made its prayer heard, and it became Ascended. The joke was spread at the same time as the news of the insect, and the original name has been lost as it is simply remembered as the Ascended Mantis.

They still have retained their large mandibles, however they have gained an extra pair of serrated legs.

Habitat: The deeps of Frost Lake Woods. The dislike humanoids and dislike sunlight. They stick to the shadows, and will often go out of their way to avoid search parties. This has led to many assuming they are mere myth, despite multiple scientific books describing them in great detail.

Lifespan and Development: These creatures live up to 10 arcs, with similar developmental and reproductive stages as a typical praying mantis.

Diet: The insects eat small game and birds for the most part, relying on their impossibly fast reflexes to snatch them mid-run. They are also scavengers, and are not opposed to eating other game, should they catch it. They are not likely to hunt people, though if found dead, they would most definitely be eaten.

Temperament: The Ascended Mantis is very removed from the world. It will try to run from humans whenever conflict arises, only fighting when there is no other option. Should it fight, however, it should not be underestimated. The speed it moves at can only be rivalled by the Thunder Cat, and the blades on its arms are sharp and strong enough to shatter all but the toughest of swords.

Abilities: Very fast with a strong exo-skeleton. Their shell has been used in alchemy, imbuing items with the ability to react to force. It requires a complicated and lengthy distillation process to create, and takes the body of a fully grown Mantis to imbue a breastplate with this trait. It is worth noting that metals cannot bond with this, however cloth, leather and fur can all gain the protective benefit of metal armour when this is used.