By Jason C Marshall ([email protected]) (19 January 1996)
In the past they were created as the Agents of the Wyld, solitary hunter-killers who would destroy that which threatened the Wyld. In the past they were a happy people, carrying out their tasks and living quietly in lone places, occasionally meeting to discuss events.
When the Triat fragmented, the Mantidae found themselves suddenly at war, a war that they were losing. The Wyrm was destroying them and the Weaver was invading them. The Mantidae, at first, sought to control the expansion of the Weaver, joining the Garou in their 'culling' of man. But soon the Garou turned upon them and they found themselves under attack from the very people they'd called friends.
The Mantidae fought with honor as the Garou attempted to destroy them but to no avail. Soon they realised that they were doomed if they continued their fight. So the Mantidae retreated deep into the Wyld Realms. Here they waited, carrying out missions for the Wyld and making small efforts of revenge against the Garou.
It was during the early 1500s when Mantis appeared to its children with a message from Insect.
The war would begin again.
Those that had hurt them would pay.
Insect needed them.
The Mantidae left the Wyld, returning to the bosom of their grandfather.
The Garou's first indication that they had gained both an enemy and ally in their fight against the Wyrm was the destruction of a hive in the lower Florida Everglades, and then the subsequent deaths of the Garou in a caern nearby. The only clue as to who the killers was the strange footprints and a definite alien smell of the place.
Mantidae were careful in their beginning operations against the Wyrm. Almost no clue was ever left for them to be identified. Over the course of the next hundred or so years, dozens of Mantidae struck out at the Wyrm, destroying its agents and anyone who stood in there way. The Garou finally managed to locate evidence of what was committing the destruction, when a Glass Walker observed a Mantidae leaving a gutted Wyrm-hole.
The Glass Walker fled into the Umbra, confident that it was safe. This was his first mistake, as the Mantidae effortlessly walked across the gauntlet after him. He ran, heading for the cyber-realm, then his home caern.
The Mantidae followed, and when the Glass Walker entered the Cyber-Realm he slowed, for now he knew he was safe. The creature that followed was of the Wyld and this was of the Weaver and his home, not its. Here he would discover what the creature was and why it was destroying the Wyrm-holes.
When the Mantidae first entered the Cyber-Realm it stopped and shifted to homid. This act worried the Glass Walker. Was it possible that this was some strange bete? The Glass Walker watched and waited.
The Mantidae looked about and walked over a pattern-spider.
"Cousin, I seek your aide."
The pattern-spider stopped its work and turned to the Mantidae.
The Glass Walker watched dumbfounded as the pattern-spider called to its brethren and then placed itself and its gathered brethren's abilities at the creatures disposal.
The Mantidae pointed to the Cyber-Realm.
"Find him, my cousins. Find the Garou and show him to me."
The Glass Walker ran. This was beyond his capabilities to deal with. If the pattern-spiders were relaying visuals to this creature, here he was undone, for the pattern-spiders were everywhere.
The caern was disrupted as the Glass Walker stumbled into the bawn and into the arms of his fellow Garou. He tried to tell them of the creature he'd met and the power it had possessed, when the moon bridge cracked open and the Mantidae entered.
It regarded the gathered Garou with a cold, alien stare.
"Know this, Garou. We of Mantis remember your betrayal and as the servants of Insect we act now as his judges. Do not cross those of Insect, Garou. This is your only warning."
The Mantidae split the moon bridge stone asunder and then stepped back into the umbra.
The Garou sent out messengers as fast a possible.
The Mantidae are created through a mystical rite enacted by Mantis upon the eggs of the preying mantis. This rite is similar to that used by the Corax.
Crinos: Str. +2, Sta. +2, Dex. +5, Cha. -3, App. 0, Man. -3, Per. +1. A humanoid mantis, some 8ft in height. Think the Tri-kreen from AD&D.
Mantis: Str. +1, Sta. +2, Dex. +4, Cha. -3, App. 0, Man. -3, Per. +2. A massive Preying Mantis, some 6ft in height.
Flight, limited. In Mantis form only.
Claws. Str. +4 damage, aggravated. In Crinos and Mantis form only.
Coup de Grace (Level 2) ---- As the Black Fury gift.
Blissful Ignorance (Level 2) ---- As the Ragabash gift.
Song of the Predator (Level 2) ---- As the Get of Fenris gift, Snarl
of the Predator.
Fly Feet (Level 3) ---- As the Ragabash gift.
Catfeet (Level 3) ---- As the Lupus gift.
Combat Healing (Level 3) --- As the Ahourn gift.
Visceral Agony (Level 3) --- As the Black Furies gift.
Open Wounds (Level 4) ---- As the Shadow Lords gift.
Take the True Form (Level 4) ---- As the Philodox gift.
Venom (Level 4) ---- As the Lupus gift.
Reach the Umbra (Level 5) ---- As the Silent Strider gift.
Circular Attack (Level 5) ---- As the Stargazer gift.
Summon Spirit Form (Level 5)