Mantises (also called Mantids) are an alien race best described as enormous praying mantises. They own a handful of solar systems in a cluster of neighboring stars in Syndicate space, but their main system is the Hive Home System.[1]
Anatomy
Female mantises are physically massive and have long insectoid bodies. Their large heads support compound eyes and antennae that hang from their skull like Predator-ish dreadlocks. They have six segmented, spikey, deadly-looking legs that click when they walk, and two sets of arms: a folded upper set that look like "meter-long blades designed to pierce and disembowel enemies," above a secondary set that end with three fingers. One set of translucent wings are folded on their backs, covering a thickly armored abdomen.[2]
Male mantises are smaller, and do not have bladed upper arms. There is a small secondary brain in their abdomen that allows the male to continue mating for several hours after the queen consumes their head.[3]
Weaknesses
In general, their necks are the least armored parts of their chitinous bodies.[4] Mantises are extremely susceptible to loud noises; in the Dungeon, prolonged exposure to loud noises results in the "Unsettled" debuff.[4]
Society
The Burrowers clan is the royal family and governmental entity in charge of the Hive Home System.[3] Members of the clan and the military are held in high esteem, but private citizens can also gain prestige by participating the Sixth Floor Hunting Grounds.[5]
Families appear to be organized into hives, including "Dark Hive" and "Deep Mind." All mantis couplings must be registered in advance, and the male must complete a trial and psychological counseling before mating. Although the Burrowers are less strict than they were before, there are set rules in place about which Hives can "couple" with other hives.[3] Hive queens may have thousands of children.[5]
History
In their home system, Mantises unearthed old technology capable of creating and resurrecting Macro AIs.[1] As a result, Mantises have been at the forefront of decoding and reverse-engineering primal technology. Dungeon Crawler World was established after Mantises demanded the ability to field-test Macro AI-controlled Enhancement Zones, and the Syndicate Council appointed a subcommittee to review the issue, leading to the creation of a complex tangle of laws including the Indigenous Planetary Species Protection Act and eventually to the crawl.[2]
A "long time ago," the otherwise-peaceful Nebular fought a war against the Burrowers after the Mantises caught them squatting in the Hive Home System.[4] The Nebulars believe that the Mantid goal of creating a stable replica of the Eulogist is blasphemous.
- See Also: Dungeon Crawler World#History
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Dinniman, Matt. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Chapter 46)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Dinniman, Matt. The Butcher's Masquerade (Chapter 33)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Dinniman, Matt. The Butcher's Masquerade (Chapter 38)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Dinniman, Matt. The Butcher's Masquerade (Chapter 34)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Dinniman, Matt. The Butcher's Masquerade (Chapter 32)