Soaring Mantis

The Soaring Mantis is a rare type of giant, flying insect native to the far reaches of the Great Grass Sea in the Southeastern Threshold. They are carnivorous creatures, preying on the other creatures of the Southeast including Gnu, Gazelles, Dazzling Horses, Guar, Claw Striders, and Cattle. Hungry Soaring Mantes may prey on humans, though even in the wild they tend not to favour such prey.

Soaring Mantes have raptorial forelimbs to grasp their prey, and a set of four wings to propel them through the sky. They are excellent flyers, and often soar on the warm air currents above the grasslands searching for prey.

Southern cattle-herding tribes have a great dislike for the Soaring Mantis, due to its predation of their cows. However, some tribes accept its presence due to its utility in driving away Claw Striders, who are more active in preying on cattle and (especially) humans. Ther Mantis' hate for striders is rooted in a desire to protect its young: Soaring Mantis eggs are released into small mounds, coated in a fluid that solidifies to protect them quickly after they have been laid. Claw Striders seem to enjoy the taste of Mantis eggs over many other foods, and their claws can slice through the protective covering of the eggs.

Soaring Mantes are not easily domesticated, but there is one case where they seem to have taken to stabling: the Ivory Tower of Shuyun, one of the most distant Immaculate Order monasteries from the Palace Sublime, rising tall at the edge of the Wyld. The monks of the Ivory Tower raise Soaring Mantis eggs and young to aid them, each able to bear one or two full-grown humans through the air to carry messages across the Grass Seas to the Realm embassy at Navelborne, where they can find the roads to Harbourhead or the Varang City-States and from there cross to reach the Mouth of Peace. The Mantis Riders of the Ivory Tower are also key in maintaining the reach of the Wyld Hunt in the far Southeast, and in combating encroachment by the Fair Folk or the dangerous Claw Tribes.