Mantids:

Appearance:

• Head - like that of a praying mantis. can turn around like them too.
• Markings - depending on what kind of mantis it is.
• Body - flexible waist that can bend at a 90 degree angle, otherwise, similar to praying mantis. Around seven feet tall when erect.
• Limbs - four sets of limbs:
  1. hand limbs used only for gripping, crushing, etc. tipped with two small 'fingers' and one long hook at the end for added leverage. can twist about very nicely.
  2. doubles as arms and legs. tipped with slightly smaller hooks than upper limbs and slightly less twisty. usually used as leg.
  3. & 4 used for walking around. when mantid is small, capable of walking on ceilings with them.
• Wings - two sets of semi-translucent wings layered over one another. attached o body near waist and lay over the back when in rest.
• Clothing - usually just stick to functional harnesses for holding equipment, but also strap on light-weight plastic armor for battle. Some indulge in wispy veil-like cloths or brightly-colored ribbons. Others use body paints to enhance their markings.

Development:

• When babies, have growths that make them look like flowers (depending on their 'kind') as well as coloring.
• Wings until their third molt & a limited flying ability.
• Most shed their flower parts on the third molt and gradually turn a mix of brown, grey, and olive.
• 11 molts to full-size.
• 8th molt marks adulthood.
• 19 have greenish or cream spots and strips w/a few decorative growths. Different patterns/growths for different kinds.
• 23 kinds of Mantid (4 kinds were trapped on-planet)
• 4 kinds keep their flower parts and bright coloring.

Stats/Skills/Etc.:

• 4 kinds of Mantid keep their flower parts and coloring. These are poisonous, more delicate & dexterious.
• 19 kinds of Mantid are tougher, stronger, and slower.
• Strength - their arms and jaws can crush the life out of ya, otherwise, normal strength for their size.
• Stamina - more of a sit and wait for the prey to come to them type.
• Agility - strike power is very good, limbs and head surprisingly mobile.
• Speed - strike power is very good, running around is not.
• Climate - will grow a thick fur at all joints w/lighter fur on back and belly when cold. Heat doesn't bother them much either, though they prefer shade.
• Weapons - their arms and the jaws they drag you to with them. The hooks on their first arm set are also sturdy enough for some stabbing.
• Children - though the other species do not know it, mantid pods are capable of fighting the minute they are born.

Arts:

• Believe the only form of art is music. Because of this, they destroy beautiful works of art by other species to get the job done without a second thought.
• Musical instruments are either string or drums. Mostly plucking for string, but some kinds have arms shaped in such a way that they can be used as a kind of bow.
• Mantids chant instead of singing.
• Dancing often accompanies music, but is not considered an art form. Rather, it is a way of expressing appreciation for the musician.
• A few rare pods focus only on making music, usually dominated by the four flower kinds of Mantid.
• Mantids will make a burring noise with their mouth to express appreciation for non-musical things. It's also their way of laughing.

Religion/Holiday:

• Mantids have six gods: 1. Tolth (Fertility); 2. Valth (Prey); 3. Arre (Light); 4. Ingol (War); 5. Merrg (Music); 6. Tharre (Rythmn).
• Tharre is worshipped with chants and drum beats, but all others are prayed to with string instruments.
• Mantids drink flower nectar during religious ceremonies.
• No god is above another in the general Mantid thought, though individuals favor one or another.
• Prayer happens when it needs to happen.
• On the longest and shortest days of the year (depending on what planet you are on or defaulting to the home planet's day if one is not on-planet), Mantids get together for a day and night of musical partying.
• Contests are held on this day concerning music.
• Secretly, these gatherings are also spent plotting against other species.

Pods:

• When a female is not ready to mate, it is impossible to tell her from a male by her outward appearance. In fact, Mantids treat female and male exactly the same.
• Once in a female's lifetime, when conditions are favorable, a female becomes fertile and mates with multiple males.
• She can mate with whomever she wants as long as they are not in the same pod. Choice is based on looks and whatever traits she finds favorable.
• She then lays hundreds of eggs in a sandy pit over the course of several days. Her mates hover over her, groom her, and bring her treats during this time.
• After the laying, the female and males go their seperate ways leaving one to guard the nest at all times.
• After a year, they get together again (if they can) and collect many small edible creatures and wait at the edge of the pit.
• Upon hatching, the young fall on each other in a savage killing and eating spree.
• When the parents judge that there's about 100 left, they throw in the creatures they gathered that the young begin to eat instead.
• Generally 1 - 4 females survive this massacre. 0 - 2 will survive to mate.
• These 100 young form a pod that will work and live together for the rest of their lives.
• Pods are mixes of the different kinds. The kind a young mantid is depends on who fertilized its egg.

Pod Life:

• Once the pod is formed, the mantid group is capable of fighting a pitched battle. In fact, though this is secret, the mantid young are well-suited to surprise attacks.
• Mantids are seemingly uninterested in conquest. They spread to a new planet only when they need more room or resources.
• Mantid pods stake out a hunting ground only for the purposes of food gathering. Otherwise, they wander where they like.
• Mantids shelter in caves or under trees in bad weather. Buildings are only made to shelter databases.
• When a pod has only a few old members left, a younger pod will adopt the older pod's name and elders who then teach them all they know.
• If the pod adopts no elders, they may take on the name of a famous pod which leads to numbering like Ixarre VII.
• Individuals do not have a name unless an outsider gives it to them, they just go by the pod name.
• Mantids are not concerned with death. Worship of Ingol (War) concerns victory for the prestige it will bring the pod's name, not reward in the afterlife.
• Dead Mantids are eaten by their pod or, if their pod is dead or unavailable, they are eaten by others of their kind (as in, kind of mantid, not mantids in general).
• A pod's influence depends on its deeds and the money it has.
• Individual mantids have no problem making friends with other species and will curb some habits to make their friends more comfortable.

Economy/Tech:

• After the third molt, outsiders may hire a pod.
• Those who wish to hire a mantid's services, must hire and pay every member of their pod, no exceptions.
• Employers are usually expected to provide transportation.
• Mantids usually take out contracts as mercenaries or terraformers (in rare cases, as performers).
• Fourth molt and up mantids are best at laying ambushes than out and out charge and kill. Still very valuable in a pitched battle.
• They also have no problem eating the bodies of their enemies which makes them strangely economic.
• Mantids are very technologically advanced (surpass elves).
• Mantids have a love for new things and will abandon tradition to try something new until they tire of it. Then they go with whatever works best which is why their tech is so advanced.

History:

Mantids are very forward-looking. They keep no records of their history or even lineage records. The only history books they have concern the development of technology and song books.

The mantid home planet is covered with large flowering plants that are pollinated by small mammals that the young eat. The plants are eaten by larger herbivores which the adult mantids prey on.

Species Interaction:

• Mantids hate the elves. They often refuse to work for them unless they believe that doing so will give them an opportunity to undermine them. An elf that hires them pays a pretty, pretty penny.
• The minute the elven empire starts to crumble, the mantids are prepared to take over.
• Mantids work really well with the Thecatus, but will hire out to any of the other species as long as they are not associated closely with elves.