Manticore [Lore Only Species]

[mrimatool]

just before I get started,yes I'm aware of the Vaucra. This race is a race me and GG came up with a long time ago and is only meant to be an addition to the lore.

Name: Ingens Mantodea(Scientific name) Manticore(What they’re known as, more of a Racial slur) The Chosen(What they call their race)

Features Common of all Manticore

Arm Spines

The Manticore all have small Arm Spines that grow out of the gaps in their chitin, these spines are coated in a special paralytic poison but when a Manticore injects someone with it, a spine is removed, physically weakening the Manticore.

Feeding

The Manticore have one of the more obscure forms of feeding which involves ejecting a proboscis from beneath their chest chitin and being in incredible proximity to another being. When the Proboscis grips the food the Manticore enters an almost meditative state as they drain the prey of almost all life. When a Manticore feeds on another Manticore they take their ‘Mutation cells’ cells that change their body into a higher form if the Manticore they feed on was higher, for example Wardens can’t become Knights or Hunters but Hunters can become Knights or Wardens, and a Knight can become a warden. Emissaries are thought to have one of the most peculiar feeding traits and that is that when they feed on a being they steal it’s memories, which is one of the reasons Emissaries are some of the most valued Manticore.

When a being is fed upon the Manticore injects R-738 which calms the prey and if the feeding is interrupted the Manticore injects a paralysing poison into the Victim which kills them slowly if they don’t find medical help.

Because of the feeding Manticores grow to live for a long long time and have quite good regeneration abilities while they’re full.

Manticore aboard Nanotrasen facilities are given a small metal device that covers their proboscis and injects R-738 into their dna which makes the Manticore incredibly loyal to Nanotrasen, the device also gives the bare minimum nutrients to the Manticore to allow them to live but not have their regeneration abilities. It should be noted that a person must be alive to be fed on by a Manticore, if the person is dead, the Manticore will in fact die from feeding on them.

Reproduction

Manticore reproduction is achieved when a Manticore Queen is fertilised by a Manticore warden, this fertilisation only needs to happen approximately once a year. When a Queen is fertilised she can plant hundreds of eggs throughout the year that evolve into small Manticoris bugs until they grow into fully fledged Manticore and they perform the rite of Choosing. Wardens are selected by a Queen for mating when they’ve performed admirably for their hive.

Toxin resistance

Due to the very hostile environments that Manticore make their home in, they’ve evolved a natural toxin resistance, while it does not make them immune it does make the effects of toxin very minor without prolonged exposure. This has led to many Manticore using chemical weapons to drown out the populace of a humanoid settlement and then coming into collect them, with little resistance.

Lore and history

Myths and Legends

Manticore legends and folklore are known for their realistic properties and some actually believe the tales, here are the most popular.

The Mother : The Old Queen also known as Advelmen is believed to be the first Queen, the Queen there at the time of creation, or so they say. She was birthed into the world by the Overseers and was given immense power, the Overseers ordered her to have children, these children are known as The First, five queens that spread amongst the stars to allow the chosen to live out their days, feasting whenever they desired, the Milky Way was the hunting ground of the chosen Advelmem taught her children. It is said that after they left their mother's embrace that the first went to war with each other, no one knows who survived or how, only that someone did, or there would be no chosen left. The first's warring with each other is what shaped Manticore society today, as the idea of fight if you want it has become the core element, no matter how high, Wardens fight Wardens for their Queens affection and mating rights, Knights fight knights for the right to be Knight captain, Handmaidens fight handmaidens for Regency after the Queen is killed, hunters fight hunters for first blood, drones fight drones for first rights, Emissarries and Queens are the only Manticore who do not fight each other, due to there being only one of each to each hive.

The King of the Chosen: The king is one of the most famous Manticore tales, it shows a Manticore returning from the brink of doom and coming back to slay his enemies. The king known to the other chosen as Last Sun was a chosen Warden who fought bravely for his hive but when his ship returned to their hive one day, They found it all wiped out, destroyed by a rival hive, their Queen was dead, and the handmaidens were dead next to her, they had been fed on, to the chosen feeding on a handmaiden is the worst crime other than regicide that is, it's unwritten law taught by Advelmem, that no Chosen shall lay a hand on a handmaiden other than another handmaiden from the same hive during Kurili the dueling ritual of the chosen. After Last sun found his hive in ruin, he picked through the wreckage till he found a dying chosen from the attacking hive, Last Sun said to the Chosen, "Tell me where your hive lays their claim and you I will grant you the right of Kurili against me" The dying Chosen obviously accepted and informed Last Sun of his homeworld and the right of Kurili was given, Last Sun had never been a great warrior and he told his lieutenants where to find the rogue hive, as the right began Last Sun drew his energy staff and charged the other chosen, who had by this point recovered his vigour, but before he could even draw his staff Last Sun had drove the shaft of his staff through the chosen's leg, and Last Sun's chest chitin opened slightly to allow his proboscis to feed, Last Sun embraced the dying chosen and sucked the life from him, with his dying breath the chosen spoke the words "Make my Queen pay for her crime.. My king" Last Sun led his ship to the homeworld of the rival hive, but when he arrived he met no resistance, the rival hive's ships did not fire, and instead hailed him, "You have come to punish our Queen?" Last Sun responded and told them, "Yes, her crimes are beyond forgiveness" there was a silence for hours, no hails, no attacks, just stillness until eventually one of the rival wardens broke it with a hail, "we stand beside you my king" with that similar messages came through from the other wardens until none of the rival ships stood against him, he ordered his ships to land and marched on the hive, meeting similar greetings from the drones and hunters of the hive. Last Sun and his new wardens reached the throne room and the handmaidens flocked to them, hiding behind, but something happened that Last Sun didn't expect, the knights stood with their traitor Queen, but we're soon overwhelmed by the other Wardens. They grabbed the Queen and brought her to Last Sun, he promptly slit her throat, and said "handmaidens, feed" when they had finished killing each other one handmaiden stood as a Queen, Last Sun commanded her to be his Queen, she of course did not tangle with him, and birthed many children for him, each loyal to him, afterwards he led his chosen against hive after hive, each time killing the Queen and taking a handmaiden, it is said he has many wives now, and is the strongest chosen, although some doubt he even exsists.

Hyper regeneration: The Legend of hyper regeneration is an old one and if a chosen can reach this ability then he has done a great service to Advelmem and hyper regeneration is the gift, many heroes in Legends and Fables of the Chosen have gained this power, such as the King, Last Sun and the first. Hyper regeneration is the ability for a chosen to regenerate from the brink, to come back from the dead, almost. The ability allows limbs to grow back, brain matter to be repaired and death to be thwarted, though it is an ability reserved for the most focused and most trained of the Chosen, the only confirmed user of such an ability is the Daughter of Advelmem, who used this ability in the tale of Artharian.

Prophet, Tall Blade and the Overseer: The Chosen believe that a race of people called the Overseers are responsible for their creation, a group of highly advanced beings capable of incredible feats of power, the origin of this tale dates back about one hundred and fifty years. A warden called by his chosen name Prophet was leading a small group of ships through a system that had been unclaimed by any other hives, as they were looking for food they came across a habitable planet, but they picked up energy readings that were emitting from a planet, nuclear signatures, or so they believed, which was strange for a planet without a colony. As Prophet scoured the planet he came across a ruined city, a city not built by the Skrell, but instead a race that was seemingly even more advanced than the Skrell were. The city was obliterated, it looked like it had been bombarded from orbit, but the energy readings still persisted, Prophet called for the Emissary aboard his ship known by his Chosen name of Tall Blade. Tall Blade insisted the readings were coming from underground, Prophet almost hypnotised by the readings commanded his chosen to dig for it, for months they dug, and in these months many starved, Prophet had abandoned his hive and this had caused much distress among his men, many tried to stop him or even kill him, but he had all the traitors grouped together so they could be fed on whenever it was needed, after almost seven months of digging, Prophet came across a bunker, locked of course, but it didn't take Tall Blade long to break in what they found was not what they expected, one highly advanced being that called himself the Overseer, the being told the Chosen that he had created them, he taught them about the Turkinklen a race of enslaved felines, the Fraserk a slowly advancing race of primates, and finally the Wierhun a sentient plant. Prophet immediately sent ships to each of these, but it is unknown what happened to them. The Overseer was dying, and he told Tall Blade many secrets that could help the Chosen, and Tall Blade immediately began work. It is said that the Overseer told Prophet that the Overseers were proud of their creation, and before he died he told Prophet one last thing he told him about the Kerkar a race of demons that can live underwater, the Overseer commanded Prophet to kill them. Prophet gathered his men and returned to his hive, the Queen was furious, and had everyone involved fed on for their treachery including Prophet and Tall blade. But she heeded Prophet's warning about the Kerkar.

Artharian: The Tale of Artharian is the least believable story of the Chosen. It involves a handmaiden by the chosen name of Dawn's Shadow and her search for peace. The tale goes; Dawn's Shadow was a Handmaiden in service to a cruel Queen that was killed by Last Sun, after the Queen was killed, rather than invoking Kurili as the rest of the Handmaidens did, Dawn's Shadow decided to leave, she stole a ship and travelled to the nearest system she could find, this system was home to the Turkinklen, Dawn's Shadow learnt much here and followed the ways of peace, feeding only on small animals but eventually she decided she needed to leave and learn more, she travelled for a hundred years before she found A world covered in advanced technology and bipedal fish, from the fish she learnt even more, she studied for years with a group she called The Arthars, and learnt of something called ascension, where one transcends their physical form to be joined with the stars, Dawn's Shadow was so taken by this that she decided to take her leave of the Fish world and teach others, it took her twenty years to find a suitable planet, the planet was in the system next to the Fish and Dawn's Shadow, when she arrived on the world she was greeted by the Wierhun and she taught them of the Chosen, and Advelmem, and they took interest, calling her The Daughter Of Advlemem. She went on to create a school for those who wished to learn of ascension and then named the planet Artharian, her school on the Diona homeworld goes even today, she is also the biggest argument for those who believe the Manticores aren't mindless beasts.

History:

2156:Creation- In the twenty second century the Skrellian government had become rather tired of spending billions of Butya on new equipment for colonies due to toxic atmospheres and high pressure on them. So when a scientist called Ik Toiy presented them with a new option, that would only cost the Skrellian Alliance three million Butya. The option was to begin research in genetic manipulation on the Manticoris Bug, a small fist sized bug that feeds off of large predators such as the Harkesh, the reason this was a good bug to research was because of it's incredible immunity to toxins and outlying pressure. The Skrellian government was still weary of the dangers of genetic manipulation and gave Ik Toiy a handful of scientists and a contingent of guards for the research team, these men and women would work in the newly built outpost on Yurik II, a system far in the outer rim of the galaxy. Over the course of four years, Ik and his team researched the Manticoris bug, hoping to find a way to give Skrellian people the immunities of the Manticoris bug.

2160:Liberation- After four years of working on a treatment to give to the Skrell, Ik was running out of grants for his research and knew without some results he wouldn't be given new grants. So Ik decided that the best way to get more was to prove that Skrell DNA was compatible with Manticoris and gave an experimental therapy to one of the bugs. But nothing happened, until about two weeks later, when Ik was doing his rounds of the facility he noticed that there was a cocoon in the cell of his test subject designated, Alpha. After a ffew days what emerged was what was expected.. The creature was eight feet tall, and was bipedal with digitigrade legs covered in chitin, the chitin covered the body like armour and only stopped when it reached the neck. The creature was a Skrell Manticoris hybrid, it's skin was pale and slick, veins showing all over, but the thing that distressed Ik was the fact that it had hair, the bug had mutated at some point to gain this trait, which was dangerous. Ik decided the best couse of action was to execute the subject, so he planned for it, him, two scientists and five guards walked into the containment room, the creature ,which was incredibly feminine, backed away into the corner, it watched the people in the room, weary of their actions until the doors closed, some of her chitin scales rustled for a moment before long more insect like legs emerged and planted themselves on the ground, one of the legs reached for a guard, but in a passive way, the guard smiled sightly until the leg drove itself through his chest, the same happened to the other guards and the scientists including Ik, all dead. Their life sucked away by the Manticore Queen. The Queen began feeding rapidly and eventually the Manticore had fed on everyone in the outpost.

2170:Deliverence- Subject-A(Advelmem) had been on the outpost for years and they just wished for an escape but without a ship there was no escaping. Advelmem bided her time until eventually a trading ship was sent to check the station out. The ship landed but once the men left the ship they never re-entered it. Advelmem didn’t even bother feeding on alll of them just the one, and only so she was aware of how the ship flew. Advelmem flew so far that the Skrell would never find her, taking her a total of two years to arrive at her destination.

2172:Rebirth- Advelmem breeds for the first time giving birth to several females known as the First Queens the begin breeding and producing more males and tension builds amongst the Chosen.

2175:Departure-Advelmeme’s children leave and divide up the males in the hive leaving Advelmem on her own in her hive as they scatter across the galaxy wreaking havoc on planets without sentience.

2189:Fracture-The Children of Advlemem make contact with each other but the contact leads to arguments over feeding rights and turns into a full blown civil war between the Manticore.

2259:Heir-After years of breeding the amount of queens has increased to around 100. It was around this time that the legend of Last Sun becoming a king was said to happen.

2264:Restraint- It was at this time that the events of Dawn’s shadow and the birth of Artharian are said to have happened resulting in much disbelief by the Queens.

2303:Forgery- The Manticore race find some purpose and put aside some bitter differences when a Warden called Prophet meets a dying Overseer who tells him what the skrell are capable of, and that they should be destroyed. The Overseer blesses the Manticore with Overseer technology by teaching an Emissary.

2334:Victory-The Manticor-Skrell War goes on for 31 years with the Skrell’s furthest colonies being overwhelmed by the Manticore

2370:Famine-The Manticores starve due to the lack of food and begin to push inward, encountering resistance from Skrell who eventually throw them back to the outskirts of the galaxy resulting in a stalemate with several strike forces from each side wanting to attack but only resulting in minor losses. The Skrell declare they have no idea where the Manticores are from and all the documents that the Skrell have on the Manticoris project are destroyed.

2394:Salvation- Humans begin colonising the outer rims of space and are attacked by the Manticore but manage to keep them back just about.

2421:Betrayal-After years of very tenuous peace between the Manticores, war breaks out and the Manticores slaughter each other because of the lack of available food, the Manticore decimate hives and other non-involved planet in the war.

2444:Bravery-A manticore Hiveship travels to the heavily invested planet of Turlok, obliterating it and leaving the galaxy in terror.

Society

Rites and Rituals

Manticore society is complex and filled with rites and rituals that dictate how a Manticore holds himself and how he treats others, these rites are followed to bring order, and if one person doesn't follow these traditions, the others force it.

Kurili: Kurili is one of the most sacred traditions of the Chosen, it has many applications and is the centre of Chosen society. Kurili means to duel, but the rite of Kurili allows for any being to request death by dueling, the victor would feed on the loser. The second part of the rite allows for any Chosen to settle a dispute this way, and in some cases this leads to advancement within the Chosen, for example, after a Hive Queen dies, her handmaidens enter Kurili with each other, and the victor becomes the Queen due to her strength, having being able to kill her sisters.

The Choosing: The Choosing is one of the less violent traditions of the Chosen and is fairly simple, when an Unchosen(A Manticore child) reaches maturity, they are allowed to pick a name for themselves this name will stick with them all their life, and as they choose their name, they become chosen. Some famous Chosen names include, Last Sun, Dawn's Shadow, Stone Trunk, Tall Blade, Prophet, Fall, Advelmem and Enduring the Chosen slain by Last Sun in Kurili also the first to know Last Sun as the King of the Chosen.

Piyt: If a Chosen hunter is wounded in battle and they cannot move themselves, they are left to die as they can no longer help the hive. But if the Chosen somehow returns to the hive, he is know. As Piyted one, and will be given a choice, he may either engage his Warden in Kurili or join the Piyted hunters. If the wounded hunter chooses Kurili he must fight his Warden to death and feed on him if successful, being fed on by another manticore has often been regarded as the best death a Chosen can receive, the most shameful is to be fed on by a lesser being. If the Hunter successfully feeds on his Warden then he is granted the Wardens place. Due to the feeding the Hunter would physiologically become a warden, with reproductive organs to boot.

Dolim: Dolim is the next step for a Piyted hunter, the hunter at anytime has the right to invoke Dolim, the ritual of Dolim allows the hunter to challenge one of the Queen's knights to Kurili and if the Hunter succeeds and manages to kill and feed on the Knight, the Piyted hunter takes the place of the dead Knight, the right of Dolim is followed by almost all hives due to it's success in keeping the Knights strong.

Besod: Besod is the most dishonourable fate for a Chosen, this fate is reserved for only the most dishonourable Chosen. Chosen who don't follow the rites, chosen who harm their Queens, Chosen who kill handmaidens. When a Queen invokes Besod, the recipient is tied to four stakes and locked in a cage with four lesser beings, what type of lesser being doesn't matter Fraserk, Bovine, Bird. The Besodi is given food and water to sustain them but the Lesser beings are only given water, when they get hungry, eventually they will be forced to feed upon the Besodi. To be fed upon by a lesser is considered the most shameful act a Chosen can commit.

Queens

The Manticore Queen is the heart of the hive, she is one of the few females in the hive leading to her being in charge of reproduction, however if one of the other females were to feed on the Queen of their hive, they would absorb her reproductive cells and therefore they would become the new hive Queen.

The Queen's other role is leadership, she is the mother and the ruler of her hive, and her subjects are loyal to the bitter end due to a chemical she feeds them when they're young, and later they consume it themselves, known as R-738. The chemical is given through feeding and makes the Manticores loyal due to it's addictive properties, they grow up believing that the Queen is a god, although this opinion may change if a Manticore no longer consumes R-738.

The Queen is however not A-sexual and requires a Warden to mate with, only the strongest and most achieving wardens are granted mating rights, the rights are granted by the queen as she decides who has earned it, and who would make the strongest offspring.

Compared to the other Manticores, the Queen is a behemoth at around ten feet tall and several feet wide, the body of a queen is very similar to that of the general manticore, except for the massive size and the extra appendages, the Queen has four smaller more insect like legs extending from her hips and providing more balance and speed to her massive body, the legs are incredibly sharp and are often used in defence against other Manticores or humanoids. These legs secret the same paralytic toxin that are produced from a Hunter Manticore's arm spines, causing the recipient to become paralysed so feeding is easier for the Manticore to achieve.

The Queen's feeding organ is very different to that of lower class Manticores as each one of her extra legs can be used for feeding on victims. All Queens are born handmaidens but they feed on a dead Queen to began rapid changes which involve them building a cocoon and coming out of it a few days later with the changes in size, chitin growth(A crown of chitin on the head, rather than just a crest), extra legs and of course the minor telepathy.

Knights

The Manticore knights are last line of defence for a queen, highly prestiged warriors who have gone through several trials including the Piyt, and the Dolim resulting in them being the most hardened warriors of a hive. A knight is perhaps the most heavily armored manticore with chitin covering it’s entire body. The Manticore Knights gain their status by going through Piyt(The process of being wounded so much that they should die but instead managing to survive and return to their hive) and Dolim(The process of challenging one of the current Knights to Kurili).

The Knights biologically aren’t much different to Hunters other than the extra chitin.

Handmaidens

Manticore handmaidens are the only other females in a hive besides the Queen and tend to her every whim, whether it’s bringing food to her, cleaning her caring for her, the handmaiden’s do it all. The Handmaidens are also required to take over from the Queen if something should happen to her. If a Queen dies the Handmaidens will engage in Kurili( a fight to determine strength) the last handmaiden alive will feed on the Queen’s corpse and become the new Queen.

Emissaries

The Emissaries are the smartest Manticore and deal with the development of new technologies for their hives. The Emissaries along with the queens are the only Manticore that possess a certain telepathy that grants them special abilities. The Emissaries have the ability to steal the memories of people they feed on, an ability they make use of quite often. The Emissaries do not however, function as doctors as the Manticore have no need, those who survive did so without help, words that keep the manticore strong. The Emissaries are around eight feet tall with barely any chitin on them, often preferring to wear cloaks to hide their flesh.

Wardens

Wardens are the leaders of the Manticore military and loyal subjects to their Queens, the Wardens are also the males that the Queen’s deem suitable to mate with, but only after a Warden has proved himself in battle. Because of their mating rights becoming a Warden is a well sought after goal and often results in more infighting than imagined. The wardens are around six feet tall covered in chitin from their toes to their collar bone and have long white hair. The wardens all have at least one ship under their command or command a sizable infantry force. When a warden grows weak it is not uncommon for him to be challenged by his subjects.

Hunters

Hunters are the most common Manticore class as they are the expendable footsoldiers led by Wardens. These footsoldiers have the duty of providing food for their hive and decimating her enemies. The hunters often sit around 5 feet tall with a full suit of chitin armor covering their body and head, the difference between their armor and the armor of the Knights is that the Hunter’s chitin armor is a lot thinner and less plated.

Drones

Drones are almost never seen by other races as they deal with the everyday tasks such as logistics and construction as well as the heavy labour involved when digging a tunnel to create a new hive. The drone’s are the least covered in chitin out of all of the Manticore and this leads to them being vulnerable to attack, another reason they are kept out of sight. The Drone’s are the backbone of the Manticore, without them there’d be no hives.

Relations with other races -

Skrell\Diona - The Skrell created the Manticore but have hidden and forgotten it completely, the Skrell were at constant war with the Manticore for years until they began fighting between themselves. The Dionae being a member of the Jargon federation means that the Dionae have just as much against the Manticore.

Unathi - The Unathi have proved to be the biggest challenge for the Manticore as many manticore landing parties have been deployed to Moghes to simply never report again, the Unathi and Manticore have become sworn enemies since, but the Unathi talks with the Skrell have since forced them to second guess attacking the desert planet.

Humans - After the attack on human colonies on the edge of the galaxy, the Human’s defended themselves well and have captured a numerous amount of Manticore, most of which being given over to Nanotrasen for research and labour in exchange for resources and aid.

Military strategy

Land-

Manticore land offensives face mainly focus on non-lethal combat based on quantity over quality, with wardens often times being entirely absent from any form of battlefield, though Piyted hunters will serve as an impromptu “officer” in most engagements, as they rank highly among most Manticore. Most Manticore offensives are raids of either type, the first being on actual manticore hives, will involve manticore penetrating and either feeding on the queen, or simply killing her with their arm blades, or raids on other races, which is simply capture of humanoids to be brought back to the hive for feeding.

Manticore on the battlefield are highly disciplined, albeit they will emerge onto the battlefield with an undying love for their queen, they will often throw themselves to their death for their queen’s favor, though retreat is known in exceptional circumstances.

In shock and awe scenarios, manticore hunters will use their energy staffs, to charge, and if against fellow manticore, impale their intended target, though in the case of a humanoid target, manticore will instead stun them en-masse, switching to their stunners when the enemy is either using aircraft, or is in an unreachable position.

Space- Manticore space battles involve a lot of swarm tactics overwhelming an enemies sensors and distracting them so that boarding parties with stunners may infiltrate the enemy ships and if they’re not other Manticores it usually results in the crew being fed upon or taken. Because the Manticore lack shields or any kind of FTL drive they have massive trouble when it comes to following enemy ships and have even more trouble when outnumbered, this kind of a battle usually leads to the death of the manticore ship and it’s crew.

Technology

Infantry weapons

Manticore stunner:The Manticore stunner has been a mystery for Skrell scientists since they discovered it, although it took most of it's inspiration from the infamous "Hoff", the way it stunned was incredibly different, the weapon is about the same size as a human sub machine gun, and weighs less, it's material is plasteel. At first glance the weapon looks like a cheap rip off, but looks can be deceiving, rather than using darts as the "Hoff" does, the Manticore stunner fires a ball of energy that stuns the recipient via numbness, muscle spasms and if a headshot is earned, temporary paralysis, the danger of this weapon is that multiple shots to an area with vital organs mean death, due to the sheer power of the stun, Skrell scientists are still not sure exactly what the ball of energy is made of, they are intent on believing that there are secrets that even they do not know when it comes to Manticore infested space, many rumours have circulated regarding the type of energy the weapon uses, but even today, no one knows. The Manticore stunner however takes a long time to charge up and can only fire one shot before overheating - a limitation of Manticore technology.

Energy staff: The Manticore energy staff is the basic weapon for a Manticore hunter, allowing for dominance in melee combat the weapon is grafted from chitin but yet bares two electrified ends that are created out of plasteel, the weapon can be used for lethal purposes if one were to press it against a brain for too long, though most report no signs of permanent damage after contact with the weapon. The staff has led to many rumours about the Manticores having dealings with the civilised world, but those who know the Manticores better assume that the device was created by salvaging stun batons, the design is obviously Manticore and probably a result of an Emissary

The Prophets gift(TPG-Stun Ark): Perhaps one of the most feared Manticore weapons, the 'gift' is a device in the form of an ark that is used by the Manticore military to deal with large groups of dangerous foes in a building or on a ship. The gift is pretty simple to use, it only requires the user to turn the dial and it will power up and begin charging. The timer is defaulted on two minutes, therefore making it impossible to escape it.. Once the gift has reached full power it releases the energy in the form of a bubble that extends out of the device slowly expanding and creating a perimeter with a two mile radius. As it expands the bubble stuns any organics it touches, via the same weaponised energy as the Manticore stunner, rendering them unconscious for hours allowing them to be collected by the Manticore hunters. The user is shielded from the device through a strange process, as long as he keeps his hand on the dial, an energy field is created around him, therefore rendering the bubble useless on the user as soon as it passes them. While the bubble is stable at two miles, anything that makes contact with it is stunned, so far energy and solid matter has no effect on the bubbles. So far the only effective tactic to dealing with these devices is a nuclear warhead detonated in the epicentre of the bubble, shutting down the device, luckily for the galaxy TPG is not used by all Manticores and the few it are used by are too few to ever pose a real threat.

Ships

Manticore navies consist of many types of ship class, mostly being based on the nature of quantity over quality, Manticore fleets can be expected to take a lot of casualties and damage during any engagement, especially with those of more advanced races, where a fleet posting can be considered a suicidal position.

Manticore ships can often be the cobbled together remnants of both advanced and old races, being linked together by the bio-organic material that the Manticore use to construct entirely new ships, though they will be less effective than those that consist partially of salvaged material, though this limits the ability to repair them.

Manticore ships are similar to some of the Diona gesphalt, being bio-organic in nature, though the manticore vessels possess the ability to regenerate after an extended period without damage, this allows the Manticore fleets to easily replenish their losses with the literal “growth” of new ships, alongside reducing the effectiveness of hit and run tactics.

The design of manticore ship class varies from hive to hive, but most follow a basic format.

Manticore ships lack shields in their entirety, and instead replace it with an impressive regenerative ability. All Manticore ships use one style of weaponry, quantum cloud, which is very ineffective against shields, but devastating to armored targets, limiting the manticore to engagements only with smaller vessels, with larger ships requiring entire fleets to deal even a small amount of damage.

As of the current date, manticore ships from any hive are incapable of FTL travel, limiting their radius.

Listed in size order

Swarmers-

Swarmer ships are single-drone fighters than are used in masse against threats, they are armed and armored very lightly, with a stray hand-held laser rifle being able to cripple one easily, unlike most ships, these are solely piloted by drone class manticore, with hunters and knights being considered far too valuable to be sacrificed in such a manner. Swarmers are incapable of either long distance flight, or FTL travel, and require a carrier to field them into battle

Workers-

Worker class ships are crewed by three or more drone class manticore, being multitasked with the responsibility of mining, construction, repair, and salvage. The worker class is only slightly smaller than a corvette, and work together to perform most tasks. Worker class ships are carried long distance by by carriers or hiveships.

Frigates-

Manticore frigates are piloted by a close mixture of drone and hunter, being slightly smaller than any of the other race’s class of frigate, they are only slightly bigger than a corvette. Unlike the lower class of ships, frigates are capable of extended distance travel, moving around in fleets to overwhelm those who wander into manticore controlled territory, and use quantum cloud turrets to great effect on weakly shielded targets (Though this may require focused fire due to the quantum cloud’s lack of effectiveness against shields) both on the ground, and in space.

Infestors-

Infestors are cruiser-class vessels that the manticore use both as make-do cruisers (though they are slightly bigger than the average cruiser), they are armored more heavily than normal manticore ships due to their unique function which has earned them their nickname, the ships are designed to crash down into the planet’s surface, and purge the area of life with cloud emitters positioned near the engine of the ship, quickly changing the local environment to be suitable for the construction of a new hive, when in combat the ships rely on quantum cloud blasters to eliminate threats smaller than they are.

Carriers-

Manticore carrier-class ships are much larger than average carriers from other races, this is because they carry an increased importance in the fleet, as the carrier class ships carry most, if not all of the offensive manticore ships into battle, along with all of the worker class ships responsible for repair and salvage of all those that have fought on the field. Carrier-class ships and above are commanded by warden manticore, often times the carrier being the flagship of the manticore fleet. Carrier class vessels are incapable of constructing any ships larger than a worker, limiting their siege capability to armed stations, rather than fleets or planets.

Dreadnaughts-

Dreadnaught class ships are shown to be the most battle-scarred of all the manticore ships, with most of the design consisting of salvaged material, mostly at the the front and sides in order to reinforce their roles as both defenders and attackers. Dreadnaught class vessels and higher possess sub-orbital siege weapons that are capable of either being fired down at a planet’s surface, either at other hives or cities, or at stationary or incredibly slow targets.The weapons however suffer from the same deficiency that other quantum cloud weapons suffer in that the weapon’s effectiveness against shields is limited, leading to shielded targets being able to survive much longer, leaving the dreadnaught unless protected, wide open to attack from enemy bombers.

Hiveships-

Manticore hiveships are in a class of their own when compared to most of the galaxy’s class of ship, as manticore hiveships are only slightly smaller than titan-class ships, being almost 3 miles in length, hiveships are armed with ship construction facilities, fabricating the entire manticore fleet from orbit out of both salvaged material, and the bio-organic material that the manticore are infamous for using. Manticore hive ships are unique in that they are commanded by a queen, as the hiveship is considered a hive in and of itself, containing all the facilities and occupants a normal, well functioning hive would hold. Hiveships move quickly for a ship of it’s size, though they still lack the FTL capability that most other races possess, the hiveships are built mostly out of bio-organic material, so that any damage may be quickly repaired, with the queen’s chamber taking priority, being only above the warden’s den in comparison. Hiveships also contain siege weapons of gigantic proportations, with a single blast being able to easily destroy an entire-midsized city, even being able to penetrate shields, if only by sheer brute force. Hiveships are guarded by entire fleets of all types of manticore ship, being almost unbeatable unless a highly directed attack is launched on the so called “hive-fleet”.

Hives

Manticore hives come in two forms, the first being the aforementioned hive ships and the second being ground hives, the ground hives are sprawling underground tunnel systems filled with huge chambers that house buildings and ships, the hives are filled with toxic fumes due to the lack of an air filtration system. The hives are filled with drones mostly as the hunters are almost exclusively out in the field, hunting for prey.

Edited May 21, 2015 by Guest

[Rusty Shackleford]

So basically the zerg?

[Guest]

How do you see players interacting with this Lore? Since its a lore only species, there wont be any IC interactions which makes things difficult.

[mrimatool]

How do you see players interacting with this Lore? Since its a lore only species, there wont be any IC interactions which makes things difficult.

 

It's not here to add events, most of our lore isn't. It's here to add depth and variation to our little roleplay universe.

And who says events can't be made from it later on? Refugees fleeing a traumatic manticore attack and having PTSD, or a lone manticore making it onto the station? Or even the Sol Alliance pushing against the Manticore raids, causing people to get drafted.

Lore shouldn't just be about how it affects in game, it's about how people can use it for discussion, or backstory or even just to add context and depth to the universe.

[Guest]

We should add depth to the species we have before introducing even more new ones. You don't need a new species to do that stuff. You can do that with the species we have already.

 

Quoting this for support.

[Guest]

I didnt mention events, I said IC interaction. If this is not something that players can talk about, or discuss ICly, its almost pointless to have.

[mrimatool]

I didnt mention events, I said IC interaction. If this is not something that players can talk about, or discuss ICly, its almost pointless to have.

 

I didn't say not to discuss it, the idea that it's talked about. And the reason I mentioned events is because of your reverence for them.

[Guest]

This is not the place to attack the Lore. Please contact Jackboot or Tool via the forums regarding your issues. All off-topic posts are being deleted.

[Erik Tiber]

This is not the place to attack the Lore. Please contact Jackboot or Tool via the forums regarding your issues. All off-topic posts are being deleted.

It is on topic as it relates to the merits of this idea. I think it lacks merit, and depth.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

This isn't a project being undertaken by the lore team. Lore-only species are for players to pitch individually for inclusion in a pending 'minor races' page on the wiki, once the major work is finished.

Ideally they have at most a few paragraphs of synopsis, since they have no true relevance to the lore as it pertains to players on the NSS Aurora, but the pitch can be longer I suppose. It's for races that people would talk about or mention, but wouldn't directly interact with the Aurora for a variety of reasons. See if you can create a summary of a maximum of ~4 paragraphs for it.

[mrimatool]

I'll get that done later on today.

[Guest]

It is on topic as it relates to the merits of this idea. I think it lacks merit, and depth, and is not necessary, as exemplified by the fact that one of the species already assigned to Tool lacks depth.

 

Continual discussion regarding work not related to the app is to stop, if you continue, you wont be allowed to comment on this application further. Nothing players request is necesarry. That is the point.

[Guest]

No issues have be raised with this, and there are not many questions I can ask.

You are invited to make some IC related content for players to view to spark discussion.

Accepted. Locking and archiving.