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The mantises are large, dangerous creatures that have
made a new home for themselves on Rubi-Ka after being
accidentally imported on smuggler trade ships. The story
of the mantises and their arrival on Rubi-Ka has been
related in historical records on the Smuggler's Den:
"As Rubi-Ka concludes its first cycle around
its suns since the Mantis arrival, the insects have
retraced their steps to the dank caves whence they
were unleashed: The Smuggler's Den. A young queen
and her entourage stand ready to reclaim their ancestral
land. This time it is the landlord that will be evicted?
A year ago, the smugglers got a cargo of illegal
herbs from the agricultural planet Tillagos. Normally
this would be business as usual, but circumventing
the ICC quarantine can sometimes have its prize and
this time the smugglers got paid in full. Not long
after the fateful shipment arrived, the first Rubi-Ka
born Mantises hatched from the Tillagos crates. Though
the smugglers eradicated most of the budding insect
colony, some disappeared deep into the den's neighboring
cave system. Only weeks later the first reports of
Mantis colonies were emerging. The insect has since
spread at an amazing rate
The insect -- an Omni-Tek bio-engineered species
bred specifically for the Tillagos ecosystem -- has
since spread at an amazing rate and now exists throughout
the terraformed regions, threatening the delicate
balance of the Rubi-Kan ecosystem..."
Mantises have clearly begun to pose a serious threat
to continued ecosystems stability on Rubi-Ka. Further,
they are difficult to eradicate because of their sheer
numbers and colony behavior. When in Mantis territories,
consider an encounter with them unavoidable, with potentially
deadly results.
In general, the Sylvan Mantises are rarer and less of a
danger than the Sand Mantises. Each of the three major
types of mantis (Sand, Sylvan, and Den) has several
"ranks" within their colonies. These ranks
include: Young Mantis, Mantis, Mantis Drone, Mantis
Scout, Nano-Mantis, Mantis Ravager, and Mantis Hive
Guardian. In addition, in the Mantis Den adjoining Smuggler's
Den, there are additional Mantis ranks: Mantis Baby,
Mantis Digger, Mantis Forager, Mantis Runner, Mantis
Burrower, and Mantis Worker. Further, there are two
guardian ranks, and these two are further described
in separate pages:
Den Mantis Breeders
and the
Den Mantis
Queen.
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