Autumn Stealth. The mantid has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks in areas with autumn colors or foliage, however, it has disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks in areas without any autumn colors or foliage.
Leaf Step. When moving through dense forests or heavy foliage, the mantid ignores difficult terrain and can move silently.
Ruthless Focus. The mantid can't make opportunity attacks if it has one or more creatures grappled.
Fey Resistance. (Optional Fey Realm Variant). Due to the mantids fey nature, the mantid has advantage on saving throws from spells and magical sources.
Multiattack. The mantid can make three attacks: two with its raptorial strike, and if a creature is successfully grappled, one with its frigid bite. The mantid can grapple up to two creatures, but for each creature grappled this way, it reduces the number of raptorial strikes the mantid can make per multiattack.
Raptorial Strike. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (1d6 + 2) slashing damage and (1d6 + 2) necrotic damage. If the target is a Medium or smaller creature, it must succeed a DC 13 Strength (Athletics) check or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check or be grappled.
Frigid Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (1d10 + 3) piercing damage and (1d10 + 3) cold damage.
Autumn Gust (Recharge 5-6). The mantid can unleash a gust of autumn leaves and frigid wind in a 15-foot cone and can fly 15 feet without provoking opportunity attacks. Each creature in the area must make a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw, taking (4d6 + 4) cold damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one.
Misty Step (Once Per Day). As a bonus action, the Autumn Mantid can teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space it can see.
Raptorial Sentinel. If the mantid successfully hits with an opportunity attack, and if the creature is medium size or smaller, the creatures speed is reduced to 0 and it must succeed against being grappled (DC 13) by the raptorial strike.
Description
The Autumn Mantid Guardian is a rare and enigmatic fey creature born in the twilight of the Autumn Court, a lesser-known faction within the Feywild. The Autumn Court exists on the fringe of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, where the transition between life and death, growth and decay, is carefully maintained. The court embodies the beauty of change and the inevitability of decay, with its rulers known as the Lords of Withering Elegance—fey beings who celebrate both the dying of nature and its transformation into something new.
The Autumn Mantid Guardian was created to serve as a keeper of balance. With an appearance that blends natural beauty and lethal precision, the Mantid is a towering insectoid fey with autumnal hues—deep oranges, browns, and golds—its form a symbol of harvest and the cutting down of the old. The creature's design is deliberately elegant yet terrifying, a reminder that autumn is both a time of beauty and the death of summer.
The Autumn Mantid Guardian was not originally born of natural means, but instead conjured from the essence of decaying forests, forgotten harvests, and the final breaths of dying animals, however, they can reproduce naturally. Each Mantid is bound to a particular forest, glade, or fey domain that is in a delicate balance between life and death. Its lawful evil nature stems from its absolute dedication to maintaining the seasonal cycle, which it views as sacred. Any force, natural or magical, that threatens the transition from growth to decay will face the Mantid's wrath.
However, the Mantid’s interpretation of this law is extreme: it has no patience for mercy or delays. It believes that decay must come on time and that life should never overstay its welcome. Therefore, the Mantid often intervenes in areas where magic, civilizations, or powerful beings have disrupted the natural cycle. It hunts those who attempt to cheat death, and it ruthlessly eliminates any signs of prolonged growth or eternal summer.
The Autumn Mantid can occasionally be summoned or bound to the Material Plane by powerful necromancers or druids of a darker alignment who wish to tap into the forces of natural decay. However, binding the Mantid is perilous, for it despises mortals who seek to unnaturally extend their lives or hold onto power for too long. Many who attempt to control it find themselves swiftly cut down when the Mantid deems them no longer necessary.
Once in the Material Plane, it takes up residence in the heart of autumnal forests or haunted, decaying lands. It becomes a ruthless enforcer of the natural cycle, and even the local fey or natural spirits grow to fear it.
Despite its violent nature, the Autumn Mantid is not a mindless killer. It is intelligent and calculating, capable of forming pacts with those it deems worthy. These pacts often come at a terrible price, as the Mantid's aid is only given to those willing to sacrifice a portion of their life force or the lives of others.
In battle, the Mantid prefers to strike swiftly and decisively. It will not toy with its prey, seeing no honor in prolonged suffering. However, it does possess a cruel streak, often leaving a single survivor as a "witness" to ensure that word of its presence spreads, instilling fear into those who might consider defying the natural order.
Comments