THREADWARDEN
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A Mantari Male |
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To create a new galactic species originating in the Grek galaxy that has merged with the Chaos Galaxy.
- Image Credit: https://chatgpt.com
- Canon: No
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: N/A
- Name: Mantari
- Designation: Sentient and Sapient
- Origins: Selen'Kaath (will be submitted after approval of the species)
- Average Lifespan:
- 120 to 150 standard years
Mantari age slowly, with their biological and spiritual development divided into distinct phases, each marked by molting—a sacred act of transformation. - Larval Stage ("Hatchling")
- Age: 0–2 standard years
- Description:
- Hatchlings emerge from their spindle-sac as soft-bodied, pale, and fragile beings.
- They are nearly blind and rely heavily on scent and vibration to perceive the world.
- Cared for communally within the nesting chambers of their home.
- Key Event: First exposure to song-silence—the spiritual conditioning of stillness begins.
- Nymph Stage ("Branchling")
- Age: 2–12 years
- Description:
- Begin developing hardened chitin and their adult body plan, but still smaller and more flexible.
- Curious and silent, Branchlings explore their environment while mimicking the stillness of their elders.
- Early caste inclinations and talents begin to emerge.
- Key Event: First Molting (~age 12): the beginning of their identity as full Mantari.
- Adolescent ("Leafcrest")
- Age: 13–30 years
- Description:
- Now considered "awake" to the Spiral and ready to begin formal training in a life-discipline (Threadwarden, Splicer, Whisper, etc.).
- Capable of communication via pheromone coding and speech.
- This is when chitin first develops its lightsaber resistance.
- Key Event: Pairbonding may begin, though many wait until after their second molt.
- Adulthood ("Fullform")
- Age: 30–100 years
- Description:
- Fully mature and often bonded for life with a mate.
- Occupy critical societal roles and may be called to serve offworld or enter Spiral temples.
- Undergo a Second Molting around age 60–70, further hardening the chitin and deepening Force receptivity if applicable.
- Key Traits: Highly respected; their wisdom is equated with the richness of their molting scars.
- Elderhood ("Spiralroot")
- Age: 100+ years
- Description:
- Elders often retire from active duty and serve as Brood-Speakers, historians, or spiritual anchors.
- Their chitin becomes iridescent or desaturated with time, and antennae begin to curl.
- Many enter a voluntary period of Silent Withdrawal, meditating on the Spiral and preparing for death.
- Key Event: Final Shedding: a symbolic spiritual molting before death, sometimes done alone in the wild jungles of Selen'Kaath.
- 120 to 150 standard years
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A Mantari Female and Hatchling |
- Estimated Population: Planetary
- Description: The Mantari are a reclusive, insectoid humanoid species from the verdant world of Selen'Kaath. Towering and elegant with bioluminescent eyes, chitinous exoskeletons, and mantis-like features, they are known for their stillness, spiritual depth, and seamless symbiosis with living ecosystems. They build their homes and starships from woven, living plants and rarely leave their homeworld, preferring quiet introspection over galactic entanglement. Force-sensitive Mantari, called Whispers, follow a unique tradition centered on silence, foresight, and harmony with the Spiral of Life. Though seemingly alien, they are deeply honorable, mating for life and revering every phase of growth, death, and rebirth.
- Breathes: Type 1
- Average Height of Adults: 2.1 meters
- Average Length of Adults: N/A
- Skin color:
- Emerald Green – the most common, symbolizing harmony and vitality
- Bronze – often seen in older or higher-caste individuals; associated with wisdom
- Slate Gray – typically found among Mantari from colder highlands or shadowed canopies
- Iridescent Black – rare and culturally revered, reflecting a "stillness perfected"
- Ghost White – a pale, almost translucent chitin found in mystics and those born during deep storms
- Blue-Green – a less common, aquatic-tinged hue found among those dwelling in the marsh biomes of Selen'Kaath
- Hair color: N/A
- Distinctions:
- Unique Physical Traits of the Mantari
- Chitinous Exoskeleton
Mantari are covered in a smooth, interlocking exoskeleton of living chitin, which serves both as natural armor and a sensory organ. This chitin is somewhat lightsaber-resistant after the first molt, with adults able to withstand up to six strikes to the same location before it fails. Unlike rigid armor, it flexes slightly with movement and reflects ambient light in subtle iridescent patterns. - Compound Eyes
They possess large, glossy, compound eyes capable of detecting motion, ultraviolet light, and faint energy signatures—granting them superior battlefield awareness and the ability to perceive bioluminescence and Force disturbances invisible to most species. - Antennae
Two slender, expressive antennae extend from just above the brow. These serve as powerful sensory and emotional tools, capable of reading temperature, pheromone signatures, and minute atmospheric changes. They also communicate subtle emotional cues and spiritual resonance in place of facial expressions. - Limbs and Movement
Mantari limbs are long, sinewy, and multi-jointed, ending in three-fingered hands with a strong opposable thumb and clawed tips. Their legs are humanlike in structure but terminate in taloned, gripping feet, allowing for effortless traversal of vertical surfaces. Movements are typically slow and deliberate—until provoked, at which point their speed and agility are startling.
- Chitinous Exoskeleton
- Sexual Dimorphism
- Females tend to be slightly taller and broader in the thorax, with more vibrant chitin coloration during youth and mating seasons.
- Males typically exhibit more elaborate antennae and deeper pigmentation on the arms and upper back. They possess an organ capable of detecting genetic resonance in eggs for the sacred fertilization ritual.
- Both sexes are capable of exceptional physical and mental discipline, and there is no cultural gender hierarchy; roles are assigned by aptitude and spiritual alignment.
- Unique Physical Traits of the Mantari
- Races:
- Canopy Dwellers – High-altitude forest Mantari; lighter chitin (moss green or bronze), longer limbs, exceptional balance.
- Marshborn – From Selen'Kaath's wetlands; darker, often blue-green chitin, broader feet adapted for soft ground.
- Stonecradle Mantari – Highland and cavern dwellers; slate-gray or pale chitin, with reinforced joints and echo-sensitive antennae.
- Gloomroot Lineage – From near-permanent shadowed jungles; ghost-white or pitch-black exoskeletons, known for their heightened Force sensitivity.
- Force Sensitivity: High
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A Mantari Wearing Common Daily Clothing |
Strengths:
- Lightsaber-Resistant Chitin
After their first molt, Mantari develop a biologically hardened exoskeleton that can withstand repeated lightsaber strikes. Adult Mantari can endure up to six direct strikes to the same area before their chitin fractures, making them uniquely durable in close combat. Adolescents can usually withstand from 2-5 strikes depending on how close they are to their first molting. - Enhanced Perception
With large, multi-faceted compound eyes and sensory antennae, Mantari perceive ultraviolet light, minute vibrations, heat signatures, and emotional pheromones—granting them superior awareness of their environment and intent in others. - Natural Stillness and Reaction Time
Trained from youth in physical and emotional stillness, Mantari can enter a state of explosive motion from complete silence. Their high-speed reflexes and muscle control make them deceptively fast and difficult to predict in battle or negotiation. - Climbing and Environmental Agility
With clawed feet and subtle musculature adapted for vertical motion, Mantari are at home on sheer cliffs, forest canopies, and unstable terrain, making them elusive targets in natural environments. - Biological Harmony with Living Technology
Mantari can interface directly with their living ships and structures, allowing them to grow, shape, and even heal their architecture. Their ships respond instinctively to their users, reducing reliance on mechanical controls.
- Isolationist Tendencies
Culturally insular and deeply tied to Selen'Kaath, Mantari rarely leave their homeworld. Their limited offworld presence and reluctance to colonize make them politically marginalized and poorly understood by galactic powers. - Limited Expressiveness
Mantari do not use facial expressions or vocal tone in the way most humanoids do. Their reliance on antennae, pheromones, and subtle posture cues makes communication with non-Mantari prone to misunderstanding or social friction. - Environmental Dependence
Their physiology and psychological balance are attuned to dense, oxygen-rich, plant-laden environments. Prolonged time in sterile or dry environments (e.g., desert worlds, artificial habitats) leads to fatigue, stress, or spiritual disorientation. - Vulnerability During Molting
Molting is a critical biological and spiritual process. During these phases—especially the first and second molts—Mantari are physically soft, immobile, and defenseless for several days. If interrupted, the molt can be fatal. - Vulnerability to Acids/Corrosives
While Mantari chitin is resistant to kinetic damage and even lightsaber strikes after molting, it has a critical vulnerability: acidic and corrosive substances. Their exoskeleton, though durable, is organic and porous, relying on a delicate balance of hardened proteins and living tissue. Acids, corrosive gases, and certain neurotoxins can rapidly degrade the chitin, causing excruciating pain, muscle failure, or even systemic shock if absorbed into the circulatory system.
CULTURE
- Diet: The Mantari are omnivorous, but their diet is heavily weighted toward plant-based and fungal sources, reflecting their deep connection to the living ecosystems of Selen'Kaath. They consume a wide variety of nutrient-rich vines, mosses, fermented fungi, and flowering tubers, many of which are cultivated directly within their homes or grown into architectural features. Though capable of digesting meat, they only consume insectoid or soft-shelled creatures, and even then, rarely; ypically as part of ceremonial meals or survival conditions. Their inner mandibles allow for precise, deliberate consumption, and they favor food that is alive, enzymatically active, or vibrantly fresh. To outsiders, Mantari meals may appear ritualistic or alien, with food often shared communally and consumed in silence to honor the Spiral of Life.
- Communication: Mantari communication is a complex blend of vocalization, body language, and pheromonal signaling, making it both elegant and difficult for outsiders to interpret. While capable of speaking Galactic Basic through a resonant thoracic organ, they naturally communicate using clicks, hums, and layered vibrations modulated through their chest and mandibles. Their antennae play a key role, conveying emotional nuance through subtle movements and twitch patterns. Most distinctively, Mantari emit scent-coded pheromones that carry emotional context, intent, or even layered meaning in the form of "scent-phrases," detectable only by other Mantari. A single interaction may carry simultaneous meanings via posture, sound, and scent. To maintain clarity with non-Mantari, they often rely on Basic speech and exaggerated gestures, though this feels clumsy and spiritually "loud" to them. Among their own kind, entire conversations can pass in near-total silence.
A Mantari Wearing Political Attire - Technology level: Mantari society possesses a highly advanced yet entirely organic and bio-integrated technological paradigm, developed in harmony with the ecosystems of Selen'Kaath. Rather than constructing machines from metal and circuitry, they grow their tools, structures, and even starships from a curated symbiosis of plant, fungal, and microbial species. This technology is alive, self-repairing, and attuned to environmental feedback, often responding to touch, temperature, or pheromonal input. While Mantari lack droids, traditional computers, or industrial machinery, their biotech rivals—if not surpasses—modern galactic standards in function, particularly in medicine, environmental control, and materials resilience. However, their technology is deeply place-bound and spiritual in nature, making mass production, replication, or export virtually impossible. As a result, outsiders often misinterpret Mantari technology as primitive or mystical, unaware of its subtle sophistication.
- Religion/Beliefs:
The Mantari follow a deeply spiritual and contemplative belief system known as the Spiral of Stillness, or simply the Spiral. This philosophy teaches that all existence flows in quiet, cyclical patterns: birth, death, rebirth, action, stillness, decay, renewal. The Spiral is not a deity, but a living current of harmony that binds all life. To the Mantari, the Force is understood as the "Living Silence," a gentle hum beneath all things that can only be felt through inner clarity and restraint. Emotions are not suppressed, but refined and quieted; noise disrupts the Spiral, while silence reveals it.
Their temples are living structures grown into perfect acoustic resonance, and their rites are performed in communal quiet, often punctuated only by rhythmic clicking, breath-harmonics, or bioluminescent signal displays. Molting is considered a sacred act of renewal, marking spiritual progress, while pairbonding and fertilization are honored as the Spiral choosing to continue itself through the strongest resonance.
Mantari Whispers, Force-sensitive spiritual guides, interpret disturbances in the Spiral as signs of imbalance, and use their powers not to dominate but to realign. Death is not feared; it is seen as a return to the root, and the body is willingly offered back to nature in Verdant Pyres, where the Spiral consumes and recycles it. Though peaceful, this belief system does not reject violence when balance is truly threatened, but such decisions are made only after long reflection and never in haste. - Force Tradition:
The Mantari Force tradition is known as The Whispering Spiral, a quiet, introspective path that emphasizes stillness, awareness, and harmony over control or power. Mantari Force-users, called Whispers, believe that the Force is not a tool to be wielded, but a silent current to be listened to: a song heard only when one's mind, emotions, and surroundings fall into true silence. They do not seek to impose their will on the Force, but rather to align with its natural flow, guiding others gently back into balance.
Whispers train through years of silent meditation, motion-based forms, and sensory attunement to their living world. They prefer subtle Force applications, like precognition, Force stealth, plant empathy, and shared mental lattices, over overt displays. To them, power uninvited is a violation of the Spiral. Even in conflict, Threadwardens (Force-trained guardians) strive to de-escalate rather than destroy, using disarming maneuvers, sensory manipulation, and Force empathy to avoid bloodshed. When combat is necessary, it is executed with precision and reverence.
Whispers often carry organic lightsaber-like weapons or Force-attuned staves grown from sacred groves, but rarely ignite them unless all other methods have failed. Their greatest weapon is clarity: by being empty of noise they become a mirror through which imbalance is reflected back upon the aggressor. The Jedi often regard them with curiosity or skepticism, seeing their restraint as passivity, while the Sith find them alien and incorruptible, for the Mantari have no hunger to twist. To a Whisper, mastery of the Force is not in domination, but in perfect, unshakable silence. - General behavior:
- Family Life and Values
Mantari families are formed through lifelong pair-bonds, created after a sacred mating ritual known as the Resonance Union. Mates are not chosen based on appearance or status, but through empathic and pheromonal resonance—an intuitive harmony between two beings that often emerges during shared meditation, apprenticeship, or seasonal rites. Once bonded, Mantari remain together for life, cohabitating in grown dwellings interwoven with their chosen environment. These homes are alive, responsive, and attuned to the emotional states of their inhabitants.
They value stillness, reflection, patience, and loyalty, and place great importance on intergenerational wisdom. Elders, known as Spiralroots, serve as living libraries of memory and guidance. Children are raised communally, with parents, relatives, and mentors all contributing to their development, especially during the vulnerable stages of molt and growth. Noise, emotional outbursts, or chaotic behavior are gently but firmly corrected, as such disruptions are seen as dangerous ripples in the Spiral. - Reproduction and Mating Rituals
Mantari reproduction is a sacred, deliberate process. After mating, the female lays a clutch of 6 to 12 unfertilized eggs in a soft biotic cradle within the family dwelling. The male then enters a meditative state to assess the spiritual and genetic resonance of the clutch, selecting no more than two eggs to fertilize. These chosen few are believed to be in harmony with the Spiral's will.
The fertilization act creates a permanent psychic and emotional bond between the pair, deepening their connection for life. The remaining unfertilized eggs are either ritually returned to nature or absorbed back into the cradle to nourish the fertilized ones. This process emphasizes quality over quantity, and contributes to their low population growth. - Raising the Young
Mantari children, called Branchlings, are nurtured communally, often within multigenerational structures. Education focuses on discipline of movement, silent observation, and spiritual listening. They are not rushed into maturity; instead, each milestone: speech, first molt, caste inclination, is celebrated as part of the child's unfolding spiral. Adults teach by example, rarely raising their voices or offering commands without explanation. - Interaction with the World and Other Species
The Mantari approach the wider galaxy with a mixture of curiosity and caution. They are not isolationist by hostility, but by temperament; they find the galactic norm, filled with noise, haste, and chaos, spiritually abrasive. However, they do engage diplomatically and offer aid when balance is threatened, especially through their Threadwardens and Whispers.
They often perplex outsiders with their calm demeanor, lack of facial expression, and long silences, but those who take time to understand them often find the Mantari to be unshakably honest, deeply respectful, and profoundly wise. - Views on Clothing
Mantari do not naturally wear clothing, as their chitinous exoskeleton serves both for modesty and protection. Within their homes or among their kind, they move unclothed, viewing their natural form as an expression of harmony. However, after exposure to galactic norms, they have adopted the use of modest, minimalist garments when venturing offworld or hosting visitors: typically soft robes, sashes, or organic fiber wraps designed not to conceal, but to communicate respect to others.
Clothing among Mantari is never ornate or ostentatious. Ceremonial dress may include bioluminescent embroidery, chitin jewelry, or symbolic spirals, but these are always subtle, reverent, and functional. Over-decoration is seen as noise: an affront to the Spiral's simplicity.
- Family Life and Values
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The Mantari are an ancient, contemplative species native to the Grek Galaxy, a distant and largely unknown region once teeming with biotic wonder and spiritual complexity. On their lush, forest-choked homeworld of Selen'Kaath, the Mantari evolved not through conquest or industry, but in harmony with the vast living ecosystems that surrounded them. From their earliest days, they built no cities, mined no mountains, and raised no metal, but grew their homes from trees, shaped their tools from fungi, and wove their culture around the natural rhythms of life, death, and rebirth.
Unlike many galactic species, the Mantari did not reach for the stars in haste. Their advances in living biotechnology and Force philosophy were inward-facing: designed to deepen understanding, not to expand. When they did eventually develop interstellar travel, their ships were grown, not forged, and served as spiritual extensions of their planet's living will. Even then, they never established colonies, choosing instead to remain rooted to the Spiral of Selen'Kaath.
Everything changed with the Planeshift Event: a cosmic catastrophe that shook the very fabric of reality. In a moment still debated by scholars and Force mystics alike, the Grek Galaxy and the equally enigmatic Firefist Galaxy were violently drawn into a collision with the our galaxy, folding space-time in upon itself in what is now known among the Mantari as the Great Confluence.
To the Mantari, this was not merely a scientific anomaly, it was a rupture in the Spiral itself. The skies of Selen'Kaath tore open, revealing a galaxy of noise, chaos, and disharmony. The forests moaned. The fungal networks whispered of a world beyond comprehension. Some among the Mantari saw this as a trial, others as punishment.
In the wake of the shift, Mantari ships, grown to endure void pressure and psychic turbulence, ventured out into this new galaxy, carefully, cautiously. What they found was a galaxy at war: Jedi and Sith, empires and rebellions, machines without soul, and cities that drowned the stars in light. Though they had always known of the Force, the Mantari now saw how other species twisted it, wielded it like fire rather than followed it like a stream.
Since their arrival, the Mantari have remained largely confined to Selen'Kaath, though a growing number of emissaries and Threadwardens now travel the stars, offering aid where it aligns with the Spiral. Their technology, living, adaptive, and deeply rooted in spiritual biology, has baffled xenobiologists and engineers alike. Some factions view them as potential allies, others as unpredictable anomalies.
While they hold no desire to dominate or convert, the Mantari see themselves as shepherds of balance, tasked with healing the spiral where it has frayed. They have established limited contact with the Jedi, many of whom find their philosophy alien yet strangely resonant. The Sith, meanwhile, view them with suspicion, unable to tempt them with power or fear.
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