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mantikoras

Scorpion Observations

Author: 
Boward, Regent of Wriggling Nightmares

 The giant scorpions of Craglorn have a different physiology from their smaller, more mundane cousins. In addition to their great size and power, they give birth by laying eggs in nests instead of experiencing live births and carrying their young on their backs. I'm sure this has something to do with the sheer size and number of offspring the adult scorpion matron can produce at a time. Still, these sorts of differences make for amazing and interesting study.

For this part of the project, I have chosen a powerful scorpion matron who commands the nesting grounds deep inside Fearfangs Cavern. Her brood will provide exactly the predatory traits we require for this stage of the alchemical process. When combined with the traits provided by the mighty wamasu eggbearer and the flawless crocodile matriarch, the scorpion material will increase the power of the mantikora in ways I can barely imagine!

I've collected the first of the matron's eggs. The material within each shell should infuse the spawning pools with traits that will easily be passed on to our new creature. I wonder, are any of the Serpent's other regents having as much success as I am? I think not! Perhaps when the mantikora progenitor emerges from the spawning pools, the Serpent will award me with command of the entire Scaled Court. That seems like a fair exchange for the work I have accomplished here.

—Boward, Regent of Wriggling Nightmares

It Lives!

Author: 
Boward, Regent of Wriggling Nightmares

Most honored and revered leader, the Regent of Serpentine Stratagems,

I am proud to report that the experiment worked even better than I anticipated. Thanks to your insightful suggestions, we have successfully spawned a composite creature. It features characteristics of a variety of predators, including scorpions, crocodiles, welwas, and humans. I call it the mantikora.

As you suggested, combining the powdery nirncrux dust into the primeval spawning pools provided just the impetus we needed to quickly breed the composite creature. Now we have a single, powerful progenitor that we can use to create an army of mantikoras for the greater glory of the Serpent.

We are already in the process of expanding the spawning pools to handle the increased productivity we hope to achieve. In addition, we have established a secondary set of pools where we plan to create more progenitors in the very near future. In the meantime, I look forward to showing you the fruits of our labor and introducing you to the progenitor when you can spare a moment to visit our operation.

Yours in the Serpent's name,

Boward, Regent of Wriggling Nightmares