| Manticore | |
|---|---|
| |
| skill | 9-12 |
| stamina | 10-18 |
| Habitat | Caves, Dungeons, Ruins, Wilderness |
| Number Encountered | 1 |
| Type | Monster |
| Reaction | Hostile |
| Intelligence | Average |
A Manticore was a species of aggressive and dangerous chimeric monster.[1][2]
Description[]
A manticore was a creature possessing a lion's body, the wings of a bat, and a bearded human face. There were two distinct types of manticore known on Titan: the more common Scorpio-Manticore, which possessed a giant scorpion's tail,[3] and the Chaos Manticore, which had a number of iron-hard spikes adorning its tail.[4]
Origins and Distribution[]
A manticore bursting out of its cage to attack.
Manticores were magically cross-bred creatures of Chaos. Spawned in a horde beyond the Western Ocean by a deranged male warlock centuries ago, one of them eventually killed their creator. Now spread throughout the world, these monsters are Evil life-hating flesh-eaters. A manticore usually made its lair in a remote, inhospitable place from where it could seek out warm flesh to feed on.
According to some sources, the Manticores were generated not long after the Splitting of Irritaria by the evil magician Marrangha, in the lands that are now known as Mauristatia. When the Klanywar tribes migrated to Mauristatia, the two heroes Pdor and Zvor defeated several Manticores to allow their fellow tribesman to enter their new lands.[5]
It is unclear whether these creatures could reproduce among themselves as could other beasts, or whether there was only a finite - and ever-dwindling - number of them. If the latter was true, then manticores must have an extremely long lifespan; perhaps they were even immortal unless slain.
Manticores were particularly common in the Old World. They had been encountered in Kakhabad, [6][7] Ruddlestone,[8] Mauristatia and Femphrey.[9]
They had also been recorded in the extreme north-west of Allansia, in the Chiang Mai region.[10][11]
Special Abilities[]
A manticore could employ its stinger tail in combat to inject an opponent with a deadly poison. If it hit its opponent, there was a chance that it has injected its venom.[12]
Further Notes[]
- A Spiker-Manticore was most famously encountered in the Fighting Fantasy gamebook Deathtrap Dungeon,[13] and a Scorpio-Manticore in The Shamutanti Hills.
- In Legend of the Shadow Warriors, a vial of sleeping draught was advertised as being able to "knock even a Manticore out for days."[14]
Further Information in Canon[]
More information can be found at:Source[15]
The Fighting Fantasy 10th Anniversary Yearbook
(pg123-124#*, pg129)
Out of the Pit
(Large) (paraCover*, pg79#*, pg126)
Allansia
(pg203#, pg204*, pg205, pg207-211, pg227, pg284)
Blacksand!
(pg16)
Dungeoneer
(pg388#-389)
Deathtrap Dungeon
(para6#, para71, para134*, para196#, para222, para247#, para364)
Creature of Havoc
(paraTales of Trolltooth Pass pg17)
Legend of the Shadow Warriors
(para66)
Knights of Doom
(para68)
Stormslayer
(para3#*)
The Riddling Reaver
(pg216#)
The Shamutanti Hills
(para195*, para227#, para233, para302, para307, para325, para345, para346, para364, para369#, para388#, para389, para415, para4
47, para456)
Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World'(Large) (pg26, pg81)
Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World'(Small) (pg44*, pg179)
Warlock Issue 2
(pg4#, pg5)
Warlock Issue 5
(pg7#, pg26*, paraBack Cover*)
See Also[]
Appendix[]
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
Adventures
- Creature of Havoc (book) (mentioned)
- Deathtrap Dungeon (book)
- Knights of Doom
- Legend of the Shadow Warriors (book) (mentioned)
- Stormslayer
- The Shamutanti Hills (book)
- The Shamutanti Hills (d20)
Sourcebooks
- Advanced Fighting Fantasy – The Roleplaying Game (mentioned)
- Beyond the Pit (mentioned)
- Créatures de Titan
- Out of the Pit
- Return to the Pit (mentioned)
Video Games
References[]
- ↑ Blacksand! - p.??
- ↑ Advanced Fighting Fantasy – The Roleplaying Game p. 126, 137
- ↑ Out of the Pit - p.??/199-200
- ↑ Deathtrap Dungeon - 222, 247; Master of Chaos - 341
- ↑ "A History of Mauristatia" by Otto Öviszódi in The Warlock Returns Issue 2, (pg. 22-26).
- ↑ The Shamutanti Hills 195, 222, 227, 232, 233, 282
- ↑ Crown of Kings , p. 25, 30
- ↑ Knights of Doom - 68
- ↑ Stormslayer - ??
- ↑ Deathtrap Dungeon - 222
- ↑ Allansia - p.??
- ↑ Out of the Pit - p.??/200
- ↑ Deathtrap Dungeon - ???
- ↑ Legend of the Shadow Warriors - para. 66
- ↑ Complete list of references catalogued by FF Titan Bestiary