Mantaere (Mant-air)

Through the skies of the Twilight Plains of the Rift Lands, flies a magnificent creature of a peculiar nature. The Mantaere. A reptile of significant size that cuts through the high winds of the Plains with great ease. A predator to some and a marvellous sight to others.  

Anatomy

With a wingspan of up to 4 metres, the Mantaere grow to a relatively large size...though it is not the biggest creature found within its motherlands. With feathers of orange and purple and pink and blue running the length of their spine to the tip of their tail, the Mantaere is a creature of beauty with it being a common muse amongst artists. Their wings can carry them through the air via flapping similarly to a bird though due to their remarkably light weight, they have been spotted riding the winds of the Rift Plains fairly easily.    

Yes well, they also say there are flat-shaped reptiles that glow so brightly and soar the skies of the plains north of Tyraq. Do you believe those tales also, sister?

— Jinlan Q'lark, Jewel of Mak-Ifrin

While these animals may seem peaceful, and they typically are, at the end of their feathered tails hides a concealed barb. A row of daggers able to pierce through the hide of even an Urs'aq (if the unlikely occasion arose that these two creatures were to cross paths). Due to the size of their prey and the typical hunting methods they use, the likelihood of this barb being used to hunt is slim, so scholars suggest its primary purpose is for defensive means.  

Subspecies

With the Mantaere being so well adapted to its ecosystem of suspected origin, the Twilight Plains, it has gone on to colonise a variety of different, but similar, ecosystems.   One such example of this is the Cynish Mantaere which are primarily found along the Cynish Rises and more commonly within the Cynfel Moors. Here, a population of Mantaere have adapted to their unusual habitat. Due to the Cynfel Moors lacking the same Rift Grass as the Twilight Plains, the Mantaere here have adapted to a new diet, living off of regular grass instead of the glowing variety. It is because of this, that they seem to have lost their bioluminescent sacks entirely. Furthermore, due to the colder climate of the Cynfel Moors, a greater quantity of feathers covers their bodies for warmth.

Those that live in Cynfel are a strange and unruly people- and the creatures there are even stranger. The feathered Mantaere for example...

— Jeramiah Lincroft, Pillar of Tyraq

 

Colours

Also, present in the Cynish Mantaere, are unique colours. While the Twilight variety often sports oranges, purples and pinks in their feathers with orange or grey scales, those found here, are duller in colour. They can often be found with scales of dark grey and black sporting feathers of moss green as well as grey and black, depending on which region exactly they may be located.