Sagacious Mantis

Basic Information

Name: Sagacious Mantis
Age: 18
Type: Heroic Mortal
Player: NPC
Concept: Ninja & Assassin (Associate)
Motivation: Prove herself to often her neglectful mother by surpassing her in her own craft.
Political Affiliation: The Hallowed Order of The Grass Spiders (Associate)
Likes: Wood Working, String Instruments, Bare-Knuckle Boxing, Rain, Insects, Citrus Fruits.
Dislikes: Meditation, Public Speaking, Bright Lights, Bitter Food & Drink, Schools & Children.

Background

Sagacious Mantis is the young daughter of Valen, born and raised in The Grass Spider's associate village. She is undeniably young, beautiful, talented, and angry at the world. She is a skilled ninja and assassin, and at only 18 years old she still has the possibility of exalting, some consider it to be a forgone conclusion. Those destined to be exalted are almost always exceptional from birth, without a doubt Mantis is an exceptional individual. However her mother was a lost egg with no exalted ancestors and Mantis herself shows almost no elemental affinity, leading some to speculate otherwise. With some support from The Grass Spider's resident astrologer, Naru, many within the organization have started to believe that she may be destined for a Celestial exaltation rather than for a terrestrial one. No one within the organization is entirely sure how The Order would handle the situation if she did become a celestial exalt, but almost no one speaks of the complications of it, especially around Valen or Mantis.

Mantis cares very little about whether she exalts or not, nor if it would result in a terrestrial or celestial exaltation, she only cares that she prove her own worth to her very inattentive mother. In some respects she recognizes that an exaltation should only help her accomplish her goals, after all it could allow her to officially become a made member of the organization or even surpass it as a celestial. Deep down she has resolved that even is she were to become a Dragon-Blood she would not join The Order, she is driven by an admittedly shallow hatred for her own mother and does not wish to become apart of the organization and follow in her mother's footsteps.

In the meantime of figuring out what to do with her life, in the best effort to impress or at least gain the attention of her mother she has become apart of the only thing she has ever known. Whether she admits it or not she has become a part of The Grass Spiders, even if she is not a made member of the organization. She is a highly trained and talented assassin with a high level of skill in almost all aspects of assassination as well as thievery. Given her talents it is sometimes joked that The Circle with No Name could learn a great deal from Mantis, and should devote themselves more to the art of assassination rather than to drugs, sex, and parties. Mantis is heavily involved in The Grass Spiders and she works on a number of missions each year, she took part of her first mission when she was only 12 years old. She was only a decoy in her first mission, but over the years she has become increasingly involved within the organization and now assists Grass Spiders and even occasionally works on her own. In her 6 years working on missions with The Grass Spiders she has personally accumulated 11 kills, and has obviously been a part of many more. Mantis works primarily with The Red Hoods, and is involved in some capacity with at least half of all their operations. She also occasionally works with members outside of The Red Hoods, but never with her mother. Neither of them expresses a desire to work with the other.

What She's Been Up To

Sagacious Mantis has had a tumultuous 7 years to say the least. In the first five years of relative peace following Mission 9, Mantis continued her work as an associate of the Grass Spiders and excelled at her work. Mantis showed much of the same talent that her mother continues to display on a daily basis. In the arts of assassination Mantis is without mortal peer among the other associates of The Grass Spiders. She trains as rigorously as any member of The Order and is at the pure peak of mortal physical condition, however she is undeniably limited in a world of Exalts. Despite Mantis' promising excellence and exalted parentage she never exalted, though Mantis would never admit it, it has been a grave setback in her goals and has only fueled her deep burning rage.

Though as a young associate she predominantly worked alongside The Red Hoods, as she gained experience she gravitated increasingly towards the younger circles of The Order, The Shaded Templar and The Circle with No Name. Mantis no longer needed to be looked after by senior members of The Red Hoods, and the more social members of The Order often found that Mantis was superior in the more traditional arts than they were. Her skills provided a sort of added muscle when they required backup. When not working directly with The Order, Mantis took up residence in Chiaroscuro where she worked with the other local associates as part of Anton's extensive underground network. Working in Anton's home turf has led to a strong relationship between the two. Additionally, she has grown close with the younger members who train as rigorous as she, such as Aleni, Ryn, Zealot, and Opal. Surprisingly, Mantis and Ash, who could not be more different, developed an odd friendship which has led to numerous sexual encounters between the two, though both parties would describe it as a purely physical attraction.

At the start of The Veil War 2 years ago, when the White Veil Society struck back against the many associates of The Grass Spiders around creation Mantis was in Chiaroscuro and was one of the many associates targeted. Not the average associate, Mantis outclassed her attackers and escaped with her life; however when she returned to the safehouse she found her comrades there slaughtered. Distraught and filled with rage she left without contacting The Grass Spiders. At first she was assumed dead and The Order mourned her with the many others who had died. However, when Anton went about rebuilding their network it eventually became known that she had survived the attack, furious that Mantis would abandon The Order Anton has not contacted Mantis. For a time he did not tell anyone among The Order either, though recently Anton has briefed The Harvestmen and The Three Fiends about the situation, they adjourned their meeting without a consensus of how to deal with Mantis or tell Valen.