Manticore Southern nomads know a scorpion’s sting threatens more than those it slays. They dispose of such bodies as quickly and thoroughly as possible, whether by cremation, dis- memberment or feeding the remains to wolves and jackals. When the hero Ghufran lay dying in the deep desert, he commanded his escort to consume his flesh for their own safety. For if a lion devours a scorpion-slain corpse, some- times the powers of the Wyld transform the beast into that most terrible of creatures—a manticore. The manticore has a lion’s body, the head of the devoured mortal, and a scorpion’s tail. It hunts alone, springing on prey from ambush to bite and sting. Manticores have no fear of mortals or any other creature. Their venom is far deadlier than any mundane scorpion, capable of taking down a bull elephant in seconds, and only supernatural stamina or healing magic can save a victim. When cornered by a manticore, a mortal’s one slim hope is clever repartee, for the beast is as intelligent and capable of conversation as the scorpion-stung mortal it once devoured.
