#Lore24 – Entry #87 – Fantasy Month #27 – Cult of the Mantis Queen
From the journal of Angeliqua “Goldeneyes” Cartacustos:
I’ll admit that my knowledge of the inner workings of dark elf society is very surface-level, so I may be missing some of the particulars of the history of this particular cult. If needed, I’m sure Felaria will gladly provide any corrections and additional context should I inquire with her about it further.
As I understand it, the dark elves, before the Great Cataclysm, were a strictly matriarchal society who worshiped a particular insectile goddess known as the Mantis Queen; her true name I do not know, and perhaps its erasure from history was intentional. Their society was already in crisis before the rest of the world had devolved into the chaos surrounding the Great Cataclysm. They were suffering poor relations with other races sharing their underground realm and a severe population growth crisis. At the time, the female leadership of the dark elves were all following the decrees of this Mantis Queen, leading them to becoming fixated upon their own superiority, even in the face of blatantly contradictory facts, rather delusionally so, and further were carelessly sending their men off to fight and die in one pointless battle after another, if not sacrificing them to the Mantis Queen to further their own power.
When the Great Cataclysm was triggered, like many races, the dark elves were forced from their traditional homelands. The matriarchal leadership, at the behest of the Mantis Queen, decreed that they would stay put, regardless of the growing dangers and outright hostile conditions they now faced, convinced that their power would see them safely through and with even greater power waiting on the other side of a difficult period. Having had enough of their delusions, the long-suffering males revolted against their women and the Mantis Queen’s tyranny, overcoming their female rulers and severing all ties with the terrible goddess. With their women essentially enslaved at this time, the men quickly gathered up what they could of their homeland and escaped the underground, eventually finding their way to the surface realms where they would begin rebuilding their society anew.
In the many centuries since, dark elf society has become very much patriarchal with strict customs their women must follow, though curiously a majority of them tend to the worship of Yurisaya; I am likewise not as well versed in the nature of this relationship between dark elf and goddess as I should be, but thus far, it seems that the relationship has worked in a mutually beneficial way for all involved.
The Cult of the Mantis Queen, however, is a more recent development and has evolved following the spread of dark elven women outside of their (new) traditional homelands as they have mingled with other races and cultures. To the best of my knowledge, having spoken to no members of the cult nor any who claim firsthand knowledge of them, the Cult of the Mantis Queen seeks to bring back the old ways and the true name of this forgotten goddess, seeking an exclusively female-dominated society, dark elven or otherwise, that has absolute control over its “lesser” male members. I cannot say with certainty that the cult was created by dark elven women, but it would stand to reason that only the eldest survivors of the dark elves who remember the days before the Great Cataclysm would still hold such knowledge, even if the true name of the Goddess has been forgotten. They are hardly squeamish about honoring the ancient rites involving sacrifice, reportedly performing rituals in which males have their heads removed at the height of sexual intercourse.
For now, the Cult remains relatively small and with little real influence, but perhaps that will change given enough time? Will they sacrifice the wrong person and bring the wrath of a true church upon them, or will they find a way to bring themselves to the power they so crave? Or will the cult ultimately fade away into obscurity? As with all things, time will tell.