MORE THAN A NAME
The story of Scythip.
The legendary Scythip line is associated with a hidden Heartwood temple garden, where long folded forearms resemble blades among reeds. Its stories honor judgment and restraint, qualities a visitor must demonstrate before earning the resident guardian's trust.
A young garden attendant trained beside a Scythip while hoping to enter the Silent Garden's inner court. She practiced elaborate gestures until an older keeper asked her to spend an afternoon clearing only the fallen leaves along Reedshade Walk. The Scythip folded its arms and waited whenever living stems crossed the path. By evening, the attendant had removed less than expected, but every occupied reed remained standing and every shaded resting place still offered shelter.
Seasons later, she returned with the now mature Zenmantis for the silent garden trial. The temple's Verdictis observed while they crossed the court, yielding space to nesting visitors and choosing when a troublesome branch could simply be left alone. The guardian accepted their approach without a ceremonial duel. Heartwood's oldest telling ends there: the trust they earned mattered more than a spectacle proving that either companion could cut something beautiful into smaller pieces.
Origins & background
The Silent Garden is maintained through invitations and patient service rather than an announced collecting season. Accounts of Verdictis vary in age and detail, but consistently distinguish a guardian's consent from a visitor's entitlement. Its legendary rarity belongs to the whole species line, including Scythip; an impressive final form is not what grants the creature that status or makes a bond meaningful.
A PLACE TO BELONG
Life in Heartwood.
Hidden temple gardens.
Behavior
Scythip holds its forearms folded while inspecting the space ahead. Older forms shift their long legs carefully among stems and rest where their outline follows the reeds. A composed Zenmantis remains attentive rather than asleep; companions learn to read small changes of head angle before moving closer to its resting place.
Diet
It takes small insects and other manageable garden prey from among the reeds. Living leaves provide concealment and resting structure, while the creature's leaflike body does not make it a grazing herbivore.
Place in the ecosystem
Its hunting forms one part of the temple garden's varied small-animal community. Protecting the occupied reeds around its resting places also preserves habitat for less celebrated residents, making the guardian's continued presence dependent on a functioning garden rather than an isolated ceremonial perch.
Neighbors & bonds
Tanglehorn shelters seedlings near the garden's outer walk, while Zenmantis rests among the mature reeds beyond. Evergarden maintains damp routes below their chosen perches. Temple attendants preserve those different spaces, allowing each familiar resident to approach others without losing its independent retreat.
ONE BOND, FOUR CHAPTERS
The Scythip lineage.
Evolution combines experience with a meaningful milestone. A WildKin may keep its current form until its keeper is ready.
Scythip ↗
A wide jade face rises above a slim upright thorax, with long antennae and folded green forearms. Four walking legs support the leaf-shaped abdomen behind it. Scythip studies nearby stems before stepping, learning to hold its curved forearm blades away from a companion's approach.
Reedblade ↗
The folding forearms lengthen, their thick pale scythes becoming more pronounced beneath the alert face. First camouflage wings lie along the abdomen. Reedblade learns familiar garden routes and pauses among living stems, choosing a stable foothold before moving its long body through a narrow opening.
Zenmantis Current
Sweeping temple plumes frame the head, while broader camouflage wings and guarded scythes strengthen the mature silhouette. Iron joins Grove in its identity. Zenmantis carries its blades with composed precision, remaining attentive to a companion's position even when the surrounding garden is crowded with movement.
Verdictis ↗
A tall leaf crown and broad curved scythes frame an unmistakably poised mantis, balanced on long articulated legs. The folded wings retain its connection to the reed beds. Verdictis accepts trusted collaborators through deliberate attention and restraint, remaining a living guardian rather than an unattended temple ornament.
INSTINCT & ELEMENT
How it holds its own.
Perfect Poise
A successful defensive read empowers one follow-up strike without stacking.
Stillgarden Cut
IronA carefully telegraphed sweeping cut punishes enemies inside a narrow arc.
A WildKin equips up to four moves. Its secondary element joins at Prime, alongside its signature move. Read the battle and evolution rules →
FROM THE KEEPER’S NOTEBOOK
Meeting in the wild.
- 01
Seek an invitation to the temple garden rather than expecting a random roadside encounter.
- 02
Learn its folded resting posture while helping maintain occupied reed beds.
- 03
Treat the silent garden trial as a test of judgment and consent, not a demand for a duel.
“The most memorable cut in the temple stories is the one never made. Watch the guardian's attention before deciding that an open path requires an empty garden.”— Hearthwild field notes