Rift Plate 018 · Everglades Maze
Mangrove Shadecat
A panther-shaped predator watches through water and builds its body from roots, reflection, and shadow.
- Plate group
- Everglades Maze
- Classification
- Riftborn Predator
- Field account
- Recovered
Recovered natural history
Field record
Reflection before body
The lantern found a panther drinking where there was no bank. Its reflection had shoulders and whiskers. Yellow eyes watched from the water. Nothing stood above them.
Mangrove roots began knitting around wet shadow. Behind the travelers, a second reflected cat circled. There were two images hunting, but only one root cage would become flesh.
Root assembly
The Shadecat watches through water before it builds a body. The map carrier and the person holding the light are favored targets. A visible decoy holds attention on one route while the physical pounce forms in unwatched roots.
Read the environment
Signs of its presence
A drinking cat reflects beneath empty air. Fresh claw scores lie below the waterline.
Route markers have been stowed in a hollow among the mangrove roots.
Survival doctrine
Field precautions
01
Disturb the surface
Keep the water moving. The Shadecat abandons the prepared attack and has to reset.
02
Mark the real body
Bright sticky pollen adheres to the shadow membrane. It shows which reflected animal can become physical.
03
Leave the roots
Reach open sawgrass or deep water with no mangrove structure. Without it, the Shadecat can build little beyond eyes and claws.
Recovered Field Plate
01
Primary form
A large cat stands high on heavy paws while roots, knots, or fungal growths travel along its back.
02
Detail studies
The dark face and bright eyes remain readable beneath the growth that disrupts the animal outline.
Continue through the folio
018 of 100 recovered plates