| Climate/Terrain: | Any Underdark |
|---|---|
| Frequency: | Rare |
| Organization: | Swarm |
| Activity Cycle: | Night |
| Diet: | Omnivore |
| Intelligence: | Low (5-7) |
| Treasure: | None |
| Alignment: | Neutral Evil |
| No. Appearing: | 20-200 |
| Armor Class: | 10 |
| Movement: | 1, Fly 14 |
| Hit Dice: | |
| THAC0: | 20 |
| No. of Attacks: | 1 as swarm |
| Damage/Attack: | |
| Special Attacks: | Swarm, Insanity |
| Special Defenses: | Reflect spells |
| Magic Resistance: | Standard |
| Size: | T (4” wingspan) |
| Morale: | Unsteady (5-7) |
| XP Value: | 175 |
Whispering moths are to the deep Underdark what bats are to the surface world; insectivores who serve a useful function by spreading seeds and distributing fertilizer throughout the cavern systems they inhabit. Despite their benefits to the ecosystem, whispering moths are more often cause for alarm than for joy, because they drive most sentient creatures to bizarre behavior and even permanent insanity.
Individual moths are about 2” long, with a 4” wingspan; they gained their name because of the soft, slithery noise they make in flight, a sound that seems always on the verge of being intelligible. Their wings are glittering, opalescent blurs when in motion, and they glow with their own light on the top surface. The moths are dark and almost invisible when they are perched on cavern walls with their wings folded shut
Combat: Whispering moths are individually weak but gain their strength in numbers. They can attack physically as a swarm, More importantly, the dizzying blur of their glowing wings has magical power and can cause insanity when combined with the sussuration of their wings. Any creature viewing them in darkness must make a saving throw vs. death magic or become raving killers, possessed by bloodlust for a number of hours equal to 24 minus the creature’s Wisdom. Creatures caught in the center of a swarm make the saving throw at -1; any creature viewing them near a mirrored surface (such as a still lake or any highly-polished metal) makes the saving throw at a -3 penalty.
This insanity effect cannot occur under lighted conditions; as long as creatures remain within the circle of illumination of any light source, they need not make a saving throw. As soon as they step outside the light’s protection, they must make the saving throw normally.
Whispering moths are drawn to any source of fire and magical light, even in the middle of combat; however, rather than being destroyed by these lights or fires, a swarm always manages somehow to magically douse it, restoring darkness. Even permanent light sources such as continual light spells or magical weapons are extinguished by the power of the moths.
Finally, the magic of these moths’ wings protects them from all spells targeted at them directly; these spells are reflected back at the caster, as if the moths were wearing rings of spell turning.
Society/Habitat: Whispering moths always travel in groups, never leaving the safety of the fluttering swarm. When resting, they all cover the ceiling or walls of a moist cavern drinking the water from the cave wall.
Ecology: warms of whispering moths feed on fireweed blooms, fungal spores, and small insects, especially cave crickets, small spiders, and cave fisher young. They are believed to be related to gloomwing moths.
The dried wings of whispering moths as useful in the ink for symbols of confusion and in the construction of rings of spell turning. They are valued at 50 gp/moth or more
They lay their eggs in water, where the young go through a larval stage before hatching into adults. A swarm of whispering moths hatching from the surface of an underground lake looks like nothing so much as a layer of light peeling off the surface of the water; the doubled reflection is a sight few creatures survive