The Vortex Moth

*"Guys, it's a moth. How dangerous could it possibly be?"*

## History

The Vortex Moth is one of the many children of The Broodmother, and the first of The Brood to appear anywhere on Etera. Taking the form of a colossal moth, this winged insect has been known to raze entire towns to the ground in the process of collecting food. The widespread death caused shortly before the downfall of the Verk Empire has pushed it away from its normal habitat, however, and towards more-populated areas. The creature has attacked enough times for the survivors to put together a reliable description of its size and abilities, but to date, no heroes have been able to permanently kill it.

## Behavior

The Vortex Moth is essentially a predator, attacking other creatures and bringing them back to its lair to consume later. It eats both intelligent and non-intelligent creatures, with a preference for things that are Medium or larger. Small creatures are rarely enough to sate its appetite, and so it may overlook them in favor of sizable prey.

## Offenses

The Vortex Moth has several known attacks, and possibly more that no survivors have had the opportunity to witness. Its primary attacks consist of bites from its massive jaws (presumably just powerful, not poisoned) and strikes from the spikes on the end of its tail. More strangely, the Vortex Moth also carries two enormous weapons with its legs and uses them to sweep across large groups of enemies at once. Though not known to be enchanted, the sheer size of the weapons makes them a formidable threat in their own right.

## Defenses

The Vortex Moth's most common defense is its flight and high speeds. If an area seems too dangerous, it often simply turns around and flies out of range, using the superior speed granted by its size (observed to be at least 100 feet/round, possibly higher) to outmaneuver its foes. However, if pressed into dangerous situations, the Vortex Moth has also been known to transform into a type of living tornado, becoming less creature and more natural disaster. Its winds seem to be significantly in excess of normal weather, and with the ability to control its movement in this form, the Vortex Moth may attack foes directly or launch attacks of rocks and debris by flinging them with the winds. With no traditional form to strike as a tornado - not even a dense body like air elementals have - the Vortex Moth is also nearly impervious to harm when raging in this way (and this is no small part of the reason it's survived for so long).

## Lairs

A few especially crafty mortals have escaped from the Vortex Moth's lairs and told others of them. It has several homes high up in the mountains where it strings up creatures to eat later, as well as a few more homes deep in forests. Most predators steer far clear of its lairs once they see signs of its presence, unwilling to contest the territory of such a massive beast. The lairs typically have at least three ways in and out, making them more difficult to close off, and one individual claimed that the center of the lair he visited contained a cocoon even larger than the Vortex Moth itself. Exactly what was in it was unclear, but it couldn't be anything good...