Mothlands Game 5: Month of Moths
We began our fifth game of Mothlands licking wounds and prepping for the Month of Moths: a season without fire or light. The dreaded Moths are out hunting and all must hide lest they swoop down in the night and snatch you up in their many talons.
This is the last day of winter and a celebration is under way.
Freeplay and Downtime saw us training, healing wounds, and indulging our comforts. With the festivities underway, we got to see how they did or did not play into our characters lives. Sarzi, our Spear, had helped Elox, the Recluse, and Pi, the Mouse, set up a training ground to practice at swordplay. We then got treated to some fallout from our entaglement as a very angry Templar of The Spirited Way grilled a friend of the crew for some dirt on our heroes. The friend gave up nothing but the Templar will be back.
At the festival, Sarzi shared some of the traditions of her own people by spinning poi while Jin, our Favorite, engaged in some pre score planning. Using a lead they’d gotten, previously, the crew secured a dangerous job, acquiring a Moth for the Emperors private collection.
On the first day of the Month of Moths, our crew set out with a small group of other underclass people who had been desperate enough to take on this dangerous job. They would be competing with the crew for coin and prestige so whittling down their numbers became a bit of a side mission. It said a lot about the crew when they chose to use social maneuvering to frighten the competition away rather than deadly traps or other more blatant methods, so when they found the moth, hibernating beneath the mud of a sandy river shoreline, only 6 of the 12 remained. More coin for the crew.
Taking their time, Elox helped in constructing a net sturdy enough to keep the beast under control. With enough manpower and time, it should wear itself out. Even so, it was the size of two buffalo with deadly jaws and piercing tendrils capable of spearing a man at 30 feet. Staying away from its front side would be key.
Thanks to their preparation, and considering their number advantage and excellent ground work, I took a few ticks out of the Moth’s clock right off the bat. They were greatly outclassed by the creature but they had every advantage. They needed it.
At the least, the net would keep the thing from extending its maneuvering wings and buzzing away. Pi also volunteered to dump an alchemical concoction on it: two substances that, when combined, acted as a glue. This would gum up the works, so to speak, and help secure the netting.
When the moment was right, the team enacted their plan, trapping the Spitter Moth up in thick cords of rope. Pi, being a danger seeker, chose to drop on the thing from above to deliver the glue, but was injured in the effort, resisting the bucking and thrashing of the creature to avoid being thrown free and losing the opportunity. She’d get it on the next try, barely jumping free.
Not being able to fly away, the Moth began to spin. Sarzi and her cohorts held on fast but some were thrown free, giving the beast an opportunity to strike out. Jin, who had been studying the scene, waiting to direct the action, became a target of the darting tendrils but managed to spot the creatures warning display just in time to throw themselves to safety. Elox was not so lucky, but managed to Ruin the beasts leg as it sat, briefly immobilized. The emperor wanted it alive, but he didn’t specify whether he wanted it intact.
A struggle ensued, with the crew managing to get the thing on its side and subdue it into exhaustion. A victory worthy of the personal congratulations of the emperor, but we will get to that next time.
The fellowship is getting more ambitious every day. I can’t say what that will mean for them in the Month of Moths but I look forward to finding out.