Hushmoths are large nocturnal insects drawn to signal towers, Fortera rods, bells, and active Éterlumin machinery.
Their broad wings are coated in a fine metallic powder. When disturbed, this powder scatters through the air and interferes with the transmission of pressure and vibration.
What a swarm can do
A few moths merely make nearby sounds feel dull. A full swarm can cause:
- spoken words to fade before reaching the listener
- signal bells to move without producing a clear tone
- Dragon Line messages to arrive incomplete
- firearm reports to sound distant or delayed
- Fortera rods to produce weak, doubled, or false responses
The moths do not emit light. Their wings may appear bronze, grey, or black depending on the angle of nearby lanterns.
Living with them
Signal keepers treat them as both pest and threat. The insects nest in warm rafters, behind bell housings, and inside unused instrument cabinets. Killing them indoors often makes matters worse by releasing more powder. The safest response is slow ventilation and the use of damp cloth screens.
Smugglers and saboteurs have been accused of breeding Hushmoths, though no government has admitted maintaining such colonies of its own.
Never strike the bell twice because the first note was weak. First look at the ceiling.
At the table
A Hushmoth swarm can isolate a port, corrupt a military message, or make players question whether the warning they received was incomplete or deliberately altered.