Mother Moth

The Animal Lord known as Mother Moth is a ruler with the loyalty of her subjects but few lands to truly call her own. Ousted from the fey courts by a cunning rival, Mother Moth's power is but a shadow of what was once at her command. Her waning influence has also resulted in the loss of many of her former titles, though she still holds a few. Though her status remains in decline, Mother Moth still has her allies and continues moving forward with aid from nature magic, a network of beast and fey spies, and an abundance of patience.
It is said that one of Mother Moth's greatest allies is the goddess Eilistraee, the Dark Dancer, due to several shared interests. Both draw power from the moon and many non-evil lycanthropes who once sought assistance from Selûne now turn to them for aid in the former moon goddess' absence. Her power over moths also extends to other silk-producing creatures, including spiders, and some wonder if their informal relationship may include plans against Eilistraee's mother, Lolth, who long ago seized most spiders away from Mother Moth's power.

Uncovering the Underdark Campaign

Journey Into the Underdark Arc

Indirect Aid

Mother Moth came to be an important figure to certain members of the Thaig Expedition, though she was aware of them before they were directly aware of her. Their first interaction came when she sent a moth servant to them to gauge their reaction. The adventurer K killed and devoured this moth on sight for no apparent reason, seeming to confirm her suspicions that he was another of M's children come looking for her. Later, Itassis explained to Leh'ct Arlathil that Mother Moth could likely protect his pet giant wolf spider Silinrul from Lolth's influence, though she believed the weakened Mother Moth would need to touch Silinrul directly to accomplish this due to Mother Moth's weakened state.
Later, when the adventurers were attacked by a mysterious skeletal figure following the Battle of Skatha's Rest on Cairnhollow Isle, Mother Moth sent another of her moths to aid them. The moth protected Elycia Mirais with a barrier when the figure attempted to touch her and shortly thereafter teleported the adventurers to a dark otherworldly forest. They appeared in a grove and Leh'ct used magic to communicate with the moth, which told the adventurers to rest. After they had recovered from their fight, the moth led them through the dark forest and back to Cairnhollow Isle. Specifically, it led them to a cave where the members of the Architects of the Awakening the adventurers had been looking for were hiding. After the adventurers dispatched these foes, the moth flew through an illusionary wall to further lead the adventurers to where Mother Moth truly wanted them to go.

Meeting the Delvers in Person

Meeting Mother Moth

Weeks later, Mother Moth sensed when the stone giant seer Sradzar used his magic to search for a source of magic iron on behalf of the Delvers of Secrets. He informed the adventurers to leave the city of Brazenthrone through the north gate and follow the path until they saw a sign, stating they would know it when they saw it. This sign turned out to be yet another moth, which triggered the Seething Sight curse afflicting K. But whereas he lost himself to rage and bloodlust before, this time he was given pause. He noticed the moth's wings were different colors; one the color of his late mother's hair and the other the color of her eyes. His curiosity was enough to suppress the anger inside him, at least for the time being, and the Delvers followed the moth forward. It led them to a portal and into the Shadowfell. After a series of adventures there, culminating with an ambush by bounty hunters that had been tracking them (including K's sister Vex, who'd followed him to claim Mother Moth's head herself), they managed to solve a puzzle that opened a golden gateway leading to Mother Moth's demiplane.
She waited for them in her gazebo, situated on an isle in the middle of a small pond. K struggled mentally at the mere sight of her, his dark urges to inflict harm upon Mother Moth barely staved off thanks to Elycia's holy aura. K took the lead in approaching her with choice words prepared for the godly archfey. He accused Mother Moth of being at fault for his tyrant father's increase in power, letting M deceive her to steal her power. Mother Moth rebuffed his claims, informing the bugbear that he did not have a full story. Before the conversation continued, she suddenly appeared between K and Elycia. With a flick of her wrist, Mother Moth released a moth-shaped mote of light that multiplied into a swarm which cocooned Elycia and cured her of a demonic curse that had switched her limbs as a sign of goodwill. By the time the others looked away from Elycia and back at Mother Moth, the deity was back in her chair sipping her tea once again. The other chairs around her table scooted themselves out and she invited the adventurers to sit.
The Delvers of Secrets sat, K sitting closest to Mother Moth and still somewhat seething. His comments to her were filled with animus and she commented that his every step betrayed his detestation. K again belittled her, this time indirectly, by stating everyone who'd ever allowed themselves to be tricked by his father was a fool. Mother Moth asked if that included his mother and struck a nerve with K. She interrupted him as he sprung to defend his mother's honor, revealing that it had been K's mother who was used to siphon Mother Moth’s power. As both a deity and archfey, Mother Moth possessed the ability to grant mortals magic both divine and arcane in nature. K’s mother was given the latter, and Mother Moth claimed his late mother had been one of her greatest warlocks.
K was silent for a moment, before commenting that his mother had never gone into much detail about her life before his birth. Mother Moth stated it was not her fault, the blame lay with his father, and accepted that part of the responsibility was also her own. She had been M's target and K's mother had been caught in the crossfire. The aid she would give him now was a way of repaying that due, at least in part. She told K that his anger was a curse, one placed beneath his Curse of the Ethereal Bound to conceal it from magical detection. It was not within her power to remove this curse as she had the one on Elycia, for it had been placed by M and his power currently exceeded Mother Moth’s own. But that did not mean she had no way to help K.
Mother Moth disappeared faster than the blink of an eye, reappearing on the grass beside the gazebo. She beckoned K forward, he coming to her side while his friends got up to follow. Mother Moth educated K about the nature of fey; they were creatures of emotion, which bound them to certain behaviors in addition to certain rules. M was a member of the Unseelie Court, those fey who rallied behind emotions mortals considered negative. Fear, anger, hatred...vengeance. So long as K sought revenge against his father while holding bloodlust in his heart, he would fail. As he openly pondered what to do next, Mother Moth conjured a life-size, transparent illusion of Sonya Snowborne.
Though M was ignorant of Sonya and her relationship to K for the time being, Mother Moth warned it was only a matter of time before he discovered her and attempted to use their relationship to his advantage. This worried K somewhat, though Mother Moth assured him that Red was keeping an eye on his fiancée at her behest. Though Red was not as powerful as M, he could still make enough of a scene that it would draw attention M did not want on himself just yet. Despite M being likely to view Sonya as a weakness, Mother Moth insisted that she would be K's trump card. Filling his heart with the fear of losing her and turning that into a new strength, one fueled by love, would give him an edge over his father.
But that would not be the only edge he would take into battle against M. Mother Moth bade K to lay the spiked chain he'd found in the abandoned mine onto the ground. She ran her hand along its length in the air above it, transforming it into a Cold Iron Weapon, a rapier more suited to K's talents. That was all the aid Mother Moth could provide him for now, though she commented she would keep her eyes open for any additional opportunities to do so. She then informed the adventurers that their bounty hunter adversaries had left the area and that they were free to rest here before returning to the mine in search of the rest of the magic iron needed to repair the Crown of Auldbearn (she herself was unable to repair it, the crown having originally been made with the blessings of dwarven deities).

Aligned Organization

The Animal Lords

Titles
Queen-Mother of Moondust and Starlight
Lady Lacewing
Her Mottled Majesty