Mothwalker

Alexy moved as quickly as the missing parts of his body let him. Somehow, he managed to dodge that creature that pretended to be an Archivist a few times, but he was getting tired quickly. Another swipe of its sharp arm flew right next to him when he stepped on one of the sharp teeth covering the floor of the Hall, costing him his balance and making him trip.
That was it. Only a moment separated him from his death. At least that's what he thought when a thumping sound of quick steps reached his ears from the side opposite to the monster chasing him. He managed to turn around to see what was happening. The beast that was about to kill him was being grappled by another creature, this one looking like a tall humanoid that had its face and legs covered with rags. The non-Archivist that attacked him was giving it quite a fight. At least to the moment when it grabbed its head with its big hands and crushed it, spilling the mimic's juices all over the ground. Then, it picked up a stick it stuck before in the ground, around which a swarm of winged lights was flying. It reached out its hand towards Alexy in a gesture looking like it wanted to help him stand up. The hand was so big, it could easily wrap it around his head. Still, he grabbed onto it and stood up. The creature seemed to look at him through the rags covering its head.

Mothwalkers are humanoid creatures wandering across the Dark Halls, always accompanied by swarms of Moonglow Moths. They are mostly peaceful and even helpful towards humans.

Appearance

Humanoid in shape, mothwalkers possess 2 legs, 2 arms, and a head. Despite their constantly hunched-over stature, they are about 2 to 2.5 meters tall. Their bodies seem emaciated making their already long limbs look even longer. Their thin, almost tight around their bones skin takes on a light beige color with a purple shade that shines through it and highlights all of the veins underneath it. In most cases, when encountered, mothwalkers wear clothes, from simple rags barely covering them to something that almost could be considered robes. It is unknown where they get those things from, whether they find them or somehow produce them. But despite all of them wearing different amounts of clothing, all of the mothwalkers cover their heads with shawls, wraps, veils, makeshift helmets, masks, anything, and everything. They never let anyone or anything reveal their heads and even after they die, it is impossible to see them, as their moths cover their whole bodies and the moment they fly away, there is no corpse left behind.

The lantern

Every single mothwalker carries a flexible stick longer than their body, using it to lean on it whenever it moves. The stick has a light source, usually a lantern or a luminescent substance hanging on one of its ends. This source of light is where moonglow moths gather, flying around it and, thanks to their own bioluminescence, creating a giant source of light of Incandescent level (3rd strongest light level, protecting from the darkness of all but Aureate and Blinding Halls). This light is strong enough to scare away most of the creatures of the dark and be visible from miles away.

Controlling the moths

Mothwalkers seem to have some control over moonglow moths that fly around their lanterns. Whenever they point at something, the moths will fly to it to highlight it. If a possible threat is scared of the light, they can send out moths in front of themselves to avoid risking being hurt, and if they decide to help a human, they can send out the moths with them either making them follow the person or escort them somewhere, even far away from their sight. It has been reported that moths that accompany someone that way can stay with them for the equivalent of multiple days until said person reaches a settlement or a camp that's not filled with people who want to kill them. And if they start sneaking or trying to blend in, the moths will fly away for a time.

Interactions with humans

Mothwalkers seem to be capable of understanding human speech. There are no records of any of them responding in any way other than through simple hand gestures and pointing. Even if harmed by humans, they do not react with violence, instead trying to get away, often letting themselves be killed. They have on numerous occasions stopped their journey to help someone attacked by the creatures of the dark by shooing them away or blinding them with the light of their lanterns, or even by smacking them with their sticks. They also have a tendency to stop near someone who doesn't have any light source with them or even unconscious people

Endless pilgrimage

No matter what, all mothwalkers seem to walk somewhere with intent. If there is an obstacle, they will walk around it, if the path is blocked, they will make a detour. The only time they ever stop is if there really is no other way forward. Should that happen, they will stay in one place until Dark Halls change and create a path forward as if they knew where exactly such change will happen. What's quite curious is that all the mothwalkers seem to walk in the same direction. If two of them meet up on the road, they will usually go the same way. During such occasions, whole groups of them can gather, continuing their pilgrimage together. It isn't known where exactly they go, since they often have to stop if there's no path forward, and if someone, who is impatient, decides to leave them even for a moment (and they would need angel's patience anyway), they don't always have to be back where they were last seen.

Even though the creature didn't seem to be able to speak, it reacted whenever Alexy talked to it. The two of them walked together for some time, him talking about what happened to him, the mothwalker just listening. When Alexy finished his story and told it he wanted to go somewhere safe, the creature stopped. It knocked a few times on the ground with its stick and pointed to the side. About half of what Alexy now recognized as moths that were flying around the lantern separated from the main group and started flying around each other, creating a sphere of light. Then, they started moving slowly away from the mothwalker. The creature put its arm on Alexy's shoulder and pointed at him and then at the ball of light.
Alexy understood what it meant. He started walking, following the moths that adjusted their speed to his speed of walking. He only turned around for a moment to say a simple "Thank you" to its savior and a short travel companion. The being responded by knocking with its stick a few more times and then it also started walking away.

Lifespan

Unknown, the only times they have been seen dying was when someone killed them

Geographic Distribution

• Dark Halls

Population

Their numbers are unknown. If they are all walking in circles there could be only a small number of them but if they all go to a certain destination, then there could potentially be millions of them.

Diet

They don't eat anything.

Reproduction

Mothwalkers do not reproduce in any way. At least it hasn't ever been witnessed.

Language

They do not speak. The closest thing they have to communication is through gestures, pointing, and a series of knocks made with their sticks. For some reason, the meanings of gestures they use, even the ones that are less basic, are very similar to the ones humans use.

Perception

Despite the clothing that covers their faces, mothwalkers move around as if they are able to see normally. They apparently can see through the darkness of the Dark Halls, as they often spot dangers way before humans would be able to. They also seem to have some kind of sixth sense that manifests itself mainly in two ways. When it comes to their mysterious journey, once they encounter an obstacle, they can somehow find a detour within a matter of seconds. They also have some weird talent that lets them find people who are in need of help.

Social structure

Mothwalkers seem to be mostly solitary creatures, almost always traveling alone, though they don't mind other specimens from their species, simply joining them if their paths cross, even creating groups, sometimes called pilgrimages or crusades. But sometimes, when a few of them encounter an obstacle, each of them might pick a different detour when continuing their journey.

Average physique

Despite their lanky figure, mothwalkers are surprisingly strong, being able to wrestle with and pick up creatures way bigger than them. There are rumors of some of them either crushing or ripping off the lids of the Threshers belonging to Harvesters and beating many armored monsters that decided to attack them into a pulp with all its bones crushed into dust. A group of them can defend themselves from most non-colossal creatures.
But despite all that, they are extremely slow when it comes to their movement, not able to dodge most of the quick attacks, and extremely vulnerable when something attacks them keeping their range.