Deathmoth
Also known as Death Moths, Moths
Large, slow and usually harmless — until it decides you are a threat. Deathmoths kill explorers who panic, not explorers who wait.
Disposition
Passive — no recorded attacks
Warning signs
- Heavy, irregular wingbeats echoing in an enclosed space
- Dust or scale-fall drifting through a light beam
- Clusters gathered around any working light fixture
Deathmoths are large — roughly human-sized — and the name does them a disservice. They are among the least aggressive entities in the Backrooms, and the overwhelming majority of injuries attributed to them are self-inflicted by explorers who ran in a tunnel they should have walked in.
Behaviour
Deathmoths are drawn to light and gather around any working fixture, sometimes in numbers large enough to darken a corridor. They are slow, clumsy in confined spaces, and show no interest in humans as food.
They are also, by most accounts, capable of something close to affection. Explorers have reported Deathmoths following them for extended periods without any hostile act, and a persistent minority position holds that they are drawn to company rather than to light.
When they turn
The trigger is threat, and specifically threat to a cluster. A Deathmoth alone will tolerate almost anything. A Deathmoth in a group will respond if one of the group is attacked, and a group response in a Level 2 tunnel is a serious problem — not because they are strong, but because there is nowhere for you to be.
Their scales are the secondary hazard: heavy wingbeats fill enclosed air with particulate that is genuinely bad to breathe over time.
What actually works
- Do not attack them. There is nothing to gain and the cost is severe.
- Cover your mouth in clusters. The scales, not the moth, are what damages you.
- Wait rather than push through. Deathmoths disperse. Corridors do not get wider.
- Dim your light to move past. They follow illumination, so the light is the thing they are tracking, not you.
Where you'll meet it
Last updated