Aerugo, nocturnal moth-folk
A
lone, the young traveler was camping in the
'''woods at night, keeping watch for the savage
beasts that roamed that forest. But instead of
fangs or claws, the only thing that approached
him were some dustballs of a silk-like material.
He looked up, searching for their caster, and it
didn't take long for him to recognize a white,
humanoid figure, sitting above his little camp on a tree
branch. She was weaving some kind of silky cloth, while
gazing at his campfire, and not minding anything else
surrounding her.
V1.4
Descendents of Fey Spirits
The Aerugo are a race of humanoid moth-like people,
characterized mainly by the presence of a second smaller
pair of arms, a layer of thin fur covering most of their body
(usually either gray or white, but it can sometimes be brown
or even dark blue) , a pair of moth wings and two antennas
protruding from their forhead.
It is said that this moth-folk was the product of the fantasy
of a moony Archfey, who created them to populate the nights
of the material plane, and dress them with silk-like ribbons
that gleam under the light of the moon.
According to some others, Aerugo where created by the
power of an ancient magic, that trapped some fey spirits into
the bodies of this moth-like people. Wheter it was meant as a
curse, so that they would be unnaturally attracted by lights, or
as a blessing, giving them elegance and a real gift for weaving
(or neither of them) is unknown.
Welcoming but "Inhospitable"
Societies
Aerugo tend to form small communities in forest, usually in
mild or cold regions, composed almost only by their kin. This
isn't because of some kind of shyness, nor because they don't
respect other races: in fact, aerugo love company, and often
travel to nearby settlements to exchange goods or gather
rumors about the rest of the world. The main reason why
humans and other races don't stop for long in aerugo villages
is because of the many quirks of this people: the main ones
being the fact that they are active almost only at night, and
that it is forbidden to light torches or lanterns inside their
villages. Also, many aerugo structures are built high amidst
tree branches, which makes it quite challenging for many
common folk to reach them.
Aerugo settlements often elect a king or queen as their
leader, but many times it is paired with or substituted by a
council of elders.
An aerugo settlement will never grow to a great size, nor
will it be centuries old, as these moth-folk love to travel and
see new sights. Also, being their villages entirely built from
wood, leaves and their own silk, they aren't able to withstand
the test of time.
"Mother lumi",
by Mathilda Fiship
Moth-like Lives
Aerugo are born as larvae, but unlike butterflies they do not
wander around as caterpillars before metamorphing into
their adult form: they instead dig a hole into the ground,
where they will make a cocoon and then turn into young
aerugo, already capable of walking and flying. There is
usually a common "cocoon ground" in each aerugo
settlement, where parents leave their young larvae, waiting
for them to turn into an adult moth. There is usually a short
ceremony that precedes this.
Because of this tradition, aerugo aren't able to recognize
their own children, and young moths are usually brought up
either by a small group of adult aerugo (which becomes their
family) or by the whole settlement itself (making at times
little difference, as aerugo settlements are quite small).
In either case, an aerugo usually feels a way stronger tie
with his community as a whole than to his "family" itself, and
will often try to keep connected with it, using various kinds of
messangers, ranging from travelers to butterflies.
Skilled Weavers of Silvery Ribbons
Aerugo are able to produce a silky, silvery substance thanks
to some glands inside their mouths, which they then weave
with great skill and expertise. Aerugo silk, which is both soft
and strong, is highly valued among other races, and can fetch
a high price at the right merchant.
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Although this silk would naturally have a wonderful silvery
colour, it is possible to dye it. If submerged in dye right after it
has been produced, it will quickly absorb the colour and keep
it almost forever, taking many decades to fade.
Night Wanderers, Seekers of Grace
Even if they do form stable settlements, an aerugo will rarely
live his whole life only within its borders: driven by an
inexplicable curiosity, and particulartly by a desire to search
for beauty, it will wander in the night, guided by the pale and
reassuring light of the moon.
When searching for something beautiful, an aerugo will
rarely head thowards human towns or cities. Rather than for
artificial forms of art, it will look for the ones that are within
nature, such as in a great waterfall or a colorful aurora.
It does occasionally happen though that an aerugo might
prefer a statue to a dawn. In that case, he will travel from one
city to another, often following a caravan of merchants or
travelers, as this moth-folk appreciate the company of others,
and will start thinking of them as part of their "family" if they
earn their trust and friendship.
Young aerugo are the ones that are easier to find
wandering the nights, as with old age they'll settle in a village
with others of their kin, or more rarely in human cities. This
does not mean that they'll stop travelling: an old aerugo will
still head out from time to time, in search of a beautiful sight,
and come back home a few days later.
Aerugo personality
Even if aerugo can adapt to human society, they will never
lose some of the characteristics they share with moths,
resulting in them often standing out from the common crowd
because of this (as if a pair of wings and four arms weren't
enough) .
You can use the aerugo Quirks table to determine a
personality quirk for an aerugo character or to inspire a
unique mannerism.
Aerugo Quirks
d8 Quirk
1 You hate all kinds of artificial light, the only one you
appreciate being that of the sun, the moon or the
stars.
2 Artificial lights charm you as much as the ones of the
moon or the stars. You can often be found staring at a
torch or a lantern, bewitched.
3 Common sleep schedules aren't your thing: you always
try to convince your companions to sleep during the
day and travel at night.
4 You always leave a thin silky string wherever you go.
5 When nervous you start fiddling with your antennae.
6 You're easily angered when you see someone
mistreating any kind of insect.
7 When talking, expecially when using Mothspeech, your
second pair of arms expressively gestures on its own.
Some of those gestures may be incomprehensible to
other people than you though.
8 You carry some butterflies or other insects with you,
and sometimes chat with them. Other people usually
don't notice this, and think you are talking to yourself.
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Aerugo Names
Aerugo are given a name by the community they live in,
resulting usually in a name in Mothspeech and one in
Common, which is used by all other races when referring to
them. Those names are usually one or two syllables long,
with a prevalence of vowels and usually no harsh consonants.
There is no distinction between male and female names.
Aerugo names: Ausi, Dei, Eli, Fee, Inuue, Laenne, Leesha,
Nae, Ofee, Ool, Phii, Pula, Sesi, Siio, Uumon, Wetha
Aerugo Traits
Your aerugo character has a variety of natural abilities, but
who cares you'll never read these two lines.
Ability score increase. Your Dexterity score increases by
2, and your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Age. Aerugo larvae mature into moths after around ten
months, at which point they show the physical and mental
age of a three-years-old human child. They mature at age 15,
and are known to live up to 90 years.
Alignment. Aerugo tend towards chaotic alignments, as
they grow with little amount of rules to bind them and,
experiencing various cultures through their travels, they
create their own set of moral laws.
They almost never fall into evil alignments, as they respect
other cultures and treasure the company of other people and
the beauty of the world.
Size. Aerugo range in height from barely 4 feet to more
than 6 feet tall. Regardless of your position in that range, your
size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Moth wings. Your moth wings grant you a flying speed of
20 feet. To be able to use this speed, you mustn't be wearing
heavy or medium armour.
Darkvision. Accustomed at having the moon as the only
light in your days, you have superior vision in dark and dim
conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if
it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light.
You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Sensible antennae. Thanks to your long antennae you
have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on
smell.
Light susceptibility. You are not accustomed to strong
artificial lights, which distract you and impede you from
focusing on your targets. You have disadvantage on attack
rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks when you are within
20 feet of a source of bright light that you can see, unless the
object that spreads bright light is your target itself.
Languages. You can speak, read and write Common and
Mothspeech. Mothspeech is mainly a language of transmitted
pherormones, with few body language, and because of this it
can't be written. Also, it is impossible for other creatures
besides moths, butterflies or aerugo to comprehend this
language (although it is possible with magic), and many won't
even notice when you use it. Using Mothspeech, you can
communicate simple ideas to moths and butterflies, and
understand their "speach". Because of the limited vocabulary
of this language, most aerugo speak through both
Mothspeech and Common.
Weaving the silk
Here you can find a table describing how much
thread you need in order to be able to weave
various objects
Feet of Thread Required Object
250
Clothes, common
250
Clothes, travel
280
Clothes, fine
180
Blanket, 5 feet by 5 feet
20
Pouch
200
Rope, silk (50 feet)
"Insect warrior" by Michelle Tolo
Extra limbs. You have a second pair of arms, which are
smaller and weaker than your normal arms, but that can still
carry out tasks with precision. Those arms can't wield
weapons or shields, nor perform somatic components of
spells, but can hold and use a spellcasting focus or any other
small object, weighting up to 3 times your Strenght score.
As a bonus action on your turn, you can use your extra
limbs to interact with one additional object or feature of the
Environment during either your movement or action (as
described in page 190 in the PHB).
Weaver of silk. You gain proficiency with the Weaver's
tools. Also, you can use you action to produce up to 5 feet of a
thin, silky thread. In order to do that, your mouth and two of
your hands must be free (you can use your secondary arms
for this action) . The amount of silk you can produce is a
number of feet equal to 5 times your Constitution score.
Once you have produced the maximum length of silk, you
can't produce any more until you finish a long rest.. The
thread produced in this way is thin and breaks easily, but you
can use some weaver's tool to make cloth out of it, which is
instead warm, comfortable and resistant.
Modified Artwork
All the artworks you see in this homebrew document have been modified by the writer (through GIMP) in order to better fit the aspect
of the Aerugo, and therefore are not the original ones.
Keep this in mind when considering some of the possible defects they may present.
This homebrew was written by u/bhitrock using The Homebrewery.
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