Eldrous Pith – The Half-Changed Revenant

The ruined halls of Eastward Estate hold many secrets, but Eldrous searches for only one.

The Mothkeeper. A name spoken too lightly by those who do not understand what it might be. A name that lingers in Ciaranna’s wake like an unsolved equation. Eldrous cannot ignore it—not when the creature’s presence defies categorization, eludes definition.

And so he watches.

The Investigation

Returning from his reconnaissance in Elderhearth, Eldrous moves carefully through the outskirts of the ruined city, keeping his senses sharp. The battle between the Demonseed of Orcus and the Harbinger of Kyuss rages on, a grotesque war of undeath, but his mission was never to intervene—only to observe.

Then, something unnatural catches his eye.

One of the undead has wandered beyond the battlefield. That alone is unusual—undead servants bound to these forces do not simply walk away.

But this one is different.

It moves strangely, limbs slow and uncertain, as if struggling to understand itself. At first, Eldrous assumes it is a straggler, a broken undead with no master. But then he sees the truth:

• Its flesh is shifting, patches of decay retreating as new skin pulses beneath.
• Its bones creak, as if reshaping, struggling to decide what form it should take.
• Moths cluster on its exposed ribs, on its hollow eye sockets—wings fluttering, shifting, keeping it from settling into a single state.
• It is neither alive nor dead, neither servant nor master.

And as Eldrous watches, the thing turns its head toward him.

For a brief moment, its expression is not that of a mindless corpse.

It is something else. Something aware.

Then it speaks.

Not a groan. Not a mindless whisper. It speaks in a voice that flickers—one moment hollow, the next filled with something terrifyingly alive.

"Not yet."

Then, the moths scatter, and the thing falls to the ground, silent, still.

It is now fully dead. The transformation, whatever it was, has failed—or been halted.

And all that remains is a single white moth, resting on Eldrous’ hand.

The Mothkeeper is watching.

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