The town itself is dimly lit by torches either from windows or from small lanterns that burn hung alongside some of the larger roads, as well as occasionally by guard patrols. As the party exit town however the lack of moonlight as the sun goes down quickly makes torches a necessity. Thankfully Taerinar and Mathias have torches to hand. Deet left her torches with bacon and since this was a short trip just outside of town she opted to leave bacon in the stable where it is safe. The torches do not cast a lot of light and travel is slow but the manor house is not far.
Barely 30 min out of town Mathias notices that something is following them. It takes some time to make out at the distance but it appeared to be some form of giant moth. Even as it got closer it was barely visible in the night sky, much of its body was black but it shimmered with purple energy as it faded in and out. The moth appeared to have close to a 10 foot wing span. It was amazing that a creature so large would be so hard to make out even in this dim light. It was the air displacement that had called Mathias' attention to it following them from behind.
When the moth reached 30 feet it waited there hovering just observing the party. At first the party thought that it was just tiredness due to the late hour but they began to feel weaker. They stare intently at the moth for several seconds mesmerised by its beauty. Eventually Mathias, Deet and Taerinar snap out of the stupor and notice a musky scent coming from the moth. Mathias recalls reading about a moth from the plane of shadows that saps potential victims strength. Realising that the smell was a poison and the moth is potentially hostile the party engage the creature.
The moth mostly avoids combat, but at all times remains in close proximity to the party. They continue to feel weaker and weaker. Valeros and Deet seem resistant to its poison but not immune and before long Taerinar goes down simply too weak to move. As soon as he does the moth changes its tactics and aggressively lunges at Taerinar stabbing him with a stinger and implanting him with eggs. This at least gives the party an opportunity to engage the creature close up, Valeros speciality and before the creature is able to retreat the moth is subdued.
There is no celebration despite the victory. Taerinar is conscious but too weak to move. Everyone else is weak particularly Mathias who by this point is barely able to stand. Taerinar has been implanted with the eggs of the moth. The party make the decision to return to town and seek help for their new situation. It is a difficult and much slower journey but as they progress their strength slowly returns. By the time they make it back to town Tae is able to walk again, albeit slowly, if a little unstable on his feet due to the weakness.