The Moonwraith is, much like everything else in Ventoleo, rather strange. Reports made by the Expedition to Hammerhal stated that the “strange, rogue army used terrorgheists to besiege and attack Expedition and other forces” during The Burning Winter, however this is false, somewhat. What the poor, bewildered leaders saw were a, giant, magical, kind of bat native to Ventoleo. Ventoleo is a nation that is avoided by many but is a good trading partner making a variety of goods, but is still not trusted very well, due to the many, many “incidents” that the Pilgrimage took part in, but Ventoleo’s involvement in the Burning Winter will be covered later.
The Moonwraith is the same size as a terrorgheist, but rest assured, it is quite different from its undead counterpart. It does have a “shriek” attack, but instead, it has a “song”, much like a siren’s song as it is offensive in nature, in combination with the Moonwraith’s near-silent flying capabilities, intelligence and massive claws and sharp fangs, comparable in length to Zweihanders. The “song” itself has an effect that has been described in the following quote, made by a freeguild officer in the service of the Expedtion, that made headlines across many newspapers, such as the “Hammerhal Herald”:
“When those Pilgrimage buggers attacked “Steepfield” I took one of those thing’s screams head-on, as did the rest of My mates. When it hit, I fell into despair, deeper than that frozen, blasted lake out there. I couldn’t do anything, I was crying Me eyes out, I was shaking, trembling in fear. I thought I saw a vision of My family dying as slaves to some Chaos army, in fact I would have sworn that I did see that. After that, I must have fainted, and I had the strangest dream. I saw a man, I think, in a greyish, purple cloak standing next to the most beautiful Aelven woman I had ever seen, with skin of pure sunlight, cow’s horns, it was strange now that I’m thinking about it in hindsight. Then They invited Me for something, something about how they would be happy to adopt me, if I said yes. Bleedin’ weird, it was, but blessed Sigmar did I feel so, so warm, and loved. And then I waked up here, in the infirmary. What do You lot think what happened?”
This is the Moonwraith’s song at it’s most powerful, however the Moonwraith is capable of making less trauma-inducing sounds, including the regular chirps, chitters, and squeaks that regular sized bats make, and this is vital to how the Moonwraith Knights communicate while flying. The Moonwraith Knights will be covered in another entry.
Moonwraiths are common enough a sight in Ventoleo that it’s a common sight to see what are called “Roost Towers” in cities such as Cioccocosta and Waffenkammerstein, next to the many coaching stables, skyports, and anywhere else one could need to keep a giant bat. There are also Moonwraiths that patrol the city limits and other places where crime would be, and they are trained to snatch up all sorts of bootleggers, pirates, smugglers, and thieves that would try to plunder the cities that these beasts call home.