0602 The Hall of the Fomorian

Looming fir trees, surrounded with a weird, pink luminescence. Jagged, mutant cones litter the ground.

• Terrain: Tangled forest (3), Nagwood
• Lost/encounters: 2-in-6
• Ley line Hoad (p18): Arcane spell-casters perceive the feeling of having just awoken from a dream.
• Foraging: Successful foraging yields 1d2 Shub Eggs (p430), in addition to the normal results.

Massive Platform and Domed Hall

At the very bottom of a steep, fir-wooded dingle, a 30′ high wall looms abruptly into view. Composed of gargantuan marble flagstones smoothed to a mirror-like lustre, it proves to be the side of a 500′ square massive stone platform. A stairwell on each side leads to the top.

Platform top: A bare, cracked expanse, its monotony broken only by small tussocks of grass, occasional flocks of birds, and a structure at its very centre: the Domed Hall.

Domed hall: A purple-veined half-bubble of stone, 30′ tall and 80′ in diameter. A pyramid of scarlet glass sits at its peak. On its eastern face lies an arched doorway.

The Fomorian

A blue-skinned giant standing roughly 15′ tall, wearing a grey wool tunic, bracers of black metal, and a thick belt of cracked brown leather. A grim helm of raw black iron partially covers a beard of pale, finger- thick earthworms that wriggle constantly. The helmet’s visor covers a writhing, black smudge in place of eyes (see Gaze). The Fomorian is a guardian placed here by the fairy trickster Lord Gladhand (p34) to toy with mortals wishing to enter the Emerald Door.

Demeanour (Neutral): Solemn, placid, mournful.

Speech: Slow, calm, deep boom. Woldish, Old Woldish, Sylvan, High Elfish.

Desires: To be relieved of his vigil by the (imaginary) “Jack-the-Emerald-Cloaked.”

Large Monstrosity—Sentient—Neutral

Level 16 AC 15 HP 64 Saves D2 R3 H4 B5 S6 Att 2 fists (+11, 2d6) or gaze (glassify) Speed 60 Morale 11 XP 4,250

Immunities: Only harmed by magic or magic weapons.

Gaze: The Fomorian may raise his visor and cast his baleful gaze upon a target within 100′. The target must Save Versus Hold or be transformed into green glass. The victim returns to normal if the Fomorian is defeated or departs.

If slain: The Fomorian melts away into nothingness.

Inside the Domed Hall

A dry, musty, cavernous space, barely illuminated by reddish light filtered through the glass pyramid above. A mass of broken statuary draped with ancient, mouldering rugs fills much of the room. Atop this heap sits the Scry ing Globe, a giant figure—the Fomorian —leaning over it, peering into it with concentration.

Addressing the Fomorian: The being breaks its reverie and asks the adventurers their business. If addressed respectfully, the Fomorian states that he is an immortal from the “World Below,” sent here by the “Powers” to await “Jack- the-Emerald-Cloaked,” who will be invested with custody of the all-powerful globe.

The Scrying Globe: A great, glowing orb. The Fomorian forbids any to approach the globe, resorting to deadly force should PCs persist. Should a character peer into the globe—after satisfying, defeating, or otherwise evading the Fomorian—they perceive the Emerald Door within.

The arrival of Jack: A character need only don an emerald green cloak and announce that they are “Jack-the-Emerald-Cloaked” to satisfy the Fomorian of Jack’s arrival. The Fomorian then grins slyly, bows, and disappears.

The Emerald Door

Visible within the Scrying Globe guarded by the Fomorian is a door of scintillating emerald, surrounded by dense, bluish mist.

Touching the globe: Whisks one away to the fairy road Buttercup Lane (see Fairy Roads, p26).

Exiting through the door: Characters exiting Buttercup Lane in this hex appear outside the domed hall atop the massive platform.