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As you scale the gray slope, summit obscured by fog, you can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong. It starts as a quiet nagging in the back of your mind, like the sense that you’ve forgotten something. It grows louder as you ascend, from quiet nagging to an alarm blaring in warning. You can’t put your finger on why, you just know you are afraid. You will yourself to keep going, despite the way your limbs feel heavier with every step and despite the alarm in your head that just will not switch off.
And then you see it, first just a distant movement and then a shape in the mist, long arms and legs and a tall shadowy figure. Before you can even begin to assemble the pieces together into the shape of a man, it is running at you, impossibly fast, and all you can do is bolt like a scared animal.
Sorry about your luck, friend, but the Fear Liath Mòr is after you.
This creature has been lurking on Ben Macdui mountain, the second tallest mountain in Scotland, and in the surrounding forests since about the 13th century. Nicknamed the gray man, the Fear Liath Mòr is said to stalk explorers from the cover of the thick fog that typically blankets the mountain. Once spotted, however, he will run at his target with startling speed, with one lucky survivor reporting the Fear Liath Mòr kept pace with his car at 45 miles per hour.
The Fear Liath Mòr is described as an oversized human standing anywhere from 8 to 30 feet tall. Its size, strength, and speed alone make it formidable, but this creature is capable of more than physical attacks. Those who have crossed paths with the creature describe overwhelming psychic affects, including lethargy, plunging sadness, and crippling fear. There are also reports of the Fear Liath Mòr announcing its presence in ghostly ways, including ghostly footsteps that come from just behind the climber and a high pitched humming.
Since the Fear Liath Mòr sort of announces its presence, there’s a chance you can avoid the question of whether or not you will beat it in a fight. If your gut tells you to run while you’re climbing the second highest mountain in Scotland, the smart move may be to listen to it. However, if you’re determined to face down the Fear Liath Mòr, be ready to grapple with its brute strength, and hope you’re ready to take on some possible psychic damage.
