The Ballybog and the Cu Domhain (Isles of the Mighty)
art from Pixabay
The ballybog is a small and fiendish fey, apparently native to the muddy shores of whatever watery abyss the Fomor spawned from. They regularly coat themselves with moist muck, accounting for their resistance to fire, so unusual amongst the Fomor. In addition, they carry shields made from the shell of turtle like creatures from their homeland. They are capable of burrowing into the muck, and often do so to hide and spring out at foes. They are usually cowardly, and avoid attacking unless they have a large advantage in numbers, or total surprise. The Lord of the Fomor often send them far ahead of the Host to infiltrate bogs and swamps in enemy territory and render them more dangerous for the locals. Over time, those bogs will become poisonous, even acidic, and full of warped creatures.
art from Pixabay, modified by me
The dreaded deep hounds, or cu domhain, are the hunting dogs of the fomor. Like their distant cousins, the cu sidhe, they are large green hounds, in general shape. But that is where the similarity ends. Beneath the coat of green fur, which in many ways more resembles shaggy tufts of algae and seaweed, there are dull green scales. Between the toes of its large paws are webs...and the unnatural hounds seem unbound by the normal laws of nature, running on walls and ceilings as easily as on the ground. In addition, though they are dangerous in battle, often swarming in large packs, they are most deadly as hunters. Their exceptional senses see into other worlds, and cannot be fooled by any manner of darkness or invisibility. Their hearing and smell are even more keen, granting them blindsight, and they can *feel* anything in the water or touching the same surface as them in their broad paws. When the hounds are on your trail, it is exceptionally hard to escape.
