[Edi]

What else was he wearing? Lots of things give fear and they are not always obvious. Horror helmet, lantern shield, panic standard, stymphalian wings etc are examples. All items that give fear give +5 (so take fear from -5 (nothing) to +0 in one go, a legacy of Dom2 mechanics).

The heroic abilities Battle Bellow and Legendary Cruelty also give fear that keeps increasing the longer you stay in the Hall of Fame.

Fear lowers morale of enemy units in an area determined by the fear bonus. In the case of +35, 35 squares, forcing opponents to make morale checks and lowering their morale. It does not autorout them. If you faced things with morale 30+, they do not run away and do not make morale checks as such. Especially mindless units (mor 50)