The Wild Hunt | Eldranis

The Wild Hunt

Main

The Lost King

The Hunter’s Bargain

Type:

Fey legend of Eirendor

Told In:

Eirendor, told most often at Samhain

Where It Rides:

Across the skies and hills of Eirendor, at the turning of the seasons and on nights when the veil between worlds thins

The Leader:

The Lady of the Wild Hunt, called the Thorned Huntress, the Winter Stalker, and Queen of the Midnight Chase. Some name her Saelith Wyldebane, a fae queen of the Morindral Court (Winter). Speak the name carefully, for none who say it escape her notice.

Its Quarry:

The forsworn, oathbreakers and betrayers, and any who make a pact with the fae and then defy it

The Catch:

No sanctuary hides the marked and no magic turns the Hunt aside. Stay hidden, turn your cloak inside out, or lie face down and let it pass. Outrun or outwit it, and the Lady may grant a single boon.

Of all the tales that cross the hills of Eirendor, none is feared like the Wild Hunt. It rides at the turning of the seasons and on the nights when the veil grows thin, a host of shadow riders and glowing-eyed hounds behind a crowned huntress of frost and thorn. It comes for the forsworn, and it does not lose a trail.

The Wild Hunt is a spectral cavalcade of riders and hounds that sweeps across the sky and the land on a howling wind of eerie lights and hunting horns. The riders wear shadowy armor and flowing, ethereal garments, their faces hidden behind helms and hoods. The hounds run with glowing eyes and snarling jaws, and they can run down any prey.

At its head rides the Lady of the Wild Hunt, a fae queen of the Morindral Court, draped in shifting shadows and crowned with a wreath of frost-laced thorns. Her riders wear armor woven from night and ice, and they ride beneath the waning moon with their hounds baying at their heels.

The tales disagree on where she came from. Some say she was once a mortal huntress, an oathbound knight who bargained with the Winter Queen of the Morindral Court to bring down a monstrous beast that ravaged her homeland. She succeeded, but the pact bound her soul to the Hunt forever. Others hold that she is one of the first fae, a primal spirit of pursuit and reckoning given form by the first betrayal committed under the stars. Either way, she is feared even among the fae, for her Hunt is not bound by time or space.

The Hunt is both executioner and harbinger of fate, and it rides for three reasons.

To claim the forsworn. Oathbreakers, betrayers, and those who make pacts with the fae only to defy them become its prey. No sanctuary hides them and no magic turns the Hunt aside; they run until exhaustion takes them or they are dragged into the twilight.
To herald the changing of the Courts. As the seasons turn, the Hunt drives the transfer of power between the Sylthariel and Morindral Courts, raking its spears across the land to signal the death of autumn and the coming of frost.
To test the worthy. A rare mortal is chosen not as prey but as a challenger. One who outruns or outwits the Hunt may be granted a single boon from the Lady herself, though such gifts are never freely given.

Those who witness the Wild Hunt are counted cursed or blessed depending on how they meet it. A chance sighting can leave a person marked by the fae, followed by strange and dangerous occurrences, or it can grant supernatural insight and protection, especially to those who stay hidden. Some tales tell of mortals swept up and forced to ride with the host until they find a way to break the curse. Others tell of a mortal who joins willingly, to accomplish a great deed or to bargain for a lost loved one.

To survive an encounter takes cunning and courage. Some say carrying certain charms or reciting the old prayers offers protection. Others say turning your clothes inside out, or lying face down in the dirt, can fool the Hunt into passing by.

The Hunt rides most freely at Samhain, the festival marking the end of the harvest and the start of winter, when the veil between the worlds is thinnest. The people of Eirendor take precautions then, lighting bonfires, leaving out offerings, and keeping the old rites. Certain places, known as Hunt's Crossings, are where the riders are said to appear most often. Marked by standing stones, ancient trees, and natural landmarks, they are treated with great respect.

The Midnight Run. Those who seek a favor from the Lady must offer her the heart of a stag or a wolf slain in honorable combat. If she deems the offering worthy, she may allow them to join the Hunt for a single ride and feel the wild magic of the chase.
The Hunter's Mark. Those marked by the Hunt cannot escape their fate. A shadow shaped like a hound's maw follows them, unseen until the moment of their reckoning.
The Black Antler's Trial. A mortal may challenge the Hunt to a contest of skill. Evade the riders until dawn, or bring down one of the spectral hounds, and they may bargain for their life.