In ancient times, the one-eyed fey king Herla rode out with his hunting party and met with a powerful fey lord. Unbeknownst to Herla, this lord was actually the Master of the Wild Hunt. The two rode together and hunted together, and it was the most incredible hunt of Herla's life. He invited the mysterious lord to his wedding, and the lord agreed, if Herla agreed to return the favor exactly a year later. At Herla's wedding, the mysterious lord arrived with his hunting party and more food and drink than Herla himself had gathered for his own wedding. They celebrated, and the lord toasted the king, reminding of his vow to attend the lord's wedding a year later.

A year later, King Herla kissed his wife goodbye and rode out with his hunting party and many gifts and refreshments. They rode into a narrow path in a cliff side, traveled through a dark passage, and came out to a beautiful realm of glowing faerie lamps. They sat down to feast for three days, celebrated the lord's wedding, and sharing gifts. At the end, the lord gave Herla many hunting gifts and two special dogs (a bloodhound and a greyhound), telling Herla not to leap down from his horse until the dog did.

When Herla left the wedding, he found he had not been gone for three days but two hundred years. An army had invaded his realm and killed his wife and enslaved his people. In outrage, some of his men leapt from their horses and turned to dust. Herla warned the rest of his men to wait for the dogs to jump down, but the dogs never did.

Herla and his Hunt began riding and refused to stop until they had hunted down all of the faeries who stole their kingdom. They scattered the invading fey and left the kingdom empty, but they swore to keep hunting. Eventually, they came to a river, and the dogs jumped down to drink. Faced, after hundreds of years, with respite, finally, the men rushed into the river to rest.

Herla, however, had sworn to keep hunting. Seeing that his men needed rest, he stopped for a year and a day, and then called his dogs to ride with him again, forcing his men to ride once more, Herla serving as their Master of the Hunt.

Outside of the Hunt, herlethings live in small bands led by hunt-leaders. Very few herlethings are not male, but some few are. These are considered equal in the band. Children are raised by the whole band, being taught to hunt from an early age. Other crafts in the band include trading, tanning and leather-working, sewing and tailoring, cobbling, wine-making, poetry and song, and animal-grooming.

Herlethings are trapped in an endless cycle, never quite completely leaving behind the wedding party they were returning from. They never are without their finery, never without their hunting gear. They live as if they are in a single moment. Their entire culture revolves around maintaining their finery and their hunting skills.