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| Species | Wild Huntsman |
| Order | Faerie |
| Classification | Vaettir |
| Court | Wild Hunt |
| Sphere | Hunt |
| Origin | All faeries are born Nameless and must be given a True Name; wild hunt fey have hunting names |
| Lifespan | 2,000 years |
| Habitat | Deep woods |
| Food | Meat-heavy human fare |
| Description | Most wild huntsmen have large humanoid bodies. Skin tone ranges from palest white to darkest black, with shades of grey between. Their bodies usually have animal features, bends and humps in unexpected places, sharp claws, talons, and fangs, and always some kind of horn or antler (deer is most common). |
| Procreation | Wild huntsmen engage in sexual reproduction with each other and other fey. With other vaettir, it follows the child-bearing parent. |
| Esoterica | Wild huntsmen are beings of b'qar (which they call fiach), dream energy and uafas, and poioumenon. Like all faeries, they are users of The Tradition, a form of poioumenonic lore empowered by dream energies. Among them are also users of other Damaskian energies, mystery, the gates, infernum, shadow, arnum, bestial aether, glory energy, emotional resonances (especially determination), blood, venom, viscera, mijjit, gebvel, long path, nourishment, light of justice, seasonal aether, fate, doom, spirits, and symbolism. |
| The Tradition | Wild huntsmen have these basic fey powers:
When a huntsman captures a fey, one of these things happens:
The huntsmen can sense where fey and vaettir are at night by scent. Any single hunter can let out a call on a horn made of the horns of fallen fey deer to summon the rest of the Hunt. Any hunter wearing red is immune to flame. If the Hunt travels through mortal lands, war or unrest will come to those lands within a fortnight. Anyone who does not hide from the Hunt as it passes will die, even if the Hunt does not kill them, unless they wash themselves in salt water within 24 hours. Those who see it and evade the Hunt's attack will die within a week of fright unless they are either blessed with radiant or heavenly water, kissed by their true love, or fed only bread, honey, and water for that week. Anyone who dreams during the Hunt's ride through their lands will find themselves riding with them in their dreams--and the miros and boggarts that they are connected to will ride with the Hunt. The Hunt can only hunt between autumn and rebirth seasons. On the first day of spring, the Hunt stops. Usually, however, it concentrates on a nine week span before the first of spring. The Hunt's passage causes a change in the weather. The dogs of the Hunt have two special kinds of bark while with the Hunt: a loud one that scares prey and a quieter one that the prey cannot hear but the Hunt can. The Hunt's presence causes all animals and even the winds to go silent. In the lands where there is a prohibition against hunting on certain days or times of year, violators of this law are subject to becoming part of the Hunt when the Hunt rides through. On Halloween, the Hunt feasts. If one sits at this feast, one will eat forever unless one asks for salt, at which point, the Hunt will flee. One would become blind should this happen, however. All wild huntsmen gain special powers as they collect, trade, and sell the souls of the fey. These powers are unique and greatly varied. |
| Glamour | Wild huntsmen can glamour themselves using certain ancient rhymes about ancient kings/queens, leaders, heroes, and other legendary figures whose memories are held in the dreams of thousands, taking on their images and sometimes even their powers. |
| Weaknesses | Iron or steel will bind a wild huntsman into powerlessness. An iron horseshoe nailed over a door will bar a huntsman from entering a house. If they do not speak their True Name backwards into that same mirror in half a minute, wild huntsmen lose their True Names. If a huntsman does not recover their True Name in a fortnight, they become a boggin or hag or are turned into another kind of fey by other powers. Most huntsmen detest tobacco smoke, and it can be used to stave them off. This is just a preference, however, and not a weakness. Faeriewood burns hunters like flame, and it bypasses their protection by wearing red. Mortals can hide from the Hunt by covering themselves with their own clothing. |
| National Culture | Wild huntsmen (who belong to all genders, despite the name) are a nomadic band of hunter-gatherers who have a poioumenonic geas on them to engage in a Wild Hunt. The Wild Hunt is a gathering of all manner of fey and other beings that sweeps across the continent of Lyrilla throughout Hunting Season. This varies slightly from year to year, most often being the nine weeks before the first day of spring. There are never less than 30 beings involved in a Hunting party. Over 10,000 rest in wait to go Hunting, but only as many as 30 will leave at a time from a single nation. There are always about 300 Hunting parties out at any given time during the Season. When the Hunt is not riding, they are trading, selling, ransoming, and feasting. The Hunt captures most fey targets and uses them as slave labor if they do not join the Hunt. These slaves are never traded nor sold. Those who join the Hunt are brought into the Hunt's tribes for seven years, then released. When the Hunt kills a fey or vaettir, they take their souls. These souls are traded or sold to other huntsmen, other Wild Hunt fey, other fey, demons, undead, mortal esotericists, or anyone who will buy them, for other souls or for goods for the tribe--or money, though this is rare. Mostly, they sell them to the fey Courts, who seek souls of their enemies to convert to their Court or nation. The Hunt revere the legends and stories of all cultures. When they ride through the lands of mortals, they gather stories for their glamours. Tribal leaders are the ones to choose their glamours first. Then the elders, then the best hunters and warriors, then the rest. Tribes are led by ceannaire fiaigh, or hunt leaders, who answer only to the Master of the Wild Hunt. After the events of Starfall and the wars of The Pit, the Master stopped being a single inmortal entity and became a title given to the hunt leader chosen for the season during the Bright Night Festival (the sixth day of the eleventh month, equivalent to January 6). On this night, all huntsmen gather for a feast and are given cake to eat. The hunt leader who eats the cake with a bean in it is the Master for the season. The huntsman who gets the cake with seven beans is sacrificed to the Hunt Mother. Each tribe is made up of a combination of huntsmen families, captured fey who chose to join the Hunt, and a few other beings that choose to associate with the Hunt. Only huntsmen can be ceannaire fiaigh. Besides hunting, other roles huntsmen take are weavers, tanners, cooks and butchers, caretakers, teachers, grooms (for animals) and houndsmen, tradesmen, mystics, water-bearers, smiths, shamans, slave-tenders, weaponsmakers, and dyers (red dye is very important). Children are raised by a combination of their parents, slaves, teachers, and caretakers in the tribe. As soon as they can walk and hold things in their hands, they begin training for the Hunt, though they do not ride out until the age of seven. Children taken on the Hunt are always given special protections until they are ready to be on their own. By the time they are 14, they are usually ready for this; at this age, they often begin courting amongst those their own age. By 21, they are considered adults and may take part in tribal votes and decisions. Courtship among wild huntsmen is usually a series of displays of skill and craft. Gender is never a concern in courtship (even women and other gender huntsmen are called huntsmen). Non-monogamy is common. There are many festivals and feasts among the Hunt: Bright Night Festival, when the Master of the Wild Hunt is chosen; New Year Festival, when they have a major soul-trading fair; Beltane Fesitval, when they have bonfires and make love in the fields and forests with strangers; Midsummer Festival, when they share a great feast; and Halloween, a night when mortals are lured in. |
| Combined Culture | When all of the Hunts come together for the Great Wild Hunt, they answer to the inmortal Master of the Wild Hunt (at present, the Erlking). This happens every seven years. The united Hunt is chaotic. All national, social, and cultural boundaries dissolve as the Hunt rides out throughout all of Lyrilla to take fey, vaettir, and mortals who have violated The Law of the Hunt, an ancient law about when, where, and why one must hunt, but which has implications beyond the mere act of hunting. The seven parts of The Law of the Hunt are
This can be taken metaphorically, however. For instance, a police officer who makes a wrongful arrest (5), a lord who is too stingy (7), a wasteful farmer (3), a builder whose materials are not good enough (6), etc. will be likely prey. Those captured during these Hunts belong to the Master of the Wild Hunt alone. The Master will decide their fate. The role of huntsmen in this Great Wild Hunt is to be the bulk of the hunters. |
| Other Courts | Wild huntsmen almost never join other Courts. If they do, they must alter their Names, for they cause too much terror, even among the Unseelie and Unkindly Courts. |
| Mortal Interactions | If the Hunt travels through mortal lands, war or unrest will come to those lands within a fortnight. Anyone who does not hide from the Hunt as it passes will die, even if the Hunt does not kill them, unless they wash themselves in salt water within 24 hours. Those who see it and evade the Hunt's attack will die within a week of fright unless they are either blessed with radiant or heavenly water, kissed by their true love, or fed only bread, honey, and water for that week. In the lands where there is a prohibition against hunting on certain days or times of year, violators of this law are subject to becoming part of the Hunt when the Hunt rides through. On Halloween, the Hunt feasts. If one sits at this feast, one will eat forever unless one asks for salt, at which point, the Hunt will flee. One would become blind should this happen, however. Mortals can sometimes hold the Hunt at bay by being kind to it. This is disconcerting to the Hunt, and often results in good fortune to the mortal, as well as silver. Mortals can hide from the Hunt by covering themselves with their own clothing. The Hunt revere the legends and stories of all cultures. When they ride through the lands of mortals, they gather stories for their glamours. Tribal leaders are the ones to choose their glamours first. Then the elders, then the best hunters and warriors, then the rest. The Hunt sometimes trades souls to mortals. |
| Notables | Herne the Hunter, The Erlking, Gudrun, The Estadea, Dando the Houndsman, Cainmeagna, Albrecht the Gaunt, Old Cockern, |
| Special Classes | Hunter, Master of the Wild Hunt, Houndsman, Groom (cares for steeds), Tradesman (barters souls to the Courts), Ceannaire Fiaigh, Lamh Dhearg (dyers) |
| Sample Stats | PRO 12 ATH 12 STR 12 AWA 12 WIL 9 ROG 12 Hunting 17 Vanish (30 seconds) Glamour 12 Steed Whistle 11 Soul-taking 14 Barter 9 Other Powers [Varies] |
GrandGuignol
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