Golden Hunt

A decennial harvest festival celebrated in the former Elflands Empire where adventurers would trek through the Empire's Golden Forests to slay an inter-planar creature known as the Aurellian Stag. Although deadly and perilous for its participants, the adventurers who survived an encounter with the stag would be rewarded with 10,000PP and become local celebrities within the Empire.
The last Golden Hunt was performed in 894, after which the even was discontinued following the collapse of the Elflands Empire in 897 during the The Sunken God's Reign of Terror. No sightings of the Aurellian Stag have occurred since the Empire's collapse.

History

Not long after the Elflands' founding in the 3rd Cycle, its leaders noticed that a mysterious creature was making appearances in the Empire's Golden Forests every ten years. The Aurellian Stag, so-called for its radiant and majestic aura, was capable of large-scale destruction to the countryside and nearby cities. For decades this creature terrorized the Empire until the Emperor Fortinbras I (629, 3rd Cycle - 1186, 3rd Cycle) chartered a band of heroes to slay the beast in the 700's of the 3rd Cycle). The heroes fought a terrible battle with the Stag, but half of them returned to Kassædeia with the Stag's antlers and were celebrated as legends by the Empire. 
When the Stag reappeared in the Golden Forests ten years later, new heroes were called upon to deal with the mysterious creature. The Elflands rewarded large sums of gold and platinum pieces to the adventurers who defeated the Stag and lived, attracting ambitious fighters from all over the Empire. Within a century the decennial hunt for the Stag turned into a large-scale festival, people flocking from the capital to the outskirts of the Golden Forests to participate in the fall-time celebrations and catch a glimpse of the heroic escapades of the adventurers. 
The Golden Hunt would become a staple of Elflands culture for more than 3,000 years up until the Empire's collapse. When Rosalind Avon was coronated as the first Queen of the Elflands she voted against continuing the Hunt, declaring that the kingdom's military must be responsible for dealing with the Aurellian Stag rather than forfeiting the responsibility to freelance adventurers. This decision was met with controversy as the next year for the Stag's appearance rolled around, but the autumn season passed without a visit from the Stag. Whether the Stag was somehow connected to the Elflands Imperial status (it first appeared on the 500th anniversary of the Elflands founding) or, many hope that peace will reign in the Golden Forests free from the creature's terrorizing visits.

Participants

List of Golden Hunt Victors

• 704 - Salty Yogurt

Primary Related Location

Golden Forests