Samhain & the Wild Hunt
The Wild Hunt is not just a cultural celebration, it is part of the Great Covenant of the forest magics that shapes the Weald. The clans have an absolute obligation to participate, and clans who fail to do so suffer grave misfortune.
On the afternoon high Autumn (the day halfway between fall equinox and winter solstice), Wealding youths throughout the nation step forward to their priests or shamans and are consecrated as hunters. Hunters must be young men - either sworn-men or born-men - and can not have sired or born a child. Unconsecrated witnesses join it as a mount or hound, even if they are unwilling. Generally, if the hounds survive the fight, they are changed, hopefully only by souvenir floppy ears or a sensitive nose. Druids of any age or gender can join in the hunt as hounds and mounts or hawks, and many druids do so. The hunt itself lasts from sunset to midnight.
There is always one hunter who becomes the Herne. He grows a great stag-horn crown, controls the members of the hunt, and chooses the prey. Sometimes the hunt targets game to feed the clans through the winter, sometimes it hunts people or monsters that are a danger to the clans. It is believed that the Herne is the hunter that most passionately wants the death of the prey - enough to sacrifice his own life for it. The hunt always finds its chosen prey anywhere in the Weald, and it’s rumored that exceptionally strong huntsman can even chase beyond the bounds of space and time.
The magic of the hunt is fueled by life force of the hunters. Many hunters return aged or tired, although most recover with time. But the Herne always dies at the end of the hunt, and sometimes more than one hunter dies in the hunt. Although it may be possible to raise a Herne back to life with enough healing magic, conventional wisdom says that this would cheapen the sacrifice and break the covenant.
Although the largest consecration of hunters is at Easthome, the hunt is a single activity where people take part throughout the Weald, with all participants hunting together.
The experience of the hunt itself is shrouded and confused in the memories of those who take part.
Past huntsman are celebrated and venerated, with home villages often creating shrines to their sacrifice.
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