Lore:Great Hunt

The Great Hunt, also known as the Wild Hunt,   the Sacred Hunt,  the Ritual of the Innocent Quarry,  and the '''Hunter's Game''',  is the name given to the spectacular hunts usually conducted by the    , who holds the title of Master of the Great Hunt.   Due to his heavy involvement, it is also known as '''Hircine's Hunt'''. 

Overview
Within Hircine's realm of the Hunting Grounds, Great Hunts are a constant occurrence.  Outside of his realm, Great Hunts are rare and are rumored to happen once per era.  Great Hunts are called upon in Nirn for Hircine's own amusement,  or to punish those that defy him.  Typically, the hunted party, or "Hare" is chosen by Hircine himself, while the hunters compete to be granted a boon by the Daedric Prince. These events can be anywhere from apocalyptic in nature to a gathering within his Hunting Grounds. Though it can take place anywhere the Prince of the Hunt chooses, one can determine the next location by dissecting the stomach of a fresh wolf corpse.  

When the Great Hunt starts, Secunda turns red, becoming the Bloodmoon, and the hunt is believed to end when the Bloodmoon goes away. The Bloodmoon is said to symbolize the blood of the Hunter's Prey, and those wishing to join the Great Hunt craft rounded bone pendants that are stained with blood to symbolize it.   

The Great Hunt is also another name for Hircine's Hunting Grounds.  
 
History
Second Era
March of Sacrifices
thumb|350px|Hircine overseeing a Great Hunt within the March of Sacrifices
Mortal inhabitants of Nirn were allowed to participate in a Great Hunt that was to be held within the March of Sacrifices region of the Hunting Grounds. During this time, the werewolf lord Vykosa was amassing the largest werewolf pack that   has ever seen.  She plotted to use her Moon Hunter Pack to take over  , exact revenge on   who had cursed her, and take down anyone that stood in her way.   Vykosa sent her lieutenant Balorgh along with a portion of her pack to infiltrate the hunting grounds, and to report back to her once they have found a way inside.  With the Great Hunt looming in, a portal manifested on Nirn within the Greenshade region of Valenwood, serving as a invitation to the hunt. This was of a great convenience to the Moon Hunter Pack, who opted to participate to earn Hircine's boon for the pack's benefit. 

Various hunters had come to compete to earn Hircine's boon, aside from Vykosa's pack, a rival Werebear group, sisters of the Glenmoril Wyrd, and a tribe of Valenwood Bosmer attended. The rules were simple, hunters were to compete in retrieving the heart of Hircine's hare, and in this hunt, he decided that it would be a shapeshifter that took on the form of a formidable   known as Tarcyr.   As this hunt took place in the Hunting Grounds, those who die during this hunt would be damned to remain within it.  A group of   assisted Hanu, a   of the   tribe of  , in completing the hunt in hopes gaining Hircine's boon, so that she could free the soul of her father, who was infected with lycanthropy shortly before his death. The Undaunted competed with other hunting parties, but were successful in completing Hircine's task of retrieving Tarcyr's heart. To steal the heart, the rival Moon Hunter Pack then swooped in and dispatched Hanu, thus forcing Hanu's spirit to remain within the realm. Hircine declined to grant his boon to the Pack as they did not slay the hare, but in the spirit of the hunt, Hircine offered them a chance of redemption if they were to instead bring the hearts of the Undaunted. The two groups clashed, and Balorgh revealed his Werewolf Behemoth form—an experimental form of lycanthropy that towers over regular werewolves.  Despite this, Balorgh was defeated, and the Undaunted earned Hircine's boon. The departed Hanu was given the choice of freeing her father from the Hunting Grounds, or herself at the request of her father. It is unknown which of the two escaped. 

Third Era
The Ritual of the Innocent Quarry
The Chimera of Desolation is the setting for the Ritual of the Innocent Quarry, a site where Mehrunes Dagon's forces held Great Hunts. It was an ancient Daedric rite that drew energy from the powerful magicka stream engulfing the plane. The creators and times of the rituals are lost to history, but when followed properly the rite brought great power and prestige to an individual dubbed the "Huntsman". The ritual pit this all-powerful Huntsman and their Greater and Lesser Dogs (all  ) against a mortal known as the Innocent Quarry, or simply, the Hare. In short, the Huntsman's aim was to corner and kill the Hare, while philosophically reflecting on the nature of their places in the Hunt.  Many Daedra considered being the Huntsman a great honor. 
thumb|left|Spear of Bitter Mercy (Skyrim)
The Ritual begins at the Chapel of the Innocent Quarry, a large green crystal edifice, and the only structure erected by the Daedra on the island.  The Lesser Dogs assemble outside, while inside the Huntsmen, the Greater Dogs, and the Master of the Hunt perform rites to initiate and sanctify the Huntsmen, the Hunt itself, and the Innocent Quarry. Afterward, the Huntsmen emerges, displays the  , and recites the Offices of the Hunt. The Offices explains the four stages of the Hunt: the Drag, the Chase, the Call, and the View to the Kill. In the Drag, the Lesser Dogs flushed the Hare out into the open. The Chase is conducted by the Greater Hounds, who pursued the Hare. They then cornered the Hare during the Call, and summoned the Huntsman for the kill. Finally in the View, a Huntsman killed the Hare with the ritual Spear of Bitter Mercy, then called upon the Master of the Hunt to view the kill by ringing the town bell of Trybador. After the Hunt was concluded, the Master of the Hunt then bestowed the Bounty upon the Huntsman Bold (the one who made the successful kill). The Huntsman Bold was then allowed to name the next Hare for the next Hunt (though was forbidden from participation in that Hunt). 

The Huntsmen, Master, and Hounds are solemnly sworn to honor the Offices, or Law, of the Hunt. The Law strictly defined all details of the Hunt, such as how many Hounds of each sort could participate, how the Spear of Bitter Mercy could be wielded, and so on. Of particular importance, the Law stated that the Hare must have a genuine chance to escape, no matter how slim. This generally took the form of six keys, which if collected would allow the Hare to open a portal in the Temple of Daedric Rites and escape the Chimera of Desolation. The Daedra considered escape to be effectively impossible, but considered failure to provide the opportunity to be a "shameful and unforgivable betrayal of the Law of the Hunt".

Additionally, the Ritual of the Hunt granted the Huntsmen protection from all forms of attack, including virtually all weapons and magical effects. The only exception was a Huntsman's own Spear; a single touch of the Spear of Bitter Mercy meant instant and certain death, whether the victim was Hare or Huntsman. It was believed that only the most powerful Daedra were immune to the deadly effects of the Spear. 

The details this hunt are noted in the book The Posting of the Hunt, and its edicts are also followed by worshipers of Hircine. 

One of these ritual hunts occurred in  , when Mehrunes Dagon's forces attacked and seized control of the Battlespire with the blessing of Imperial Battlemage  , who was   Emperor  .  With the portal back to Tamriel blocked, an   trapped within the Battlespire made it to the Chimera and became the Hare in a Great Hunt instigated by Dagon's   minions. However, the apprentice was then aided by Chimere Graegyn, an inhabitant of the Chimera of Desolation and someone who had previously defied Dagon. 

In this Great Hunt, Frost Daedra served as the Lesser Dogs, Fire Daedra as Greater Hounds, Hernes as the Huntsmen, and the Dark Seducer Si'ess as the Master of the Hunt.  One of the Huntsmen was a Herne named  ; it was his first Hunt, and he was given the honor of making the Kill. However, in order to assure his victory he kept one of the six gatekeys needed for the Hare to escape on his person. This was a direct violation of the Law of the Hunt, and it did not sit well with many of the other participants (as Egahirn was protected against all weapons and magics).  It also presented an opportunity; when he tricked Mehrunes Dagon, Chimere wore the Armor of the  , which protected the wearer from attacks by oathbreakers—which Egahirn was by his actions.  The apprentice retrieved the Spear of Bitter Mercy, wore the Saviour's Hide, and was able to slay Egahirn and escape the realm. 

The Hunter's Game
thumb|left|The Bloodmoon, a sign of the Great Hunt
The Great Hunt of the Skaal is referred to as the Hunter's Game. According to the Skaal, once per era Hircine brings his hunt to Nirn itself, and walks the land with his Hounds in search of prey.  Fortunately, the arrival of Hircine on Solstheim can can be reliably predicted by their own Bloodmoon Prophecy. When it occurs on Solstheim, the Hunt is proceeded by four signs. The first is the coming of the "Hounds" when werewolves appear on the island. The second is the "Fire from the Eye of Glass", a pillar of fire that appears on the surface of the frozen Lake Fjalding. The third is the "Tide of Woe", a horker massacre, the bodies of which then wash up all along the island's northern coast. The final sign is the namesake of the prophecy: the "Bloodmoon", when Secunda turns crimson from the blood of the Hunter's Prey. After the four signs begins the Hunter's Game. After the hunt, Hircine returns to his realm for another era. 

One such Bloodmoon came to fruition in the year  . Hircine summoned the island's Four champions to take part in the hunt as Hares:   the Frost Giant; Captain   of Fort Frostmoth; and  , leader of the Skaal and wielder of Hircine's Ring. It is unknown if the Nerevarine took part in the Hunt as a Hound or as a simple mortal. The interior of Mortrag Glacier was used as a hunting ground, and within its interior lay a maze filled with Hircine's hounds, which had to be navigated to reach the Hunter. The Nerevarine made it through, but in order to escape the Hunt, they were required to fight an aspect of Hircine (Strength, Speed, or Guile). The Nerevarine succeeded in defeating the Hunter, causing the glacier to collapse and ending the Hunt of Hircine. 

By  , the Skaal's Hunter's Game was seemingly a thing of the past. The werewolves of Solstheim had been reduced to only a few members of the  . Their alpha,  , still held the remaining blessed rings from their past hunts.  The island also saw a rise in the number of werebears, who were laying claim to werewolf territories. 
 
Fourth Era
Spirit of the Hunt
thumb|right|The Bloodmoon dominating the skyline of Bloated Man's Grotto 4E 201
Sometime in Rain's Hand of  , the Warrior heeded Hircine's call and went through a cursed portal that led to a strange land cloaked in green mists, with an obscured red sky overhead. There, they defeated the wispmother known as the Wintry Widow, the spriggan Aenoxia Venomblood, an ursidae known as the Beast, and the humanoid Night Ranger. The Great Hunt came to a close when Hircine's Apostle was tracked down and slain. 

A murder occurred in Skyrim in  , the victim being a young girl from Falkreath.  The Last Dragonborn visited the imprisoned culprit, Sinding, who revealed he was a werewolf. Sinding had taken the Ring of Hircine to help control his condition—this evidently upset the Prince, who cursed the ring to cause the wearer to transform at random. The girl was merely an innocent bystander. 

Sinding had come to Falkreath to hunt the majestic White Stag, as Hircine would commune with anyone who slayed it, and wished to beg the Prince's forgiveness. The Dragonborn offered to take the ring to Hircine in Sinding's place, and the werewolf gratefully accepted before escaping his cell. The Dragonborn tracked down and slew the White Stag, and an Aspect of Hircine appeared. The Huntsman agreed to "consider" lifting the ring's curse, but initiated a Great Hunt within Skyrim  as he demanded an offering—Sinding's hide. The werewolf was holed up within Bloated Man's Grotto where the Bloodmoon had appeared, and by the time the Dragonborn arrived, one group of hunters had already been slain. Sinding made one last plea, asking the Dragonborn to defy Hircine and fight alongside him. It is unknown if the Dragonborn joined the Hunt and lost the ring, saved Sinding from the hunters and had Hircine remove the curse, or betrayed Sinding by eliminating the hunters before turning on him and claiming both artifacts. 
 
Gallery
  

Notes

The Bosmeri Wild Hunt has two instances of it also being called Great Hunt via Legate Rikke and Galmar Stone-Fist's dialogue. Their ritual is unrelated to Hircine's Hunt, and should not be confused for it. 
The shift for the usage of Great Hunt when referring to Hircine is likely to differentiate it from the Bosmer Wild Hunt.
The Silver Dawn was founded circa  , after High Rock experienced a werewolf crises during an event known as the "Curse of the Crimson Moon". It is unknown if this was a Great Hunt hosted on Nirn.
A word wall in Skyrim was erected at the death place of a figure named  , who was known as the lord of the Great Hunt. 

See Also
For game-specific information, see the Battlespire, Bloodmoon, Skyrim, ESO, and Blades articles.

References