The Wild Hunt is the most feared and sacred manifestation of the Green Pact, a terrible rite by which the Bosmer invoke the power of Y’ffre, their divine patron. According to Bosmeri myth, when Y’ffre gave the Bosmer their fixed shapes during the Merethic Era, he left them one final gift — or curse. In times of dire need, the Bosmer could return to formless chaos, sacrificing themselves to annihilate their enemies. This act is the Wild Hunt: a desperate unleashing of primal power, transforming the faithful into mindless, monstrous abominations.
The Hunt is not simply a military tactic but a cosmic pact. It affirms the Bosmer’s role as children of the Green, bound utterly to Y’ffre. To outsiders, it is nightmare; to Bosmer, it is proof that their god never abandoned them, even if the price is horrific.
When the Hunt is called, Bosmer abandon their fixed forms. Their bodies twist into grotesque shapes — limbs elongating, jaws splitting, eyes burning with unnatural light. Some sprout wings, others crawl on many legs, others melt into formless masses of sinew and bone. No two forms are alike, each an echo of primordial chaos before Y’ffre’s ordering of the world.
Those transformed lose all sense of self. They become predators driven only to consume — enemies, beasts, allies, even the land itself. Trees are stripped bare, villages devoured, battlefields turned to carrion. When the frenzy ends, survivors return to their Bosmer form, dazed, ashamed, and often broken by memory. Many never recover, haunted by what they became.
The Wild Hunt is not invoked lightly. To call it is an act of desperation, reserved for existential threats. The rite requires Bosmeri leaders — priests of Y’ffre or tribal elders — to gather the faithful in sacred places, often deep in Valenwood’s forests. Through prayer, chant, and sacrifice, Y’ffre is petitioned, and when he accepts, the transformation begins.
The rite is communal. All present are consumed by the Hunt. There is no half-measure: once invoked, the entire company is transformed, ensuring both overwhelming strength and inevitable destruction. For this reason, leaders hesitate to call the Hunt, for it often annihilates friend as well as foe.
Though rare, the Wild Hunt has shaped Bosmeri history and terrified their enemies.
Merethic Era: Early accounts claim the Hunt was unleashed against invading Ayleids and Nords, consuming armies in forests that afterward lay barren for decades. These legends are woven into Bosmeri oral tradition, though outsiders doubt their scale.
First Era: Several Alessian warbands were said to be destroyed by Hunts when they pushed into Valenwood. Imperial chroniclers dismiss these stories, but Alessian records of “forests emptied of men” support them.
Second Era (2E 582): During the Alliance War, at least one Wild Hunt was called against Daedric incursions. Reports from this time describe Valenwood itself writhing in chaos, with entire regions scarred. Even allied Altmer and Khajiit were horrified.
Third Era: Few reliable records exist, though Imperial governors occasionally reported threats of the Hunt from rebellious Bosmer tribes. Most assume these were deterrents rather than actual invocations.
Fourth Era: By 4E 201, no verified Hunts have occurred in living memory. The fear of them, however, remains alive — a weapon as powerful in rumor as in fact.
The Wild Hunt is both pride and shame to the Bosmer.
Pride: It proves their bond with Y’ffre, their uniqueness among Tamriel’s races, and their power to annihilate any who threaten Valenwood.
Shame: It is uncontrollable, indiscriminate, and devastating. Survivors speak of horror, guilt, and the loss of kin alongside enemies. The Hunt is invoked only when extinction is preferable to surrender.
For Bosmer storytellers, the Hunt is cautionary. Tales often warn young Bosmer of its dangers, reminding them that power without control is ruin. For warriors, it is symbol of ultimate sacrifice — to give up self for the Green.
Bosmer theology views the Hunt as part of Y’ffre’s ordering of the world. Having given Bosmer fixed form, Y’ffre allowed them this one exception, a return to chaos in service of survival. Some priests teach that the Hunt is punishment — a reminder of what life was before Y’ffre’s gift. Others see it as blessing — proof that even in extremity, Y’ffre empowers his children.
Altmer theology condemns the Hunt as abomination, proof of Bosmeri heresy. Imperials view it as barbarism, a savage myth used to terrify enemies. To Bosmer, both views miss the truth: the Hunt is sacred covenant, not choice.
Physiology:
The forms taken in a Hunt defy categorization. Some Bosmer scholars claim the transformations echo Daedra, suggesting chaos bleeds into Mundus during the rite. Others argue it is pure pre-creation chaos, a glimpse of Nirn before Y’ffre shaped it. No outsider who has witnessed a Hunt has lived to describe it clearly.
Politics:
The threat of the Hunt is as much weapon as its use. Bosmer leaders invoke it in negotiations, warning enemies not to force their hand. The Dominion quietly discourages Hunts, fearing they could spiral beyond control, but acknowledges their deterrent power.
Law and Justice:
Within Bosmer culture, misuse of the Hunt is greatest crime. A leader who calls it frivolously dooms tribe and land alike, ensuring dishonor for generations. Invoking the Hunt is remembered with reverence and sorrow, never triumph.
Outsider Perceptions:
To outsiders, the Wild Hunt is the embodiment of Bosmer savagery — cannibalism made cosmic, monstrosity sanctified. Rumors of Hunts spread fear, whether real or not. This fear ensures that few dare challenge Bosmer in their forests without overwhelming force.
The Wild Hunt is not everyday Bosmer life, but it haunts their identity. It is the shadow of the Green Pact, the final proof of Y’ffre’s covenant. It has annihilated armies, defended forests, and scarred landscapes. Yet it has also left Bosmer traumatized, burdened by the knowledge that their greatest weapon is also their greatest shame.
By 4E 201, the Wild Hunt endures as myth and threat. Whether it will be called again is unknown. Its legacy is double-edged: it grants Bosmer survival but at the cost of humanity, reason, and control. In every Bosmer clan, in every whispered tale, the Hunt waits — reminder that the Green’s covenant is not gentle, but terrible, and that survival sometimes demands becoming the very chaos from which Y’ffre once delivered them.