Given the magnitude, knowledge of the Wild Hunt has remained amazingly obscure in most of Tamriel. The phrase being applied to Hircine's event is only a misnomer, attached to the Daedric romps out of ignorance. The proper object of the phrase refers to something which takes place within Mundus; Valenwood of Tamriel, more specifically.
In the Dawn Era, when Mundus was new, legends hold that Yffre sang the creation of forest, and shaped elves in the same way, tasking their newly stable selves to live in and protect this Green. In exchange for their forms, it is said, Yffre left the Bosmer -- for that is who practice this faith -- with the ability to shapeshift, but only once, chaotically, and permanently. This became a Bosmeri weapon, for the direst crisis, darkest retribution, or deepest madness.
The Wild Hunt, as this ritual is called, has only three instances in recorded history, the most recent being in 3E 397, a few years before the Eternal Champion cast Jagar Tharn from his stolen throne. Regardless of that infrequency, Valenwood Bosmer eat only meat, and those in the more remote parts of the forest still hold to the old edict that one must eat whatever one kills, no matter what or whom.
In 4E 216, Tamriel is openly peaceful, various attempted revolutions in Skyrim aside. The Empire remains effectively in control of the continent, with the Aldmeri Dominion overseeing its every decision. In lands with people more subtle than the typical Nord, however, things are more tense than the surface suggests. While more tolerant of other mer than men, the Thalmor’s xenophobia does extend to religious and cultural practices of the non-Aldmeri cultures. The agents not in Skyrim make an effort to do away with local cultures, some more quietly than others.
While the Dragonborn did their job years before, the World-Eater had resurrected many of his kind in the time he had. Some still roam Tamriel, and maybe even distant continents. They are varied in wants and agendas, but less so in power, which is typically monumental. Sometimes, mercenary groups are hired to remove a wyrm that has placed itself inconveniently. As a result, the old practice of adventuring has seen a recent swell, the young feeling that something like a bear or troll is decent enough training for dragons. The resultant increase in adventuring death tolls may or may not be of a higher percentage than before the wyrms’ resurgence; a matter for scholars in future decades.
Recently though, in the southern reaches of Cyrodiil, word has come of monsters previously unknown. No two are the same, according to the rumours, but they are each exceptionally competent as regards killing. Trade routes are disrupted, and in one instance, a village has simply blinked out overnight, inhabitants missing. The better-informed will know that these events are not isolated to that part of Cyrodiil, but also occurring in northern Valenwood and western Elsweyr. Still, it’s only a very few who have come to the conclusion that this could be the result of a Wild Hunt, but for even they, the purpose is unknown.
In a Skingrad inn, a very small party of mages from the Synod is balancing a meager budget with the allure of adventure to hire mercenaries of varying utility. They intend to move south and investigate the village which became a ghost town overnight. Unbeknownst to them, this quest will take them to the other nearby regions of Tamriel, and will have far-reaching consequences. Valenwood itself -- as some know -- is a place alien to most other regions. In the great forests, large ape people praise and emulate the Altmer as models of culture, and the Bosmer live atop trees so large as to serve for cities, which slowly walk across the region.
Essentially, the plot is about finding out why this Wild Hunt went down, as well as dealing with the consequences, which include crazy monsters. The Dragonborn beat Alduin, but ostensibly took no part in Skyrim's civil war, which fizzled around in various, differently-named guerrilla factions. The guild quests of that game -- Companions, Thieves, College, Brotherhood -- were all completed, but may have been done by either the Dragonborn or someone else, which we can decide later.
We'll start in Cyridiil, but hopefully branch out into Valenwood and Elsweyr, because they're both super interesting.
As Elder Scrolls PCs are hardy folk in one way or another, one feature it'd be nifty to have is for the ‘party’ to be split on a regular basis, allowing for different quests to take place simultaneously, including some solo ventures. Ideally, at some point everyone can co-GM, and run quests for fellow players, but I don’t know how much plotting we wanna do in public, because that weighs on immersion in a big way, so the logistics may take a bit of time to think up. Or just s’more experienced players/GMs to help give advice. That’d be nice regardless.
Character-wise, we're looking for experienced people. For a Skyrim analogue -- haven't played earlier games in some time now -- think level 20 as our starting point. That'll make them vastly superior to average folk, but still with plenty of room for improvement. While observing the laws of the Elder Scrolls world, this won’t be a particularly mechanical game.
As far as the actual writing level goes, our principal wishes are that people with workable grammar apply, and that they proofread their replies. That second bit makes more difference than one might realize, and poor grammar musses immersion. Length is not so much a concern as content. Acknowledge what other players have written -- as best the situation allows -- and move the plot forward. If you can do that with two paragraphs, great, but it typically takes rather more.
In RPGuild terminology, I think [High-Cas]+ would be about where this is aimed, as we don't want to exclude people who're intimidated by the Advanced section.
Appearance: (An especially good place for a screenshot, but you may use text if you prefer. Think standard equipment, body shape, distinguishing features, et cetera)
Name: (Feel free to just employ a nickname here)
Gender: (Yep)
Age: (Use age by appearance if your character is secretly undead -- a la vampirism -- but specify either to a GM or publicly actual age)
Race: (Use your discretion to publicly specify werewolves or vampires, but tell a GM if you are)
Birthsign: (Your discretion as to whether you get the appropriate power, and which variant of it)
Personality: (This is especially difficult to know before you actually play the character, but try to establish a theme)
Backstory: (We’ll want to see some detail, but you don’t need a novel. Give an idea of where they learned their skills and got their equipment, what their motivations are, who they care about, and how well known they are; shit like that)
Skills: (Draw from any canon skills, and feel free to make extrapolations such as melee with wizards staves, thrown weapons with telekinetic guidance, charming or menacing glamours on armor, or whatever)
Equipment: (These are gonna be hardier, more experienced folk, so more in the Dwarven and Orcish range than either Iron or Daedric, for example)
