Note: Although the paragraph below uses Miraclestone's words, I only pasted in the parts about KDWD so it's sort of paraphrased.
Miraclestone: There is something about the forest that sedates those within it. And maybe this is also why KDWD has stayed there so long, because on a subconscious level it is calming KDWD and keeping it stationary. KDWD is still mad/crazied enough to kill anything that comes near it but not driven enough to leave its part of the forest and cause destruction in HR.
Saint Jiub created an ambient sound for KDWD territory(Which has been added to our new Google Drive).
Drakevarg thought the Wild Hunt should be some Bloodborne-esque nightmare creature.
Drakevarg: "What the hell is that!?" is a creepier reaction than "Oh shit, it's an X!" Both are favorable responses, but every description of the Wild Hunt indicates it's a very offputting thing, not just an imposing threat.
Something that could be reasonably described as a screaming whirlwind of teeth and claws that was birthed from a cannibalistic orgy.”
Saint Jiub had the idea of a correlation between magicka and radiation, that we could go for a post-apocalyptic mutant vibe, for some homunculi and magical beings.
Conversation about the Wild Hunt:
Miraclestone: “Wild Hunt isn't strictly 'wrong' or 'perverse' like corpus IMO it is just not orderly. Bosmers hate it because they think that they were saved from a similar existence by the Green Pact. I meant more in a cosmic sense of 'wrong', like corpus is unnatural, it is the body rejecting a blessing in a grotesque way. While Wild Hunt could be argued as natural for the Bosmer, even if they hate and fear it.”
Drakevarg: “No, not that they hate IT, I mean that it only comes into existence when a large group of Bosmer hate something so fervently that they murderfuckeat each other until a hurricane of malice spills out. The Wild Hunt is quite possibly the most intrinsically malicious thing in the setting. But yeah, on the Wild Hunt. Reason I say it's an unnatural phenomenon is that it would never happen without deliberate intent, and every description of it basically describes it as a murderous abortion of nature.”
Miraclestone: “I think there is a 'stipulation' in the Green Pact that allows for Wild Hunts to happen so Y'ffre clearly didn't consider it perverse enough to not allow.”
Saint Jiub: “The Wild Hunt is a deliberate return to the natural state of the Bosmer. They need to follow the terms of the Green Pact. The Wild Hunt, as I understand it, is brought about by a collective violation of it to end Y'ffre's protection for the ones invoking the Hunt.
They have to live very meticulous lives in order to maintain their merrish forms. The Bosmer have to CHOOSE to follow the Green Pact every day, from the moment they wake up until they lay their head down at night.”
Drakevarg: “The ritual is literally a cannibalistic orgy.”
Saint Jiub: “ In the moons' light, from Scotti's vantage, he could see where the Khajiiti had attached their ropes. With a thunderous boom, an avalanche of boulders poured over the pass. When the dust cleared, he saw that the valley had been sealed. The Wild Hunt had nowhere to turn but on itself.
Scotti turned his head, unable to bear to look at the cannibalistic orgy. The night jungle stood before him, a web of wood. He slung Reglius's satchel over his shoulder, and entered.
The line comes from A Dance In Fire, depicting how that Wild Hunt ended.
He doesn't see the ritual that initiates the hunt himself, the Bosmer go inside a tree and come out monsters. We don't know the particulars of exactly WHAT they do.
The Green Pact forbids the harming of plant matter, however, so it's a pretty safe bet that the ritual somehow involves them deliberately violating that clause.”
Mraclestone: “The line does say cannibalistic orgy but I think it MIGHT refer to what happens during a wild hunt, not what causes the wild hunt.
"The Wild Hunt is a magical trait innate to all Bosmer. It is brought on by a collective ritual performed by many Bosmer, causing them to shapeshift into a horde of feral, supernatural beasts. These monsters stampede, changing their form constantly, slaying and devouring all in their path and eventually, when left with no surviving targets, turn upon themselves in a "cannibalistic orgy""
Drakevarg: “Read a bit on the Green Pact. The phrasing implies it's a Valenwood custom, but not all Bosmer follow it. ...yeah, the Pact is optional.”
Miraclestone: The cannibalistic orgy is like the culling at the end of the hunt, where the beasts have nothing left to kill but eachother. as far as I know every hunt ends with no more than 1 beast left.
The Bosmer who follow the Green Pact claim that Y'ffre used it to bind your natural shapeshifting form to the current elf form they have now. For all we know though this could be false. or maybe you don't need to follow the Pact to gain the benefit of stable form.”
Drakevarg: “Bosmer aren't constantly at risk of warping into Wild Hunt beasts, it only happens when they deliberately use the ritual. More 'civilized' Bosmer freely ignore it. Either way, my original point of "the Wild Hunt would never happen by accident" stands.”
Miraclestone: “when you think about it the Wild Hunt really is just the natural elements of Bosmers put into chaotic murderous overdrive. IDT there ever has been an accident wild hunt. and we sure as hell aren’t going to have one in Valenwood if we ever get there. So I'd say it doesn’t even matter if it could happen by accident because it never has or will from TES3 perspective. But I also agree IDT it should be possible to have an accident one.
Infragris: “I agree that the Wild Hunt represents the Bosmer returned to their original, primeval state - whether that is "natural" is besides the point.”
Miraclestone: “I think we can all agree that KDWD should be chaotic in structure which would go against the more common orderly structures we see in TES.”
Drakevarg: “Corpus and the Wild Hunt should both prompt a gut "this isn't a thing that should be happening" response from the observer.”
Infragris: “That's not the metric I would use for those manifestations. An important aspect of both those things is that they are perfectly alright from the pov of the one subjected to it, and may even be seen as preferable to the normal state of things - consider that Dagoth's chosen see corprus as enlightenment, divinity made flesh. The bizarre look of the thing to the observer is more indicative of the gulf between their respective perspectives, to me. So in other words, they look freakish to observers because the philosophy that animates them is alien to mundane nature.”
Miraclestone: “Wild Hunt is disorderly so I would agree that it should be unsettling to some extent from that, but what is more important when talking about unsettling the observer is its size, strength, age and history. We need some attempt at objective feeling about a style if we want to be able to inform the observer visually, even if it’s a flawed attempt.”
Drakevarg: “In the case of KDWD, I wouldn't get any more "logical" than a visual theme. Being a chaotic mess is literally the aesthetic point of the Wild Hunt.”
KDWD's Timeline if He Moved to Malekna Forest:
"So the official timeline, such as I can make of it, is that the Wild Hunt began in Cyrodiil in 1E 369, killed Borgas and the Alessians, devoured itself except for a handful of very powerful monsters which made their way back to Valenwood for a time (with KDWD making its lair in the Lympan March) At approximately the year E3 230, KDWD was enslaved by Camaron Usurper in his bid for conquering Tamriel. With the Empire distracted, Camaron was able to conquor along the west coast up to the Illiac bay with the help of KDWD. The Baron Othrok of Dwynnen lead his army against Camaron and released KDWD with druid magics, placing the thought in his mind to settle in the small patch of forest at the base of the Wrothgarian mountains known as Malekna Forest."