The Hunt

The Hunt is the singular most known historical event everywhere. Children everywhere are told stories of the brave heroes who made the world safer to live in, who made true civilisation possible. They are told of the great blacksmiths who first mastered iron, outfitting soldiers with strong and durable weapons. Of the common farmer, who took up his pitch fork to march with the soldiers, to help in any way he could. About the brave mothers, who stayed behind to keep the villages alive, and raise the children, who had to protect themselves. They are told of all the glory, justice and triumph.

What they don't get told is the barren, burned and ruined villages most soldiers returned to. It is estimated about half of all villages were wiped out by monster attacks and bandit raids. Many took their children to flee, creating large convoys of people looking for a home, somewhere safe. Meanwhile, most soldiers had suffered wounds, and those that didn't die immediately, died over the next couple of years. It was a dark time, the soldiers thought they had won a great victory, but when they returned, nothing was the same. Civilisation nearly collapesed. However, The Hunt completed its purpose, it drastically reduced the monster population just about everywhere. This allowed people to recover, to rebuild and soon after begin to prosper.

The Hunt was mainly organized by the legenday Archmages of Grasmere. They managed to inform everyone of the plans and organize everything. Even after The Hunt started they continued to work towards keeping everything organized. Rumors go that they were all brown haired at the start of The Hunt, and gray haired by the end. It was a massive undertaking tracking, hunting down and finding all the hiding spots where there could be monsters. At the time extensive maps were made, but most are now lost or destroyed due to the harsh decades after The Hunt.

It is said many monster species were brought to extinction due to The Hunt, but none truly know which or if its true. However, there is one that they were sure of: Bone Dragons. These terrifying beasts, stronger even than the dragons that are still alive, were killed with great effort. Many tales are about the felling of a specific Bone Dragon, great and epic battles, with many lives lost. Luck would have it that Bone Dragons rarely reproduce, which made it possible to kill them all. Nevertheless, rumors claim there are still Bone Dragons alive, despite evidence to the controary.