Court of Hoof and Claw
The Court of Hoof and Claw, deep within the primal expanse of Myrknash, is a court of wild power, fierce freedom, and untamed instinct. Unlike the elegance of other Summer Courts, this one roars with the heartbeat of the hunt and the tension of fang and talon. Governed by Cerunnos of The Wild Hunt, a towering antlered fey whose very presence evokes both reverence and fear, the Court is composed almost entirely of fey beasts—creatures of tooth, claw, horn, and hide, imbued with intellect and bound by fey law. Cerunnos is seldom present in Myrknash; he is often away, chasing prey across realms with his pack of spectral hounds and mounted shadows. In his absence, the Court does not crumble—it adapts.
Daily rule falls to the Council of Predators, a gathering of the realm’s most cunning and respected beast-lords. This council includes representatives of the five greatest predator beasts in the Isles. Their leadership is pragmatic, primal, and deeply hierarchical, governed by dominance, wisdom, and reputation. While they claim to serve as stewards in Cerunnos’s name, tensions grow behind their growls and silent glares. Some within the court whisper that Cerunnos has abandoned his post, seduced by the eternal chase, and that one among the council should rise as sovereign.
The politics of the Court of Hoof and Claw are deeply rooted in strength, survival, and merit. There is little interest in the rituals of mortal diplomacy—what matters is who leads the charge, who protects the realm’s borders, and who earns the right to feast at the Hunt’s end. However, this does not make them simple; their politics are animalistic but nuanced, full of signaling, shows of dominance, and silent alliances. They maintain strong ties with other Summer-aligned courts that respect nature’s raw power, but look with disdain on courts that value artifice or mortal weakness.
Their current agenda is one of territorial assertion and self-determination. With Cerunnos often absent, the beasts of Myrknash have become more autonomous, extending their patrols, strengthening their bonds, and quietly discussing a permanent rewilding of their leadership. Whether Cerunnos returns to reclaim his authority or finds himself supplanted by one of his own remains uncertain. What is clear is this: in Myrknash, power is never unchallenged, and the hunt never truly ends.
Structure
The Court of Hoof and Claw is structured like a living ecosystem—hierarchical, instinctual, and brutally pragmatic. At its apex is Cerunnos, the Wild Hunt’s eternal sovereign, whose authority is unmatched but frequently absent. In his stead, the Council of Predators rules, a circle of fey beast-lords composed entirely of apex predators. The Council views themselves not merely as hunters, but as stewards of balance. They argue that prey-beasts are too short-sighted, consumed by fear and survival, while predators must think in seasons, cycles, and scarcity. A predator that hunts without foresight starves next spring—and so, they claim, only predators possess the wisdom and restraint to rule justly.
This philosophy is woven into every level of court life. Prey-beasts may serve as messengers, artisans, or even advisors to individual council members, but they are barred from political power, their voices weighed but never decisive. Disputes are settled through physical contests, dominance displays, or strategic hunts rather than spoken debate, and hierarchy shifts often, dictated by strength, cunning, or proof of one’s usefulness to the Court as a whole. While some whisper dissent—particularly among clever prey-fey like hares, deer, and stags—the Council’s unity and control remain unchallenged, defended by the primal truth: those who feed must protect, or they too will perish.
Culture
The Court of Hoof and Claw is a culture rooted in instinct, strength, and the sacred law of the wild. They believe that civilization is a cage, and true nobility is found in the chase, in the raw, honest clash of predator and prey. Among them, honor is shown through dominance earned rather than inherited, through the protection of one’s pack, and through the respect granted by peers who have seen you fight, hunt, or lead. They view the natural cycle—birth, hunt, death, rebirth—as sacred and unbroken, and every member of the court is expected to know their place within it and fight to keep it.
Customs revolve around ritual hunts, seasonal chases, and blood-pacts forged not with words, but through shared survival. Boasts are made not in words, but in scars. Songs are howled to the moon, and oaths are given in the heat of battle or over fresh kills. Guests are welcome but must tread carefully; weakness is not despised, but it is not protected, and only those who prove their strength—whether of body, cunning, or loyalty—are afforded true respect. To the Court of Hoof and Claw, the wilderness is not something to be tamed, but something to be revered—and in that reverence, there is no room for the timid.
Demography and Population
Those that reside within the Court of Hoof and Claw become more primal and more instinctual. Fey beasts roam the lands, predator and prey alike. Fey dire wolves, large and forboding claim territory as great packs. Hulking satyrs strong with primal instincts roam the woods and even the dryads are savage, embracing their more primal and aggressive sides. A least one great herd of roaming centaurs reside on the fields of the court. Shapeshifting puca spend more time as animal than fey while within these lands. There are few structures within the court and those summer eladrin who reside within the court do so out in the open. The Great Bear resides within this land, along with his children and kin. Brave hunters have found their way into the court and seek out the most fearsome beasts. The Wild Hunt roams these lands, forever caught in their unending hunt. These fey collectively embody the untamed, primal energy of the Court of Hoof and Claw, each contributing to its fierce and wild character. They uphold the court’s aggressive nature and enforce its rules with a raw and elemental power.
Laws
- Strength above all, the victor of a challenge is the alpha.
- Hunt with honor, not cruelty.
- The hunt is sacred, and may not be interrupted.
- Only the strong may challenge--an alpha may refuse a challenge to one who is not worthy.
- Never harm a pack member.
- No unnatural magic shall be cast within the realm.
- The wild will not be tamed.
- If you flee, you are prey.
- The Great Chain comes before all, predator and prey alike are bound by it.
Mythology & Lore
The god Ildross has resided within the Court of Hoof and Claw. The primal strength displayed here has drawn Tempest and Yther to the realm, and even the Red Knight has spent time here studying the primal strength of its residents in conflict.
"Hunt with honor. Kill with purpose."
Type
Court, Noble
Leader
Ruling Organization
Government System
Tribalism
Power Structure
Feudal state
Parent Organization
Deities
Location
Controlled Territories
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