As the storm rolls in, the skies begin to darken, the thunder begins to roll. Those nights mothers know to keep their children in the dark. They know the winds carry the haunting spirits, those of croup or chills, but their fear pales in the face of the fear of the Hunt. As nights grow cold, and the storms roll in, heralding the autumn, the Wyld Hunt rides the dark skies. But the braying of the hounds is only there to make the prey fear, the beat of the hooves of the horses also herald the arrival of their riders. As loud as thunder, and as swift as the southern winds, and with hair that shines like the moon.
Thunder Horses are the steeds of the Wyld Hunt, mortal horses raised within the stable of the Lady of Autumn, and only bridled to hunt those who stray into her domain. They have been raised from foals for speed and fearlessness, shod with lightning, and trained to the saddle by the greatest of the fae horsetamers. Their coats are generally sleek and well kempt, in all colours, though often the colour of a stormy sky. They are stabled in the Lady's stable, kept to be ridden by her greatest knights. They are kept with her hounds in order to make the two be able to run as a single unit.
The Lady of Autumn holds a single tournament on Midwinter's Day, with the winner being allowed to join her hunt. Rumour has it only a single mortal has ever completed this challenge, and no one knows what happened to the thousands of others who have had the desperation or hubris to try. This is the most common way that the rabble are raised to gentry amongst the Autumn fae, making it a well attended tourney despite the danger.
Thunder Horses are renowned for their speed, but not their temperament. They desire to run and chase, bearing down upon their quarries, they are wild and dangerous, and only the greatest of horsemasters, even amongst the fae, can ride them. They are to be ridden by the Lady's greatest hunters, and must be able to keep up with her hounds while on the hunt. This means that when mortals have stolen them, they have often been thrown into the heart of the storm. However, legends have told of a roaming group of mortal bandits riding a group of Thunder Horses, coming into towns atop tornados and storms, carrying off goods, and benefitting from the devastation. These storm riders have also been rumoured to hunt down people as well, kidnapping and killing with the wild abandon of lightning itself.
The Lady of Autumn will often trade with mortals for horses, especially those of impeccable stock. Her need to stock her stables is insatiable, since it is core to her prestige. Granting her the epithet, She Who Rides The Sky, the Thunder Horses give the Lady of Autumn a lot of prestige, and her knights are known as the most dangerous in all the courts of faerie. Her subjects gain a lot of prestige from bringing her a horse which will enter her stable, meaning that trading a horse to the Lady is one of the very few ways to make a deal with a faerie which is understandable. Along certain storm lanes it is therefore customary to leave out the best horse of the year's foaling for her in order to keep the children safe another year.
Shod With Lightning: The Thunder Horse's shoes crash upon the clouds with a roll of low thunder, and sparks fly like lightning. It's nigh impossible for them to move stealthily (except when riding the clouds in a storm) as long as they wear their shoes. However, these shoes allow them to leap into the clouds, and also land and walk upon them. It's rare to have enough clouds for the Thunder Horse to be able to walk on outside a storm.
This causes their Hooves to be a Power+2, Add 2, WS 2, VA 4 weapon.
Coat Like Storms: This is a call on for Stealthy when standing still on a stormy night, or when riding on the clouds of a storm.
Wild At Heart: The Thunder Horse is called by the wild, yearning to run free. They were trained to run, and run fast. They were not trained to be kind to their rider, relying on the skill of the rider to stop them from being kicked off. Ride checks when riding a Thunder Horse are at +2 Ob due to their disrespect for their riders.
A Burning Wheel Monster Every Week