The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has a series of quests pertaining to Daedric Princes and their artifacts. When the Dragonborn arrives in Falkreath to the west of Helgen, rumors of the brutal murder of a little girl can be heard. Visiting the Falkreath graveyard, the player can speak with the girl’s parents who are holding her funeral. This conversation reveals that the suspect is currently in Falkreath’s jail – and subsequently kicks off the quest, "Ill Met by Moonlight."
The suspect, Sinding, had come into town as a laborer. Initially, he seemed a decent man, but the people of Falkreath have yet to decide his fate after he ripped a young girl to shreds. He resides in an elaborate cell and claims he never meant to kill the girl, with his sole defense being he lost control due to a cursed ring. The ring in question is a Daedric artifact called the Ring of Hircine. Hircine is the Daedric Prince of the hunt and the creator of lycanthropy; and Hircine is also a member of the pantheon of gods.
Sinding states that he took the ring to help control his lycanthropic transformations, but Hircine placed a curse on it to spite the thief. Sinding reveals that wearing the cursed ring would cause his transformations to occur randomly, which led to the demise of the little girl. Sinding tells the Dragonborn he wishes to make amends with Hircine, and before his accident, he had tracked the legendary White Stag somewhere in the nearby woods. Whoever kills the stag can then commune with Hircine. Naturally, the Dragonborn agrees to take the ring from Sinding and return it to its owner, with Sinding transforming into a werewolf and escaping prison.
Skyrim's Ring Of Hircine & White Stag Hunt Explained
Once equipped, the Ring of Hircine cannot be removed and can cause the Dragonborn to shift into a werewolf randomly. To remove the ring, the hunt for the White Stag must begin. After slaying the stag, the aspect of Hircine will appear in a ghostly visage, as the self-proclaimed spirit of the hunt. Hircine, who shares similarities with the Dark Brotherhood’s demands for killing someone, reveals his wish for Sinding to be slain as an offering. Entering Bloated Man’s Grotto begins the new hunt, with other hunters also pursuing Sinding for their own chance to win the Daedric prince’s favor. Inside the grotto, the Dragonborn finds Sinding atop a peak under a blood-red full moon. Informing the werewolf of Hircine’s wish, Sinding makes a counteroffer: spare him, and he will forever be an ally and will never live among people again.
The player is then faced with a choice to either kill Sinding or defy Hircine and spare his life. Tough quest decisions like this are definitely a feature Bethesda should take from Skyrim for Elder Scrolls 6, since they can greatly affect gamer immersion. Killing and skinning Sinding causes Hircine to manifest as Sinding’s human spirit, offering the Savior’s Hide armor piece as a sign of his favor while removing the cursed ring. Choosing to side with Sinding, however, flips the hunt, as Sinding and the Dragonborn will kill the other hunters together. Once all the hunters are dead, Sinding vows to make his new home away from any other humans.
Hircine then appears back in his stag spirit form and is pleased that the Dragonborn reversed the hunt by killing the hunters instead. He provides his blessing and dissipates, leaving the Ring of Hircine, which is now curse-free and allows for additional werewolf transformations in a day if the player has lycanthropy. However, in true Skyrim fashion, the player can also acquire both Savior’s Hide and the Ring of Hircine through exploiting the quest - although choosing to embrace the tough choice is likely the best way to stay immersed.
