“We remember the forest as it was before your kings learned to name it.”
Hidden deep within the oldest reaches of the Greenwood lies the Thornweave Covenant, a secluded coven of elves who have withdrawn almost entirely from human affairs. To peasants, they are forest spirits or witches. To druids, they are respected—if difficult—ancients. To the Sheriff’s men, they are a myth best left untested.
They are not evil, but they are aloof, territorial, and bound by oaths far older than Albion itself.
Long before Albion was crowned and taxed, the Greenwood was an elven demesne tied to the Verdant Feywild. When humans came with axes and charters, most elves retreated beyond the veil.
The Thornweave Covenant stayed.
They swore an ancient compact:
The forest would be defended
Human kings would rise and fall
The elves would interfere only when the Greenwood itself was threatened
Robin Hood’s rebellion skirts the edge of this oath—and that makes him interesting.
Members of the Covenant are wood elves and eladrin, though they reject modern elven courts.
Skin often bears faint bark-like patterns or vine scars
Hair braided with thorns, feathers, or living leaves
Eyes gleam faintly green or gold in moonlight
They dress in layered cloaks grown from living plants—woven magically, not sewn.
They do not age as humans understand it. Some have not left the Greenwood in centuries.
Unlike hag covens, this is a ritual coven, bound by shared magic and memory.
Leadership rotates among three elder elves known as the Thorn-Mothers, each embodying a season:
Briar-Queen (Winter)
Cold, ruthless, and patient. Believes humans will always betray the forest.
Leaf-Singer (Spring)
Gentle but firm. Advocates subtle guidance and indirect aid.
Ash-Warden (Autumn)
Pragmatic and grim. Oversees punishments and broken oaths.
Mechanically, together they function like a legendary coven spellcaster, drawing power from the forest itself.
Their magic is druidic, fey, and ritual-heavy, favoring:
Enchantment and illusion
Plant control and battlefield shaping
Curses tied to broken promises
Examples of Covenant magic:
Paths that loop endlessly unless permission is granted
Arrows that always miss those marked “under the Greenwood’s grace”
Thorns that grow in the footprints of oathbreakers
They despise flashy arcane magic that scars the land.
The Covenant neither serves nor opposes Robin—but watches him closely.
They admire his respect for the forest
They distrust his growing legend
They fear what happens if the poor begin to see him as a king
Occasionally:
A wounded Merry Man awakens in a hidden glade, healed but warned
A Sheriff patrol gets hopelessly lost for days
A single arrow is found split cleanly in two by an unseen hand
Robin has met one Thorn-Mother—and has been told never to seek another.
Druids: Allies, though druids defer to them in the deep Greenwood
Common Folk: Terrified, reverent, grateful
The Sheriff: Actively trying (and failing) to find them
Fey Courts: The Covenant refuses allegiance, which makes them dangerous
They work best as:
Moral arbiters rather than quest-givers
A powerful neutral faction the party must earn trust from
A source of boons with serious strings attached
Break an oath to the Thornweave, and the forest itself remembers your name.
Children in Nottingham are taught a rhyme:
“Mind the roots and mind your tread,
For elves still walk where oaths were said.
Steal from the poor, burn leaf or den—
The Greenwood takes its due again.”