Simple Outcome / Easy Difficulty & Common Knowledge

For those native to or long-dwelling in the region, ALL Common Knowledge may be Pervasive.

They are considered a more militant order, the Greenwood Knot symbolizes nature twisted, angry, and not following the normal path.

Members: It is a small order of only about 250-300. Most of those entering the order are not local to the barony; Wyldlings, Freelanders, and Ilbarsi tribefolk who are drawn by a vision of the wolf running with the Lord of Beasts. They are predominantly male, but about 20% are female. Most are human, though a few half-elves, elves, and even half-orcs have been in their ranks – foundlings normally taken in by druids. Those accepted into the order care nothing for any civilized distinctions – if you meet the bar of the Wolf Runners, you are pack-marked and all are brothers and sisters. Most who come are aggressive, stubborn, societal outsiders seeking a place to belong. They desire to do good in their service, though their instinctual actions are bloody and savage. There is no shortage of missions for those of the order.

Revitalized Origins & Service

All of them serve at least 2 years on The Autumn Wall. Their specialty is using their savagery to fill gaps when the undead come in swarms, or chasing down swift running ghouls if they get over the wall and into the territories beyond. Drinking from the sacred well at the Abbey of Cunee, blessed by the blood of Darupet, keeps them from getting diseases for tearing up the undead in service. When not on The Autumn Wall, the druids of the Greenwood Knot order range the low hills of the Tolkisson Mountain Range on the eastern boundary of the The Grand Duchy of Rhyl. Their their keen noses sniff out Darkling infiltrators, Ghoul spies of the Lich Lords, and the monstrosities that come out of the Valley of Sighs. The Greenwood Knot order works close with the elves of Haivelaugh Weald, the dwarves of Sun Stone Top, normal patrols of Barony of Kopriane and even the Greykin Hill People.

Minor Outcome / Average Difficulty & Uncommon Knowledge

Initial Origins & Service

The Abbey was founded by the Westbrook Baronial family, for the prestige of patronage, around CY 3800. The order somewhere within a few years of this.

The order has always been a loose one, originally it was a place for misfits that were willing to keep up the abbey’s grounds in exchange for a home. They were never very good, though it kept the sanctity of the beastwood up and was a safe haven for other druids outside the order.

The original druids were known to run with the wolves of the north, sometimes helping the locals, sometimes raiding their stocks. They were considered practically feral and were in danger of being exterminated by their own faith as too dangerous and unpredictable.

Scarce Knowledge / Hard Difficulty

Wolf Form: The Greenwood Knot order are one of the few druid sects outside the Order of Davros known to be able to shape change. Their compact was made when the Kingdoms of old Rhylan ruled in the north, and their common symbol was the great northern wolf. They developed an ability for their senior members, when they absolutely needed it, to call on the full Wylden dire form of the wolf – beyond simple dire wolf – within the bounds of Rhyl.

Rare Knowledge / Very Hard Difficulty

The Moonrise Tradition

This takes place every few years with those aging druids who have been “put out to pasture” so to speak, and based on the Moonrise of the Greenwood Knot. Decades in service to the order result in a peaceful old age. But, because their elite warriors have tasted the blood of the Enemy beyond the Autumn Wall, those who wish are allowed one last act of service – sacrifice. In a ceremony called down by the highest rank female druid in the Abbey of Cunee, those who wish are granted lycanthropy – the ‘curse’ of the werewolf. Envigored with the vitality of the ultimate beast, they lope to the Autumn Wall and descend upon the undead in a frenzy. This tradition only operates during a full moon. The undead beyond the wall fear every full moon for this reason, and count the full moons between the last attack.

Obscure/Hidden Knowledge