Branchwraith
Branchwraiths are the oldest of the Dryads in the World-That-Was and the sacred priestesses of the Sylvaneth in the Mortal Realms.
World-That-Was
Branchwraiths are the oldest of the Dryads. They have ever served as the handmaidens to the Ancients of Athel Loren, and attend to the Treemen with a dedication bordering upon the fanatical. Yet before the coming of the Elves, the Branchwraiths were so much more. In those days, it was they who ruled the forest and they who tamed the Winds of Magic to bring sustenance to bough and branch. Thus do few Branchwraiths think kindly of the Elves, and many hate them — it matters not that Durthu brought the Elves into the forest precisely because he knew that the Branchwraiths’ cruel nature would lead Athel Loren to great evil. Now the Branchwraiths watch and wait for the seasons to shift once again. One day soon, they believe, the usurpers will be cast down from their lofty perches and the natural order restored.[3]
Mortal Realms
Branchwraiths are the sacred priestesses of the Sylvaneth, imbued with the power of Ghyran. They are magic users capable of calling upon the Wyldwoods to rouse dryads from their slumbers to go to war.[1]
They attack with piercing talons and receive blessings of the forest if close enough to a wyldwood. They are drudic wizards and know the Arcane Bolt, Mystic Shield and Roused to Wrath spells.[2]
After a battle they harvest the fallen lamentiri with their scythes and plant them in the soulpod groves. Branchwraiths are infamous for their short tempers with all creatures save the spites that flock to them in time of war. [5]
Notable
- Drycha Hamadreth: The greatest and most malevolent Branchwraith in the World-That-Was, now she is the Regent of the Outcasts that seeks absolute dominion of the Sylvaneth in the Mortal Realms.[4]
- Lady of Vines: Handmaiden and bodyguard to Alarielle having served as a captain of war since the Age of Myth, she carried her queen as a soudpod to safety during the initial part of the Realmgate Wars. [5]
Images
Quotes
| Die thee, plaguespawn! Rotfinger! Viletouch! Squirm your last! The sylvaneth kindled beauty in these lands you have befoul'd and by my scythe, so shall we again.
~ Branchwraith Astylia at the Battle of the Oozing Dell.[5] |
Sources
- 1: Sylvaneth Branchwraith product description
- 2: Branchwraith warscroll
- 3: Warhammer Armies: Wood Elves (8th Edition)
- 4: Drycha Hamadreth product description~
- 5: Battletome: Sylvaneth
