Overview
Thornsentinels are massive, tree-bonded guardians that surround and protect the inner sancta of the Thorn-Mother’s domain. Though appearing dormant—resembling warped trees crowned with roses and bramble—they are never fully at rest. They awaken to trespass, to blasphemy, to broken oaths spoken aloud. Once roused, they do not stop until the offence is obliterated.

They are not trees. They are memories, rooted into wrath.

Appearance

• Height: 12–18 feet tall.
• Form: Tree-humanoid hybrids. Bark-covered torsos, vine-wrapped limbs, and crowns of briars and wild roses.
• Face: Carved or grown into the trunk. Often resemble anguished or judgmental human visages.
• Movement: Rootbound when idle; can tear themselves free in seconds. Movement accompanied by splintering wood.
• Sound: Groaning, creaking, a low heartbeat-like thrum through the ground.

Behaviour and Abilities

• Dormant Vigilance: Appear as ancient trees. Only animate in response to specific triggers: oath-breaking, sacrilege, or acts of intrusion.
• Vine Entrapment: Rapidly extends thorned vines to bind, strangle, or drag intruders underground.
• Memory Scrub Spores: Release clouds of golden pollen that blur trespassers’ memory, often permanently.

Signs of Presence

• Thorns bleeding sap that smells like blood.
• Subtle changes in path layouts near sacred sites.
• Low vibrations in the soil when speaking aloud near certain trees.

Folklore and Signs

• “The Bark Remembers”: A saying in hedge-communities. Thornsentinels are believed to grow from cursed lovers, traitors, or oathbreakers buried upright.
• Rose-Crowned Graves: If a briar-covered tree grows alone in a glade, villagers avoid speaking near it for fear of waking a Thornsentinel.

Effect on Earth and Human Minds

• Mild Exposure: Feelings of judgment or dread. Nightmares of being rooted or buried alive.
• Prolonged Exposure: Memory loss, especially around betrayal or sacred sites. Victims may become mute or reverent without knowing why.
• Long-Term Contact: Memory fragmentation, compulsion to self-bury or protect fae shrines.

Summary for Field Operatives

Trait	Detail
Threat Level	High. Physical and psychic threat if triggered.
Signs of Presence	Thorny trees with human-like features, humming soil, memory loss.
Containment Risk	Very High. Impractical to remove or destroy. Avoid sacred glades.
Engagement Advice	Speak no oaths aloud. Step lightly. Leave no marks.
	Use mirror coins and rosewater incense as safe-passage offerings.

Quote from Field Report #336:

“I told a lie by the tree—said we were only here to pay respects. The bark opened its eyes. The next thing I knew, it was night and the others were gone. My notebook was full of poems I didn’t write.”
—FDG Debrief, Operative V., Root-Hum Sanctum