Sisters of the Thorn. image - Call of Warhammer: Beginning of The End Times mod for Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms

"The Sisters of the Thorn are Ariel’s handmaidens. In many ways, they are equal and opposite to the Wild Riders of Kurnous, a sisterhood pledged to sorcery and subtlety where Orion’s equerries know loyalty only to the glory of the hunt. Where the Wild Riders are borne into battle on steeds as reckless as they, the Sisters ride upon Steeds of Isha — mounts whose viciousness lies hidden beneath a graceful aspect.

The Sisters’ nature and origins are shrouded in mystery. This has not prevented Wood Elf skalds from recounting stories that tell of such things. It is, after all, in the nature of bards to weave tales to fill the voids left by absent truth. If they are to be believed, the Sisters of the Thorn could be anything from Elf-maids possessed by Dryads, splinters of Ariel’s soul given life by Dark Magic’s influence, an exiled cabal of Naggarothi sorceresses, or one of a hundred even more outlandish theories. The Sisters have heard all these stories - little that occurs in Athel Loren escapes their notice, and their tendrils of influence reach into almost every hall — yet they do not care. The bards, by spreading these tales, have done more to obscure the truth than the Sisters ever could.

Though Orion’s Wild Riders are respected, but not especially well-liked, the Sisters of the Thorn are both loved and feared by almost all Wood Elves. Loved, because they respond readily to requests for aid; feared, because the price they exact for assistance is often more than the supplicant is willing to pay. They may imbue young warriors with peerless battleskill, but in exchange steal all kindness from their soul. They might answer the pleas of an Elf-maid forlorn in love, then years later steal away her first-born child."