Lore:Thornroot Clan

The Thornroot Clan was a   organization active during the  , when they were considered one of the most powerful clans of the  .   By the time of  , they were considered fierce and strong, known to usually camp by the area of the ruins of Briar Rock, with the leaders of the clan usually being Hagravens, who allowed the clan to be peaceful to other Reachmen clans, with the group focusing their wrath against foreigners, with many of their warriors being briarhearts, which made the Clan very dangerous in battle.  They were also considered to be an extremely reclusive coven of witches.  

History
Despite the Clan usually being peaceful against other Reachmen, this was no longer the case by 2E 582, when they were led by a Hagraven known as Matron Grygarsnit, as they often attacked other clans, capturing their people and transforming them into briarhearts, an action done due to the rise of   activity in the Reach as it was meant to guarantee their protection against the enemy army.  Their attacks against other Reachmen included the capture of a Vateshran, who is usually a revered lore keeper of the Reach, and also the imprisonment of several members of the Hillhunter and Wildblood Clans.  

In the case of the Hillhunter Clan, they had not only been captured, but also betrayed, as the Thornroots previously invited them to their territory before turning on the Clan, which led to the capture of several members, including the clan's leader. A foreigner to the Reach in the form of the Vestige was eventually asked for help by the daughter of the imprisoned chieftain, with the hero being able to rescue several members of the Hillhunters but also destroying the Thornroot's briar heart tree in the process, an action that prevented the Clan from enslaving more people as briarhearts.  It is possible that the Hagraven Matron of the Thornroots was also killed during the attack as she was next to the tree and might have defended it. 

Around the same time, the Vestige also helped to free the captured Vateshran, who had previously been threatened by the Thornroots' Hagravens even while imprisoned.   Concurrently, several ritual tools of the Clan used to transform others into briarhearts were also destroyed by the hero, further crippling their ability to create new improved warriors, with hope that the destruction would allow for the Wildbloods to rescue some of their captured brethren. 

Another piece of the Wildbloods that the Thornroots captured during a raid was a totem of power which held religious significance to the Wildblood Clan, with the effigy being taken to their area of operations in Briar Heart Ruins and used by the Hagraven to draw power from. Some time later, the totem was taken by the Vestige and given back to the Wildbloods, likely causing the quelling of the violent tendencies of the Thornroot Clan.  

While the Wildbloods doubted that the Thornroots allowed many of their clanmates to survive, they still asked for help to retrieve the talismans left behind in Briar Rock ruins that were in the possession of the capturers, which caused yet another attack against the Thornroot Clan. The talismans were then successfully retaken thanks to the Vestige and sent back to the Wildbloods. 

Around a thousand years later, Briar Rock Ruins was still in control of the Reachfolk, but by this time in the form of the   instead. It is unclear if the Thornroot Clan was able to survive the many attacks that they suffered, but clear traces of their presence were no longer found in   by the time of the return of the dragons in  . 

Gallery
 

Notes
Despite the series of attacks the clan suffered, none of the missions received by the Vestige asked for the death of their leader in the form of Matron Grygarsnit, so there is a chance that she might have been spared, but the Hagraven would still fight against the hero if they encountered her, using her powers to resurrect briarhearts to fight by the Clan's side. 

See Also
For game-specific information, see the ESO article. 

References