From Introduction: Long before Abbeys, there were creatures that looked after the spiritual needs of the creatures in the woods. These Kind would comfort the old and sick, teach the young and protect their followers from the Vermin; they were the Woodwise. They are not common now as the Abbeys have all but taken over from them. The Woodwise generally live in ancient out-of-the-way places now; in hillside caves, hollowed out trees or in forest glades. They are the guardians of the forests and still care and tend for the creatures of the woods and aid lost travellers when they are sick and injured. Woodwise eschew anything made of metal, so they won’t even use weapons with any metal in them.