Most Characters Are Formed by Three Strokes

Woods: wolves, outlaws, and witches.
Wolves: hunger, death, and mothers.
Hunger: absence, waste, and hope.

Absence: ache, loss, and relief.
Ache: invasion, theft, and teeth.
Invasion: tendrils, roots, and shoots.

Witches: mothers, hope, and relief.
Teeth: shoots, wolves, and hunger.
Outlaws: death, waste, and loss.

Theft: roots, absence, and ache.
Tendrils: invasion, shoots, and woods.
How many strokes to cut down the forest?