Lexicon/QuickeningVines

As described by The Stalwart Wasteland Prince in missive to Chejop Kejak:

The Battle of Quickening Vines marked the end of the Lace and Paper War, as well as the end of the Namarath Principality. The Battle of Quickening Vines occured, to the best of my research, seventeen and three-quarters years after the beginning of the Lace and Paper War, and nineteen and two-thirds years after the initial economic battles that marked the conflict between the Namarath Principality and the Bitter Flower Empire.

The Battle of Quickening Vines was called such due to the fact that when the Justicars of the Risen Sun marched on the Manse-Bulwark, many were equipped with Soul Bells for the various Exalts under Grassblade's command, including Grassblade herself. Though record-keeping makes it unclear whether the sorceress in question was Grassblade or one disguised as Grassblade, it is known that a being with remarkable resemblance to Grassblade attempted to cast a sorcery of great potency upon the non-functioning Zhang Zhe Way. Apparently, whether the sorceress herself was Grassblade or not, her magic retained enough of a signature of his soul that the Soul Bells in question began to function. An unforeseen consequence of so many Soul Bells feeding off one another and the soul remnant was a complication with the spell (one meant to create a jungle of vines to impede the progress of an army).

Within minutes, the entirety of the Zhang Zhe Way and most of the capitol city of Namarath were buried under vines. An attempt by Seven Hymns Princess to dispel said sorcery apparently met with a similar reaction from Soul-Bell-carrying opposition forces, and the resultant over-blown Adamant Countermagic spell destroyed the sorceries keeping the Zhang Zhe Way afloat in the sky.

Its link to the Manse-Bulwark caused a brief 'hiccup' in the manse's energies, as both the Zhang Zhe Way was thoroughly dispelled and all of the Essence in the area momentarily upset. The Manse-Bulwark faltered; the Zhang Zhe Way in its entirety went plummeting into the western Seas, as did the capitol in Namarath.

Though the remaining cities of Namarath remained afloat (held afloat, as they were, by the Moonsilver Dragons), its status as an economic force waned, and without easy access (via the Way) to the East, the Bitter Flower Empire was forced to cease hostilities, as they simply became impractical to pursue.

Some of my so-called colleagues believe that Grassblade perished in the battle that day; however, reliable records show that she was assassinated many decades after the fact, and as such, must have escaped Namarath that day, though the means by which she may have done so are still unknown.

See Also:

• The Treaty of Bells
• Zhang Zhe Way
• The Bitter Flower Empire
• The Namarath Principality
• Kravelt
• Lace and Paper War
• Grassblade
• The Manse-Bulwark
• Justicars of the Risen Sun

• Other Q Entries

-- Miedvied