The War of Leaves

The Teryxian conflict with the Banyari is well known and documented. When Quill and Banyan collided, the Teryxians immediately blamed Banyan. With their knowledge of shard orbits and their unending research into the natural order of the world, the Teryxians believed that surely the Banyari had brought this doom upon them all. The compassionate Banyari were looked down upon even before this incident, and the generations that followed would elevate the compassionate ideals of Banyan to an almost sin-like status.

However, to this day, there are those among the Timekeepers who still wonder at how their ancestors could not have seen the collision coming. Was it simply oversight? Or was something more sinister at play? Certain familial lines that have been with the lodge from antiquity are said to have plumage colors that are “less than blue.” Rivalries are not uncommon.

Less than one full cycle after the destruction of Quill, the Teryxian Scholar- Priests regained enough control that they declared war on the Banyari. With the two shards still occupying much of the same physical space, it was simplicity itself for flights of Teryxian warriors to launch attacks upon their unsuspecting neighbors. But the Banyari had not just had their civilization literally crumble beneath them, and they were perhaps far better prepared than the Teryxian invaders would have thought possible. Still, the Teryxians were unyielding in their attempts at revenge. The war was waged for almost a generation, during which time the two shards shared the same orbit.

But finally the great land masses went their separate ways, and the two cultures turned their attentions to rebuilding. It was a war without a clear winner, an ending forced upon it by the unpredictable nature of the shards. Yet even now, there still remains a small population of Teryxian Outlanders upon Banyan, raiding the Banyari, pillaging their homesteads, and attempting to destroy their Hearthwood Trees. They act as though the war never ended, as though Quill is still owed some debt. Banyan is more their home now than Quill, although they would never utter those words. The Outlanders claim they will not rest until all the tribes of Banyan are eradicated, and all the Hearthwood Trees found and destroyed. They have accomplished at least part of their goal by destroying the Worulthing Hearthwood Tree.

The Scholar-Priests do nothing to publicly support or even acknowledge these vigilantes. Despite what the Scholar-Priests will claim, the War of Leaves still rages. The Teryxian Outlanders that stage their attacks from the territory they have claimed within the Great Forest of Banyan have lived their entire lives there, like their mothers and fathers before them, as their mothers and fathers before them. And Teryxians on Quill continue to pay well for branches from Worulthing, the fallen Hearthwood Tree. Ever since the war began, the hearts of the sacrifices upon Mount Quiya have been thrown into Hearthwood coals.