- “It was an odd-looking vine.”
- ―WFR, first line[src]
A snake vine is an unusual vine with dusky, variegated leaves hunkered around a stem that winds a stranglehold around nearby trees, eventually killing them.
Snake Vine are especially notable due to their odd smell, like the "decomposition of something wholly unsavory even in life" and their distinctive pods, which stick out of the main body of the vine. The pods contain something like a big thorn which expels itself into its attacker when threatened and eerily digs its way into the attacker's body, eventually bringing on a painful fever. The thorn can be expelled through the use of a special root found in Westland mixed into a formula. Once expelled, it is anxious to find a new host and will wiggle towards any being's flesh that gets within several inches of it.
Snake vine only grows when the Boxes of Orden have been put into play. It is even mentioned in the book, Book of Counted Shadows, stating:
- And when the three boxes of Orden are put into play, the snake vine shall grow.
History[]
As Wizard's First Rule began, Richard Rahl (known then as Richard Cypher) found that the snake vine had spread significantly throughout the Ven Forest Westland, near the boundary, which caused entire portions of the forest to die.
Richard first saw the saw snake vine when George Cypher left a dead sprig of the vine in a jar in his house. When George was murdered by Darken Rahl, Richard found the sprig and set off to investigate. He found the snake vine while out investigating.
However, Richard was "bit" by the vine's thorn and became very sick. It was thanks to Zedd that Richard was able to recover, when Zedd was able to find the right root.
Eventually, during the events in Chainfire, Richard once again found snake vine growing in the town of Caska, which caused him to realize that the Boxes of Orden had once again been put into play, this time by the Sisters of the Dark.