📜 Codex Entry: The First Ember War Councils (23–25 A.A.)

groundedleaderacad
May 26
3 min read

“The fire was no longer shared. It was measured, shielded… and aimed.”

Filed by Order of the Guild of Seers – Strategic Records Division

Extracted from recovered war table notes, oathkeeper testimonies, and vision-verified dispatches

Classification: Early War Strategy | Fragmented Coalition Activity | Post-Oath Diplomacy Breakdown

Summary

In the wake of the Shattering of the Wounded Crossroads (22 A.A.), what remained of the Ember Oath fractured entirely. With the Council of Ash dissolved and the last shared memory-rite site desecrated, war was no longer a possibility—it was a certainty.

Yet even amidst the chaos, leaders across the surviving factions attempted to restore strategic alignment, prevent full-scale ideological collapse, and preserve what they still believed in—on their own terms.

From these desperate efforts emerged the First Ember War Councils (23–25 A.A.): a series of hastily assembled gatherings held in secret sanctuaries, contested strongholds, and—once—beneath open sky, protected only by oathbound seers and armed silence.

These councils would not unify the factions. But they would determine how they chose to fight one another—and what, if anything, was still worth protecting.

Known Councils and Locations

❖ The Veil Council (23 A.A.) – Dreamer’s Ridge

Convened by surviving Ash-Walkers, this council aimed to salvage a shared doctrine of ritual restraint. Attended by remnants of the Writ-Bearers, the Camahali Watchers, and certain Stone Pact outliers.

Outcome:Proposed the Doctrine of Unseen Flame, banning all future use of relics to influence vision or memory.Rejected by the Emberborn, ignored by Hal’golgra.Council disbanded after the Rooted Death of its presiding archivist, who choked on his own prophetic tongue.

❖ The Iron Summit (24 A.A.) – Northern Scorched Highlands

Organized by Hal’golgra’s Strength and Stone Pact emissaries, this council focused on martial strategy. No vision-practitioners were permitted to attend.

Outcome:Formalized the Silent March Protocols—tactical operations to disrupt cult altars in the Wastes of Ash.Authorized pre-emptive strikes against known Emberborn sanctums hosting volatile relics.Hal’golgra retained command authority and refused central allegiance.

❖ The Ashweald Conclave (24 A.A.) – Wastes of Ash

Conceived by a schismatic Emberborn cell and led by the self-proclaimed Flame-Speaker Aridel, this conclave attempted to reforge the Oath in secrecy.

Outcome:Formed the Circle of Renewed Ember, a radical faction claiming the Weeping Shard had spoken anew.Their rites involved selective memory offerings—voluntary or otherwise.Disbanded violently in 25 A.A. after an internal purge revealed Blackened Root agents at its highest levels.

❖ The Field Truce of Grey Hollow (25 A.A.) – Unmarked Location

The only known open-air gathering during this period. Attended by independent oathbearers, unaffiliated seers, and representatives from at least three unnamed splinter groups.

Outcome:Drafted but never ratified the Ember Concord, a proposed neutral oath for field agents to preserve civilians and cultural sites.Scattered before dawn due to a mass vision-event—presumed sabotage or spontaneous flare from a nearby relic.No one present retained the full terms of the Concord. The document, if it existed, was never recovered.

Strategic Shifts After the Councils

By the end of 25 A.A., the hope of unified resistance or re-Oathing had faded. Instead:

Hal’golgra committed to “containment by annihilation,” hunting cultists, oathbreakers, and corrupted seers without trial.
The Emberborn split into Inner Flame loyalists and Ash-Redeemers, each claiming prophetic legitimacy.
The Ash-Walkers retreated from strategic regions to fortify memory sanctuaries—not for offense, but to outlast the war.
Blackened Root enclaves repositioned within the veil between faction territories, using conflict as camouflage.

Final Commentary

The First Ember War Councils were not councils of peace. They were not efforts at reunion.

They were war tables dressed in the language of memory.Their rituals were sharpened into weapons.Their parchments were stained not with wax… but with ash.

The Oath was not reforged. It was divided, labeled, and distributed to the factions as ammunition.One still waits. But none wait together.

Next Archive:

📖 Codex Entry – Circle of the Final Ember (26–30 A.A.)