📜 Codex Entry: The Shattering of the Wounded Crossroads (22 A.A.)

groundedleaderacad
May 26
3 min read

“A memory cracked is a war begun.”

Extracted from sealed transcripts held by the Guild of Seers – Dreamer’s Ridge Branch

Eyewitness accounts verified by three surviving Emberbound scribes

Classification: Oath Rupture Event | Catalyst of the War of False Dawn

Summary

On the eve of renewal, the Oath was undone.

The Wounded Crossroads, once the sacred site where the first Ember Oath was sworn and the Accord of Ash and Blood signed, was obliterated in a single, blinding event. No army marched. No blade was raised. Yet every faction felt the tremor. Every seer heard the rupture. And every Oathbearer, whether active or in hiding, was overcome by the same harrowing truth:

The Oathstone had shattered.Not broken. Not moved. Shattered.

The Event

At dusk on the 17th day of Witherfall, 22 A.A., the Oathstone—a monolithic spiral-carved relic of memory, history, and promise—detonated from within. Witnesses across the region described it not as an explosion, but as an unmaking:

“It folded in on itself like a lie devouring its own tongue.”— Krelt Varn, Emberborn scribe (deceased)

“We heard a sound like breath being sucked from the sky. And then the world cracked down the middle.”— Tysha of Hal’golgra

A pulse of scorched light rippled across the plains. Memory glyphs within five miles were burned blank. The sky above the Crossroads turned black for seven hours.

No remains of the Oathstone were recovered.Its spiral foundation was left glowing—and hollow.

Theories & Interpretations

Scholars, seers, and skeptics remain divided:

Theory	Description
Ritual Overload	A convergence of conflicting rites, rituals, and vision-bindings over the years caused a “memory fracture.”
Blackened Root Sabotage	Cult agents may have placed an inverted memory-seed beneath the foundation. Their sigils were found carved into nearby standing stones.
Divine Rejection	Some Emberborn claim the Oathstone was never meant to carry the burden it bore—that memory itself “fought back.”
The One Who Waits	A growing faction believes this was not a failure, but a summons. The vision at the Tavern of Flames said “One still waits.” This, they argue, was their awakening.

Aftermath

Political Collapse

The Council of Ash, already strained, fully dissolved within days.
The remaining five factions withdrew into separate fortifications.
Mutual accusations of sabotage spread like wildfire.
Cross-faction treaties were torn down or burned outright.

Military Mobilization

Hal’golgra declared a state of strategic silence, recalling all field envoys.
The Ash-Walkers deployed wardbearers to old shrines in preparation for “defensive reclamation.”
The Emberborn released a declaration: “The Ember must not be left untended. We will bear the fire forward—alone, if need be.”

The First Strikes

Within a fortnight, two sacred archive halls were razed.
A field compound near Veilreach reported memory burn casualties: individuals who could no longer recall names, loyalties, or even faces.

The Moment the War Began

The War of False Dawn did not begin with a declaration.It began with a rupture in the world’s memory.

To some, it was an act of terror.To others, a prophecy fulfilled.To all, it was the end of the fragile peace.

From that moment forward, memory could no longer be shared.It could only be contested.

Final Commentary

Some still journey to the Wounded Crossroads, though it is forbidden.

They find only ash circling a hollow depression, where once the Oathstone stood.At night, if the wind dies, a whisper can still be heard across the spiral basin:

“One still waits…”

No one knows if the voice is invitation or warning.But from the day the Crossroads shattered, one truth has never been in question:

The Oath is not finished.

Next Archive:

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