Broxton: Echoes of the Obsidian Bloom

The Whispers of the Stone

Broxton isn't a place etched into maps; it’s a resonance, a fracture in the weave of reality. It began, as all such things do, with a seed – a shard of crystallized thought, thrown into the primordial soup of existence. The locals, the Broxtonites, claim it arrived on the back of a storm, a storm unlike any other. It began with the Obsidian Bloom, a flower of impossible geometry, erupting from the heart of the Silent Peaks. This bloom wasn’t gentle; its petals pulsed with a light that felt…wrong, a dissonance that frayed the edges of perception. The first Broxtonites weren't human, not entirely. They were Echoes, born from the Bloom’s energy, beings of shifting shadow and fractured memory, bound to protect – or perhaps, to contain – the Bloom’s influence.

The legend speaks of the ‘Custodian’, a Broxonite who possesses the ability to manipulate the Bloom's energy, shaping it into protective barriers or, on rarer occasions, unleashing it in a wave of concentrated distortion. This ability, known as ‘Bloomweaving,’ is both revered and feared. It's said that prolonged exposure to Bloomweaving can unravel a person’s sense of self, leaving them adrift in a sea of fragmented recollections and impossible geometries.

“The Bloom remembers everything. And it hungers.” – Elder Silas, Keeper of the Obsidian Archive.

Chronicles of the Fractured Years

• 783 AE (After Emergence): The initial Bloom eruptions. The Silent Peaks become permanently scarred, radiating an unsettling stillness. The first Broxonite echoes manifest, drawn to the Bloom's energy. Initial attempts at communication with the outside world are met with silence and unsettling visions.
• 912 AE: The ‘Sundering’ - a catastrophic surge of Bloom energy, causing a localized reality shift. Several villages vanish entirely, replaced by shimmering voids. The Broxonite Council, formed in response, initiates the ‘Veil Protocol’ – a complex system of wards and rituals designed to mitigate the Bloom’s influence.
• 1247 AE: The ‘Echo Wars’ – a protracted conflict between the Broxonite Council and the ‘Shardlings,’ rogue echoes driven mad by prolonged exposure to the Bloom. The conflict ended with the sealing of the ‘Nexus Point,’ a location of intense Bloom energy, beneath the Silent Peaks.
• 1580 AE: The arrival of the Cartographers – explorers from the mainland, obsessed with mapping the ‘unmappable.’ Their presence disrupts the Veil Protocol, triggering a series of unpredictable Bloom events. The Broxonite Council views them as a significant threat.
• 1892 AE: The discovery of the ‘Obsidian Archives’ - a vast repository of fragmented memories and distorted realities, contained within a colossal, self-sustaining Bloom construct. It's rumored to hold the key to understanding the Bloom’s origin and purpose. Access is strictly controlled by the Council.

The Looming Bloom

Now, in 2247 AE, the Bloom continues to pulse, its influence subtly warping Broxton and its inhabitants. The Veil Protocol is weakening, and strange occurrences are becoming more frequent. The Cartographers’ descendants, the ‘Bloomwatchers,’ have established a permanent presence, monitoring the situation with a mixture of apprehension and morbid fascination. Rumors circulate of a ‘Greater Bloom,’ a source of unimaginable power, lying dormant beneath the Silent Peaks, waiting to be awakened. Whether it’s a harbinger of salvation or utter destruction remains unknown. The fate of Broxton, and perhaps much more, hangs in the balance, suspended between the echoes of a forgotten past and the terrifying potential of the unfolding bloom.