The initial tremor began not with a sound, but with a displacement. A subtle rearrangement of the atmospheric currents, detectable only through the heightened sensitivity of the *Aether-Listeners* – individuals rigorously trained in the art of perceiving the fundamental vibrations of reality. It was, they posited, the first indication of Kharijite Azotization.

Kharijite Azotization, as the term emerged within the secluded Circles of the Obsidian Hand, represented a cascading effect – a gradual transformation of matter and consciousness through a process of induced resonance. It wasn’t a violent alteration, but a slow, insidious blooming, like a phosphorescent fungus consuming a stone.

The theory was largely based on the observation of *Silicate Bloom*, a phenomenon documented centuries prior in the subterranean cities of Xylos. Xylos, a civilization consumed by a similar, though less potent, process, left behind elaborate schematics detailing the manipulation of ‘Harmonic Fields’ – intricate networks of vibrational energy. The Kharijites believed these fields were not merely tools, but the very essence of existence, and that Azotization was a deliberate, albeit often unintentional, attempt to recalibrate them.