The Hallowed Road is an annual pilgrimage from the ruins of the town of Hallowside to the village of Ashrest. The journey is undertaken by all members of the Ashleaf Tribe as a reminder of their past and those lost in the Hallowed Fire. With the event that led to its creation a distant memory in many of the younger members of the tribe, the pilgrimage has taken on a new role within Ashfall society, becoming a symbol of hope for the future and reminder of the tribe's strength and resilience in the face of hardship.
History
The Hallowed Fire
On the night of the 15th of Magnal, 4,707 AB (5E 494), a fire broke out in the center of the town of Hallowside near the base of the Great Hallowed Tree, a sacred tree of the D'Nalsian god Arbos. Though the cause of the fire remains unknown, the blaze quickly consumed the tree before spreading to the rest of the surrounding woods. By the time residents of Hallowside were made aware of the blaze, it had already spread beyond the edge of the sacred grove in which the Great Hallowed Tree resides, having reached a number of houses and other structures built near the grove's boundaries. Though residents of the town attempted to save their homes and the tree, the blaze quickly outpaced efforts to contain it, the heat only worsened by the town's religious insistence on building their homes out of wood. When some learned that family members or close friends had been caught in the blaze, many chose to simply fall into the flames themselves, having lost the will to continue.
Within Ashleaf mythology, it was the son of Hallowside's leader, a young man named Ezekiel, who was the first to declare their homes lost. With what little of his own possessions he could save in his arms, he urged the other survivors to abandon the town outright and follow him into the forest to escape the fire. Of the nearly three thousand people who once called the town of Hallowside home, only roughly 400 followed him out of the city, with the rest either lost in the fire or choosing instead to carve their own path forward away from the smoldering ruins of their old lives. Those that chose to follow Ezekiel into the woods journeyed for nearly three straight days away from the ruins, searching for a new place to live. It is said that, at the spot that is now the heart of the village of Ashrest, Ezekiel collapsed to the ground in exhaustion, having not rested for the entirety of the journey.
The Pilgrimage
On the anniversary of the fire, now known to history as the Hallowed Fire, Ezekiel led a small group on a voyage back to the ruins of Hallowside. When the group returned, Ezekiel collapsed to the ground near to where he had the year prior, having recreated the original escape from the blaze. The year after, Ezekiel set out to make the same journey again, this time accompanied by many of the surviving members of the original group. The next year, the Hallowed Road was declared an official religious ceremony for the people of Ashleaf, with all able-bodied residents of the village encouraged to make the voyage.
As of 4,735 AB (6E 20), many of the original survivors of the Hallowed Fire have passed away or are no longer healthy enough to make the journey, leaving the few able-bodied voyagers who remember the Hallowed Road's origins to carry the original meaning of the pilgrimage. Though, with so many of the yearly participants having little to no memory of the event, the new generations have taken to ascribing new meaning to the voyage. What was once a memorial for those lost has become a voyage of new beginnings, a reminder of the ever-present ability to take one's life in new directions. The voyage is now marked with discussions of resolutions and ambitions, as those undertaking the pilgrimage look towards the future.
